On the main, I enjoyed this book a lot, and more than I expected to*. I gave it a shot because I like the author and I felt more comfortable about the M/M power dynamic than I do with M/F D/s relationships. Except this never really developed into a D/s relationship. There were elements of it but Caspian is fighting hard not to be too much a dom.
To be honest, Arden busting into Caspian’s workplace and talking about sex for profit in front of his colleagues almost triggered a DNF for me because that is a hard genie to put back in the bottle and all kinds of inappropriate and out of line with the perceived offense, which wasn’t one. But I kept listening and am glad I did.
(*It’s 2020 and billionaires exist because they exploit workers, effectively stealing wages and resources from the masses and devaluing the economy in aggregate, so I do not find them sympathetic but sometimes reading about “beautiful and grotesque” luxury is a fun fantasy. And seeing it from Arden’s POV mitigates the grotesque aspects somewhat.)
What I like: Arden’s turns of phrase, his enjoyment of going with the moment, the rave experience, the movie references to films I can identify, & how Caspian doesn’t get the movie references because he doesn’t participate in movies as culture. (I have a friend who rarely watches movies and it is really odd sometimes.) I like how Arden is a little cowed by the wealth but not at all cowed by authority or the people with the wealth. (In this, he reads as ADHD to me, whereas Caspian reads as slightly autistic.) Caspian, eventually, does a good job of explaining why he bothers with Arden when he could, quite literally, buy all the “love” he might want.
At any rate, the book is enjoyable with many LOL moments but it’s frustrating that the relationship remains nascent throughout.
SPOILERS in this paragraph, which I will try to minimize. I was thrown by how soon Arden got fed up, and by what pushed him to change his actions and flee for self preservation. What with Caspian reading his sister the riot act about calling in advance to cancel appointments only to turn around with a too little too late text of “working late” Arden’s pique & panic weren’t unwarranted. The magnitude of the pique & panic seemed overblown. I thought that Caspian missing a timed hookup once was a little underwhelming. While Arden wasn’t a huge fan of waiting indefinitely, as the kept man, none of his previous hookups involved committing to a time, so it’s not a problem pattern, just one bad disconnect. But as is revealed in the later discussion, they have more disconnect than they have relationship. Presumably this gets worked on in the later books?
/end Spoilers
Steam: Med-low. All thought and talk, very little action or connection. I was really expecting a lot more sexytimes from a story involving a billionaire keeping a guy for convenient sex.
Narration: Really shines in the scenes when Arden is stressing out about his future. The accent seems australian though, and more american newscaster for Caspian. The comedy came through clearly so I’m not taking stars off.