By Cory Cyr
Synopsis
Welcome to Acquiesce.
The world’s most exclusive male brothel
Ten OLDER Women
Fifteen YOUNGER Men
Twenty-One Days
Are you ready to Play?
What’s your Desire?
Review
I’m going to start this review with one very important piece of information. Are you ready? Here it comes. THIS COVER IS SO DAMN SEXY! I mean, seriously, just look at it. You can’t help but stare at it, can you? The open crisp white business shirt. The abs. The handcuffs. The pecs. The nipples that are just begging for my teeth. Sigh.
Alright, fantasy time over.
ACQUIESCE is the name of a male brothel located on the Caribbean island of Venir. This brothel is very exclusive and only caters to the older wealthy woman, where they will spend 21 days being “loved” by a large selection of handsome, virile young men. (Lulu, want to hit this place up with me in a few years? -VDub).
Nicola (Nic) is a 40 year old widow, having spent the past 11 years mourning the death of her husband Chris, her only sexual partner and soulmate. After living in isolation since his death, her only friends (Pru and Dee) trick her into a stay at the luxury resort, hoping that some sexual contact is just what she needs to move on with her life. Nic is furious at the deception. Her connection with Chris was so strong she believes she will never love another. As for her thoughts on sex, it and love go hand in hand and since she’ll never love another, her sexual desire has been non-existent.
Caspian (Cass) is 26 years old, a genius professor who for the past 10 years has been studying, teaching and actively participating in human sexuality. He believes that love and sex are two separate things: Sex is a basic, primal need; and Love is an unstable, emotional complication that manifests in women during sex. He’s already written two books on the subject and is taking a six month sabbatical on Venir Island to compile research for his third book. Sadly, due to his genius and upbringing, he has all the emotion of a Vulcan.
Soon after Nic arrives on the island, she stumbles across Cass and her immediate sexual reactions to him excite and upset her. After learning about her sexual history (or lack thereof) he’s intrigued and tells her he will become her sexual mentor, to teach her that she can have sex without love in order to help her finally move on with her life. Of course, he doesn’t do this purely for her, he’s going to use this in his next book.
However, things don’t work out for Cass as planned when something strange happens. He starts to “feel things”: Things he’s never experienced before; Things he can’t categorise; Things he doesn’t understand. For all his genius he ends up totally confused and a little bit angry, unsure how to handle these new emotions.
Can opposites truly attract? Can Nic and Cass both get over the age difference? Will Cass ever get a fucking clue???
I really liked Nic. Cass was very upfront with what he was unwilling to give, and even though his actions went against every one of his own rules and confused the hell out of her (and him), she loved him anyway but didn’t wallow in misery when he left her. You’d think she’d be a weak woman, but she had absolutely no problem putting Cass in his place.
“Just leave, Cass. That’s what you do best. I wasn’t asking you to romance me, just some human interaction…but I guess you’d have to be human to understand that.”
Cass. Cass. Cass. He pissed me off more often than not, and to be honest, he’s the reason this isn’t a 5 hearts review. His ideas regarding love were ridiculous. How can he know what love is if he has never experienced it? And don’t even get me started on his studies. So. Many. Flaws. But I think he annoyed me most when he kept using Nic’s feelings for him to get what he wanted.
He rested all his research on believing that making love to a woman along with kissing causes a chemical response in the brain, producing an emotional reaction. How did I inform him that he was one hundred percent wrong, that he did everything right with me and denied me what I wanted only to get the same result: love?
But I guess I shouldn’t be too hard on Cass. It’s not his fault he’s an emotional cripple. He shined when he stopped overthinking and overanalysing, so I guess I hated the Professor but loved the man. The sex scenes were hot and I thought it was amusing that he was basically a walking erection because of Nic. Convincing Nic to open herself up to sex again and adding some kink was fun to read. Despite his flaws, he did succeed in getting Nic to move on with her life, so that’s another win in his column. And he really was too cute when he kept getting confused by his feelings.
She has beautiful toes. Fuck, what was wrong with me?
As you get closer to the end, you might think this book will be a cliffhanger, but it isn’t. The ending is just really abrupt. I’m glad Nic and Cass got their HEA but I would have liked more. Perhaps a scene a year or two down the track??? Selfish of me I know, but it’s true.
The storyline for ACQUIESCE is both unique and interesting. The book is very well written and the characters really draw you in. You’ll feel happy, sad, horny, angry, frustrated, horny and shocked. Did I mention horny???
“But the one thing I am certain of is love, for me, never existed until I met you.”
Acquiesce
My Rating:
Buy Links: Amazon
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