I already had to leave college once to care for my sick mother. Thanks to the Second-Chance Scholarship, I have one last shot to finish my degree at Bourdillon University, a prestigious academy for the arts. But the three professors who control my future don't see a student, or an assistant librarian. They see prey. The Dean of Students, gentleman on the outside, beast on the inside. The Scholarship Committee Chairman who bends me to his will. And my former tutor, now my blackmailer, who holds my secrets over my head. They've got me wrapped around their fingers, and how the rest of my year will go depends entirely on how much I'm willing to obey them. They're the teachers. I'm the pet.
Kept is part I of a steamy, fast burn reverse harem romance that contains dark themes and triggers. For mature readers only.
Cate is a USA Today Bestselling Author who loves all things passionate and paranormal with a side of horror. She lives in the South with her family and pets, and loves every kind of coffee, horror and fantasy movies, and cats. Reading is her favorite hobby when she’s not writing.
Rhett gently chucked me under the chin. “The question isn’t why. You know why.” I knew why. I was a mouse, and they were hungry cats, and they’d herded me neatly into a corner.
This was another book by a new to me author. I stumbled upon this when I was looking for new books and thought why not give it a try since the synopsis was really intriguing. What I didn’t expect was to love it so much. It exceeded all my expectations. It was unique and so engaging.
A breath later, Rhett’s hands were on the wall on each side of my head, caging me in. “What did you dream about last night?” he breathed in my ear. Goosebumps rose over my neck and rolled downwards. What I’d dreamed: Rhett pounding into me, his face flickering between Gabriel spears cool, hard gaze and Thayer’s warmer, but crueler, one.
I thought it was gonna be another simple predictable reverse harem romance, turns out it was anything but that. Even thought it’s not lengthy, it still had depth, intensity and was so erotic. You could feel the connection between the characters. The plot was fast paced with enough mystery to keep it interesting.
The story revolves around Jane who is a scholarship student and her three professors Gabriel, Vincent and Rhett in a private academy. Jane, in the beginning, comes off as a very shy and a timid person and believes she’s never good enough. She doesn’t even realises she’s fallen into a trap until it’s too late and the games have just begun. She’s attracted to all of them and nothing is forced.
The only person we get a glimpse about was Rhett, who comes off as friendly but it’s just a front. He’s every bit as dark as his actions. Gabriel was a complete mystery. He was intense, cold and mean. I definitely wanna know his story. Vincent was just as intimidating and dominating but with a caring personality. He’s sort of holding all the reins. Even though they call her their pet, she’s never treated wrong.
”So all I had to do was stand up straight?” I asked bitterly. “You stand taller now, don’t you?” His lips moved against my ear. The brush of his beard against my cheek made me shiver. “You walk with sway in your step, you have awareness. You’ve woken up, Pet.”
I think the most difficult part about writing a reverse harem is building a connection with all the heroes. The author did an excellent job of that. Their connection seemed genuine, the chemistry was off the charts. I absolutely loved how they pushed her to be strong and grow a back bone. You could see her coming out of her shell.
It was dark, edgy and kept me glued to the pages. The twist and turns were unpredictable. It does end on a cliffhanger. I can’t wait to read what happens next especially with that end. It left me with goosebumps. Highly recommended ♥️
(P.S: I had to write the whole review again because stupid me erased it by mistake 😅)
Why was this book so stupid!! Add to the fact that it's a part of an incomplete series with no prospects of the next book....stupid stupid everything in this one was plain stupid!
If you want a taboo to read, then you need to read this! HOLY SHIZBALLS, THIS IS HOT! I don't know where to begin to even explain how amazing this book is. So we have a just a regular girl named Jane Fawkes. Now, I mean she just average and works hard to help out. She is going through a rough patch in her life. When an opportunity arises she takes a chance that could change her life. Little did she know that someone from her past will reappear. You know when you are an adult you get to make your own decisions and deal with the whatever comes of them. Right? Choices are given and well down the roller coaster we go. Be prepared for a whirlwind of emotions. The ending well dang it, I need book two like stat!!
Kept is the first book in the series Pet. I am completely new to Cate Corvin, but already know that I am going to be reading all of her other books now. Gosh, this woman can write!
Jane gets a second chance on her college career and obviously jumps at the opportunity to attend the prestige Bourdillon University on a scholarship. On her first day she runs into Rhett, who used to be her tutor and is now a professor at the school. Additionally, Gabriel, another professor and scholarship committee chairman, and Vincent, the Dean of Students catch her attention. Gabriel, Vincent and Rhett are all confident and know what they want: Jane. They want her to be their pet, to follow their commands and bend to their will. The three professors, or demons as Jane calls them, will stop at nothing to get what they want and don’t shy away from blackmailing themselves into Jane’s lives.
”There was a monster in there, but I ... still wanted him.”
Jane is so so shy and I wish she would walk with her head held higher and a little bit of backbone. I am not a fan that she only refers to herself as a mouse, when she is obviously beautiful, smart and caring. The guys are still a little bit of a mystery, especially Gabriel with whom Jane spends the least amount of time. I have mixed feelings about Rhett, who seems to really care about Jane, but also started the whole blackmail situation. Vincent is caring and I enjoyed their time together.
I know a lot of people aren’t into student- teacher romance, but I for one love those stories. The forbidden romance, plus the reverse harem relationship really works in this book.
”It was dangerous, gut-wrenching, exciting.”
I don’t love that the relationship between Jane and the guys is based on blackmail. Jane sleeps with Rhett out of free will, and is obviously attracted to both Vincent and Gabriel too. There really is just no need for them to blackmail her to be their pet. All of the sexual interactions are consensual, but the fact that it starts with blackmail makes it seem forced.
”I wanted to be their Pet because I wanted it. Even without the pictures that condemned me, I wanted them all. They stoked the fire that burned inside of me, the desire to be more than what I was.”
I am just getting more into the dark romance genre, and was fascinated by the twisted story. I wish this book was longer and the cliffhanger on the end had me screaming. I need the next book right now!
I love RH and student-teacher stories, so this was total wish fulfillment! A harem of only professors? Yes, please. Jane might think she's unremarkable and mousy, but her daring gets her into a sexy blackmail situation with the 3 teachers, and she really does have a backbone with everything she's dealing with. I liked her from the start. She (and I) might have started out hating the men for how they get her under their control, but there's nothing they tell her to do that she doesn't like.
I still think Rhett is kind of a jerk for facilitating everything and leading her on, at least how Jane sees it. I love Vincent the most (hey, I like the older ones), and I have a feeling his ex is going to come into play.
This ends in an intriguing cliffy, and I already have my suspicions about who has it out for Jane. Ready for more on that front, and more action with the guys.
MC was boring and stupid as fuck. Superfical. What I liked were the sex scenes, but the plot was not existend. Ends with a cliffhanger. Writing was ok. But had to push through it, so pretty sure I won't read the sequel.
I wasn’t sure what to expect when reading this. I was thinking there would be a lot of bullying and while I enjoy those sometimes I was hoping not. I loved this book - part of me was super peeved in the beginning (questionable morales) but I realized she was into it and I’m not going to judge! Plus the guys seem to treat her well and I like how she has grown as a person. I’m trying to not give too much away. I just wish it hadn’t ended so soon and the mother of all cliffhangers too! I’m dying for the next one !
Cate has done it once again! This book has everything you would want. It is steamy as heck and has mystery. In this book we meet Jane who is a scholarship student entering a prestigious university. She runs into a old tutor and that’s when things kick off! I highly recommend this book, and I can’t wait until the next book!
A hot steamy read that will have your toes curling. Although, it's not all fun and games. When Jane earns the second chance scholarship she never expects to see someone from her past as a professor. This is where the debauchery begins. I'm not sure how to feel about the professors but I really want to like them. I hope they become more than Jane believes. I thoroughly enjoyed this story! The ending is a shocker and I can't wait to see what happens next.
The debauchery and then the shame makes this a fantastic must read. The guys are the ones you hate to love. You read the whole time secretly hoping they are going to turn into the good guys but the entire time you know better but this author is just going to keep twisting your mind the entire time til you scream! I didn’t even read the blurb, I mean it’s Cate Corvin so you just one-click, no hesitation. I need the next book right now!
Oh baby. As always, Cate Corvin provides delectable men who you wish you could punch while also falling for them. There is just so much drama and angst that I can't help but want more. Also, that ending!! I NEED to know what happens next!!
I did not know what to expect with this book. Corvins first contemporary! A second chance scholarship at a prestigious academy for an older student? I was curious and eager to start it. What I didn’t foresee was pulling an all nighter! Being tired was totally worth it. This book was intense! At first I felt so much frustration and annoyance towards certain characters that I wasn’t sure I could keep going , but that’s when I realized that they were so well created, so well developed that I had already been completely engrossed in the story. I was hooked. I absolutely love reading about a character who begins to blossom. We get to see this in Jane. While it’s just a glimpse, a peek at the fierceness she possesses it’s there and that makes me really excited to see what the next instalment holds for this little mouse. This book is full of steam, anxiety inducing drama and angst that kept me on the edge of my seat, and the ending almost made me fall off my seat! I enjoyed the pace and writing style, the characters are well developed and the story itself is full of mystery and intrigue! I am excited to read more!
Yes, yes, and more yes! Cate Corvin is an amazing writer and she brought it with new contemporary series. Jane is a scholarship student who has gotten herself involved with 3 sexy professors. It is a little bumpy, but hot as well.
The book ends on a suspense and I can’t wait for the next one!
This books is everything ! Honestly Cate is a fantastic writer, we all know this if you have read any of her previous series ! However this book is unlike anything Cate has written before and I can say I am here for it ! This is Cate’s first contemporary book and boy did she start with a bang !
Jane is our heroine, who we find out is a scholarship student at a prestigious university, Jane has been given a second chance to attend university after dropping out due to financial difficulties due to her mother’s illness. It is at this university where Jane meets three teachers who will change her life as she knows it. One of the teachers Rhett, Jane is already familiar with as he used to tutor her in her youth, the other two Vincent and Gabriel are beautiful anomalies that’s Jane could not have accounted for...... Jane is prey as she is intimidated easily and does not stand up for her self, often referred to as mouse. The men in this series use it as an opportunity to blackmail Jane and to make her do their biding! Jane agrees to be on beck and call for these men however she doesn’t know what their end game is. Meanwhile trouble is brewing for Jane as it seems she has a stalker after items start to go missing from her house and she feels like she is being watched...... all fingers point to it being Sean, another scholarship student Jane has met who seems a little too invested in Jane ..... however maybe Cat is throwing us a herring !!!!! All I know is that I cannot wait for the next instalment of this series and I need it NOW !
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This is a deliciously dark RH from Cate Corvin and I loved it. Jane is a scholarship student at a prestigious academy, she had to drop out of her previous degree to look after her Mum, so when the opportunity came up to apply for the scholarship and be near her Mum's treatment place arose she took it.
I loved that the character is in her 20s so don't be put off by the fact it's an "academy" romance. Also it's fast burn and despite the fact it's a dark romance the male characters are really good at building Jane up without it being overly dark if that makes sense.
There's a mystery element of a stalker around the campus and he(?) has started to take an interest in Jane, a dubious ex of one of the main characters has made an appearance and there has to be more to come from her at some point so I can't wait to read the next in the series to see how it all plays out.
Oh, my!! I really loved this book. I am so excited to see what happens next. This book is full of surprises. I look forward the next book in the series.
That was AMAZING! Cate Corvin dove into the contemporary pool like an Olympic gold medallist. That. Was. Perfection. I’m in love with our little pet, Jane. The men are fantastic, who doesn’t love some sexy academics?
As with every Cate book, the underlying mystery leaves you with so many questions, and a slight anxious thrill at what will come next.
Geeze for this to be her first contemporary RH, she blew me away! This was so freaking good! Jane, your scholarship winner, runs into an old friend who blackmails her.... turns out Jane isn’t as innocent as she thinks🖤 I loved everything about this!! It was set at a good pace! And that ending 😨😨 CLIFFY! I cannot wait to devour the 2nd book, in desperate need of more of her Demons🖤
Why? Why do men think this is okay? To purposely hurt a young woman, knowing she is struggling financially and caring for a very sick parent. These are not young men either. Deeply disgusted that their okay doing this to her. Dangling this over her and not feeling any remorse about it. Not real men, pathetic excuses. This is not romance so why try to claim that??
Look ill be honest, I really only read this for the smut. There are some discrepancies that I noticed in scene building (in one scene she's wearing a dress, then it's a skirt and shirt, and then it's a dress again), but overall I enjoyed Ms Corvins ability to make you shiver.
Warning: it's a titillating/taboo concept that could be terribly triggering for some people, and as I'm sure every other review has mentioned, the central plot does sort of skirt around consenting non consent (an oxymoron, but also a whole pornography category)..
However - and I probably need to see my therapist more for saying this - once I leaned into the dirty pleasure of this book, I discovered I could have used some more smut centered around her being owned and that power dynamic, instead of her immediate growth and subtle dominance posturing over the men. I felt her own personal growth should have occurred more in book 2.
I rate this book 4 stars, because I mostly only rate the books I've read according to the sex scenes. It could have been 5 if my above opinion had occurred 😘
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This is a fast burn (and I do mean FAST) erotica with a story. It's a sexy, hot, university-aged reverse harem with three smoking hot professors, and a seemingly mousy, pliable sucker - er, FMC, who ends up being sexually blackmailed. At first. The opening scenes were a slap to the face, giving me social anxiety, and a little bit of "oh, come on, really?", eye rolling that collectively, had me reading behind my hair like I could hide from the embarrassment. Once you really get into the story though, I appreciated how the FMC didn't do a whole lot of whining about being blackmailed, nor does she allow her indiscretion to ruin her life in a hissy fit of belated morality. Jane blossoms under the attention and in book one, you see her beginning steps towards empowerment under the encouraging tutelage of her three professors. Kept Pet is a fast read which I devoured in an afternoon, with lots of sex and a cliffhanger that will definitely have me waiting on tenterhooks for book 2.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Jane is a scholarship student at a prestigious university. Shes an older student having gone to college a few years already before having to stop due to her moms cancer. There she meets up with her old tutor from when she was 14, they have sex upstairs in the library where he has someone taping them to use as blackmail for her to be their pet for all 3 professors. She agrees, actually enjoying it. But she makes sure that just as she can't be with anyone besides them, they can't be with any woman but her. Add a creeper of another scholarship student who gives me bad vibes and a person who attacked a woman 2 years prior. I really think its creeper dude as her underwear and a lipstick ended up missing after her was around. Overall I really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to seeing what happens next.
OMG I can tell you this story is steamy as hell! Jane just won a scholarship in a prestigious school and on her first day she meets three different professors ( Rhys, Vincent, Gabriel) who are cold as a rock except the first one! Something is going to happen with one of them and because of that, they’re going to blackmail her. Jane has two choices, to leave school and never come back or accept to become these professor’s pet.
From the title of the book, I was expecting a very submissive character, but I was wrong! Jane is very shy, but she’s not afraid to stand for her rights when she finds something unfair. There is no BDSM side to this story. The guys are more like, “Hey, let’s get you dinner.” I enjoyed it. It was refreshing.
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Ohmahgosh this book is so steamy and delicious and hot 🔥 Forbidden romance trope with three hot as sin Professors! The story flows so well, I was so sad when I got to the end. I didn’t even realize how quickly I read through! It does end on a cliffhanger, but please for the love of the universe, don’t let that stop you from picking this up. There are some darker “bully” elements, but nothing horrible. GET IT NOWWW
I really like both Vincent and Gabriel , I dont like Rhett. While he is the guy she had a crush on from the past , he manipulated her into the arrangement. I also dont like how he acts with her, maybe because between Vincent and Gabriel he still is a boy.
I also think we can all guess who the Stalker is , Also I cannot wait to see what the proffesors Ex's deal is and what she is doing back in town!
When first reading the synopsis, I had an idea about what the book might be like, but once I started reading I realized it was even better. The book is unexpected in a way that you find yourself reading and smiling before you even realized you've hit the end of it and there is a to be continued...
I would definitely recommend even with the cliffhanger at the end 😏
I'm interested to see the next one, mostly to explore the dark undertone and the supposed to be mystery surrounding the university/area. It's a little disappointing how it was implied but never really explored...until the very end...as a cliffhanger.
Is it bad that I keep misidentifying one mmc to another? Is misidentifying even a word???
I guess I will root for the heroine to get her self-esteem back.
I have mixed feelings about this book. The writing is good but, the premise makes my skin crawl. As a woman, this story just didn’t sit well with me. Cate Corvin is a fantastic writer, however this is my least favorite of her books. Read it for yourself if you’re curious, this is just one girl’s opinion.
Jane finds herself at Bourdillon to finish her library science degree but that’s not all, she draws the attention of three authority figures, an English professor, an art professor and the dean of students .. this is an adult-age RH that had me so hooked I read it in a matter of hours. It ended on a cliffhanger so I’m hoping there’s a second book!
Who doesn't like a forbidden romance between a student and teacher? Jane (who I'm convinced was named after the phrase plain Jane), gets herself into a little bit of trouble. But she managed to make lemonade out of lemons! Wink wink, nudge nudge. Cate Corvin hits it out of the park and I can only hope we get another book sooner than later. Enjoy!