The Fine Print is written by Lauren Asher and is the first book in the Dreamland Billionaire series which was originally published July 4th 2021. This is a romance book with enemies to lovers, boss/ employee as well as grumpy/ sunshine, which are some of the most popular tropes within romance novels.
This series overall consists of three books, with The Fine Print being the first installment, followed by Terms and Conditions and ending with The Final Offer. Throughout the series we follow the Kane brothers who each got a letter from their late Grandfather giving them each a task to complete in order to receive their share of his amusement park, Dreamland. The first book specifically follows Rowan Kane who is the youngest brother out of the three.
Storyline/ plot
The book begins from Rowan’s POV at his Grandfather’s funeral before being handed a letter from the late Brady Kane explaining what Rowan must do in order to receive his allocated shares within the amusement park he created.
Being the youngest brother Rowan was also the most different growing up, while his brothers were good at sports and lived up to their father’s expectations. Rowan was creative and imaginative and loved to create things, a trait he got from his Grandfather which gave them a bond different from the one his brothers shared with him. Sadly Rowan grew up and lost his passion for all things make believe and became cold, distant and money motivated. His Grandfather’s one condition for Rowan to gain his inheritance is for Rowan to go back to dreamland and create and idea that will make the park better, he has six months to complete this task, if he fails his less than deserving father will receive his cut in Dreamland.
Over the years since his mothers passing, Rowan has grown to resent Dreamland, much more the memories it holds for him. During his first day he attends a staff debrief and gets bumped into (literally) by Dreamland salon worker, Zahra.
Zahra is a walking mascot for everything Rowan is not, she is bright, kind, selfless and driven by the happiness of others, not money. Coming from a family of Dreamland workers, Zahra has a real passion and love for the park with dreams of becoming a creator after working closely with Brady on developing the idea for the park’s most expensive ride.
After Rowan offers Zahra a place on the Creators program, He soon realizes just how much he is drawn to her. Her passion and perspective opens up a part of Rowan he hasn’ explored in a long time, sparking a unofficial relationship between the pair.
As time goes on they both come to the conclusion that they’re in way over their heads and there is nothing casual about their relationship anymore.
With the vote on Rowan’s inheritance fast approaching, their relationship is flipped on its head, but the real question lies with Rowan and weather or not he can face his fears to love even if there’s a chance of loss.
Writing style
This book is told in a dual POV, which gives the reader more of an insight of the characters’ minds as individuals and their perspectives on the situations they come to within the book. This was a slower paced romance in my opinion, there was a good balance of conflict and resolution as well a good amount of spice and non spice. It had a nice fairytale type vibe with it being set in a Disney inspired theme park which added a unique element for a romance.
Pros/ Cons
I enjoyed the setting of the book and the descriptions of all of the little elements of the park and the people within it. I also really enjoyed the side characters as well which I often don’t with romance books. The representation of people with learning and physical disabilities was also really nice to see as well as how those disabilities don’t impact on the changes they can make and how hard they work. I will say I did find it a little too slow in parts which did make me a bit bored sometimes as well as the repetition of Rowan’s vote and hatred for dreamland,which was more than likely intentional.
Conclusion
Overall I gave this book three stars. It was a nice read, I enjoyed the characters, but it doesn’t stand out as much for me as I had hoped. I definitely liked the storyline and the setting but, some of the conflicts I thought weren’t needed and there was a lot of miscommunication which I personally find frustrating as a reader. I also struggled to keep my attention with this book but I can understand why others may really enjoy this series.