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Jiai Jouwa #1
Hold me
Born into an elite family, Jun has spent her life cultivating the professional qualities needed to claim her inheritance, the Nippon Royal Hotel empire. Just when she thinks her dream is about to come true, however, Jun's uncle ships her from her homeland of Hokkaido to the city of Nagoya to become the new local general manager.
Enter Saya, a twenty-something who invades Jun's life with a bang and leaves just as swiftly. It's the hope of seeing Saya again that keeps Jun grounded in her goal of taking over the family empire one day... and the more she encounters the enigmatic Saya, the more she realizes she's falling for her.
Under the scrutiny of her uncle, Jun must prove that she can become the head of the family. But she also must prove to herself that she is capable of sustaining a romantic relationship, even if her intended has an insatiable wanderlust. Her family's judgment, Saya's crippling demons, and the needs of the people she meets along the way will all conspire to make Jun say, "daite," or "hold me," never again.
Enter Saya, a twenty-something who invades Jun's life with a bang and leaves just as swiftly. It's the hope of seeing Saya again that keeps Jun grounded in her goal of taking over the family empire one day... and the more she encounters the enigmatic Saya, the more she realizes she's falling for her.
Under the scrutiny of her uncle, Jun must prove that she can become the head of the family. But she also must prove to herself that she is capable of sustaining a romantic relationship, even if her intended has an insatiable wanderlust. Her family's judgment, Saya's crippling demons, and the needs of the people she meets along the way will all conspire to make Jun say, "daite," or "hold me," never again.
283 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 26, 2013
134 people are currently reading
241 people want to read
About the author
Hildred Billings
149 books317 followersHildred Billings is a Japanese and Religious Studies graduate who has spent her entire life knowing she would write for a living someday. She has lived in Japan multiple times in multiple locations, from the heights of the Japanese alps to the hectic Tokyo suburbs, with a life in Shikoku somewhere in there too.
Currently, Hildred lives in Oregon with her partner and two cats. When she's not commandeering the corner of the neighborhood coffee shop on hours on end (it's okay, she's on a first-name basis with the baristas) she's probably parked on the couch watching Bob's Burgers or screaming at a Zelda game. (Seriously, Link, why don't you move right?)
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Twitter: @hildred
Currently, Hildred lives in Oregon with her partner and two cats. When she's not commandeering the corner of the neighborhood coffee shop on hours on end (it's okay, she's on a first-name basis with the baristas) she's probably parked on the couch watching Bob's Burgers or screaming at a Zelda game. (Seriously, Link, why don't you move right?)
Newsletter: http://bit.ly/3rgEzLz
Facebook: https://bit.ly/3c7Lcf4
Instagram: https://bit.ly/3vPLpvd
Bookbub: http://bit.ly/3lDutn5
Twitter: @hildred
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
November 7, 2017
Up till now I’d only ever read Hildred Billings / Cynthia Dane novels (and really liked them), but when I spotted the author’s impressive back-catalogue my interest was piqued. What did she have to offer when writing solo? Well, quite a lot actually.
Daite is part one of a three-part series set in Japan. Jun(ri) Isoya has dedicated most of her life working her butt off to lead the Nippon Royal Hotel empire one day. But until then, she has to live by the rules her uncle (and chairman of the company) is setting. And when he ships her off to Nagoya to manage one of their hotels, she is far from happy about it. She loves Sapporo, where she is born and raised and works. Her whole social life - as far as she has time for one outside her demanding job – is there.
Once in Nagoya she runs into Saya by accident (at work) and they have a brief but memorable encounter in the night. But Saya, who has wanterlust on steroids, is not around long enough for Jun to find out more about this mysterious woman. Jun is lonely and misses her friends with benefits and her gay club scene back in Sapporo. She gets tired of the meaningless hook-ups and wants someone she could fall in love with. The more she meets up with Saya, the more she seems like the perfect candidate. If only she would hang around long enough for Jun to tell her.
Daite is wonderfully written. I love how the author gives us opulant details about Japanese culture and infuses words and phrases into the dialogue without the need for us grabbing for a dictionary. There is passion and drama, great dialogue, hilarious situations and memorable characters like the highly awkward assistant manager Yuki and his quest to find a wife. Or Keiko from the front desk who is formidable at her job but seems powerless towards her abusive boyfriend.
I can’t wait to read the next book and find out more about Jun and Saya. I highly recommend this!
f/f explicit
Themes: the vagina orchid painting is a gift that keeps on giving, Saya has wanderlust on steroids, Meisa Sakamoto from Tokyo had me howling with laughter, I think she broke poor Jun, ‘safe face’ is a concept westerners will never understand, if you want to know what WWOOFing is you’ll have to read this book, Aunt Fujiko is quite a character, I want to read all of Billings’ work now, I’m hooked!
5 stars
Daite is part one of a three-part series set in Japan. Jun(ri) Isoya has dedicated most of her life working her butt off to lead the Nippon Royal Hotel empire one day. But until then, she has to live by the rules her uncle (and chairman of the company) is setting. And when he ships her off to Nagoya to manage one of their hotels, she is far from happy about it. She loves Sapporo, where she is born and raised and works. Her whole social life - as far as she has time for one outside her demanding job – is there.
Once in Nagoya she runs into Saya by accident (at work) and they have a brief but memorable encounter in the night. But Saya, who has wanterlust on steroids, is not around long enough for Jun to find out more about this mysterious woman. Jun is lonely and misses her friends with benefits and her gay club scene back in Sapporo. She gets tired of the meaningless hook-ups and wants someone she could fall in love with. The more she meets up with Saya, the more she seems like the perfect candidate. If only she would hang around long enough for Jun to tell her.
Daite is wonderfully written. I love how the author gives us opulant details about Japanese culture and infuses words and phrases into the dialogue without the need for us grabbing for a dictionary. There is passion and drama, great dialogue, hilarious situations and memorable characters like the highly awkward assistant manager Yuki and his quest to find a wife. Or Keiko from the front desk who is formidable at her job but seems powerless towards her abusive boyfriend.
I can’t wait to read the next book and find out more about Jun and Saya. I highly recommend this!
f/f explicit
Themes: the vagina orchid painting is a gift that keeps on giving, Saya has wanderlust on steroids, Meisa Sakamoto from Tokyo had me howling with laughter, I think she broke poor Jun, ‘safe face’ is a concept westerners will never understand, if you want to know what WWOOFing is you’ll have to read this book, Aunt Fujiko is quite a character, I want to read all of Billings’ work now, I’m hooked!
5 stars
June 14, 2016
Well. This book of only 233 pages took me 385 days to read. Friday, May 9 2014 to May 28 2015. Oh, I can see, on here, wherein I had marked when I had started reading the book for the first time. So, 385 days and 6 minutes. heh. Apparently I began in May at roughly 3:34 pm, ended in May at roughly 3:40. A year and 20 days later. (huh, odd, when I add the time, I lose a day, yet I finished 6 minutes after I started).
That's actually both technically true and technically untrue. I read from 5/9/14 to 5/25/14, paused, then started up again on 5/28/15 and ended same day. Read the first 41% in 2014, and the last 59% today. All because I couldn't stand the main character's actions. heh.
The first part involved Jun's whiny nature, plus exciting stuff with Saya. I said at the time I read part one "not sure how the rest of the book will go, but first 17% was definitely 5 star stuff. I kinda fell into a trance, I did." Then the Jun's whinning got even more on my nerves in part two. And I finally couldn't take it anymore and stopped. I read part 3 and 4 today (or however many parts come after the second part). Part 3 made me think Jun was a whiny nasty bitch who could think of nothing but sex, drinking, how to get ahead at her job (or, specificially, get named to inherit the chairman's role), and how she wished she could be in a relationship.
At some point in part 3, then throughout the rest of the book, I relearned Jun and her character and was able to better able to take her. I'd say that the year long gap allowed me to come back, vaguely remember what came before, then restart at the worst possible moment. Where Jun is at her worst. Character wise. Except I have notes about how her whinning was driving me up the wall, and how that was why I had a year long break. So . . at this point . . . meh.
Interesting read on several levels. Including reading a book set in Japan, plus a little something about the lesbian culture there. After that long break, there's no way I could recommend or not recommend the book. I'm not really in any position, now, to do so. I would note, though, that, as the book progressed through part four and the ending, I was beginning to think about how I might read the second book in the series.
I made some comment in my status updates about how I wouldn't wish to have anything to do with Jun, as a relative, as a friend, or as a lover because of how much of a whiny nasty bitch she was. That was a dumbfounded opinion of mine. Spur of the moment. Mostly based on part 3. In the end, I think I actually kind of like Jun.
I feel like I'm on a yo-yo, a pendulum, my thoughts and feelings being yanked around. Like how Jun was yanked around by Saya. We eventually learn why Jun was being yanked around, but, in the moment, Saya was quite annoying.
Suki yo
That's actually both technically true and technically untrue. I read from 5/9/14 to 5/25/14, paused, then started up again on 5/28/15 and ended same day. Read the first 41% in 2014, and the last 59% today. All because I couldn't stand the main character's actions. heh.
The first part involved Jun's whiny nature, plus exciting stuff with Saya. I said at the time I read part one "not sure how the rest of the book will go, but first 17% was definitely 5 star stuff. I kinda fell into a trance, I did." Then the Jun's whinning got even more on my nerves in part two. And I finally couldn't take it anymore and stopped. I read part 3 and 4 today (or however many parts come after the second part). Part 3 made me think Jun was a whiny nasty bitch who could think of nothing but sex, drinking, how to get ahead at her job (or, specificially, get named to inherit the chairman's role), and how she wished she could be in a relationship.
At some point in part 3, then throughout the rest of the book, I relearned Jun and her character and was able to better able to take her. I'd say that the year long gap allowed me to come back, vaguely remember what came before, then restart at the worst possible moment. Where Jun is at her worst. Character wise. Except I have notes about how her whinning was driving me up the wall, and how that was why I had a year long break. So . . at this point . . . meh.
Interesting read on several levels. Including reading a book set in Japan, plus a little something about the lesbian culture there. After that long break, there's no way I could recommend or not recommend the book. I'm not really in any position, now, to do so. I would note, though, that, as the book progressed through part four and the ending, I was beginning to think about how I might read the second book in the series.
I made some comment in my status updates about how I wouldn't wish to have anything to do with Jun, as a relative, as a friend, or as a lover because of how much of a whiny nasty bitch she was. That was a dumbfounded opinion of mine. Spur of the moment. Mostly based on part 3. In the end, I think I actually kind of like Jun.
I feel like I'm on a yo-yo, a pendulum, my thoughts and feelings being yanked around. Like how Jun was yanked around by Saya. We eventually learn why Jun was being yanked around, but, in the moment, Saya was quite annoying.
Suki yo
Read
June 4, 2014This is the first time I’ve read a novel by this author and it probably won’t be my last. I was pleasantly surprised that the novel revolved around a strong main character. Sometimes erotic romance revolves only around sex and forgets to develop the characters, including the main character. I enjoyed getting to know the characters, including the supporting cast. This novel has love, drama, humor, and spiciness.
December 23, 2018
This is obvious I'm not going to finish this.
Both Saya and Jun didn't interest me as a couple
Both Saya and Jun didn't interest me as a couple
Read
May 18, 2014Three disclaimers, right up front:
1) I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
2) This is the first f/f book I've read. I don't yet know the expectations or conventions of the genre
3) Mary Shelley summed up the way I am best in her quote, "I am not a person of opinions because I feel the counter-arguments too strongly." That seems to be especially evident every time I write a review.
And tacking on 4) I hate writing reviews when they aren't 100% glowing but I was kindly given a free copy and would have felt worse by not holding up my end of the bargain. Thank you for providing me a free copy, F/F Romance group!
To be honest, I'm not sure what I thought of Daite.
I liked Jun as a character. I like that she's strong-willed and doesn't apologize for who she is. She's almost rude and dismissive in places in the book because of that, but it felt very Jun-like to me. I can empathize with her on the idea of wanting something that she doesn't have and hasn't been able to acquire. I like that she never lords her position of power over anyone else. She's unapologetic for her name but she also doesn't force people to accept her. I thought she had a number of good qualities as a person, which I can appreciate in a main character.
I don't understand her lifestyle but that's just because it's so far removed from me, and is not a condemnation on her as a character or on the book. I don't have to understand lifestyles of every character I read in a book, but the only downside to Daite was that there really wasn't much else going on other than her lifestyle so there wasn't much to distract me.
Saya was kind of interesting. I liked that she had an unconventional lifestyle. She doesn't seem like a bad person.
The problem is, I'm not sure if I think Saya and Jun are good for each other.
Jun wants to settle down with someone but no one understands how focused she is on work. She spends most of the book thinking about how she wants someone to live with, cuddle with and wake up to in the morning, that she's tired of being the one-night stand who is later forgotten, and she seems to be growing weary of friends with benefits. She seems to feel like she's stuck in a rut but can't find anyone who will accept her for who she is and give her what she wants.
On the surface, Saya is a good fit because she is gone way more than she's around so clearly she doesn't care about how focused Jun is on her work. But the same reason Saya kind of fits Jun is also the same reason why I don't know what I think of them as a couple.
When they eventually declare their mutual love, the boundaries of the relationship are that Saya can keep doing her thing always disappearing as long as Jun knows she'll always return, and Saya tells Jun she can sleep with whoever she wants whenever she wants, as long as she's only focused on Saya when Saya is around.
The problem with that is it doesn't actually fulfill anything Jun wanted. Because Saya sounds like she'll be gone just as much in the future as she was in the book (which means max a couple days around then going for weeks or months on end), Jun won't have someone to live with, sleep with, or wake up to; for most of the year, if she wants sex she WILL be someone's one-night stand or WILL be relying on friends with benefits. That makes it feel like their future will be almost exactly the way it was in the book: Jun is happy, sort of, for the couple of pages Saya is there, and then miserable in all the ensuing pages while she's gone.
That, built in with a number of other aspects, made me feel like the book ended almost where it began.
Jun's main goal in life is to take over the family business. The whole book is about her wanting that, people asking her why and her saying it's her birthright, and a lot of ups and downs on whether or not she'll actually ever be named the heir. The only resolution we get on that in the end is her uncle basically saying, "Yeah, maybe in the future."
The book sort of just.. ended... on a random wedding scene. I was disappointed that the scene didn't have more meaning than it did. I thought it would increase the client base in the youth or GLBT crowd and show how Jun would be the perfect heir, precisely because of who she is. Instead, I'm not sure why it was there other than to bring up some personal things for Jun and end on people being happy.
So, on the one hand, in a way the book feels mostly realistic and I like that about it. Things just sort of happen or don't, Jun is unhappy and sort of tries to fix her situation and sort of doesn't, people kind of admire Jun and kind of put her down, relationships appear and disappear, and Jun SEEMS happy in the last scene but as a reader I didn't feel like it would last.
On the other hand, I'm the sort of reader who reads books for character development and needs to feel emotionally invested to enjoy it. I didn't feel emotionally invested in the characters, plot, or relationship, and because it was semi slice-of-life I didn't feel like it had a resolution. It left me feeling like the book ended almost exactly where it began. My opinion might have changed if more had been happening throughout the book but most of the pages were taken up with random sex, Jun in or out of a gay bar, or the daily tolls of working in a hotel.
(I should note: I found out later that this is the first in a series, and the next book is Saya pov. I'm kind of intrigued by that and might check it out in the future. Theoretically, that will answer my question of how long their relationship will truly last or make either of them happy, and might show more reason for the wedding scene.)
I want to be clear that my issues with the book are specific and probably highly biased by my emotional needs as a reader. As for the writing itself, aside from a few minor choices of wording that inexplicably bugged me, I can't fault it. I felt that the writing style was balanced, Jun was relatively complex, I got clear images of a number of the locations without needing extensive descriptions, and pretty much every choice made by every character made sense for them at the time the choice was made. I think that actually says a lot about the book itself. The fact that I wasn't sold on it doesn't mean the book was bad, it just means that for whatever reason, at this time in my life I am probably not the target audience as a reader. I might check out other books by this author in the future to see if different settings, plots or characters get me more invested.
I would say that if the book sounds intriguing to you, you should give it a try.
As for a rating, generally I rate books in context of the genre rather than compared to every book I've ever read. I'm not giving this a rating because I don't know the genre well enough to be fair in rating it so I don't want to officially affect the book's rating. But for your information in reading this review, if I were pressed to give it a rating right now against every book I ever read, I'd probably give it a 3. It was definitely not a bad book, it just wasn't my cup of tea. But I could certainly see it being someone else's :)
1) I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
2) This is the first f/f book I've read. I don't yet know the expectations or conventions of the genre
3) Mary Shelley summed up the way I am best in her quote, "I am not a person of opinions because I feel the counter-arguments too strongly." That seems to be especially evident every time I write a review.
And tacking on 4) I hate writing reviews when they aren't 100% glowing but I was kindly given a free copy and would have felt worse by not holding up my end of the bargain. Thank you for providing me a free copy, F/F Romance group!
To be honest, I'm not sure what I thought of Daite.
I liked Jun as a character. I like that she's strong-willed and doesn't apologize for who she is. She's almost rude and dismissive in places in the book because of that, but it felt very Jun-like to me. I can empathize with her on the idea of wanting something that she doesn't have and hasn't been able to acquire. I like that she never lords her position of power over anyone else. She's unapologetic for her name but she also doesn't force people to accept her. I thought she had a number of good qualities as a person, which I can appreciate in a main character.
I don't understand her lifestyle but that's just because it's so far removed from me, and is not a condemnation on her as a character or on the book. I don't have to understand lifestyles of every character I read in a book, but the only downside to Daite was that there really wasn't much else going on other than her lifestyle so there wasn't much to distract me.
Saya was kind of interesting. I liked that she had an unconventional lifestyle. She doesn't seem like a bad person.
The problem is, I'm not sure if I think Saya and Jun are good for each other.
Jun wants to settle down with someone but no one understands how focused she is on work. She spends most of the book thinking about how she wants someone to live with, cuddle with and wake up to in the morning, that she's tired of being the one-night stand who is later forgotten, and she seems to be growing weary of friends with benefits. She seems to feel like she's stuck in a rut but can't find anyone who will accept her for who she is and give her what she wants.
On the surface, Saya is a good fit because she is gone way more than she's around so clearly she doesn't care about how focused Jun is on her work. But the same reason Saya kind of fits Jun is also the same reason why I don't know what I think of them as a couple.
When they eventually declare their mutual love, the boundaries of the relationship are that Saya can keep doing her thing always disappearing as long as Jun knows she'll always return, and Saya tells Jun she can sleep with whoever she wants whenever she wants, as long as she's only focused on Saya when Saya is around.
The problem with that is it doesn't actually fulfill anything Jun wanted. Because Saya sounds like she'll be gone just as much in the future as she was in the book (which means max a couple days around then going for weeks or months on end), Jun won't have someone to live with, sleep with, or wake up to; for most of the year, if she wants sex she WILL be someone's one-night stand or WILL be relying on friends with benefits. That makes it feel like their future will be almost exactly the way it was in the book: Jun is happy, sort of, for the couple of pages Saya is there, and then miserable in all the ensuing pages while she's gone.
That, built in with a number of other aspects, made me feel like the book ended almost where it began.
Jun's main goal in life is to take over the family business. The whole book is about her wanting that, people asking her why and her saying it's her birthright, and a lot of ups and downs on whether or not she'll actually ever be named the heir. The only resolution we get on that in the end is her uncle basically saying, "Yeah, maybe in the future."
The book sort of just.. ended... on a random wedding scene. I was disappointed that the scene didn't have more meaning than it did. I thought it would increase the client base in the youth or GLBT crowd and show how Jun would be the perfect heir, precisely because of who she is. Instead, I'm not sure why it was there other than to bring up some personal things for Jun and end on people being happy.
So, on the one hand, in a way the book feels mostly realistic and I like that about it. Things just sort of happen or don't, Jun is unhappy and sort of tries to fix her situation and sort of doesn't, people kind of admire Jun and kind of put her down, relationships appear and disappear, and Jun SEEMS happy in the last scene but as a reader I didn't feel like it would last.
On the other hand, I'm the sort of reader who reads books for character development and needs to feel emotionally invested to enjoy it. I didn't feel emotionally invested in the characters, plot, or relationship, and because it was semi slice-of-life I didn't feel like it had a resolution. It left me feeling like the book ended almost exactly where it began. My opinion might have changed if more had been happening throughout the book but most of the pages were taken up with random sex, Jun in or out of a gay bar, or the daily tolls of working in a hotel.
(I should note: I found out later that this is the first in a series, and the next book is Saya pov. I'm kind of intrigued by that and might check it out in the future. Theoretically, that will answer my question of how long their relationship will truly last or make either of them happy, and might show more reason for the wedding scene.)
I want to be clear that my issues with the book are specific and probably highly biased by my emotional needs as a reader. As for the writing itself, aside from a few minor choices of wording that inexplicably bugged me, I can't fault it. I felt that the writing style was balanced, Jun was relatively complex, I got clear images of a number of the locations without needing extensive descriptions, and pretty much every choice made by every character made sense for them at the time the choice was made. I think that actually says a lot about the book itself. The fact that I wasn't sold on it doesn't mean the book was bad, it just means that for whatever reason, at this time in my life I am probably not the target audience as a reader. I might check out other books by this author in the future to see if different settings, plots or characters get me more invested.
I would say that if the book sounds intriguing to you, you should give it a try.
As for a rating, generally I rate books in context of the genre rather than compared to every book I've ever read. I'm not giving this a rating because I don't know the genre well enough to be fair in rating it so I don't want to officially affect the book's rating. But for your information in reading this review, if I were pressed to give it a rating right now against every book I ever read, I'd probably give it a 3. It was definitely not a bad book, it just wasn't my cup of tea. But I could certainly see it being someone else's :)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 21, 2019
It was a fun story but I found myself caring about every subplot except the main romance, which is just too bad. This does happen sometimes, tho.
July 10, 2014
rating: 2.5/5
I was really looking forward to this read... a a serious, business woman and a flower-child, get-down-and dirty (in every sense of the word, from literally digging in the dirt while farming to super hot girl-on-girl sex) woman get together on a rollercoaster ride of hot sex and relationship-ness.
But it failed to deliver. Instead we live inside Jun's head, a very scary place, with all the neediness and whiney-ness I just couldn't endure. And after getting through her corporate drama and over-emotional self-depreciation, about 70% of the book later, we finally get a peek into Saya's life and, holly hell, I wish that's the story we were told (and not just in a few page info dump).
Saya remains a mystery almost until the very end, the story would have been so much better if Jun decided to track down her past, like a detective, rather than whine (or if it was told from Saya's POV). Would have been so much better if we had little bits and pieces revealed slowly, and saw Jun's reactions to each bit. But no, for a go-getter, super powerful business bitch she has the emotional maturity of a grousing teenager, and the tear ducts to prove it.
Despite how I make it sound, it wasn't terrible. The corporate stuff was interesting enough and Saya's story at the end made me ache for her (and like her even more... oh, didn't I mention that I loved Saya?). And the sex was steaming hot!
I was really looking forward to this read... a a serious, business woman and a flower-child, get-down-and dirty (in every sense of the word, from literally digging in the dirt while farming to super hot girl-on-girl sex) woman get together on a rollercoaster ride of hot sex and relationship-ness.
But it failed to deliver. Instead we live inside Jun's head, a very scary place, with all the neediness and whiney-ness I just couldn't endure. And after getting through her corporate drama and over-emotional self-depreciation, about 70% of the book later, we finally get a peek into Saya's life and, holly hell, I wish that's the story we were told (and not just in a few page info dump).
Saya remains a mystery almost until the very end, the story would have been so much better if Jun decided to track down her past, like a detective, rather than whine (or if it was told from Saya's POV). Would have been so much better if we had little bits and pieces revealed slowly, and saw Jun's reactions to each bit. But no, for a go-getter, super powerful business bitch she has the emotional maturity of a grousing teenager, and the tear ducts to prove it.
Despite how I make it sound, it wasn't terrible. The corporate stuff was interesting enough and Saya's story at the end made me ache for her (and like her even more... oh, didn't I mention that I loved Saya?). And the sex was steaming hot!
October 26, 2020
TW: mention of a miscarriage and mentions of domestic abuse
Overall, I did enjoy the story. I found myself moving through the smut scenes a little fast though, mainly because the use of that one Japanese word instead of an English word like "pussy" threw me off every time.
I was really interested in reading a story about a powerful business woman trying to take over her family's hotel empire while also trying to get her love life together. For some reason, I really like the "hotel empire" or hotel setting in stories. Don't ask me why.
There's also a lot of lesbian drama and I was here for that.
This was a good sapphic/lesbian romance. The romance is not completely resolved by the end of the book. The ending sets things up for the second book in the series. I'll probably pick up book two at some point.
Overall, I did enjoy the story. I found myself moving through the smut scenes a little fast though, mainly because the use of that one Japanese word instead of an English word like "pussy" threw me off every time.
I was really interested in reading a story about a powerful business woman trying to take over her family's hotel empire while also trying to get her love life together. For some reason, I really like the "hotel empire" or hotel setting in stories. Don't ask me why.
There's also a lot of lesbian drama and I was here for that.
This was a good sapphic/lesbian romance. The romance is not completely resolved by the end of the book. The ending sets things up for the second book in the series. I'll probably pick up book two at some point.
April 5, 2021
It's good. Gives a little insight into a culture I know only through movies, and I wonder what is true and what fiction is. Jun lives in Japan and may one day be the legacy of a hotel chain. In the conservative society of Japan, this is not easy to achieve.
She meets Saya, who is mysterious and comes and goes as she pleases.
If you are interested in the Japanese way of life, you will get a look at the thinking and behavior within a Japanese family.
For the challenge: f/f, age-gap, one-night-relationship
She meets Saya, who is mysterious and comes and goes as she pleases.
If you are interested in the Japanese way of life, you will get a look at the thinking and behavior within a Japanese family.
For the challenge: f/f, age-gap, one-night-relationship
June 29, 2025
This is a wonderful opposites attract romance. It takes place in Japan, and that was an immediate attraction for me. I love Japan and have been to Nagoya, the setting of the book. It’s the story of Jun, a hotel manager working to claim her inheritance of running the high-class hotel empire run by her rich family. It’s also about Saya, a younger and poorer woman who blows into and out of Jun’s life like a whirlwind. She’s what Jun has been searching for her whole adult life. But Saya has many secrets. They are great, rich characters that will have you yearning for them to finally get together. The book also has delightful side characters (especially Jun’s assistant manager), and I really enjoyed their journey also. I can’t wait to read the remaining books in the series. Highly recommended.
May 22, 2019
Jun and Saya are a study in contrasts - rich vs. poor, university degree vs. high school dropout, home body vs. adventurer. Despite these differences, and Saya's tendency to disappear for long periods of time the pair are oddly well matched. A good cast of secondary characters help bring Jun to life. Saya only interacts with Jun so it is more difficult to get a sense of who she is. The story arc suggests a possible HEA, but clearly there are more books in the series so this is not exactly a standalone read.
April 19, 2019
Good book
This was a really good book. I found it fascinating that it was centered around Japanese culture. I have never read anything like it and I am interested in reading the next book.
This was a really good book. I found it fascinating that it was centered around Japanese culture. I have never read anything like it and I am interested in reading the next book.
April 5, 2019
4/5 ⭐️
I enjoyed this a lot! You don’t get many lezzy books set in Japan. It was a awesome setting and the story was really well done.
I enjoyed this a lot! You don’t get many lezzy books set in Japan. It was a awesome setting and the story was really well done.
July 18, 2019
Good characters, with a main character with incredible patience. The sex was hot, without being pornographic. Set in a luxury hotel, with time spent in hay bars and love hotels. I enjoyed it
August 31, 2019
Oof that ending was real bad. RTC.
May 7, 2014
How Long Does It Take To Love?
4.75 Stars
This novel was my first experience with this author’s work, though I don’t believe it will be the last.
The writing style is both engaging and welcoming. Within the first few paragraphs, it is easy to immerse yourself completely in the lives and desires of the characters. The book has a good balance between the plot and the intimate scenes for it to warrant the claim of “romance” in description of being an erotic romance. The story didn’t feel like just a lot of slim set ups for continual sexual encounters. The chemistry between Jun and Saya is unmistakable within moments into the hotel restaurant scene and carries through to the last page.
I would recommend it to readers looking for passionate romance with a hint of spice and dose of drama. Would probably be deemed a bit too tame for the tastes of those seeking an intensely erotic exploit, with maybe a dash of story.
** Complimentary copy provided by author/publisher for an honest review.**
4.75 Stars
This novel was my first experience with this author’s work, though I don’t believe it will be the last.
The writing style is both engaging and welcoming. Within the first few paragraphs, it is easy to immerse yourself completely in the lives and desires of the characters. The book has a good balance between the plot and the intimate scenes for it to warrant the claim of “romance” in description of being an erotic romance. The story didn’t feel like just a lot of slim set ups for continual sexual encounters. The chemistry between Jun and Saya is unmistakable within moments into the hotel restaurant scene and carries through to the last page.
I would recommend it to readers looking for passionate romance with a hint of spice and dose of drama. Would probably be deemed a bit too tame for the tastes of those seeking an intensely erotic exploit, with maybe a dash of story.
** Complimentary copy provided by author/publisher for an honest review.**
May 25, 2014
Like the characters, had trouble figuring out the story for a long time. Full review to come...
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