“No hands.”
His sharp command shocked her eyes open. Any ounce of control she might’ve gained was lost when she lowered her arms back to her sides. She had no power. No say. A spike of panic kicked her heart rate up before his hand fisted in her hair once again. The tight hold wiped out the tension and quieted the noise.
The awful, persistent backdrop of ridicule and failure she’d heard her entire life.”
Bailey has a constant running litany inside her head of how much of a failure she is, and the only time it seems to stop is when she’s able to cede control during a scene. She convinces Jacob – the man known for his talent at fulfilling requests for other members of The Boardroom with kindness – to sign a contract basically giving him full control over her for a night. While they’ve participated in scenes together before, Bailey’s conflict about her desires runs deep, causing her to seesaw between gleefully demanding what she needs and then running away when she gets it. Can what they have in The Boardroom last beyond one night, or will they both back away from what they feel again?
This novella does basically consist of one long sex scene (not necessarily a bad thing, it’s freaking steamy!) and while I think Ms. Aicher excels at showing character development through sex, we don’t have a ton of previous character backstory to build on. I vaguely remember Jacob from the previous books but I don’t remember Bailey at all, so why Bailey feels like such a failure is never actually explored. I think it would’ve been a lot more successful for me had we seen them interacting earlier in the series, and if Jacob had more of a backstory than just being the go-to guy. They do have great chemistry, and there’s definitely a level of understanding and trust between them that made the novella quite sweet to read.
Overall, it’s a quick steamy read, though it left me wishing for more. I’d give it three-and-a-half stars, rounding up to four.
I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.