Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an advanced copy of this book. I am providing a voluntary review. All thoughts and views are my own.

I'm not sure what I was expecting with this book, yet it still managed to exceed all of my expectations. The writing was smooth as butter and did absolutely nothing to detract from the compelling story, which is a welcome indulgence in my pleasure reads. I sometimes find it hard to turn of my editing brain and just enjoy a story, but this was so well done I had no issue simply losing myself in the world of Aiden and Elliot.

However, I did struggle a bit with Elliott as a character. I wish the narrative hadn't been single POV, especially with him as the sole voice. I had a hard time understanding his motivation and often didn't sympathize with his plights, despite having full access to his thoughts and rationale on the subjects at hand. Aiden, in contrast, was an absolute doll who carried the story on his broad and sexy shoulders. I kept reading mostly for him and the HEA I wanted *him* to find. Even when I thought, time and again, he could do better than Elliott.

I happen to be a fan of the sex worker trope in romance. I just wish Elliott's reasoning for doing it made a bit more sense. I just couldn't get behind the idea of selling his body to avoid having student loans in the future. And coming from someone who double majored during my undergrad *and* worked a full-time job, I couldn't understand why he believed it so impossible to work a real job and make ends meet. Heck, if he'd gotten student loans, he could've worked and still sent some money home to his dad.

Either way, this was an enjoyable read, even if I struggled a bit to identify and relate with the main character. The story kept me turning the page, and Aiden made up for Elliott's shortcomings. I'd recommend this to anyone who might be looking for an easy read as long as they're willing to go into it with an open mind and not dig too deep.

This is the first book of Chloe B. Young’s that I have read, and I believe it is a debut novel. It’s a “Pretty Woman” type of story and definitely has the same vibe as the film.

Elliott has been working part-time as a sex trade worker. He’s putting himself through College and attempting to help his father save their family house. He takes a lot of pride in “making his own way” and doesn’t feel as though there’s anything wrong with what he does. After leaving a long-term arrangement with one man… he ends up beginning another arrangement with that man’s nephew.

I have to admit, I struggled a little bit with the fact that Elliot dated a man and then that’s man’s nephew. I sort of tried to put it out of my head because it made me a little uncomfortable. In contrast to the original arrangement, when Elliott meets Aiden, he is quite taken with him.

Aiden comes from a wealthy family and is a lawyer. Right from the beginning, Aiden is a gentle character. He seems honest, forthright, and what he wants is someone he can pay to act as though they’re in a relationship. He genuinely wants the cuddling, the Netflix and chill, the laughter… and doesn’t want to have to go through all the effort to find someone.

As these two men begin their arrangement, it’s clear that they have physical chemistry. The thing is, very slowly, a relationship begins to sneak up on them. Of course, this is a bit complicated because of their financial agreement. I was pleasantly surprised that the characters didn’t immediately panic and end their agreement. It was a nice change of pace to read about two people discovering they were developing feelings and taking it in stride.

Aiden was definitely my favourite character. I felt as though he was the more likeable of the two mains. Aiden came across as quite genuine… while Elliott was more difficult for me to warm up to. I struggled with understanding why Elliott had to be a sex worker in the first place. Not that I have an issue with a character making their money by sex work, but it seemed as though there were a wide variety of things that Elliott could have chosen as a job.

Overall, I enjoyed this novel and I’m curious to see what this new author does in the future!

Starts off promising, with a typical premise for a romance. College student Elliott is earning much needed money by escorting richer men. He finds himself approached by his first client's nephew Aiden.

I liked the first couple of chapters - they set the scene well for Elliott's situation and background. I liked that it wasn't judgemental about sex work, and although Elliott needs money for his family and college tuition, the book isn't trying to find some fake psychological "flaw" that sent him into this field.

But Elliott was too unsympathetic a main character for me. He was overbearing and uptight, and obsessed with money. There are genuine reasons why he needs money, but I can never get that excited by its pursuit, in life or in books. And I couldn’t really get a handle on Aiden. He seemed blank, lacking in personality, and I wasn't sure if this was intentional, or whether he was supposed to be something else. This was reflected in the sex scenes. Though detailed, they managed to be both boring and unerotic. This is a real shame for a book that is based on a supposedly erotic relationship.

The writing is decent and there are some humorous lines. But there’s something missing. It’s like someone being able to play a musical instrument with accuracy but little expression. A good start, and some interesting ideas thrown up by the story, but sadly for me the premise of the book sounded much better than the reality.

Books about sex workers are hard--reconciling the demands of an HEA and a romance that feels true with the realities of commercial sex is always tricky.

Young writes an ambitious review with plenty of promise, but didn't nail the execution. Aiden and Elliott want to have it both ways: No strings, transactional sex AND love. Monogamy AND the push-pull dynamic of client and sex worker. (And, I'm really not into daddy kink--don't mean to yuck anyone's yum, and I'm mentioning it but not really taking it into account in my review--that's not my issue with the book).

Parts of it are sexy and sweet, and I did like the way Aiden and Elliott struggled to stay true to themselves but also grow in their relationship. But ultimately, it wasn't a very good representation of sex work (it's a fantasy that you can pay the rent with only one client, not to mention the fantasy of finding true love) or of grown-ups having sex and catching feelings.

This was a NetGalley ARC, and I am grateful for the chance to write an honest review.

Elliott Meyer est un jeune étudiant de 21 ans. Afin de financer ses études et d'aider son père, il donne des cours, mais en plus de cela, il a un autre travail qu'il cache à son entourage : il se prostitue. Sa précédente histoire avec son ancien « employeur » étant terminée, il est à la recherche d'un nouveau contrat. Il ne s'attendait pas à ce que Aiden Kent, le neveu de son précédent bénéficiaire, lui fasse une proposition.

On voit bien vers où tout cela va mener bien évidemment. Elliott est un personnage sympathique. Le jeune rame vraiment pour joindre les deux bouts et on comprend ses motivations.
Petit à petit, une relation d'amitié et de confiance va s'établir entre lui et Aiden. Aucun d'entre eux n'avait prévu cela et il sera encore plus difficile de poser un mot sur leur relation plus le temps passe.

J'ai trouvé dommage que tout ne soit pas plus développé, notamment concernant Aiden, sa famille, son état d'esprit, mais surtout ses motivations principales envers Elliott. Il mentionne une certaine compétition entre lui et Innes, également de la jalousie... J'aurais aimé que l'auteur creuse un peu plus de ce côté-ci. Même si je comprends les motivations d'Elliott pour son job, ce qu'il demande à Aiden à la fin n'est pas concevable pour moi. Sans le revirement de situation, nos deux hommes en seraient toujours au même stade...
Tout est résolu très rapidement aussi, tout est trop facile et rapide à mon sens. Et cela manque de profondeur.

Après, ce fut une lecture détente sympathique avec des personnages qui le sont tout autant ^^
(3,25/5)

Worth it is a fun, sexy romance between two strong characters with a complicated relationship. I enjoyed Elliott's dilemma between his education and his relationship with Aiden, but I felt that the conflict was resolved a little too easily at the end. I love it when things miraculously work out in real life, but I like my characters in books to suffer a bit more. I would have preferred a second-chance romance scenario where Elliott and Aiden meet again after Elliot has his PhD and is more financially comfortable.

I also disliked how Elliott expected Aiden to want to try an open relationship even though the latter clearly wasn't comfortable with the idea.

Overall, this is a pretty solid debut, and I would consider picking up this author's future works.

3.25 stars

2.75 Stars - Rounded up for Daddy kink and Aiden

I had such high hopes for this one, but alas, I found Elliot to be SO insufferable that I just couldn’t love this. He was so sanctimonious about the exchange of money - it made me a bit crazy on behalf of Aiden. His role of martyr for his father was also way over done for me. I just didn’t buy into his reasons for needing to do sex work vs others forms of employment.

And the end - ugh - I found it a bit ridiculous he expected Aiden to be so on board with him sleeping with “one or two” other clients. Like, what?? It’d be different if Elliot was in the adult film industry or something, but theirs was a monogamous sex work relationship from the start. And don’t even get me started on him supposedly loving Aiden, but running straight to his ex and then ghosting Aiden entirely when things didn’t go his way. I found it very childish from someone who touted his maturity the whole book.

Aiden was honestly precious and I loved him so much, he alone makes some of this story worth reading. He was charming, considerate, and giving. Ugh. Dreamboat.

I wish the big misunderstanding had been left out entirely as it made me really dislike a character I was already not in love with. Most of my biggest issues happened towards the end though so if you can overlook the things I’ve mentioned you may still enjoy it.

The chemistry between the characters in this book was off the charts. It was romantic and passionate and if that’s what you’re looking for, that’s what you’ll get.

I received this ARC from the publisher and Netgalley for my honest review and opinion. I loved Elliott and Aiden. I thought the romance between them was sweet. There were some funny moments thrown in that I enjoyed. I was invested in what happened for them to the end. I would state that the uncles relationship made me cringe just a tad bit. Otherwise this was a well done book.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange of an honest review! Thank you so much, Riptide Publishing, for the chance to read this book!

Elliott is a dedicated student, he loves studying history and he wants to be a professor, one day, but the college is expensive and, after his mother's death, his family is struggling financially, so Elliott decided to be a sex worker to support himself and help his father.
After losing his only client, Elliott starts to hit the club hoping to find someone able to help him and he meets Aiden, the nephew of his previous client. Aiden is so stressed out and has no time for a true relationship, so he and Elliott decide to make a deal and he hires him to provide the benefits of a relationship, without the stress and responsibility,
Slowly, though, their arrangement becomes more and more weird when it starts to become a real relationship and Elliott doesn't want to being paid to be his romantic partner and Aiden doesn't want him to continue his job, having sex with someone who isn't him. Will they be able to stay together or Elliott will risk losing or his academic future or Aiden?


Worth it is a wonderful, sexy and cute book, full of funny and sweet moments, amazing characters and it's about an unusual love story, the financial struggles of supporting oneself, helping one's family and the complex nature of relationships.
Elliott and Aiden are fantastic characters. Elliott is stubborn, loyal, proud and dedicated. He's passionate, a fantastic son and friend and I love his relationship with his best friend Kevin and with his father. He's burdened by financial problems, his responsibility to his father and his house, with repairs needed and his mother's presence still fresh and painful, even though many years passed.
He loves his college, he's pursuing his dream to become a professor, but the financial problems pushed him to do his work, being a sex worker, after realizing that another kind of job would not have been able to help him so much financially and he wouldn't have been able to study as much as he used to.
After his break up with his previous client, meeting Aiden, the nephew of the client, is awkward and weird, but they start right away an unusual relationship, made of talking, talking and, of course, sex. Slowly, though, the lines between work and pleasure begin to blur and they fall hard in love with one other, their feelings complicating their deal.

Aiden is another complex character, burdened, in a different way, by family expectations and constant comparison with his uncle (Elliott's previous client) and with the achievements of the other member of the family, stuck in a job he didn't like anymore. His relationship with Elliott is intense, full of teasing, cuddling, talking, real talking and care. His love for Elliott is complicated by Elliott's need of money and his misguided offers to help him, refused because Elliott is proud of being able to taking care of himself and his family on his own.

The money are one of the central themes in Worth it. Aiden pays for Elliott's company and sex, Elliott's need the money to live and eat and help his father and they are often the reason they fight, because Aiden, being rich, doesn't understand Elliott's needs and desires to be independent and doing it on his own.

I loved reading about their relationship, how slowly it changes from being between employer and employee, to friends, to lovers, to boyfriends. There are so many hot and cute moments in Worth it and I was really involved in their story, hoping for them until the very end.

I recommend this book to those who wants an unusual love story, teasing, cuddles on the couch, love and bickering. Elliott and Aiden are perfect for you.

This book was amazing, I loved it, it was so hot and filled so many of my kinks, and the relationship between Aiden and Elliott was so sweet, they had great chemistry together. I wished I could keep reading about them, I tried to make the book last but I couldn't stop reading. I'll be looking for more books from Chloe in the future for sure.

I fell in love with Elliott and Aiden instantly and couldn’t put the book down as I cheered their relationship on.
Heart wrenching at times, and tempered with humour, Cole B. Young really can tell a story. Her characters ring true and her dialogue is realistic.
One of my favourite books this year!!!