This is my favourite book of all time!

I think it’s a testament to Laroux’s writing that, despite bully romances very much not being my thing, and despite degradation/humiliation very much not being my thing, I still loved this book.

The same can be said for the fact that although initially I was skeptical of the high page count, this book didn’t feel overwritten, and it held my attention from beginning to end.

Being the wet blanket that I am, there were a couple instances where I found myself proclaiming aloud: “that’s not entirely safe,” but all-around, I thought that the depictions of BDSM and its guidelines were handled well.

As a side note: at first when the negotiation of Jess’s servitude in payment for her car repairs was floated, it was presented as this very “you give us consent to do whatever we want, when we want,” situation, which was raising all sorts of red flags. [For the record, that’s not how consent works; you cannot give consent carte blanche like that without any parameters or discussion of boundaries. And if anyone asks you to, you should run.] But thankfully, that’s not where the conversation ended in this case, and they did go on to have a healthy discussion of hard and soft limits, safewords, etc. I really appreciated that. BDSM, for all the stigma that surrounds it, is a community incredibly preoccupied with safety, consent, and respect.