Scan barcode
ashleysloth's review
2.0
I loved the way this book started out but then it went downhill. As I got annoyed with the plot I told myself books need conflict and that I would give the book at least 3 stars, but I just can't.
My low rating has nothing to do with the authors writing skills, Weatherspoon is a great writer, and not just for the romance genre. My rating is about my dislike of some of the plot points.
My loathing started when Pilar took Suzy to a party she knew her boss would be at and then Pillar accused Suzy of not trusting her enough for being upset? I understand the rules that Pilar just couldn't say that Suzy's boss would be there but just dropping her in there with not warning about the high odds of meeting someone she works with feels like a violation of trust to me.
But what really took away from my ability to give this book 3 stars was Suzy getting sexual assaulted, I don't read romance for that. Not only was she assaulted by her boss but Pilar decided to stop talking to her for it. Oh sure there is a wonderful make up at the end and Suzy accepts all the blame for what happened and the boss gets a "bad rep" in the local community. After all that happened the happy ending felt forced and pasted on.
I feel like an ass for giving this book a low rating after winning it in a give away, and from everything I've seen I like the author as a person, I just don't like the book.
My low rating has nothing to do with the authors writing skills, Weatherspoon is a great writer, and not just for the romance genre. My rating is about my dislike of some of the plot points.
Spoiler
My loathing started when Pilar took Suzy to a party she knew her boss would be at and then Pillar accused Suzy of not trusting her enough for being upset? I understand the rules that Pilar just couldn't say that Suzy's boss would be there but just dropping her in there with not warning about the high odds of meeting someone she works with feels like a violation of trust to me.
But what really took away from my ability to give this book 3 stars was Suzy getting sexual assaulted, I don't read romance for that. Not only was she assaulted by her boss but Pilar decided to stop talking to her for it. Oh sure there is a wonderful make up at the end and Suzy accepts all the blame for what happened and the boss gets a "bad rep" in the local community. After all that happened the happy ending felt forced and pasted on.
I feel like an ass for giving this book a low rating after winning it in a give away, and from everything I've seen I like the author as a person, I just don't like the book.
skillwithaquill's review against another edition
challenging
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
2.5ish.
I’m so conflicted about this one. I enjoyed the main character, the matter-of-fact exploration of BDSM, and the excellent sex scenes.
I was entirely turned off by instances of sexual assault that are handled very poorly. The Dom demands trust without earning it in very serious situations.
Maybe this is just personal preference, but the ending disturbed me.
Suzy is left without her job because of sexual harassment, and her happily ever after is supposed to be living her whole life as Pilar’s subservient?
I’m so conflicted about this one. I enjoyed the main character, the matter-of-fact exploration of BDSM, and the excellent sex scenes.
I was entirely turned off by instances of sexual assault that are handled very poorly. The Dom demands trust without earning it in very serious situations.
Maybe this is just personal preference, but the ending disturbed me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Sexual content
Moderate: Pedophilia and Incest
Other possible triggers: Mommy dominant/Little girl relationship, age play, spanking, workplace harassmentzen's review
1.0
I'm not a fan of BDSM books where the Dom/me is always right. Sadly, that's a storyline that happens all too often, and it happened in this book too. Or at least, here there's a big case of the Dom/me Always Knows Best Syndrome, to the point where Pilar ends up explaining to Suzy what Suzy is feeling—even when she does not have the complete picture. I'm not even angry at Suzy, because the story does show how she often ends up shutting down when people impose themselves on her, but all the more reason to find the way Pilar acts Not Great.
The worst parts for me where:
1) Pilar punishing Suzy because Suzy "humiliated" her in front of a friend—although Suzy was only defending herself after feeling threatened and harassed in what should've been her safe space to be Little. Basically, Pilar puts her reputation before Suzy's well-being, and that's so fucked up, because I can't believe that Suzy's internal monologue literally says, "This is not about Suzy, this is about Suzanne feeling hurt," and Pilar does not even stop to think about it. I know that 24/7 kink relationships have different rules and punishment gets treated differently from a non-24/7 relationship, but Suzy and Pilar are still starting out, they've yet to have the conversation about switching to a more serious relationship, AND STILL, even if they did have a 24/7 relationship, there has to be a time and place to stop the play and take care of a cared one getting hurt in their own home.
2) In general, the whole story with Bizzy was... not great? The moment when Suzy and Pilar have an issue—which is born out of a character sexually harassing Suzy and then going to Pilar to tell her about it, without actually giving her the full story of the abuse, which by the way Pilar doesn't even seem to doubt—other characters get in the way. For some reason is Bizzy who has to come to the rescue, Suzy doesn't even get to tell her part of the story to Pilar, because Pilar... is too angry... to listen? She just... jumps to her own conclusions? What?
This was painful to read. It makes me sad because there are so little Mommy/girl books out there, and this was just not it.
The worst parts for me where:
1) Pilar punishing Suzy because Suzy "humiliated" her in front of a friend—although Suzy was only defending herself after feeling threatened and harassed in what should've been her safe space to be Little. Basically, Pilar puts her reputation before Suzy's well-being, and that's so fucked up, because I can't believe that Suzy's internal monologue literally says, "This is not about Suzy, this is about Suzanne feeling hurt," and Pilar does not even stop to think about it. I know that 24/7 kink relationships have different rules and punishment gets treated differently from a non-24/7 relationship, but Suzy and Pilar are still starting out, they've yet to have the conversation about switching to a more serious relationship, AND STILL, even if they did have a 24/7 relationship, there has to be a time and place to stop the play and take care of a cared one getting hurt in their own home.
2) In general, the whole story with Bizzy was... not great? The moment when Suzy and Pilar have an issue—which is born out of a character sexually harassing Suzy and then going to Pilar to tell her about it, without actually giving her the full story of the abuse, which by the way Pilar doesn't even seem to doubt—other characters get in the way. For some reason is Bizzy who has to come to the rescue, Suzy doesn't even get to tell her part of the story to Pilar, because Pilar... is too angry... to listen? She just... jumps to her own conclusions? What?
This was painful to read. It makes me sad because there are so little Mommy/girl books out there, and this was just not it.
mialouise22's review
dark
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
eyrinreads's review
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
nicolaever's review
4.0
This book honestly took me by surprise a bit. I write a lot of this stuff for my work but I’ve never read a queer version of it, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I liked how it wasn’t brutal, the romance was deep and intimate and it fully explored the scene while being respectful, descriptive but never showy-offy or overly cheesy or cringe. I can’t speak for if it honestly depicts the scene but it felt like it did, and that it was handled with care and attention.
I didn’t like Pilar’s behaviour at the end though - the whole reaction to something Suzanne goes through felt manipulative and selfish and I couldn’t understand why her first instinct was to cause distance when she understood how Suzanne must have been feeling and the support she must have needed. In a way Pilar didn’t feel as real as Suzanne - her reactions were either too perfect or they didn’t make sense which set me on edge a bit.
But overall, I enjoyed this book a lot and would recommend it to anyone who could stomach it!
I didn’t like Pilar’s behaviour at the end though - the whole reaction to something Suzanne goes through felt manipulative and selfish and I couldn’t understand why her first instinct was to cause distance when she understood how Suzanne must have been feeling and the support she must have needed. In a way Pilar didn’t feel as real as Suzanne - her reactions were either too perfect or they didn’t make sense which set me on edge a bit.
But overall, I enjoyed this book a lot and would recommend it to anyone who could stomach it!
patricia71's review
5.0
Loved it!! Gave me a lot of emotions and thoughts. Will be thinking about this one longer I feel. The sex was hot
rougeang13's review
Not sure how to rate this one. I’m not one for kink shaming, but this wasn’t exactly my thing. Although I will say it’s well written, the author does a good job with the erotic scenes. Did end up finishing but rather slowly compared to other books.
banrions's review
challenging
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Welll. Ok. Um. This is one of those cases where I knew pretty immediately that this was not really for me. This is not a kink that I knew much about or am really interested in, but I found myself invested and curious in the story anyway, and just read it all the way through. Objectively, it’s a decently well written story with some interesting characters, bdsm elements (well, no bdsm focus, let’s be real), and a topic not often or hardly ever? Written about. I’m not one to kinkshame, so just because this is not my bag, I’m not gonna rate a book lower for the hell of it. I also can’t really find it in myself to justify rating it higher, because as I said, the majority of the specific overall type of kink (lifestyle D/s, basically?) that are displayed here is just not really my thing. That said, there were some fun sex scenes and it was a different and interesting read. I will admit to being caught slightly off guard about the end where a sexual assault happens and the reactions of Pilar and the way people treated Suzy felt… kinda victim blamey? To me? And I didn’t love it. But overall not a bad read if this is your thing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Domestic abuse, Sexual harassment, and Sexual assault