Reviews with content warning for Pregnancy - Highest Bidder

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
🌶🌶🌶/4

If you've seen my previous reviews of this series you know I LOVE the Salacious Club and all of it's delightful and kinky owners & patrons. This book however, while still sexy, steamy, and full of cameos by some of our favorite other characters... this one was my lease favorite so far.

We've seen the ultra wealthy Ronan Kade around the club in the previous books, he's a sexy silver fox who loves the freedom of expression and desire a club like Salacious offers. Enter Daisy: a young new bartender / server with a secret. Sparks fly when Daisy loses a bet and ends up on the auction stage one night and Ronan is the Highest Bidder.

***Spoilers start here***

This is an age-gap romance (22 to 56), so at first glance both parties are a bit skeptical of their connection. But a connection they have, and it's electric and almost instantaneous when they get out of their own ways and give into their feelings. We get to explore a new sex club in Paris when they travel there for a spice filled holiday, and we see a give and take form in their relationship.

Ronan likes to give. He wants to provide safety, comfort, and especially pleasure. Daisy is a bit of a mess, still grieving the loss of her mother and unsure of her next steps, she thrives under Ronan's attentions and care. The dynamic between these two could easily be unequal, but it becomes clear that their feelings for each other override that the need from each other and Daisy sees through Ronan's walls. She understands that while he loves to take care of others, he also needs someone who wants to take care of him in return, and she wants to be that person.

And yet... when Daisy's secret is revealed it becomes clear that she's been so wrapped up in Ronan that she's avoided actually grieving her mother's death and is less than capable of taking care of herself, let alone being the one to take care of Ronan in return. This leads her to depend too much on Ronan, and he makes the hard decision to make her stand up on her own before he can give in to supporting her in other ways. It's a difficult choice, but inevitably one that needed to happen to ensure they end up on equal footing in the relationship.

**Doubling down on the spoilers here **

If that was the story arc, I would have been happier. Daisy does go off and finally get some therapy for her grief, she learns to take care of herself better, and is generally treating herself better. When she runs into Ronan a few months later, she's following her love of music and able to pay her own bills. She is finally on her own two feet. This could have been a good segue back into a relationship, he could have been there to support her musical dreams and they could have re-kindled the romance after they've both had some time to heal and grow as a couple.

BUT NO, instead... we get a pregnancy trope. In some ways it's exactly what Ronan needs. He tragically lost his first wife & son, and has been trying to fill a void ever since. He loves to provide love and care, and so giving him a family is the best gift Daisy could give him. But why that couldn't have happened willingly, with a discussion or a joint decision instead of a surprise... not my favorite way for that play out. I would have liked to see that decision happen in an epilogue after they were happy for a while and instead it was the thing that brought them back together.

It all ends up happily but at the same time, it had the feeling of Daisy giving up some of her dreams / not exploring her music enough at the expense of starting the family to be with Ronan. I think she ends up happy, but I wonder why it couldn't have been the both-and, instead of her gaining love at the expense of her own dreams.

**In Conclusion**

Did I enjoy this book? Yes. Was my favorite part all of the cameos of Madame Kink? Also yes. Am I waiting (im)patiently for her book next to make me fall in love with the Salacious crew once again? Also yes.

If you like age-gap romances with cinnamon roll daddy doms with pleasure kinks and bratty subs, this is for you. But if you like a little more independence from your FMCs, Daisy probably won't be your favorite.

**Note **

If you don't like large age gaps, daddy doms, or the pregnancy trope, there were very few refences to previous characters (other than Madame Kink) so this can most likely be skilled if you still want to read book 6.

Content Warnings

_charliesbookshelf's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Firstly I want to say that it’s so good to be back in the world of SPC and I LOVED how the Sara (author) included a recap for the previous books. This was such a small detail but it was so thoughtful and awesome to read!!!!

Now that’s out of the way let’s get to talking about the actual story. After a bet goes wrong Fmc Daisy finds herself on the auction block at SPC. Not expecting any interest Daisy is surprised when there’s a bidding war between to men for an hour date with her.

Ultimately billionaire Ronan Kade wins the auction. Interesting because he’s the reason she’s working at the club. Daisy goes looking for answers and gets so much more. Once getting to know Ronan, Daisy finds out he’s not what she expected.

As with all the SPC books I throughly enjoyed this book too. Sara Cate has an amazing ability of merging spice, drama and whirlwind emotions/situations together in a way that’s not only entertaining, seamless but it’s leaves you wanting more. I really enjoyed exploring the new side of kinks within this series, loving when “Daddy” Ronan helps Daisy to explore her sexuality and how Daisy gets a taste of the extremely sought after pleasure dom.

While I find most SPC books can be read as individual books this one does have spoilers about the previous books so I’d definitely recommend reading the others first. That being said I adored reading this book and I’d certainly recommend reading it and the series if you like taboo romance. 🔥

🔞 Warning this book contains explicit content and tropes not everyone may like. My page is a no-hate zone. Don’t ick someone’s yum.

Tropes include but aren’t limited to:
- Age gap (30+ Years)
- Daddy kink
- Insta-love/attraction

Content Warnings

icelandicbookreview's review against another edition

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2.5

this just... was not it for me. the FMC's inner dialogue when it came to the MMC was just too much for me at some points. if that would have been different, I honestly think I would have liked this one more. plus, that twist towards the end? unnecessary. and that's coming from someone who enjoys that trope

Content Warnings

sarakeepsgoing's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

andeng's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Content Warnings

jessiereads98's review against another edition

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fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Sara Cate’s writing just isn’t very strong. Daisy is a basic two dimensional main character who I found incredibly cringey. I had to read far too much about her songs that weren’t good. Ronan was likeable enough as a main character, but again very surface level with not a lot going on. Everything that happened was predictable.

Last, but certainly not least, surprise pregnancy trope is tired, never really a surprise to the reader, and just plain sucks. Authors should retire that one. Let alone surprise breeding kink.

This all could’ve been done without the weird detail that he had previously been in a relationship with her mother. The story realistically would’ve been the same if it was about two people working through their grief and unhealthy coping mechanisms.

It ultimately doesn’t end up being why they break up. They break up due to their individual issues they need to work through. (Which I guess Ronan just never does? We never see him work through any issues, and he himself says that he hasn’t.) The line at the end about Daisy picking up where her mother left off and their hearts beating for the same man is also just weird, and squicks me out.

Additionally, I don’t understand why Daisy’s musical aspirations are made such a big deal of.

Ultimately, she doesn’t go to music school like she dreamed, and it seems like nothing really comes of any music career for her. The impression I got was that she gave it up to be a mother to Ronan’s kids; which really makes Ronan’s comment about bringing a strong woman to her knees for him look bad.

Content Warnings

weelasswithabook's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

*** ARC received in exchange for an honest review ***

CW: graphic sexual content, cancer, grief, death of loved ones, deception, homelessness

⭐️ Age Gap romance
⭐️ BDSM erotic romance

🌶 Daddy kink
🌶 Impact play
🌶 Pleasure dom
🌶 Restraints

Okay this one surprised me...

The SPC series is widely known for it's extremely spicy scenes and having a true emotional connection. They are notoriously wonderful romance novels.

However, the whole tone of Highest Bidder felt extremely different (not in a bad way, just generally). This was much softer and emotionally driven with the themes of grief and loss pushing the characters through the story.

This didn't detract from the erotic content of the book whatsoever (for those who follow the SPC series more for the spicy aspects) in fact, with the softer tone, it created a more startling contrast when it came to the erotic content. There was plenty of spice and kink in there to 110% categorise is as an erotic romance 👀

My only criticism was the instalove (or more just a really speedily falling in love would be a fairer description) vibe I got. And this is simply a me issue, not a reflection on the standard of the book itself. I think had there been a little slower of a burn, the emotional connection between the two might have been a little more impactful in the long run.

The conflict in itself was pretty solidified right at the start, but there was that anxious anticipation of not knowing when it was going to crop up. So it saved it from being predictable. I liked that it appeared when it did and how it did because it really propelled the character's relationship into a flux. And it's not a petty miscommunication trope either, it's a biggie.

One thing I really appreciated was the fact that the heroine wasn't saved or left needing to be saved by the hero. She healed and grew on her own to come to terms with her grief and take care of herself.

I cannot wait to see what's to come next.

Content Warnings

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