Earning Her Trust (Braxton Arcade, #1)

by Adore Ian

[Eve1972]

~WRITING - PLOT - PACE~
So the parade of trying out new authors continues, and again I am legit blown away by how good this book was. Especially considering it is the author's debut book. It would have been a 5-Star read if not for Marrin (more about why in the heroine section). That aside, the writing was fantastic. The pace was good. It was maybe a tad too long, but I never got bored or felt the need to skim. The plot was engaging. The setting was unique (an arcade bar). It was told in a dual POV format. Last, it was all wrapped up in a nice HAPPY FOR NOW ending. I assume we will be seeing this couple again in future books.


~HERO~
DAMIAN...Damian was pretty much a perfect hero. A little damaged (what happened to him when he was younger was heartbreaking), but unlike Marrin, it never held him back when it came to their relationship. He was also sexy. He was alpha. He was sweet. He had the patience of a saint when it came to Marrin. I pretty much loved him through the entire book.


~HEROINE~
MARRIN...Marrin is the sole reason why this book isn't getting 5-Stars. I struggled with her closed off attitude, and her constant secret keeping, and with the callous way, she treated Damian at times. I am notoriously hard on heroines, especially when they are paired with wonderful heroes (as was the case in this book). I just never completely warmed up to her. That said, I tried to be understanding of her attitude given her past, and she did get a lot better around 70% in, so yea...


 

~SECONDARY CHARACTERS~
There are like a TON of secondary characters in this book. I really want to read the story behind Alice and Gavin! Of course, we also have Damian's friends, as well as Marrin's friend and coworkers. Another thing that I noticed was that a lot of the secondary characters (and even Damian himself) are mixed race, or of a non-white background. So kudos to the author for giving us a cast of racially diverse characters. 


~HEAT LEVEL~
HIGH...The book basically opens with the main couple already sleeping together. The sex scenes were smokin' and plentiful, to say the least. We have some light Dom/sub stuff, but nothing too over the top. I will say that I found the sex scenes a little more mature than the couple themselves. They are both juniors (I believe) in college, but I kind of felt like when they were into the Dom/sub thing they came across more like two people in their 30s. However, I graduated from college 25 years ago, so what do I know? (lol).


~ANGST LEVEL - SEXUAL HISTORIES~
MEDIUM...There is a good deal of push/pull in regards to the heroine and her reluctance to be more than f-ckbuddies. That is really the sole cause of the angst. Neither were virgins. The hero didn't appear to be a manwhore, but he wasn't anything close to a saint either. There is a little talk about his past sex life which I thought was a bit unnecessary, but didn't really bother me either. There isn't really much said about the heroine's. She has a run in with a guy she had slept with before, but it isn't in a sexual context. There was also no OW or OM drama.


~IN THE END~
Did I enjoy it? Very much so.   
Was it perfect? Almost. My uber pickiness about heroines sunk this one a tiny bit.  
Would I recommend it? YES! YES! YES!  
Who would enjoy this book? I think most readers would enjoy this story. I also think it would be considered "safe" by those who enjoy their books that way.