Confession: sometimes I request a book because NetGalley says I’ll like it. Usually I do, but sometimes I get one that doesn’t quite hit the spot.
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
One-Sentence Synopsis
An aspiring journalist takes a job as a paid sexual companion to a mysterious man believed to have murdered his girlfriend. For a full synopsis, see this book’s Goodreads page.
An Estimated 45 Shades of Grey
Charlotte answers the ad of a well known billionaire who’s looking for another woman to add to his collection. Basically, he’ll pay her a lot of money to service him when and how he wants. When I say to his collection, I mean he really has a collection of women who he pays for the same reasons, and he “keeps” them because they each satisfy some part of his sexual needs. Sounds a little creepy, right? But apparently it’s on the up and up because everyone seems to know it’s a thing.
Everyone Has an Agenda
Charlotte doesn’t want the job because she’s looking to service a rich man. She’s hoping she can get close enough to Jaxon to get an exclusive story about him. His family was murdered when he was young and his last public girlfriend disappeared (I’m not entirely sure if the collection of women happened before or after the ex was gone). Charlotte plans on using Jaxon to further her career, and that’s all well and good…until she starts feeling guilty about it.
Jaxon, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to have any guilt at first about using Charlotte to get revenge on the man he blames for the death of his family, a man who also happens to be his business partner. In fact, Jaxon doesn’t seem to have guilt about anything, even using Charlotte to ruin the young daughter of said business partner just to show him what he’s capable of. He reminded me a lot of Christian Grey, but possibly more socially sadistic.
Promises, Promises
This was a short read, and I think I might have enjoyed it more had it been a full length, fleshed out novel. The buildup and development weren’t there for me. If anything, the book teased me, giving me glimpses of things I wanted to read and yet never fully letting me see everything.
The Romance Factor
I had a really hard time buying into the romance of this story, and I believe it’s because we don’t read everything that happens in the time span that Charlotte’s with Jaxon. There’s a point where she tells her friend that she’s seeing a different side of him, and then later she talks about how she’s falling in love with him, but I didn’t get any of that. I didn’t feel any of the romance or feelings between the two, and it never really went much further than a weird sexual/business relationship until the end, when suddenly Charlotte was the only one Jaxon wanted. 2/5
The Steam Factor
I’ll give credit to the fact that most of the sex scenes were pretty hot and powerful. There just wasn’t enough of them. Normally I wouldn’t care, but this story seemed edgy at the beginning. A man who pays several different women to handle this several different sexual desires? Awesome…but we never find out what those sexual desires are. It’s hinted that he’s a deviant of sorts, but darn it…I wanted to know what kind of deviance he was into. 3/5
Final Thoughts
I really hate it when I don’t enjoy a book as much as I wanted, especially when the potential for something new and exciting was within reach. The writing was good and the danger factor was there. There was also a twist that added to the flavor. Though not for me, I think this book is perfect for readers who like an erotic and dangerous edge to their romance without having it go into all out sexual craziness.
The Romance Factor 