Sigh. I'm glad I LOVED the first two books I read by this author because the subsequent two have been so disappointing that, had I read them first, I would never have been blessed with Before I Should Leave and Carrying a Thug's Heart.
Honey and Legend were dull and uninteresting. This started off well enough; I was excited, but it went downhill fast. It really bothers me when it seems like authors forget what they wrote, especially in novellas this short. Honey, the man literally told you his name is Legend Waters, and considering it's similarly as corny as Honey Lake, I'm not sure how you could forget that. So, I'm not sure why when her friend asked his name, Honey said "Legend, no last name", just because his business card didn't have one. You know, because with a full name you all could do something elementary like, I don't know, google him.
Ok, so Honey agrees to one weekend of fun for funding for her business. At literally no point do they discuss the amount of money. There is no discussion of a contract. Nothing. All she has is a business card (no last name) and the fact that he's staying in a villa that will send a car to pick her up (instead of the resort shuttle) and she goes, 'Yep, good enough! Head. Desk.
It's been a while since I've read BDSM so maybe I just wasn't expecting it, but this was just not sexy. There should have been more indication that he was more into control than actual sex for the first night. Maybe during the discussion in the bar? Or more should have been done/said during the scene because when he broke out the 'rose', I literally thought she could have stayed in her room for all that. When he said, 'You like this?' I literally said out loud, 'Not really.' Lol. It was wack. Then when he was done with the rose, it was the dildo, and I found myself thinking he had erectile dysfunction cause what are we doing? Again, I am perfectly fine with scenes if I know that's what I'm looking at. It should have been front loaded better that it was going to be a control session, so we knew what to expect.
I also didn't like the way he seemed to use her desires against her. He was always smirking and saying things like 'you want this, tell me you want this.' Eh. I didn't like him, or find him particularly skilled or sexy. I know that may be crazy to some when she seemed to have fiftyleven orgasms an hour, but between the rose, the dildo, and him going down on her for so long, it felt more to me like he had erectile issues LOL. I know. I know. He was huge and hard and blah blah blah. Yes, he eventually gives her the D, like finally. But even then, because it's condomless (for why?), he pulls out and finishes on her, and instead of being sexy, it feels weird and anticlimactic. The whole thing was just not sexy to me.
Honey continually asked questions trying to fish for compliments, and hoping he would extend the arrangement; it was cringe. He was all cagey and unlikeable, and she kept trying to read more into things. Them trying to have the 'favorite movie, favorite color' conversations was... why am I being subjected to this? Him saying 'we're going to talk business this morning' was all of a 2.5 second conversation, with no discussion of any real business plan. And then on the final day, he hands her a check for an insane amount of money given the fact that there is no discussion of any ownership percentage or return on investment, because that's how millionaires keep/grow their wealth. Rolls.eyes.hard.
The whole thing was disappointing, unsexy and fantastical. I will say that the female cover model is gorgeous.