This was... fun, in a way. Kind of felt like two different books, honestly, with the main plot line in the second half and the first half promising on kinky sex and never really delivering. I enjoyed the second half, if you subtract my disappointment about them not really doing anything kinky after the scene in the studio that one time.

I absolutely loved this novel.
Such a great story with defined characters and a great plot.
What drew me in the most was how fleshed out the characters were
The writing style was fluid and relateable.
The cover was fascinating as well.
A reviting read overall
Definitely recommend adding this to your TBR!

IMO, this was too long. I overall liked the story, but some of it could have been cut out. There was too many characters, and I had a hard time keeping people straight. When our Mc’s weren’t together I wasn’t really invested and found myself skimming until they were back together. There was too much description going on.

I've never read anything by this author before, but the cover, title, and blurb caught my eye. All in all, I'm glad I picked it up, and plan to check out more of the author's work in the future. The good: I was SUPER invested in Tai and Gates relationship. Their chemistry was electric, and when they were together, I was fully immersed in their backstories as well. The issue came when they weren't together. I almost found myself...not really caring? Which is bad considering that most of the book's plot happens there. It took me a while to figure out why too, because usually I'm a sucker for a good, seedy plotline. What it came down to was, there were just way too many names. Too many names, too many characters you either don't see on the page or see all at once. It was hard to keep them organized amidst the flashy descriptions of everything (which were otherwise great, but because of them, if a character was introduced or a new one was mentioned it was hard to tether them through the glitz and glam detailing of the intricate yard decorations etc). The excitement over having to go help Tai's cousin felt lackluster as well. I get that he had to stay put in order for the plot of the book to progress between him and Gates, but it left the first 30% feeling like there was a major thing happening and we the reader were being left out of it. Also, all the text talk blended together. Aside from the two mains, every time another character sent an email, it read the exact same as previous ones, making it even harder to differentiate between character voices.

That being said, I still gave this book four stars, because, again that chemistry. Their banter was electric and I cared very deeply about their own inner struggles whenever they were thinking about them. The details, when not mixed in with describing a new character, we great. Just enough to paint a really flashy picture and put me there. I won't say too much more because spoilers, but so long as you go into this knowing you're going to have to keep track of names and wait a bit for the gritty action (but not the spicy action. That comes in HOT in all caps), I still recommend this. I'll for sure be keeping up with any other books and Tai and Gates now hold a special place in my heart.