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booksplantsandtea's review against another edition
4.0
Well, this one took an unexpected turn...
This isn't the first book I've read by Opal Carew, so by now I knew what to expect: lots of sex and not as much dialogue and story as I like. So when I started reading and there were pretty much only sex scenes, I wasn't surprised. Don't get me wrong, Ms. Carew writes very hot sex scenes but I prefer more dialogue and story to go with it.
There are however a few things that didn't sit right by me. Like how does Reid know Stevies full name when they have never met before? And that one Dom/sub scene which was thrown in, but didn't feel quite right.
Anyway, halfway through there began to be some story (not gonna elaborate, because spoilers, right?) and I was pleasantly surprised. I started to enjoy the book more and more. Until at about 80% when the book seemed to get it's happy ending soon and there was still 20% to read. What happened after that, well, let's say I did not expect to read this story when I originally opened the book and started reading.
To keep this short, I'd say this book is definitely worthwhile. It's hot, has a nice storyline and two hot guys. A girl can't ask for more, can she?
**I received a free copy by the editor through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**
Thank you!
This isn't the first book I've read by Opal Carew, so by now I knew what to expect: lots of sex and not as much dialogue and story as I like. So when I started reading and there were pretty much only sex scenes, I wasn't surprised. Don't get me wrong, Ms. Carew writes very hot sex scenes but I prefer more dialogue and story to go with it.
There are however a few things that didn't sit right by me. Like how does Reid know Stevies full name when they have never met before? And that one Dom/sub scene which was thrown in, but didn't feel quite right.
Anyway, halfway through there began to be some story (not gonna elaborate, because spoilers, right?) and I was pleasantly surprised. I started to enjoy the book more and more. Until at about 80% when the book seemed to get it's happy ending soon and there was still 20% to read. What happened after that, well, let's say I did not expect to read this story when I originally opened the book and started reading.
To keep this short, I'd say this book is definitely worthwhile. It's hot, has a nice storyline and two hot guys. A girl can't ask for more, can she?
**I received a free copy by the editor through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**
Thank you!
jaimejustreadsromance's review against another edition
3.0
I think that the blurb for this book gives a false narrative of what to expect of this story.
Luckily, I'm pretty open-minded and can deal with some pretty taboo things in my romance novels but I foresee some upset readers who stumble upon this book and get a little surprise from the actual content.
The sex scenes were actually pretty frickin hot and I loved reading them but even I couldn't really believe in the love story between Reid and Stevie. The character and story development were just too lacking for me to truly enjoy as a complete story. However, if you're looking for a good story for some one-handed reading, go ahead and pick this one up.
*I received an ARC from NetGalley for voluntary review
Luckily, I'm pretty open-minded and can deal with some pretty taboo things in my romance novels but I foresee some upset readers who stumble upon this book and get a little surprise from the actual content.
The sex scenes were actually pretty frickin hot and I loved reading them but even I couldn't really believe in the love story between Reid and Stevie. The character and story development were just too lacking for me to truly enjoy as a complete story. However, if you're looking for a good story for some one-handed reading, go ahead and pick this one up.
*I received an ARC from NetGalley for voluntary review
peggyemi's review against another edition
3.0
I was a bit surprised by this book as it was not quite what the blurb described. I have read other books by this author and received an ARC via Netgalley for this one based upon what I have read in the past. It wasn't a bad book, however, I think that some readers would be upset and perhaps disappointed to be surprised by content that is not quite what the description promises. I'm fairly open minded, but was disappointed because the book was not what I expected. It wasn't a bad book and the steamy scenes were exactly that. I thought that the relationship between Stevie and Reid could have been developed more. It felt superficial to me. The ending also felt a bit rushed for me as well.
rlp78's review
4.0
Holy Moly
Well that was not at all what I was expecting. I read the blurb and that was it so I had no clue this would be a ménage story. Wow was it hot. There was definitely some pointless drama but overall the story was good. I would have liked a bit of an epilogue but overall I enjoyed it.
Well that was not at all what I was expecting. I read the blurb and that was it so I had no clue this would be a ménage story. Wow was it hot. There was definitely some pointless drama but overall the story was good. I would have liked a bit of an epilogue but overall I enjoyed it.
smbmar's review against another edition
4.0
This book was not what I was expecting it to be. Reid and Stevie make for an interesting read. However, there was so much drama on Stevie's part that it was a bit distracting. It was a good book to read, but won't go down as one of mt favorites.
Note, I did receive an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Note, I did receive an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
jaimereadsromance's review against another edition
3.0
I think that the blurb for this book gives a false narrative of what to expect of this story.
Luckily, I'm pretty open-minded and can deal with some pretty taboo things in my romance novels but I foresee some upset readers who stumble upon this book and get a little surprise from the actual content.
The sex scenes were actually pretty frickin hot and I loved reading them but even I couldn't really believe in the love story between Reid and Stevie. The character and story development were just too lacking for me to truly enjoy as a complete story. However, if you're looking for a good story for some one-handed reading, go ahead and pick this one up.
*I received an ARC from NetGalley for voluntary review
Luckily, I'm pretty open-minded and can deal with some pretty taboo things in my romance novels but I foresee some upset readers who stumble upon this book and get a little surprise from the actual content.
The sex scenes were actually pretty frickin hot and I loved reading them but even I couldn't really believe in the love story between Reid and Stevie. The character and story development were just too lacking for me to truly enjoy as a complete story. However, if you're looking for a good story for some one-handed reading, go ahead and pick this one up.
*I received an ARC from NetGalley for voluntary review
kazen's review against another edition
1.0
There are so many problems here but first,
The good-ish:
- The rich/poor trope gets circumvented, releasing some oh-no-this-can't-work tension.
- The writing holds its own.
The not-so-good:
- Cab driver picks up a hot fare, drives to a deserted alley, and has unprotected sex with him. In the entirety of the book there isn't a single mention of condoms, birth control, or health status, even when a third person is brought into the relationship. When a book is set in the modern day real world completely ignoring STDs and pregnancy is at best unreasonable, and at worst irresponsible. I'm not asking for a lot - a mention of a clean test, a wrapper crinkle - but give me something.
- Amazing sex equals instant love. Never mind that getting to know you stuff or talking about your childhood - love is transmitted from the penis to the vagina, apparently.
- ...and not from penis to penis. A second man is brought in and is sexual with both Stevie and Reid, but his feelings are never considered. He's treated like a human sex toy - nice to have around, but not a member of the relationship. Not cool.
- BDSM elements are brought in carelessly, without a warning or a safe word. And not just light bondage - a ball gag, people. No. No no.
- While the sex is hot some of it defies physics. At one point I thought, "no way is all of that fitting in there that easily."
- The Big Misunderstanding is a product of the heroine being idiotic.
All in all - grah.
The good-ish:
- The rich/poor trope gets circumvented, releasing some oh-no-this-can't-work tension.
- The writing holds its own.
The not-so-good:
- Cab driver picks up a hot fare, drives to a deserted alley, and has unprotected sex with him. In the entirety of the book there isn't a single mention of condoms, birth control, or health status, even when a third person is brought into the relationship. When a book is set in the modern day real world completely ignoring STDs and pregnancy is at best unreasonable, and at worst irresponsible. I'm not asking for a lot - a mention of a clean test, a wrapper crinkle - but give me something.
- Amazing sex equals instant love. Never mind that getting to know you stuff or talking about your childhood - love is transmitted from the penis to the vagina, apparently.
- ...and not from penis to penis. A second man is brought in and is sexual with both Stevie and Reid, but his feelings are never considered. He's treated like a human sex toy - nice to have around, but not a member of the relationship. Not cool.
- BDSM elements are brought in carelessly, without a warning or a safe word. And not just light bondage - a ball gag, people. No. No no.
- While the sex is hot some of it defies physics. At one point I thought, "no way is all of that fitting in there that easily."
- The Big Misunderstanding is a product of the heroine being idiotic.
All in all - grah.
meags's review against another edition
1.0
tl; dr: no plot, just badly written porn
***
The story:
I'm no stranger to a racy novel. In fact, some of my favorites have some pretty explicit content. However, I do tend to require some kind of plot with my novels, and this book ... did not have one. It had just as much plot as I imagine a pornographic film would, meaning it was pretty thinly developed and barely made sense, stringing together the erotic scenes rather than composing a story.
The description for this book is 100% inaccurate, especially since 'Rex' is not a character in this book. The handsome billionaire is Reid, and what the description also doesn't say is that Stevie becomes entangled in a menage-a-trois with Reid's roommate and business partner, Dylan (who is also a billionaire, but he's different, he's 'bad' because he has tattoos).
The first part of the book takes place over only a couple of days, and both Reid and Stevie fall head over heels in love, which is ridiculous, particularly when it seemed like she had a better connection and more things in common with Dylan the whole time. The 'conflict' makes no sense (jealousy over Stevie's ex-fiance) and is not earned.
The smut is the entire purpose of this book, and in general, it's fine. It's racy and explicit, and if that's what you're here for, well, you got it. There are many parts that are so unrealistic they border on fantasy. Things like consent and safety are totally overlooked, and none of the characters even seem to acknowledge it. There are no STIs or pregnancy risks in this alternate universe. Arousal is nearly instant. If you like your smut to have a little foreplay, look away, because this isn't for you.
There's a 'twist' near the end right before the HEA is supposed to be achieved, and it came out of nowhere (figuratively and literally), and just tosses a weird conflict in between the two characters. When they finally begin to sort things out,he immediately proposes marriage to her. I laughed out loud. It was just completely ridiculous.
Technical elements:
Where do I even begin? This book is riddled with typos, missing words, wrong words, and other errors. I find it hard to believe that such a large publisher would go ahead with this, but there you go. Romance is generally considered to be the bottom of the barrel in the literary world because it's written by women for women, and I can rail against that another day, but this book in particular is a good example of why it's not taken seriously.
Ever heard of purple prose? Here's a great example for you. Every single time a character's eyes are references (looking, gazing, etc., included), the author includes the specific eye color they have. Reid's eyes are described as 'cobalt blue' 18 times (and that's not the only shade of blue they are called, but seriously?). Any time there is a meal served, it's described like it would be on a menu. The male anatomy is so overly described it's painful. She calls the female outer labia 'petals'. I won't go on.
Final thoughts:
This book reminded me of terrible fan fiction. I've seen more subtle storylines on soap operas. If you're looking for a hyper-unrealistic erotic m/f/m fantasy, here it is. If you want an actual story with character development, look elsewhere. I recommend [a:Nina Lane|5785925|Nina Lane|http://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1488914258p2/5785925.jpg] or [a:Tiffany Reisz|4480131|Tiffany Reisz|http://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1337395840p2/4480131.jpg].
***
The story:
I'm no stranger to a racy novel. In fact, some of my favorites have some pretty explicit content. However, I do tend to require some kind of plot with my novels, and this book ... did not have one. It had just as much plot as I imagine a pornographic film would, meaning it was pretty thinly developed and barely made sense, stringing together the erotic scenes rather than composing a story.
The description for this book is 100% inaccurate, especially since 'Rex' is not a character in this book. The handsome billionaire is Reid, and what the description also doesn't say is that Stevie becomes entangled in a menage-a-trois with Reid's roommate and business partner, Dylan (who is also a billionaire, but he's different, he's 'bad' because he has tattoos).
The first part of the book takes place over only a couple of days, and both Reid and Stevie fall head over heels in love, which is ridiculous, particularly when it seemed like she had a better connection and more things in common with Dylan the whole time. The 'conflict' makes no sense (jealousy over Stevie's ex-fiance) and is not earned.
The smut is the entire purpose of this book, and in general, it's fine. It's racy and explicit, and if that's what you're here for, well, you got it. There are many parts that are so unrealistic they border on fantasy. Things like consent and safety are totally overlooked, and none of the characters even seem to acknowledge it. There are no STIs or pregnancy risks in this alternate universe. Arousal is nearly instant. If you like your smut to have a little foreplay, look away, because this isn't for you.
There's a 'twist' near the end right before the HEA is supposed to be achieved, and it came out of nowhere (figuratively and literally), and just tosses a weird conflict in between the two characters. When they finally begin to sort things out,
Technical elements:
Where do I even begin? This book is riddled with typos, missing words, wrong words, and other errors. I find it hard to believe that such a large publisher would go ahead with this, but there you go. Romance is generally considered to be the bottom of the barrel in the literary world because it's written by women for women, and I can rail against that another day, but this book in particular is a good example of why it's not taken seriously.
Ever heard of purple prose? Here's a great example for you. Every single time a character's eyes are references (looking, gazing, etc., included), the author includes the specific eye color they have. Reid's eyes are described as 'cobalt blue' 18 times (and that's not the only shade of blue they are called, but seriously?). Any time there is a meal served, it's described like it would be on a menu. The male anatomy is so overly described it's painful. She calls the female outer labia 'petals'. I won't go on.
Final thoughts:
This book reminded me of terrible fan fiction. I've seen more subtle storylines on soap operas. If you're looking for a hyper-unrealistic erotic m/f/m fantasy, here it is. If you want an actual story with character development, look elsewhere. I recommend [a:Nina Lane|5785925|Nina Lane|http://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1488914258p2/5785925.jpg] or [a:Tiffany Reisz|4480131|Tiffany Reisz|http://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1337395840p2/4480131.jpg].
cheryls's review against another edition
4.0
This book features Stevie and Reid. It also features Reid's best friend Dylan. The story line is loosely based on a movie but with quite a few red hot, steamy changes. I loved Reid and Dylan. Both sexy in completely opposite ways. I would have liked to see a bit more of Reid's dominant side. I feel he let go of something that was a part of his baser nature, way too easy. Also, I would have liked to get to know Dylan a bit better. And Stevie? Her character was strong and she stuck to her principles…until she felt any kind of attraction for a few members of the opposite sex. If her character had been strong to the bone, this would have been a five star read for me.
lauraanne9's review against another edition
3.0
***ARC Provided by the Publisher via NetGalley***
3.5 Stars
Opal Carew writes erotic fiction. As I recall, her profile says as much.
This was erotic. They meet in a cab and pull over for sex in an alley before the first ride is over. If this doesn't work for you, stop reading now. Because, it only gets more erotic from there. Into the story comes bondage, submission and a threesome.
And, it works. It is well written, the sex is hot and, well, erotic. I appreciate Opal Carew's writing as she actually tells a story in the middle of the sex, which is not something that always happens in erotic fiction...and this is the reason I keep reading her.
That and the hot sex. :)
I recommend this book.
***This and other reviews featured on our blog “Booked All Night” http://bookedallnightblog.com/ and here: https://www.facebook.com/BookedAllNight/***
3.5 Stars
Opal Carew writes erotic fiction. As I recall, her profile says as much.
This was erotic. They meet in a cab and pull over for sex in an alley before the first ride is over. If this doesn't work for you, stop reading now. Because, it only gets more erotic from there. Into the story comes bondage, submission and a threesome.
And, it works. It is well written, the sex is hot and, well, erotic. I appreciate Opal Carew's writing as she actually tells a story in the middle of the sex, which is not something that always happens in erotic fiction...and this is the reason I keep reading her.
That and the hot sex. :)
I recommend this book.
***This and other reviews featured on our blog “Booked All Night” http://bookedallnightblog.com/ and here: https://www.facebook.com/BookedAllNight/***