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Sunday, October 25, 2015

ARC Review: Playing Hard to Master by Sparrow Beckett


I have very very mixed feelings about this book. I am right on the verge of really really liking it but stopped short because of a few issues. The book is about Everly and Ambrose. Ambrose is a Dom who is in to serious kink but has attachment issues because of being abandoned by his former submissive/fiance. Everly is a submissive...sort of.

This is where I ran into my first problem with the book. Everly is submissive who doesn't want to submit...or rather she wants to be forced to submit sort of. I found Everly's personality really confusing because I thought the whole point of being a submissive was that you were naturally inclined to submit. The opposite seemed to be true of Everly, she was more given to acting contrary about everything. I'm still trying to figure our why Everly was the most disagreeable sub ever and because I can't it annoys me. Everly was constantly pushing Ambrose by talking back and refusing to cooperate which begged the question why did she want to be a sub. Ambrose was completely fine with Everly's crazy bad attitude. He constantly said how much he loved "brats." Like throughout the whole book Everly is referred to as a bratty sub. It was hard for me to get with that because in my mind a brat is a spoiled CHILD and there is nothing sexy about that.

The second major issue in the book is that Everly hates hates rich people because she had negative experiences with them as a child. It turns out Ambrose is super rich but when he discovers Everly's aversion to wealth, he hides his. When I say he hides it I mean it turns into this very complex web of lies that includes supporting actors and even a fake apartment. It's one of those things that you know from the beginning is going to end in disaster and you yell at the characters in the book but secretly it's really fun to watch it all fall apart. I actually had fun with the story line about Ambrose trying to hide his wealth. The only part that kind of dimmed it for me was Everly's completely ridiculous over generalization of all people with money. Of course the whole thing falls apart on Ambrose and I did not enjoy Everly's reaction even though it was kind of predictable. I also didn't enjoy how much Ambrose seemed willing to give up the fruits of his success to make Everly more comfortable. I think the author was aiming for a love is more valuable than money theme but I'd rather have it all so I couldn't identify with that.

Let me tell you what is really outstanding in this book- the sex. I just have to be honest, these were some really hot, really well written sex scenes. The author added in heavy BDSM elements and a lot of creativity. These were some of the better hot scenes I've ever read. The book went by really fast for me. I cringed over a lot of Everly's attitude and behaviors but I still liked the book and I would read the others in the series.

**ARC provided by Publisher**

Purchase: | Amazon | B&N | iTunes |


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