Age of Shade

by Cleo White

Fate is bullshit.

Good things happen when you make them happen, when you decide the shitty life you were born into won’t be the one you die with… That’s what I believed, anyway.

Until him. Asher Roth, the sweet, dorky, bowtie-wearing dentist.

The first time we met, he saved my life.

The second, I was paid to be his date.

The third, I stripped naked in the middle of his hotel room, and he showed me how good it feels to abandon all my carefully made plans. It was supposed to be one night—casual—until our connection becomes too intense to resist.

He says he wants to keep me, but there are things that Asher doesn’t know, and I’m not sure he’ll feel the same way if he does.




Age of Shade is a standalone, fated love, secret identity, age gap romance with heaps of spice, romance, no cheating and (as always) a HEA. This story contains triggers and themes that some may not enjoy. Please review the list on Cleo White’s website or inside the book prior to reading.

Genres: Romance, Novella, Contemporary Romance, Friends To Lovers, Contemporary, Doctors, Age Gap Romance

234 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 1, 2024

About the author

Cleo White's affinity for all things dramatic and hopelessly romantic began the day she was born, which happened to be in the middle of a record-breaking snowstorm on Valentine’s Day. Her love of literature came soon after, and she spent the better part of her childhood with both a book and a notebook full of unfinished stories in hand. Later in life, she found a love of writing spicy books with complicated characters and dysfunctional family drama. Cleo currently lives in Vermont with her husband and two daughters. When not writing, she can be found hiking, gardening, painting, and consuming excessive quantities of caffeine.

Reviews

[Rain]

One of the first times I really enjoyed the FMC better than the MMC. Her character was so authentic, loving and pure. Zero artifice. I loved Adina’s strength.

Age gap (H/40, h/21)
Boss/employee
Secret identity
Virginal h
No 3rd act break up
Daddy talk
HEA

There are times that this book struck such a deep emotional cord, and then they were times his inner dialogue felt a little skeevy. (Why did he have to bring up her age during sex?) Which is odd, because he was such a sensitive, gentle character. I think the author was trying to balance his wholesome family dentistry persona with his older daddy vibe.

I kind of hate the way he discovered the truth about her secret. I was also not a fan of the rushed ending.

Overall, a very well written, character driven romance. This author has a way of making her characters feel very real.

[Lolina ⋆]

-=- 4.5 stars -=-

I don't think I'll ever be able to describe how much I adore anything written by Cleo White.

"I am in awe of you every single day, and being the first person to love you the way you deserve is the greatest privilege of my life.”

-=-
Her books, whether they're novels or novellas, always feel SO well-rounded to me. From the characters, to their relationships, to the setting- just everything is so well thought out, and I'll forever be obsessed.

I honestly don't know how to explain it, but the romance in her books just feels real. The way that CW manages to write genuine relationships is sososo good.

This book follows the story of Adina, who three years prior, was homeless and on the run, who just happened to be staying outside of Asher's dental practice. With very little communication, they both take a chance on each other, where Asher offers her a job to clean his office and in turn, she would get a place to stay (in said office).

For the next three years, they only communicate through letters and cute little notes. A chance encounter forces Adina and Asher to meet under different circumstances, where Asher doesn't know who she is.

From that moment onwards the most genuine, sweetest, and pure (and filthiest 💀), relationship begins. It was so fun seeing how everything played out, and I'm obsessed with how it all happened.

Overall, again, this was just such a well-thought-out story that was personal, and deep- and I truly enjoyed it!!!

CW knows how to write a good book.

-=-

-=- Quotes: -=-

“I’m sorry.” He shakes his head slightly. “You’re so
beautiful, I can’t stop looking at you.”
-=-

"Over the years, whenever I’ve stopped to consider the sheer improbability of our chance encounter, it’s made me feel a little optimistic about the universe. Maybe that’s what’s happening again, and for the second time in my life I should give in and trust my instincts. Maybe—just maybe—meeting Asher Roth will change everything twice."
-=-

"He stops beside me and holds out his free hand. “Come on, angel. Let’s go home.”
As I take it, it occurs to me that I’ve been waiting a long time—twenty-one years, actually—for someone to say that to me."
-=-

"I want to imprint myself on her, to weave myself into the fabric of her body and her soul."
-=-

[probably reading smut - safety reviews]

5/5 "I want to imprint myself on her, to weave myself into the fabric of her body and her soul."

TROPES:
~age gap
~boss x employee
~hidden identity
~size difference
~strangers to lovers
~unrequited love

PLOT: At the start of this book, Adina is a scared, lost, broken girl. Dr Asher Roth finds her in the alley outside of his office one cold night and invites the young girl to stay in his office for the night in exchange for cleaning. She eventually takes him up on that offer. Three years later, she's still sleeping in his office at night and exchanging sticky notes with him full of jokes and kind words.

One day, her friend Ruby invites her to be a "sugar baby" like her for $3k - just to have dinner with a man who recently went through a break up. That night they come face to face after three years. She knows who he is but he doesn't realize it's her. He's astounded a younger woman like her even wants to spend time with him. Things progress pretty quickly and it gets hot.

THOUGHTS: Oh my god, I loved this book so much. If I could give it 10 stars I would!! Asher Roth is the perfect daddy - all he wants is to care for, protect, and nurture Adina. Oh, and screw her brains out. But he holds himself back until he feels she can trust him completely, which was really romantic in context. There's a ton of heartwarming moments that made me squeal and kick my feet! And the spice is spicy, y'all. Really spicy. ;)

I genuinely had so much fun reading this book and I hope you will give it a chance if this review appeals to you!! <3

SAFETY:
Ages: 21h, 40H
Virgin/celibate?: virgin heroine, celibate for a few months hero
OM/OW?: slight OW drama towards the end but nothing serious!!
Cheating/sharing?: no
Triggers: death of a parent (off page), mentions of drug abuse/overdose, physical abuse, neglect, depression & suicidal thoughts, severe bullying (off page)
Kinks: very light anal play, cockwarming, daddy kink, dirty talk, dry hump, face sitting, good girl/praise, rough sex, light spanking, HOT AS HELL.
HEA? yes!

[Carla]

It’s a good story, simple and easy to read!
It’s worth reading.

[Kate]

Age of Shade was a smutty and surprisingly emotional read. Adina was dealt a bad card in life but she's such a humble, loyal and honest woman despite all that. Asher is the doctor that offers her a better life but these two never actually meet. Until they do....

"The good, respectable Doctor Roth is gone, and in his place is a dominant, possessive creature who wants to tie the beautiful virgin to his bed and fuck his cum into her all night."

I really fell hard for Asher. He was so sweet and kind and I adored the way he fell in love with Adina. Dominant in such a beautiful and consensual way, he was basically the male version of "a lady on the streets and a freak in the sheets." Asher lifted Adina up and gave her the confidence and love that she'd been missing in her life. In turn, Adina gave Asher the loyalty and affection he had been seeking.

“I’m not going anywhere. Ever, Adina. This is it for me. You are the hardest working, kindest, most beautiful person I’ve ever known. I am in awe of you every single day, and being the first person to love you the way you deserve is the greatest privilege of my life.”

I credit my Goodreads friend Isabella R. for this recommendation. I have read one other book by Cleo and enjoyed it and this one was no different. Hot with plot that's got a lot!

[CB]

REVIEW

Rating: 2/5
POV: 1st; Dual
Tropes: Age Gap (20ish years); technically boss/employee; Instalove; No 3rd act breakup; Virgin FMC
Heat Level: 5/5
Kinks: Daddy Kink; Size Difference

Likes:
*Not really anything I can think of.



Dislikes:
* Our MMC is in his early 40s and written with the brain and thoughts of a 25 year old. I hate when age gaps are written that way.
* I don't mind daddy kink at all but my god it came out of NO WHERE and it just did not work for this story at all. Probably because of my above dislike.
* Unsure if there was an editor involved in this book but if there was they probably need to lower their pay rate because they're not that good, lol.



Conclusion:
I pushed myself to finish this book because I selected it for a challenge and it really wasn't that long of a story. Plus I had already owned it. One of those books I got for free at some point.

The major plot point is that our FMC is a runaway who is "saved" by the MMC. She basically stays anonymous to him for 3 years but she knows who he is since she works for him. They end up meeting and he doesn't know who she is BUT in the synopsis it sort of makes it sound like it's going to be this big plot point, that he doesn't recognize her, and it really wasn't because it completely makes sense why he doesn't.

They hook up on their first night of "meeting each other" and immediately they throw in the daddy kink. It was not done well at all. The book continues and is just so cheesy and then we have these actually pretty hot sex scenes with her screaming daddy for no damn reason lol.

Anyways I finished this book, it kinda sucked, I probably should give it 1 star, and I do not recommend lol.



2/5

[Ari]

Wow does the virgin h/ experienced H trope need to die.

Virgin h but celibate for a few months as in TWO? Wow don’t break your back trying to not have sex with other women big player, all while she exists in complete romantic and sexual isolation and you can enjoy fucking OW 🤨

[Nabilah]

I thought this book was a nice surprise. I liked the age-gap trope quite a bit, so I found their pairing believable. Furthermore, the writing is smooth and easy to read. However, the daddy kink threw me off. It’s not my thing at all. Without the daddy kink, I’d give this one 4 stars.

[Christi]

Age of Shade is a steamy, age gap, insta love novella. I think the writing was good, it just felt like the story was doing too much and it could have been streamlined.

Basically Asher is a pediatric dentist and one night after work he sees someone in need of help, it ends up being the heroine who is 17 at the time and a runaway living on the streets. He briefly meets her and tells her she can crash at his dental office after hours to have a safe place at night. He leaves it unlocked and she does stay and ends up cleaning his office too, this arrangement of sorts lasts for a few years when we catch up to the hero and heroine again when she’s 21 and he’s 40.

Asher and Adina haven’t seen one another since that first initial brief meeting, but she’s been staying in his office after hours still while cleaning his offices to help pay her way through college. She’s also developed a crush on him and luck happens to be on their side when her friend and boyfriend invite her to join them on a double date with a friend and it ends up being Asher. It’s her dream come true and while she knows him, he doesn’t recognize her at all (since they only met the once and have communicated through post-it notes ever since).

It’s very insta love and gets steamy pretty early in with daddy kink too. Which is fine on its own, it just felt like the read was trying to do a lot more and it didn’t need to. Novella is on KU.

[BookishAnya]

This was such a cute and refreshing read. Asher is an older dentist that’s such a sweetheart and kinda nerdy but god don’t let that fool you. The smut in this was hot. He was so patient and sweet with Adina and was literally perfect. I think it was just the right length as it didn’t feel like it dragged on and for the length there was a perfect balance of smut and fluff scenes with no super unnecessary drama.
⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
🌶️🌶️🌶️
Age gap
Secret identity
Golden retriever mmc with a dirty mouth
Daddy kink
Nerdy mmc
Virgin fmc

[Candice]

I know I’ve said it before but I really do mean it when I say I read this in a single day and couldn’t put it down! Cleo is becoming one of my favorite authors with her ability to keep everything spicy and dirty while keeping it cutesy and happy. I really enjoy the virgin trope in this book because it played into the story and there wasnt a focus on purity culture that some authors obsess over when the FMC is a virgin. 10/10 would read again

[T Rojo]

Dnf @25% idk man, I can read about tentacles, Minotaurs, dragons with 2 dicks- but a contemporary romance where a homeless girl lives in a dentist office for 3 years my brain just can’t wrap my head around it.

[Jane Who Reads]

3.75/5.00 star rating (rounded up)
2.00/5.00 spice rating

Tropes: dentist, age gap, mf

Triggers/Warnings: homelessness, death of a parent (off page), drug abuse (off page - not MCs), bullying (off page - not between MCs)

Kinks: oral, daddy kink, cockwarming

Thoughts:

This was really sweet all around. The MMC just wants to care and nurture the FMC without realizing he’s been helping keep the FMC safe all along. Wish the MMC didn’t find out the FMCs secret the way he did as the ending felt a bit rushed because of it. There were points where I thought it would get spicer based on the MMCs thoughts but it never came about. All in all, would still reread.

[*CJ*]

“Age of Shade” is the story of Adina and Asher.

Actually a pretty sweet and sexy age gap romance. The hero is a hardworking dentist who rescues a stray, homeless teenager during a storm, and then ends up employing her.

Years later, they connect on a date and their cracking sexual chemistry and romance forms the story.

It was hot, but did have moments of angst.

SWE
4/5

[Sarah (thehireader)]

This was such a sweet story! Unexpectedly dear and really lovely and not at the sacrifice of sexiness.

[thebeespot72]

A nerdy pediatric dentist who wears a bow tie is old enough to be a college student's father, and they fall in love anyway. Yes, I knew I had to read the latest from Cleo White.

Asher ends a six-year-long relationship, and his friends are ready for him to move on. They set him up on a blind date, and it happens to be with a young twenty-one-year-old, Adina. Adina has had a hard life for someone so young. She has gone through things she doesn't want to share with anyone––and withholds quite a bit from Asher.

Asher and Adina are perfect for each other. Asher has a mouth on him, and it's even better when the daddy schmink kicks in.

I love Author Cleo White's cleverness, wit, and humor in her writing. She balances it so well with her characters and story that I find my face hurting from smiling, but then I find myself placing my hand on my heart shortly after.

I received a copy of this book and am leaving this review voluntarily.

[BereniceFrench]

It's boring ... The whole conflict to prevent them from having sex, even though it's SUPER insta-lust (on the H part especially), is in their respective head about double secret identity. It just feels like a created conflict. And 3/4 of the book is in their heads, I hate that, it's repetitive and non-engaging.
Also the H is unhinged, it's like he has split personalities. This is too insta for me, and everything is thrown in there without being fully exploited or developped: light D/lg, light D/s with spanking ...

[SwoonAndScroll]

"Unfortunately, while I'm pretty sure I look better than I ever have in my life on the outside, I'm a certified hot mess internally."

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🤩

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; but Cleo White can do no wrong when it comes to writing MMCs. I love every book boyfriend Cleo has given us and Asher is no exception.

We love an MMC who falls hard and is obsessed 😩
We love a consensual king 🙌
We stan a strong independent FMC 💪

I was a little nervous toward the end, but absolutely loved every minute of this; as per usual when it comes to Cleo’s work!

[Breanna]

If you’re trying make your story ‘taboo’ at least make it interesting to read; it was so fast paced and insta lust with absolutely zero world building. You can’t go in expecting much from a short novel but MY GOD at least set up some sort of tension. This could’ve been a much better read because it is not a terrible plot, but it was executed poorly. I had to DNF.

[Amb]

Rating: ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆
•
This was okay, just a little all over the place and very unrealistic. A shy MFC that turns into this growling, confident character within like 5 minutes

[Marisa]

Surprisingly I didn’t care much for the MMC so it was a little tougher to get through but it was still a nice short read

[Haley Klapp]

“I am in awe of you every single day, and being the first person to love you the way you deserve is the greatest privilege of my life.”
.
.

“She’s everything I never knew I needed, and living proof that I was wrong about my capacity to love someone more than myself.”
.
.

“Asher Roth is my happy place.”
.
.
Okay I’m behind on some book reviews and my Chloe collection is seriously lacking BUT I finally finished every book she ever wrote and this baby is officially MY FAVORITE 😍 this book is seriously perfect in every way. I love characters who communicate and BOOKS WITH NO 3RD ACT BREAKUP NEED TO BE THE NEW NORM FR. Anyways this was my favorite book of January. I’m still behind some reviews but we’ll get there maybe. Happy weekend yall 💕

[Hannah Rae]

and with that i have read every book cleo white has published. holding for applause.

i don’t know myself well enough to really differentiate between my actual opinions and recency bias, but this feels like my favorite cleo white book so far.

as per usual it is short, sweet, and spicy! but!! i think the nature of hidden identity made the stakes feel higher with this one and i could not put it down!! this begs to be consumed whole.

i also found myself loving adina more than i have some of cleo’s other fmcs. i was a big fan of the fmc in you’re it and i think i may love adina even more. as for asher, of course he’s perfect. i don’t think any of cleo’s mmcs haven’t been perfect, to be honest.

if cleo white has no fans im dead.

[Dara Butler]

I will always shout from the rooftops that Cleo White is Queen of the age-gap romance. This was such a unique story.

One thing in particular I really like about this book is that Asher Roth is just a regular guy. He’s a pediatric dentist in New York. He does more procedures for free out of the goodness of his heart than he bills people for, and he’s not super rich.


The secret identity trope in this book was done so well, especially the big reveal. This book was emotional. Reading about all the things that Adina had gone through that led her to the alley outside of Asher’s dental practice. I love how determined she is not to take handouts, even though it would make her life easier.

[Christina Rybka]

Adina was seventeen when Asher save her and let her clean and stay in his dental office. Three years later she is twenty one and almost done with college. Asher and Adina get thrown together on a date. Asher doesn’t recognize her. The attraction between them is intense. What was supposed to be a one night stand turns into more. Adina still has secrets. Can they be together? Great characters and storyline Highly recommended Amazing Book I love Adina and Asher and their character development. This book has all the feels. Make sure to check trigger warnings and than go grab this book

[Jennifer Lowry]

I am absolutely loving Cleo White!!!! This story was so sweet! I gasped outloud several times at how absolutely amazing Asher was!! (it did take me a while to get over his name as I kept thinking of the early 00's rapper named Asher Roth) but it didn't take away my love for this story!!

[Franzi]

I couldn't really vibe with the MMC – he reminded me too much of MY dad before knowing and after leaving my mum and that's too much daddy even for me lol

Still, I loved how much he cared for Adina and how the reveal that she was also Allison went.

And as always with CW books, the smut was phenomenal.

[Leonie]

Not really my cup of tea, but that´s not the book´s fault. I would say from a neutral POV, the book wasn´t too bad but also nothing amazing.

[han ♡]

4.25 ⭐️

[miss_may]

4.5⭐️

I think this might be one of my top stories from this author. You got the smut, the yearning, the age gap and two ver fleshed out MCs. I loved that there wasn’t a forced conflict in the end but rather a showcase of how established their relationship already was.