Format: E-Book Read with: Kindle Oasis Length: Novel Genre: Contemporary Romance POV: Third Person, Dual Series: Playing for Love, #4 Publisher: Self-Published Hero: Patrick Fitzgerald Heroine: Cheryl Karalis-Walker Sensuality: 🔥🔥🔥 Published On: December 05, 2023 Started On: December 16, 2023 Finished On: December 23, 2023
Back into It by Eve Dangerfield, first published in December 2023, is the fourth installment in her Playing for Love series. I dived straight into book four and found myself right at home, never feeling as if I should have read the series in order. I am a sucker for a friends-to-lovers romance, my most favorite theme in the world of romance. However, it is rare to come across a good friends-to-lovers romance nowadays, and Ms. Dangerfield being one of my go-to authors in contemporary romance, I did not hesitate to grab myself a copy.
Told from dual perspectives of the main protagonists, Back into It brings to readers the story of 32 year old Cheryl Karalis-Walker, a social media consultant whose work is cut out for her when it comes to her personal life. While she is intelligent, witty, and smart, she does not see herself as someone worthy of a long-term love or relationship, which makes her shy away from any such prospects, especially with her closest male friend Patrick.
23 year old Patrick Fitzgerald is a professional Australian Football League player, who is passionate, headstrong, and deeply in love with Cheryl. Despite their friendship and being in love with her, he maintains close ties with Cheryl, and struggles with her resistance to view him as an ideal partner for life.
While Patrick is comfortable with his feelings, it is Cheryl who has a hard time reconciling with the age difference between them, having always stuck to older men when it comes to her relationships. Being labeled as a cougar is not something Cheryl looks forward to, and society’s judgmental nature when it comes to an older woman dating a younger man, especially in light of Patrick’s rising fame as a professional athlete makes her more hesitant to take that step.
Cheryl also battles with a complicated past, including a challenging childhood and fraught relationships. An absentee father and an ailing mother had forced Cheryl to grow up way before she had to, and being the primary caregiver to her mother adds onto her emotional baggage. As a result, Cheryl has emotional walls that are practically impenetrable, and even as she and Patrick grows closer over time, she dares not give in.
Patrick is an adorable hero in many ways. His unwavering devotion to Cheryl is the kind you witness, not through empty words, but because of his actions. He stands up for her, prioritizes her well-being over his own needs, and never ever questions his belief that they belong together, which helps Cheryl to overcome her fears.
Patrick is also one of the most patient heroes I have come across. Cheryl certainly resists hard, whenever she feels as if she is going to be overcome with feelings for Patrick. Fleeing for cover is in her nature, a protective mechanism, and it is Patrick who understands this instinct in her and allows her to be, rather than pressure her into accepting him.
At the same time, Patrick also challenges Cheryl’s misgivings about the age difference and societal judgments and refuses to let her use that as a primary excuse to keep him at bay, when he knows in his heart that theirs would be a love ever so grand.
While Cheryl at first was a character that I did not respect much, I found myself falling in love with her as I saw deep into her psyche and understood where she was coming from. To see her growth from someone who shied away from commitments and slept around, to someone who saw in Patrick what it would mean to be loved by someone who truly sees you – that in essence was why I fell in love with her.
Cheryl is also someone who is strong and determined, with an inner core of vulnerability; I could totally see why Patrick fell in love with over their shared hobbies such as hiking, watching horror movies, and getting brunch together. I also loved how honest she is with herself, about how she enjoys being desired by men and how she goes out of her way to ensure that she looks good when she wants to. She does not shy away from the concept that she likes it, and that I felt was refreshing for a change.
Patrick is a hero easy to love. His devotion, playful and yet grounded nature, maturity beyond his years, protective nature without it being toxic, his patience and persistence – all scored big with me. While there is incredible chemistry between the two, I did feel a bit cheated out on the sexy times that Ms. Dangerfield does so well in most of her books. This was a story heavier on emotional and personal growth than it was on the sensuality aspect and I guess it did work for the story line.
Recommended for those who love an emotionally well-balanced story, featuring a skittish heroine and a hero whose patience alone makes you fall head over heels for him.
Final Verdict: Back into It by Eve Dangerfield delivers a heartfelt friends-to-lovers romance with emotionally rich characters for fans of deeply layered love stories.
Favorite Quotes
With eyes like flint, Patrick pinned her hands. He rocked to one side to expose her bare thighs and then his hand was up her skirt. Cheryl made a noise like she had a puncture. “We’ll do this slow,” he said, eyes still on hers. “But you’re gonna come for me. It’s been too long.”
He licked her gently. She tasted clean and soft and salty-sweet. He kept going, moving experimentally, trying to find what would make her feel good. When he pressed his tongue to her clit she made a noise like she’d started crying again. He pulled back. “You okay?” “Yes. No. It’s too much. Too good. It feels like…” “What?” When she spoke, it was so quiet it was barely sound. “… like you love me.”
Format: E-Book Read with: Kindle Paperwhite Length: Novel Genre: Contemporary Romance POV: Third Person, Dual Series: Bennett Sisters, #1 Publisher: Self-Published Hero: Max Connor Heroine: Julia Bennett Sensuality: 🔥🔥🔥 Published On: March 07, 2016 Started On: February 21, 2023 Finished On: February 22, 2023
God knew Max had given her nothing, not so much a single hello in almost two years, and yet, and yet, and yet, her crush stuttered on like a corrupted MP3 file, making her feel electric and helpless and nauseous and depressed in turns.
Book one in the Bennett Sisters series is another wonderful story by the critically acclaimed author that is Eve Dangerfield. Locked Box, published initially in March of 2016, brings to readers the story of 33 year old Senior Constable Max Connor at the Brenthill Police Station where 25 year old Julia Bennett works as the IT person aka “computer girl”.
Julia harbors a massive crush on the all too married Max and that has been the case for a long time, something which mortifies and petrifies her in equal doses. When on the eve of a long weekend, Julia gets roped into organizing the entire computer section of the Brenthill Evidence Room which is definitely not a one person job, and she gets locked in the the room, the man who strides to her “rescue” is none other than Max himself.
When a series of mishaps ends up with both of them locked in together, things start to get interesting as we get our first insights into how Max actually feels about Julia and the truth about his marital status. Max and Julia met years ago, a night that has left its impression on both of them equally. While Max moved on and got hitched, Julia has steadily been working towards her goal of launching her own video game.
As things start to heat up between Julia and Max, it is Julia’s desperation that pushes past the reluctance and the walls that Max shields his heart with. A rushed marriage which had gone awry with time has left its mark on him, and having to suppress his needs has left him feeling him exhausted. But Julia tests every bit of his resistance until it lies in tatters around him, and he gives in to the scorching heat that has always existed between them since day one, something he has denied for far too long.
Max does not want to feel the way he does around Julia, all inept and mindlessly horny as he puts it. But then love and lust in combination does strange things to even the most intelligent and coherent of people and that is what makes him warier than ever. Even as Max tries to put distance between himself and Julia, things certainly do not go according to plan as Julia tests the reserves of his strength, and makes him question every aspect of why he had walked away all those years back.
I loved both Max and Julia and thoroughly enjoyed knowing that there was no way that Max was going to be able to walk away this time around. I loved how Ms. Dangerfield brought out the tidbits of their past entwining with the present, giving their attraction and the intense connection between the two more meaning. Max is wild for Julia, there is no doubt about that. And Julia has her work cut out for her when it comes to convincing Max to take that chance on her, which ends up being the factor that gave this story the angst that I always need in my romance novels.
Recommended for those who love a broody and reluctant hero who spikes up your heart rate just by stepping into the pages.
Final Verdict: Multi-layered with a forbidden love angle that we all love, Max’s intensity and Julia’s unwavering love made this memorable!
Favorite Quotes
“Max.” “That’s it, say my name.” Usually, an orgasm turned her body to stone, but this was so raw, so surreal, all Julia could do was thrash against Max, who was thankfully strong enough to keep her in check. She shrieked and shuddered and cursed enough to kill several fairies but he didn’t slow down, he kept stroking her G-spot until she did something she’d only ever done once before; gushed into his open palm. It was as excruciating as she remembered, painfully pleasurable, completely unable to be stopped.
Format: E-Book Read with: Kindle Paperwhite Length: Novel Genre: Contemporary Romance POV: Third Person, Dual Series: Standalone Publisher: Self-Published Hero: Blake Munroe Heroine: Autumn Martha Reynolds Sensuality: 🔥🔥🔥🔥 Published On: June 11, 2018 Started On: February 11, 2023 Finished On: February 21, 2023
When Autumn was nine, her cousin Jessica had brought home a Brazilian boyfriend. Josef spoke almost no English and Jessica spoke almost no Portuguese but they soon got engaged and moved in together. Autumn’s family had found the situation utterly bizarre. “How can you love someone if you don’t understand a bloody word they’re saying?” her mother moaned into the landline. “It’ll never work.” Autumn, too young to be tactful, had gone up to Jessica that Christmas and asked her how she could have a boyfriend if she didn’t know what he was saying. She’d never forget the look on Jessica’s face, the mysterious smile, the warmth in her eyes. “Everyone’s gossiping about me, aren’t they?” Autumn had nodded. “Well you can go tell them all I don’t care. Love isn’t just saying words. What we feel is real.”
Captivated by Tessa Bailey and Eve Dangerfield was first published in June of 2018. Both Ms. Bailey and Ms. Dangerfield are similar in the skill that they wield when it comes to writing emotional stories filled with hot and messy sex of the good kind, with a healthy dose of dirty talking in the mix. After all, Ms. Bailey holds the title of Queen of Dirty Talk for a very good reason. So needless to say, when these two queens get together to write a story, I would say all bets are off.
Told in the third person from the perspectives of Blake Munroe, the hero, and Autumn Martha Reynolds, the heroine, this is the story of how Autumn, who moves to New York from Australia with her boyfriend, finds herself minus the boyfriend, wallowing in self-pity, and stuck in a limbo, unable either make herself take that needed step to renew her visa or tell her family back home how her boyfriend of six years that she had doted on and followed across continents, whom she had basically supported for months, had cheated on her with a bunch of improv groupies.
Employed as a veterinarian, with a penchant for rescuing and nursing animals even at her apartment which would most likely be frowned upon by The Landlord, aka Blake, Autumn does not know how Blake ends up featured in her comic-book-style pornography as the lead male, who acts out her fantasies. When that piece of comic ends up with Blake by coincidence, Autumn is mortified and then turned on beyond reason when she realizes that Blake has a penchant for taking control and dominance in the bedroom, the perfect answer to her own needs.
Autumn and Blake are opposites in every sense. She is petite where he is large and formidable and she is outgoing while he is an introvert, who would rather spend his time at home doing what brings him peace. However, none of that seems to matter when the fireworks between them are so bright and vivid, answering a need each of them has been denying for far too long.
Autumn and Blake both have issues, Blake more so than Autumn with a past that remains a sore point for him, one that he has not made peace with. Blake has always felt the like he is the odd one out, even amidst his large circle of friends way back. His tendency to listen better than everyone else in a conversation means that his observations are insightful and honest, which most people do not seem to like.
Having gone through a betrayal of the kind that he cannot forgive nor forget, Blake isolates himself in the building that he has been leasing out to tenants for the past seven years. His first impression of Autumn when she moves is, is one that makes him wary, for she notices his limp and goes out of her way to be considerate of the fact while most people never do. Knowing that lusting after another man’s girlfriend was a big no no, Blake had stayed away until fate throws him that lifeline, and he recognizes the loneliness that is mirrored in Autumn’s eyes as his own.
While the sex between Autumn and Blake burns hotter and brighter, and Autumn manages to get Blake bit by bit out of his shadowed existence, Blake too wants only the best for Autumn, for her to be able to follow her dreams without the fear of failure. But when reality bites, and Blake takes things a bit too far for Autumn’s comfort, it is up to Blake to fight for Autumn, the one woman who he cannot live without, the sunshine to his darkness, and the light of his life.
I really enjoyed Captivated and while this reminded me a lot in some ways of Eve Dangerfield’s novel Degrees of Control, most of the elements in the story were uniquely Autumn and Blake. I loved Autumn and Blake in equal degrees; Autumn for her beautiful kindness and Blake for being the intuitive man that he is, able to discern what his woman needs and wants without having to ask.
Captivated was in many ways a stimulating (and I don’t mean it in the sexual sense) and thought provoking read. I did find myself questioning how certain aspects of Blake’s past were reconciled with so easily (even with the understanding that seven odd years had passed since). But since when has real life offered that chance to the majority of the people who go through life harrowing and challenging circumstances that pulls them to their lowest? I am glad for people who do get the chance to reconcile with their pasts, but I for one have yet to meet anyone who has been able to actually do that in real life. The best we can do is make peace with the past for our sake and move forward.
I also did not understand why Blake was in the wrong for cutting off his so called friends, who had all known what was going on behind his back. Your true friends would tell you the truth, no matter how hard it is for them to face the consequences that may arise from saying it as it is. I was #TeamBlake all the way, and even had he chose not to go down the road that he did, I would still have loved him. For who would not love a gentle giant who broods and is able to melt the panties off any heterosexual female?
Recommended for romance readers who love their heroes on the strong and silent side and their heroines with just the right touch of stubborn filled with a whole lot of love!
Final Verdict: Captivated is a story that left me pondering on betrayals in life and how much of what life throws our way can we truly reconcile with and forgive.
Favorite Quotes
Being held by him was like being held in a cage, a gentle, living cage. With another man it might have felt oppressive, but as Blake kissed her deeply, all she felt was warm and safe and turned the fuck on. Within seconds she was rubbing against him, moaning into his mouth. Her landlord couldn’t talk worth a damn but god he could kiss. He kissed like it was his mother language, like he could tell whole stories with his lips and tongue.
He removed his hand from her mouth and kissed her. This time the kiss was deep and hot and animalistic. He was claiming her, exerting his will over her weaker feminine frame. Autumn strained against his hands and found she couldn’t move an inch. Her arousal ratcheted up another degree and when he pulled away, she had to stop herself from moaning his name.
“What are you doing?” she said, sounding exactly as turned on as she was. He didn’t reply. Instead he bent down and inhaled along her neck. All the hairs on Autumn’s arms lifted and her knees shook so violently she thought she might fall. Looking down the dark hallway, she could see customers milling around, hear the indie folk playing on the speakers. No one knew she was alone with Blake, no one knew he was not quite touching her. He kissed her neck, raising goosebumps on her skin. His breathing was deep and harsh now, and she knew if she reached out and touched him, he would be rock hard beneath his jeans.
Blake’s tongue lapped her neck, tasting her sweat. “That’s it. Come for your owner, baby. Make him proud.” She did, bucking so wild and hard against her restraints that if Blake was any other man, she’d have worried about hurting him, but seeing as he was huge and hard, she decided not to be worried. Instead, she focused on the bright trickles of pleasure threading through her body like veins. She was flying.
“People always act like women are another species. Like they’re cats or planets or whatever the fuck else. It’s not hard to see what people want if you actually look and listen.” “That’s not really an answer.” Blake bent down so that their faces were close, their bodies contained in a private bubble of this noisy, trendy bar. “You’re a busy woman,” he said. “You feel obliged to give all of yourself all the time, to those dirty pigeons, to the gym instructor, to the other tenants. Now I found out your parents leaned on you pretty hard and that doesn’t surprise me at all. The day you moved in, you were the one making everything happen while your ex was on his phone. You…” He broke off. “What?” Autumn urged. “You cleared that path for me to walk through,” Blake muttered. “You saw my leg and you knew…that’s just not something a lot of people would have done, but you did. You care, Fun-Size, you notice things. You run the show and you do it well so people assume that’s what you want.” “And isn’t it?” she whispered. Blake shook his head. “Nope. You want me to order your drinks, pick where we eat and choose how we fuck. You don’t care if I pick a pink drink, or a blue one. If I screw you standing up, or on your back. You care about not having to decide. You want someone else to be dependable for once. To make you feel like if you fall, someone else can catch you. That’s why being tied up makes you feel free. It puts the burden of responsibility on me, that way you can relax and enjoy yourself without feeling guilty. That’s what you want, Fun-Size. To feel like you matter enough for someone else to try.”
Blake slipped the book into his inner coat pocket, switched off the lamp and tucked his apartment keys into his pants. He intended to pick Autumn up at her door, but when he opened his, there she was, her hand poised to knock. “Hello,” he said, surprised. “I was just coming to get you.” She dipped her chin. “Thought I would pick you up for a change, landlord. Men deserve to be courted, too.”
Format: E-Book Read with: Kindle Paperwhite Length: Novel Genre: Contemporary Romance Series: The Beyond Bondage Series, #1 Publisher: BookBaby Hero: James Hunter Heroine: Charlotte Bell Sensuality: 4 Date of Publication: November 30, 2015 Started On: August 10, 2021 Finished On: November 25, 2021
Degrees of Control by Eve Dangerfield is a novel first published in 2015. The story begins with Charlotte Bell attending her friend Sophia’s “low-key” engagement party, where her friends are trying to hook her up with a man who would understand needs of a closeted submissive such as Charlotte and deliver her from the bad breakup that has left a mark on her.
Charlotte is sort of biding her time until she has saved enough to return to Australia where she is from. The decision to follow her ex-boyfriend to America had turned out to be one that was foolhardy in hindsight, with Dale having subjected her to unwarranted jealousy which had only escalated over time for no good reason.
When James Hunter walks into the party, every single cell inside of Charlotte goes on red alert. Even with all her friends warning her that James is the kind of man-whore that she should steer clear from, the need that he rouses in her is all too great to be ignored.
Even though Charlotte knows that James and herself are as ill-matched as can be, the fact that neither of them are looking for anything long-term works at first. James makes reality of every sexual fantasy that she has harbored and makes the submissive in her crave the dominant in him all the more. But when emotions come to the forefront, it is a challenging road that is ahead for both, with Charlotte trying to understand the complexity behind the man that James is, so that they might at least have a shot of making things more longer term.
I loved Degrees of Control and thoroughly enjoyed the dynamics between Charlotte and James. Ms. Dangerfield is a master at delivering scorching hot scenes of passion, while at the same leaving us with tantalizing bits thought provoking elements that makes her books the stellar reads they are.
I fell in love with Charlotte and James from the onset – what is there not to love about a heroine who is kind, gorgeous, and smart, and a hero who is an alpha-hole of the best kind, who I knew would break my heart and patch it all up before all was said and done?
Recommended for those who love psychological depth with their smut! This one certainly delivers!
Final Verdict: With the perfect balance of panty-melting variety of kink and emotional depth with heart, Degrees of Control is a character-driven page-turner!
Favorite Quotes
His thumb brushed over her clit and the whole world tipped sideways, a surge of energy burst at her center and her hips bucked against his stroking fingers. “James!” Another dark chuckle. “Oh honey, you’re gonna feel so good around my cock.” Charlie came then, she couldn’t help it, and as she came, she screamed.
“I love that look on your face,” he said. “All nervous but so fuckin’ eager, like you’re gonna cream your panties the second I lay a hand on you.” He strode toward her and Charlie felt herself shrink beneath his much larger presence. James’ smirk grew wider. He pushed a strand of hair from her eyes, letting his hand linger on her neck. At his touch, she did indeed feel an answering clench in her cunt, sparks flickering deep within her belly. She pressed her thighs together, taking pleasure in the ache. It was worth coming for this, just to know this kind of doomsday lust exists.
“Now the skirt.” Charlie didn’t think she’d ever felt this exposed. Her hands lurched up to her hair, stroking it nervously before she reached for the fastener at the back of her pencil skirt. His hazel eyes bore into hers as he rubbed a palm across the front of his jeans, stroking the bulge that lay below. Charlie let Holly’s skirt pool around her ankles. Her panties were cheap but new. She hadn’t wanted to wear anything for him that she’d ever worn for Dale. James stared at the ornate love heart woven into her pink bikini briefs and she saw something wild flicker in his eyes. “Turn around,” he snarled. She did what she was told, her feet swaying slightly in the pumps. “Bend over.”
“You wanna come, Charlotte?” He ran his thumb over her swollen clit and Charlie almost choked on her tongue. “Yes.” “Go on then, girl, come on me.” That was all she needed. She rubbed her pussy on him, slick and insistent until warm, blessed orgasm surged over her like a tidal wave. She whimpered, welcoming the oblivion, and James seized her hips and sank her down on his length. “James, fuck!” She writhed against his shaft, sunk so deep his pubic hair brushed against her engorged clit. As her inner muscles strained to accommodate him, her orgasm plateaued, igniting the tangled webs of nerves deep inside herself so that she shuddered and moaned. James smirked like a blond Satan. “Feel good, sweetheart? Good as you hoped?” “Y-you tricked me, I wasn’t ready—” He leaned closer, the position a million times more intense with his cock buried inside her. “Darlin’, you’ve been ready since you showed up in those fuck-me heels. Now be a good girl and get on your hands and knees.”
James’ hazel eyes closed, his hands clasped her hips. “Oh that’s so good, honey, ride me. Ride my dick.” James’ head was thrown back and the line of his jaw was sharp as a blade. He was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen, she realized. Powerful and wild as the stallion on his ribs. James groaned, a strangled desperate sound. “Jesus, Charlotte, your pussy’s so goddamn tight, I’m gonna come.” He seized a handful of her hair, driving himself against her. The brutality of his thrusts made her scrape her nails down his chest. “Fuckin’ hell, I’m there. I’m fuckin’ there.” James went rigid, his hands biting into her hips, and he cursed long and loud as his cock pulsed inside her.
“Say something,” she whispered. “Please, say something.” James lowered his mouth to her ear. “Scream my name, slut, scream it while you come on daddy’s dick.” With a gush of slick warmth, her pussy convulsed around him. Her bound hands banged against the floor as she screamed his name so loudly, his ears rang. He slowed his pace, giving her a chance to recover.
Charlotte smiled and kissed his neck, his collarbone, any part of him she could get her mouth on. Gentle kisses that somehow got his motor running again. His balls tightened, the pressure built in his cock, but still he couldn’t get over the edge. James swore softly, plunging deeper and faster into her cunt. Charlotte’s eyes found his. She had a freckle inside her right iris, James realized, like an island floating in a sea of blue. “It’s all right, James.” She sounded so quiet, so sure. “It feels so good, I promise. Come inside me. Come inside me. Let me feel you.” She pressed her lips to his mouth and everything inside him clenched. At long, long last his climax tore through him like a tornado and all the tension in his body drained out of his balls.
Without breaking their eye contact she drew him back into her mouth. This time his shaft was slick and her lips slid down with ease. “Enough.” Charlie pulled back until only her lips were pressed against the head of his cock, like a bizarrely chaste first-date kiss. “God, darlin’, that mouth of yours…” She drove down again, as deep as she could get without choking, gripping the base with one hand and stroking his tight sac with the other. “Fucking hell.”
He ploughed into her with short, sharp thrusts, satisfying himself with her flesh. The warmth between their bodies was oppressive and her orgasm seemed to swell in the pressure, blowing out like an overheated balloon. “Oh God, James, James, James.” “You’re gonna cream, aren’t you, bitch?” Charlie had never been so sure of anything. He could pull out and leave her empty and she’d still come. James chuckled. “Even when I use you like a blow-up doll, you get off. Know why that is, Charlotte?” He whispered the words in her ear like it was a childhood secret, like a prayer. “Because you’re my whore.” Charlie screamed so loud the sound ate up the world. James pumped, once, twice, three times, then went rigid behind her, swearing like a sailor. They shuddered like animals, riding out their climaxes until they were both completely drained.
“Hey there,” he said, smirking like the arrogant prick he was. Didn’t he know he was ruining her with that lazy, insolent smile, with his tight abs and broad chest and his stupid square-jawed face? Who would she want to date after this? Who would ever want to be compared to him? He opened his mouth, possibly to offer another pointless greeting, and Charlie threw herself on him. She kissed him in punishment for making her wait this long, for destroying her chances of being content with some middling nice guy. She kissed the arrogant look right off his face. Soon she forgot everything except the feel of his lips against hers. His hands drew her forward and she eagerly clambered into his lap. They consumed each other, rocking slightly in his office chair until she hoped that by “lunch” James meant “a covet fuck against my desk.”
“If I was you, I’d be coming right now, instead of bored.” His blasé attitude was somewhat undermined by the small wet stain seeping through the front of his briefs. Charlie pulled his underwear halfway down his hard thighs. “We’ll see how boring I am, Mr. Hunter.” She examined him, stroking lightly over his blood-swollen cock, and when his dick pulsed in her hands, she bent forward to trace every last pulsing vein with her tongue. Slowly. “I know what you want, girl, and it’s not happening,” James warned. “What’s not happening?” “I ain’t gonna beg. You can tease me as much as you want and I’m just gonna lie here, silent as the grave.”
“Baby, I’m gonna go off. Come up here and sit on my face.” “Beg.” “Please,” James said with what appeared to be the utmost sincerity. “Please, honey, I need to make you come. Put that pussy down on my face. I’ll stay tied up, I just have to get you off. Please.” Charlie hesitated. “I’ll taste like lube from the condom…” “I don’t give a fuck. I’ll do anything, Charlotte, just…please?” She couldn’t battle her submissive urges any longer, she scrambled up the bed and positioned her legs on either side of his head. “Fuck yeah.” James arched his neck and eagerly drew his tongue through her cunt. The noise he made, like a starving man tasting chocolate, turned her skin white-hot. “That’s it, girl, don’t move a fucking muscle. Lemme take care of you.”
“James!” She threw her head back so far her body was an arch, rutting her hips against his talented mouth. He sucked her harder, urging every last vibration out of her climax. When she finally pulled away, there was no trace of arrogance on James’ face, no cocky sense of achievement. “Get on me. Get on my dick right now.” She climbed down his bound body and drew him inside her tingling, tortured flesh. He was close, she could feel it. She clamped herself around him and the aftershocks from her first climax throbbed to life. “Use me, Charlotte.” James’ voice was harsh. “Ride my fucking cock.”
He’d opened his door on Tuesday night to find Charlotte in a trench coat. She removed it to reveal an outfit that wouldn’t have looked out of place on a pole dancer; black stockings, a tiny, ruffled skirt and a sheer, black corset. The sight of her sweet face contrasted by such slutty underwear completely blindsided him. Before he knew what was happening, Charlotte was on her knees, unbuckling his belt and giving him the slowest, hottest blowjob he could ever remember getting. She’d sucked him lightly, running her tongue down his shaft and over his sac so slow he could feel the come surging up his shaft. In the final throes, she’d wet a fingertip and sunk it in his ass. He’d come so hard sparks had popped behind his eyes.
She walked toward her bedroom with legs that felt like jelly. Rummaging through her lingerie she selected ruffled cream panties and a sheer babydoll negligee that cupped her breasts and flowed down to her hips like the world’s most inappropriate dress. Figuring she’d go all out, she applied lipstick and mascara and slipped on her black Mary Jane shoes. She inspected herself quickly in the mirror. Nothing like a troll doll. Good. When she emerged into the kitchen, James’ mouth flattened into a straight line. He beckoned her closer, eyes cataloguing every detail. As much as Charlie wanted his mouth to fall open, she’d learned that the more potent James’ reaction to her body was, the more it looked like anger. When he’d opened the door to find her in stripper clothes, he looked like he wanted to punch a hole in the wall.
“James, can you hold me down?” “Anything you want. Anything.” He seized her delicate wrists and pulled them over her head, pinning them with one hand. Charlotte’s inner muscles clamped around him, as though she was determined to draw the come up from his balls. “Oh Lord. Tell me you’re close, sweetheart?” Her eyes were wild. Desperate. “I’m so close, please keep going. I need you.” I need you. The words went straight to his dick, filling him with a strange spiraling warmth.
She pushed him onto his back and he let her, kissing her breasts as they went over. He felt her wet heat kiss the top of his dick and moaned. “I swear, we don’t have to do this, baby.” He searched her eyes for reservation. There was none. Pushing aside any last doubts, James flexed his hips and slid himself inside her hot, bare cunt. Oh my fucking God. He wanted to die. He wanted to live and die in Charlotte’s pussy. She was warmer and tighter than anything he’d ever imagined, her wetness enveloping him in ways that felt both physical and not.
“Stay. Finish with me like this.” She moved against him in short sweet strokes, her hair tumbling around her shoulders. The words he couldn’t say before tumbled out. “You’re so fucking beautiful, Charlotte. I love this, I love your body.” Her response was to reach down and kiss him, pressing her entire body along his chest and bathing him in her scent. He sank back into the floor, dissolving into pure sensation. What they were doing was a million miles from fucking. It was that whiskey-warm feeling he’d gotten from taking her under the covers in her bedroom amplified to a thousand-fold. Every pressure point from his jaw to his toes was tingling.
Format: E-Book Read with: Kindle Paperwhite Length: Novel Genre: Contemporary Romance Series: Act Your Age, #1 Publisher: BookBaby Hero: Tyler Henderson Heroine: Katie May McGrath Sensuality: 3.5 Date of Publication: September 27, 2017 Started On: October 31, 2020 Finished On: November 12, 2020
Act Your Age by Eve Dangerfield is a romance that takes a deep dive into the psychology behind the need for kink and why some, more than the rest of us are drawn towards it, need it in a way that they are rendered incomplete without it. The story features many tropes that excites me as a reader of romance such as the huge age gap between the main protagonists and the fact that the hero is as grumpy and taciturn as they come, not to mention he is her boss, she his employee.
Combining all of the above tropes, needless to say, my first Eve Dangerfield certainly did not disappoint. 45 year old Tyler Henderson is a man steeped in misery in the wake of his fiancé’s departure from his life. Time certainly has not done its intended job all that well, and even though Tyler would rather chew his arm off than admit to the fact that 25 year old Katie May McGrath, the youngest and only female engineer at the company pushes all his buttons and then some sexually, Tyler is determined that he steer clear of Katie.
However, fate has other plans for these two, as one work trip is all it takes for the blinds to come off and for both of them to understand that the sexual heat and sizzle between the two is not the kind one walks away from, not to mention the fact that in each other lies the answer to their deepest and darkest desires.
Katie had grown up knowing that while she might be young and inexperienced, that in her mind lies the filthiest of fantasies where the man dominates her sexual escapades. Which means she automatically gravitates towards men like Tyler who cannot be bothered to give her the time of day, and goes as far as to completely ignore the fact that she actually does exist.
Tyler on the other hand, while older and definitely more experienced in appeasing his needs, finds himself at a loss as to explain to his partners, just why daddy-kink in particular appeals to him. For the young adult he had been (eons back), it had been a painful journey, but he had more less believed that his fiancé was it for him, until she had decided that he wasn’t it for her.
When Katie and Tyler embarks on their affair, it is with rules in place which each swears to respect, but then again, with heat that scorches the sheets and each answering the need that has festered in both of them for years, it is only natural that emotions would get involved in the process, even if especially Tyler is not ready to walk down that road again.
Keeping Katie from engulfing him altogether is how Tyler believes he is keeping his sanity intact, when in fact, the direction in which they are headed is bound to end up hurting each other. There was much angst towards the end of the story, which made this book the emotionally swell read it was.
Act Your Age was such a marvelous romance because the story does not just give us kink alongside with laughter and feel good times, but it also allows the reader to peep through to the deeper psychological need behind it, which all lies in the fact that we are all inherently different from one another. Our experiences as we grow up, our DNA itself perhaps contributes towards the way our brains are wired to work in terms of pleasure, pain, and release. Ms. Dangerfield certainly does make one think when you start on the journey alongside with Tyler and Katie, and usually, when you pick up a romance that is pretty much erotic by all means, one seldom believes they would be doing much thinking along the way.
While Ms. Dangerfield’s voice is one that is totally new to me, I felt right at home and at ease with the way the words just flowed, the emotional angst and sexual heat just exploded across my senses. Combining mirth with sexual heat is something few authors can pull off, and the fact that Ms. Dangerfield does that so effortlessly wins points from me!
I loved both Katie and Tyler for obvious reasons. Katie who tries to find her footing in life, coming from a large family that never understood her nor the psychological ailment she has suffered all through her life, finds her family in the friends she makes along the way. Tyler obviously being more messed up in his obstinate desire to never give away his heart to anyone else, suffers all the more for it and made my heart melt just like that. And don’t even get me started on the way he takes charge in the bedroom and delivers, oh so beautifully. His hangups in bed and out of it comes from his need to protect his emotions and that was as telling as if he were waving the white flag of surrender from a certain point onward.
Having enjoyed this number immensely, I want to thank Ms. Dangerfield for taking the time to write this lengthy novel, which if cut short would not have been half as good. While I know that there is a second book in the series entitled Not Your Shoe Size which takes place a couple of years down the line, I would have appreciated even a two-pager worth epilogue for this one. After all the emotional wrangling that readers go through to get to the end, an epilogue clinches the deal for the most part.
Absolutely recommended for those who love their smut with a delicious serving of heart and a side of insightful thinking.
Final Verdict: Act Your Age is definitely what the doctor ordered if you like grumpy heroes who makes your panties melt with one searing glance. Daddy-kink lovers; you would love Tyler more than any other!
Favorite Quotes
A moment’s silence, and then, “I gave Professor Sloan my number.” Ty’s hand froze on the door handle. “Don’t you fucking dare.” “A lot of guys don’t mind being called ‘daddy.’ Now that I’ve done it once I’m sure I can do it with—” In a heartbeat Ty had crossed the floor and before he could stop, think or consider, he was kissing her, his lips fusing with hers, his tongue sliding into her mouth. It was like sucking on a sugar cube, the sweetness so pleasurable, every taste demanded the need for more.
Ty’s fingers drew tighter around her clit, compressing the bud so tightly she felt like it might burst. “Yeah, baby?” “I think I’m gonna come.” “Good.” He bent down and sank his teeth into her neck, his sweat-slick hips pumping hard and fast. “Come, Middleton, come on Daddy’s big dick.” It was wrong, hearing her nickname and the word ‘daddy’ in the same sentence but it was wrong in the best of ways. She arched her back and climax rippled out from her in long, shimmering waves. He didn’t stop, so it didn’t stop; her orgasm hummed and throbbed through her like a living thing, and she scratched him and chewed her lip and screamed and screamed and screamed. She was no virgin but she thought this is what sex is. Oh my god, this is what sex is.
They made out in the elevator, Kate not giving a damn about Stephen who was surely watching them at the security deck downstairs. Kate had barely closed her front door before Ty pressed her up against it, tearing off her underwear and fucking her with a ruthlessness she hadn’t felt since their first night together. She came within minutes, screaming his name as the wheels of her roller skates bashed against the wood. One of Aunty Rhonda’s daguerreotypes fell off the wall and splintered, but Ty didn’t stop, and Kate didn’t care. He came a few minutes later, groaning about what a good whore she was, his lovely girl, his beautiful little slut.
Ty kissed her hand. “I don’t want to rush this. I don’t want to pressure you or make you doubt what I wrote on that card.” “The card was great,” Kate agreed. “But, like, sex?” He gave her a considering look. As though assessing if she was sober enough to drive. “I can kiss you again if you like?” “What the…no!” Kate ducked under his arms and relaunched herself at his face. Ty put up a token resistance, but within seconds they were making out like teenagers. Kate slung a leg over his hips, determined to get him so wound up he wouldn’t think about saying no. She’d barely straddled him before Ty’s hands were buried in her hair, pulling it taut in his fist. “You’re a bad fucking girl, aren’t you?” Kate smiled. Hearing him call her that alongside a sting of pain was like a chorus of angels serenading her right in the ear. Loving, respectful Ty was great, but filthy, punishing Ty was the one she wanted right now.
A Maldivian's Passion for Romance 