Lizardo94

Reviewed for Evie at www.Evie-Knight.com

Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley

Seventy-five pages. Seventy-five pages? Seventy-five pages!! Gah! Gull dern it I frigging want more! Wait, wait... Did that first page just say Number FOUR of the Satin Rose Experience?!?! Oh thanks heavens!! Ahem... moving on, folks...

As you can see, I'm not in love with the whole seventy-five pages. How can you get me to give a crap about these characters in seventy-five pages? Less than that, actually. Even after reading this novella, I have no idea how this author does it. But she sure as shit does it and holy cow, it's spectacular!

The female lead is Kate Angel (love the name!) and she's just started up her own publishing business and has scored a major coup: Blaze Harrington, erotica author extraordinaire. Kate is absolutely clueless about all things erotic, more specifically, BDSM. So, her first thought is to, of course, join a BDSM matching service!!! Ha! Hopefully, you can see why I loved Kate. She has this mix of, like, powerful woman who dominates the boardroom and totally out of her element babe in the woods. And she is equally each one. She's a tough business woman and although we don't necessarily see that side of her very much, you know that she is because she's started up her own publishing business in New York City (yikes) AND she's somehow snagged this very popular author who lots of publishing houses probably want (double yikes). Later, when she's being introduced to the BDSM world, she becomes this slightly more timid woman who is much more unsure of herself. And can you believe it, I liked BOTH sides of her! I found myself really identifying with Kate because she was echoing a lot of the thoughts that I was having. She's this 40-something year old woman who has the eye of this younger guy and it really throws her for a loop. I can totally understand that because I really DON'T understand this whole cougar culture. Don't get me wrong - You go girl... if you can land a dude half your age, holy crap go get him and eat him up!!!!! But I don't think I would ever have the self esteem? The balls? to be able to do that. I would have the same concerns and the same body image issues that Kate has.

While we're discussing body image issues and all that fun stuff (ugh), let's veer off and talk about the reason for all of this: Mason Myers. Before I get into him, I have to say DAMN ME!! I have NO idea what an Irish accent sounds like. I tried You Tube-ing it and ended up watching Miley Cyrus twerking (kill me now) and don't you dare ask me how THAT went down. Anyway, Mason, yeah, Mason. He sounds superb and delish! I feel like I didn't get a chance to know Mason as well as I got to know Kate. But that's okay because this feels like this is more Kate's book in any case. But there was just enough of Mason to whet my appetite for MORE of him! I thought he was really sweet in addition to being a hot, sexy stud. The way he approached Kate and then later, the way he talks to her and interacts with her just completely shows how much he cares for her. I believed him and everything that he said when he was talking to Kate about how her age didn't matter and what she thought of her body didn't matter because he saw someone sexy and beautiful. I have no idea WHY I believed him but he just oozed sincerity and I loved him for it.

Together, Kate and Mason are dynamite! I felt like I didn't get enough of them spending time together though. Now, is that because I'm a greedy little slag and I just want more, more, more? Or is there just not enough scenes of them together? Admittedly, it's probably more of the first one but if you read this book, I think you'll agree with ME that there should have been MORE of Kate and Mason together! Having said that, I want to be clear that this is a whole and complete story. There's no ridiculous cliffhanger, there are no unanswered questions. I really feel like Kate and Mason are fully formed characters, even if we didn't get a full helping of Mason! Also, this story was a bit of a slow burn. Its erotic romance so the romance takes a little while to develop (as it should!). Don't expect Sexy Time on every other page, you dirty little minxes! You should expect a nice, little beginners lesson on BDSM, with a focus on shibari, or kinbaku. If you don't know what that is, you'll need to read the book to find out... (don't you dare Wikipedia it, you cheaters!)

Overall, I loved this story. The male and female characters were realistic and a lot of fun. It was a bit of an emotional journey, to be inside Kate's head as she struggled with self-image issues like I'm sure a lot of us do. I really enjoyed how the Epilogue wrapped everything up just about perfectly! This is a book that I think anyone (over the age of 18, of course) would love, as long as you enjoy (or at least can tolerate) a leisurely amp up of sexual tension as the characters get to know each other better. Trust me, this is one you won't want to miss!