Taking It Off by Claire Kent brings to readers the story of 26 year old Elizabeth Marks, art therapist working at an exclusive preschool in Boston, and Matt Stokes, owner of a male strip club called Bare Assets, a man with a tough past. Elizabeth comes from a wealthy and influential family, a father who is involved in politics, and as a result, Elizabeth struggles with meeting the expectations of her parents and balancing the desire for a structured, picture-perfect life. Matt who inherits the strip club from his father, is a man who went through a difficult upbringing, which includes dealing with mother’s addiction.

Elizabeth and Matt crosses paths when she reluctantly attends her college roommate’s bachelorette party held at Bare Assets. Given Elizabeth’s nature, she is uncomfortable with the club’s atmosphere and the performers, but notices Matt who stands apart from the others, in his role of overseeing the events as it happens at the bar. When Matt, after a brief conversation with Elizabeth challenges her to return to the club twice a week for a month to see if her feelings for the club changes, this serves to be the foundation of the relationship that burgeons to life between them.

While Elizabeth and Matt could not be more different from each other in terms of upbringing and status in life, Elizabeth is nevertheless drawn to the raw masculinity that is Matt. While Matt has long since given up performing at the club, he nevertheless puts up a show when it comes to Elizabeth.Both believe that their “just-for-sex” affair would be amount to nothing, and when it starts to transform into something more and tangible, each reacts differently to the change.

With the increasing emotional intensity of their encounters, both are forced to face the fact that even though they are as different as two people can be, there is no denying that they somehow fit and mesh well with each other. Elizabeth who starts out as a perfectionist, bound by familial and societal expectations, who grows into someone willing to explore her desires and challenge her boundaries made me admire her in spades. Her struggle to balance personal aspirations with external pressures makes her relatable and her vulnerability and moments of self-doubt adds depth to her character.

I also loved the fact that she is able to hold her own in difficult situations, especially when standing up to Matt during conflicts, and her inner determination to prioritize what is meaningful for her. Matt, despite his tough exterior and rough background, reveals the side of him that is caring, especially when it comes to dealing with his mother’s addiction, adding a layer to his otherwise strong, and at times cold and aloof nature that acts as an emotional front. Matt’s playful, confident nature which challenges Elizabeth makes him compelling and sexy, all in one.

While Matt is the one with the tough exterior, that in fact makes him more vulnerable and susceptible to the package that Elizabeth presents, totally different from the women he typically engages with. Her kindness, intelligence, and vulnerability lures him in, and it is not long before he starts to see her as more than temporary fling. Matt therefore, has his work cut out for him when it comes to convincing Elizabeth to let go of her vision of a picture perfect life and give them a chance over her preconceived notions of what she wants in a partner.

The chemistry between Matt and Elizabeth is fiery and I loved how they are able to push each other out of their comfort zones in bed and out of it. The combination of Matt’s rawness and Elizabeth’s refinement creates a dynamic that is intriguing and emotionally charged, giving the story the angst factor it deserved.

This story, while not as polished as the Ms. Kent’s more recent works, is still engaging. The narrative however, does miss out on fully exploring how Elizabeth’s parents perceive the relationship and what ultimately becomes of Matt’s situation with his mother, which could have added further depth to the story.

Highly recommended for fans of contemporary romances that bring together refined, classy heroines and rugged, rough-around-the-edges heroes who unexpectedly become the best thing that ever happened to them.

Final Verdict: Taking It Off by Claire Kent delivers a steamy and emotionally charged romance that bridges the divide between two vastly different worlds.

Favorite Quotes

“Ride me until you come,” he said, guiding the motion of her hips as her bouncing became even more vigorous, so he wouldn’t accidentally slip out of her. It didn’t take long until her pants turned to breathy grunts and then to cries of pleasure as her pussy started to clench hard around his cock.
The orgasm lasted a long time, and she hadn’t fully come down when he started to fuck her from below, pumping up with a hungry rhythm that felt exactly right to her.

Pleasure filled his head and chest as he worked her up to climax, pressing against her clit when her soft grunts became ragged and helpless. She came hard around his fingers, and he watched as the pleasure washed over her face.
It was better than any high he’d ever experienced, the way she looked like she was feeling something entirely new to her, like he was making her feel a way no one else ever had.

She was very wet—wetter than she could ever remember being so quickly, wetter than she’d even been the week before with Matt. She wondered what it said about her that she was at her horniest when she had sex with a stripper, but as soon as his finger was inside her, those questions ceased to matter.
Involuntarily Elizabeth arched her back, her mouth falling open soundlessly as he fucked her with his fingers. He wasn’t showing any particularly skill. The movement of his fingers was rushed and almost clumsy, but his touch was entirely effective.

“You’re about to come, aren’t you?” he rasped, his eyes raking over her hot face and jiggling breasts.
“Yeah. Oh yeah.”
“It’s going to be good, isn’t it?” “Yeah!” The one word was too loud so she turned her head and raised a hand to stuff her fist into her mouth.
“Fuck, baby, don’t try to fight it.”

“What you’re wearing tonight definitely isn’t. Did you wear those boots for me?” Matt asked, pressing her back against him more fully so she could feel the line of his long, firm, very warm body.
“No. I wore them for me.”
“Too bad.” He tilted his head so he could murmur very softly in her ear. “Later tonight I’m going to have you on the desk with your legs in the air, boots and all. You know that, right?”
Her pussy clenched hard, and she lost her breath.
“You like the sound of that, don’t you? You like the idea of being so naughty.”
She swallowed, shifting restlessly in response to the ache between her legs. She could hardly speak, she was so deeply aroused so quickly, just by his words.
“Tell me the truth,” he instructed, his big hand on her hip. “You like how that sounds, don’t you?”
“Yeah,” she admitted. “I like it.”

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you? You’d like for me to turn you over this bar and fuck you hard and rough so everyone could see how sexy you really are.”
“Don’t be…be ridiculous.” Her hand was trembling so much she had to put down her glass. The throbbing between her legs just got more and more intense.
“I could make you come right here, right now.”
She closed her eyes and moved a hand to grip the arm he had wrapped around her. She felt the need to hold on.
“Do you want me to?” he asked, still murmuring in her ear.

He wanted to howl. But instead he focused on giving Elizabeth what she needed—fucking her hard and fast.
She stuffed her fist in her mouth to muffle her shout as she came, sobbing over her hand as her pussy clamped down unbearably hard around his cock.
Matt grunted and jerked his head to the side, fighting desperately for control.

He wanted her to come. He hoped he could last long enough. With a rough exclamation, he drove into her faster, gripping the soft flesh of her ass so hard it would probably bruise later on.
“Yes,” she gasped. “Yes.” She was so wet he could hear sounds of suction as his cock pushed inside her.
He was fucking her really hard and kind of rough now, but she definitely wanted it. Her fingernails dug into his skin, as if she was trying to get him even deeper, even closer.
“Fuck, Elizabeth,” he gritted out, his building climax coalescing into an impending explosion. He gave her all he had and finally felt her pussy tighten around him again, her body convulsing as she sobbed out her release.

Elizabeth moaned, low and guttural, as he started to apply pressure against the damp spot on her panties. Still reclining on top of him, she reached up and behind her with one arm, settling her hand at the back of his neck. As her body became more and more responsive, she fisted her hand in his hair. “And what’s the truth?”
“That this is what you want.” His voice was huskier than usual because of the pulsing pressure from his cock. “That as much as you try to fight it, you’re always going to come back to me.”

He let out his breath in a harsh whoosh and bucked his pelvis so that his cock made a hard thrust inside her. “Let me see you come,” he rasped, feeling his own climax finally overwhelming him. He thrust upward again, pulling her down to meet the force of it. “Come for me.”
Elizabeth cried out, her body starting to spasm and her face twisting with what looked like agonizing pain.
The sudden brutal clench of her inner muscles around his cock was all that Matt could take. He felt the pleasure draw up in his balls and force its way out in pulsing waves that leveled him for the moment. He made a rough sound as he came hard and violently, the sensations ripping through his whole body.

She wasn’t even aware of their location, making out against her car in the middle of the parking lot of a strip club. Nothing mattered but how she was feeling—how they both were feeling—right now.
“Matt, please,” she panted, finally tearing her mouth away when she thought she might actually pass out. “I want you now. I need you now.”
He made a low groan in the back of his throat, and he pushed up her skirt and lifted one of her thighs so her leg was wrapped around his. He ground himself against her pussy through their clothes, and she let out a frantic whimper from the intense pleasure of it.

He made another guttural sound, like he was on the verge of losing it just as much as she was. He gathered her up to get her into a better position, bracing her against the car, and then he eased his hips forward, moving aside her panties and guiding his cock inside her with one hand.
She let out a breathy cry as the hard substance of him entered her. She wrapped her legs around him as tightly as she could, trapped and helpless in her position. She wasn’t entirely comfortable, but she couldn’t have cared less about that. Nothing had ever felt so deep, so intense, so real, so thrilling in her life.

“You’re not the girl everyone thinks you are.” His voice was rough and low and staccato with his rhythm. “You’re not the girl you always thought you were. This is you. Stop holding back.”
She heard his words with a blaze of feeling, and then a blaze of pleasure followed in close pursuit as her orgasm finally uncoiled.
She made a helpless sobbing sound as her pussy contracted around Matt’s cock, and he let out a stifled bellow as the pleasure broke on his face as well. He made a few jerks against her as he climaxed, primal in his animalistic motion.

“Elizabeth,” he murmured, his breath blowing against her hot skin. “Elizabeth.”
“Take me to bed, Matt.” He groaned and his hips gave a little jerk. She realized for the first time that he’d gotten hard improbably soon, a tight bulge in the front of his trousers as it pressed up against her weight. This evidence of how much he wanted her, needed her, made something inside her want to howl in satisfied possession.
She wanted this man, with all of his hot tension and fierce sexuality and deep need. She wanted him. And he was hers.

“So sweet,” he rasped in choppy, guttural succession. “So good. Elizabeth. Baby.”
She made a sobbing sound as she arched beneath him—the words pushing her to the edge of climax. “Matt,” she cried out as the tension tightened with unbearable pleasure. “Oh God, Matt!”
Her body shuddered and shook as the waves of her orgasm ripped through her. Her channel clamped down around him, trapping him inside her as she pulsed.
He choked on an agonized groan as his body clenched and froze in palpable tension. “You can have hope in this, Matt,” she gasped, trembling and on the verge of tears.
He let go. Of everything. And the shattering pleasure and release on his face were impossible not to understand.

Matt made a hoarse sound and jerked his hips. He fell out of rhythm, but at this point it didn’t matter. Elizabeth was already falling into her climax.
Matt came just before she did, burying his face in her hair and choking on the sound of her name. As his cock was pulsing inside her, Elizabeth came as well, not trying to stifle the loud sound of her release.

“Elizabeth,” Matt ground out through clenched teeth. The one word almost sounded like a plea. He was clearly on the edge himself, holding himself off of her, his handsome face twisted with passion, effort, and strain.
She came on his next thrust, her body freezing as the pleasure slammed into her with his cock. Then she shook and whimpered beneath him while her pussy spasmed hard around him.
“Elizabeth!” Matt repeated, this time choking on a roar as he froze for an endless moment. Then the tension in his body exploded, and he jerked erratically above her and gasped her name again.

She panted out helpless sounds, her face twisting with how much she was feeling. Her pelvis pumped upward wildly, causing his cock—which he had been holding still—to slide inside her with a tight, delicious motion.
Matt’s mouth fell open slightly, and his eyelids dropped down. He gazed at Elizabeth with half-closed, blurring eyes. “Yeah,” he murmured thickly. “Yeah, baby, come. Come.”
She let out a little sob as her body tightened unbearably. Then her muscles clamped down ruthlessly around his cock, causing Matt to grunt as he felt her climax all around the hard length of his flesh.

Elizabeth cried out, her voice growing progressively louder as she jerked and shook above him. “Oh God, Matt!”
Matt felt all the collected pleasure and pressure in his body clench down just before the release. He bucked upward one more time. Heard Elizabeth cry out as she came. Felt her begin to convulse above him.
He roared out—completely uncontrolled for the moment—in relief, in victory, in love. Felt his climax explode and burst out, the spasms of it washing over his body and pulsing through his cock.

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