4.5 Stars
Richard Warner and Carl Brooks, 39,
are successful men in a committed relationship, but both bisexual they are
looking for a new woman to share their companionship and complete their life
plan. Katie Serena Smith, 22, needs money
for her long term equestrian career goals so she connects with Rick and Carl
through a sugar daddies site.
Based off the cover and the title,
my expectations for this were erotic, hot, and smutty, but I was pleasantly
surprised at the substance I found. Though
initially a little uneasy with the whole getting paid part, it later became a
nonissue.
“But it was a big deal. Big money, big dicks. Just…big. The whole thing was big.”
The distinct intriguing characters
and the chemistry between them lead the way to a full story. In fact, I’d argue
there’s more relationship development and romance than a lot of books that
profess to have that but don’t come close to what I found here.
Essentially, there’s a good balance
of sex and story. The character development is well done. Even side characters
far surpassed initial or surface clichés and became real people with real
feelings who made real mistakes. The story is developed well and provides a
rounded perspective of complex situations. I liked how it all came about and how it
worked out.
Carl, despite initially coming off
distant and cool, is the catalyst to bringing some heads out of some asses.
(No, that’s not a kinky thing. I’m being straight up and so was he.) Though
he’s intense and a bit of a pessimist, he’s also a straight shooter with
maturity and probably more patience than he realizes.
“‘Love is love…Commitment is commitment. Integrity and consideration and communication, honestly and genuine care, compassion, support… those are the things that make a worthwhile relationship, whether that’s two people, or three people, or ten people.’”
Rick is the fun loving partner
who’s easy going, devoted, and also a rock when things get tough or tense. He
knew how to lighten the mood while not making light of complicated circumstances.
These two not only complimented each other well, but it became easy to see why
they’d both be a great catch. I only wish we’d gotten a few chapters from Rick.
“‘I’m gonna leave you two alone more often if this is the shit I come back to.’”
Katie is thankfully not a virgin!
It was quite nice to have a heroine with sexual experience. She’s grown up in a tricky family situation
and the story stays focused on Katie’s growth and development as dicey family
issues unfold, while pleasantly avoiding any OW/OM drama. In addition, it was
also incredibly pleasing to see the story avoid tired office romance taboo
drama tropes.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t comment
on the sexual angle. Their encounters ran the gauntlet on the steamy scale. Some
of their threesomes were seriously hot. However, the simultaneous double meat encounters left me feeling…well like someone describing
their gynecological exam. I mean, for the prep
work the guys are down there checking her out, widening her up, How does it look? she asks. I dunno, it just isn’t a fantasy of
mine because it didn’t really sound all that pleasant, during and after. And
then the fisting thing. I’ll take the heroine’s word that her lady bits took
a beating. The references to her battered cervix were probably somewhat realistic.
Told via Katie and Carl’s alternating first person POV, while initially the characters and erotic sex pulled me, it was the story that kept me engaged and turning pages. In the end, I found it downright heartfelt, and it left me longing for more of their happy after.
Told via Katie and Carl’s alternating first person POV, while initially the characters and erotic sex pulled me, it was the story that kept me engaged and turning pages. In the end, I found it downright heartfelt, and it left me longing for more of their happy after.
