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razzlet83's review against another edition
5.0
His Cocky Cellist
Arc provided by the author for an honest review.
This is the D/s story I've been looking for the last few months. Proper etiquette, wonderful characterization, and scenes written with the finesse of a sharpened flechette, instead of a blunt hammer.
Topping from the bottom. Amani is grace and control. He fully embraces the traditionally feminine without losing his masculinity. He is comfortable in his dominance.
Vic is a submissive in a dominant career, Amani gives him the safe space to be who he truly is.
Beautifully written from beginning to end. Hea.
Tropes: GFY, virginity kink, D/s, BDSM, edging, spreader bar, topping from the bottom, ssc, rack, contracts, sex work, power dynamics.
Arc provided by the author for an honest review.
This is the D/s story I've been looking for the last few months. Proper etiquette, wonderful characterization, and scenes written with the finesse of a sharpened flechette, instead of a blunt hammer.
Topping from the bottom. Amani is grace and control. He fully embraces the traditionally feminine without losing his masculinity. He is comfortable in his dominance.
Vic is a submissive in a dominant career, Amani gives him the safe space to be who he truly is.
Beautifully written from beginning to end. Hea.
Tropes: GFY, virginity kink, D/s, BDSM, edging, spreader bar, topping from the bottom, ssc, rack, contracts, sex work, power dynamics.
chiarob's review
4.75
Joel Leslie was amazing, as always. The characters and their story were engaging. I would have liked the discussion about money to be a bit deeper than what it was (but it made sense if you think about the age of the MCs)
blupblup's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
emmalthompson85's review against another edition
2.5
DNF at about 50%.
I tried to stick this out so much because of all the good reviews and maybe I'm just being too picky. It's not like the writing's bad. The narrator is fucking fantastic. I even liked the characters, if finding them a bit much occasionally.
My main issue was this book hit a trope that apparently I and only I hate so much which is when am unreasonably rich person offers someone a large sum of money to do a thing and instead of jumping on it because fuck the rich, their pride is wounded and they throw a fit. This book treats it as so self-evident that offering to overpay a stranger for music lessons was bad that it doesn't even really explain why it's bad. Like, throwing it out there, any local billionaires want to pay me thousands to spend a little free time teaching them a skill I have, I'm in!
To make it worse, the character who was so deeply offended to be asked for music lessons then later actively encourages the billionaire to pay him for sex. Like, do we have our pride or not? Not that you can't be proud and a sex worker but you can also be proud and give cello lessons. Offering money for cello lessons is a grave insult but offering money for sex is absolutely fine?
And then I'm into picking mode. The instant bi which, look, if you're going to do gay for you fucking work for it. It would alter literally nothing in this book to have him bi from the start. We have a kink scene with a crap safe word (towel. A towel is a thing one might reasonably have closer to hand while having sex and may even say during the act, creating confusion about of you've safeworded or not) and an undernegotiated scene (no, both filling out a form in silence is not a negotiation. Just because you tick on a form you might want to try a thing sometime doesn't mean you want to do it now). And then we have poor health as a moral failing. His blood pressure is high because he's stressed and doesn't take care of himself! And clearly having medicated high blood pressure is terrible. (As opposed to it being a normal thing that happens to some bodies and isn't medicine great).
So you can see the headspace I got into with this book.
It's not a bad book, it's a very bad book for me, though.
I tried to stick this out so much because of all the good reviews and maybe I'm just being too picky. It's not like the writing's bad. The narrator is fucking fantastic. I even liked the characters, if finding them a bit much occasionally.
My main issue was this book hit a trope that apparently I and only I hate so much which is when am unreasonably rich person offers someone a large sum of money to do a thing and instead of jumping on it because fuck the rich, their pride is wounded and they throw a fit. This book treats it as so self-evident that offering to overpay a stranger for music lessons was bad that it doesn't even really explain why it's bad. Like, throwing it out there, any local billionaires want to pay me thousands to spend a little free time teaching them a skill I have, I'm in!
To make it worse, the character who was so deeply offended to be asked for music lessons then later actively encourages the billionaire to pay him for sex. Like, do we have our pride or not? Not that you can't be proud and a sex worker but you can also be proud and give cello lessons. Offering money for cello lessons is a grave insult but offering money for sex is absolutely fine?
And then I'm into picking mode. The instant bi which, look, if you're going to do gay for you fucking work for it. It would alter literally nothing in this book to have him bi from the start. We have a kink scene with a crap safe word (towel. A towel is a thing one might reasonably have closer to hand while having sex and may even say during the act, creating confusion about of you've safeworded or not) and an undernegotiated scene (no, both filling out a form in silence is not a negotiation. Just because you tick on a form you might want to try a thing sometime doesn't mean you want to do it now). And then we have poor health as a moral failing. His blood pressure is high because he's stressed and doesn't take care of himself! And clearly having medicated high blood pressure is terrible. (As opposed to it being a normal thing that happens to some bodies and isn't medicine great).
So you can see the headspace I got into with this book.
It's not a bad book, it's a very bad book for me, though.
lezreadalot's review against another edition
4.0
Amani sounded amused, and suddenly Vic felt like the mouse once more with a cat who liked to play the long game with his food before he devoured it.
I liked but didn't love the first book in this series, so I wasn't sure about checking out the second one, but holy crap I'm soooooo glad I did. This one I liked a LOT. For some of the same reasons that I liked the first book. There's no such thing as an ethical billionaire in real life, but this is a romance novel, and it's nice to pretend, and see rich people using the oodles of money that their parents made to do good things in the world. I loved the emphasis on their class differences, how repulsed Amani is by Vic's money, and how Vic's personality draws him in nonetheless. How even while falling in love with him, he didn't let go of the things that mattered to him (and also the book didn't do the thing where like, poor people needing money to procure things like rent and school fees is seen as villainous). And god I really love and appreciate billionaire romance where the rich person isn't the one to hold all the power in D/s relationship, since they already have so much societal power. Amani and Vic's dynamic was great; Amani serving femme realness and Vic being his huge, flustered, cat-toy on a string. Their banter was great, and all their quiet moments getting to know each other. The romance in general was extremely swoon-worthy.
I had my nitpicks here and there. I'm not a cellist but Amani's reentry into playing seemed... unrealistic. The romance moved a bit too fast for my liking, and I do wish we'd gotten more scenes with Ash, and Amani's mother, and Julie & co, and at the massage parlour, and just general little things that would take us out of the relationship for a bit. Also Cole McCade's prose is extremely pretty, really good and evocative to read, and it's part of what made this so enjoyable but... sometimes it was juuuuuust this side of purple.
All extremely minor things tho. I enjoyed this thoroughly, can't wait to try more of his work.
I liked but didn't love the first book in this series, so I wasn't sure about checking out the second one, but holy crap I'm soooooo glad I did. This one I liked a LOT. For some of the same reasons that I liked the first book. There's no such thing as an ethical billionaire in real life, but this is a romance novel, and it's nice to pretend, and see rich people using the oodles of money that their parents made to do good things in the world. I loved the emphasis on their class differences, how repulsed Amani is by Vic's money, and how Vic's personality draws him in nonetheless. How even while falling in love with him, he didn't let go of the things that mattered to him (and also the book didn't do the thing where like, poor people needing money to procure things like rent and school fees is seen as villainous). And god I really love and appreciate billionaire romance where the rich person isn't the one to hold all the power in D/s relationship, since they already have so much societal power. Amani and Vic's dynamic was great; Amani serving femme realness and Vic being his huge, flustered, cat-toy on a string. Their banter was great, and all their quiet moments getting to know each other. The romance in general was extremely swoon-worthy.
I had my nitpicks here and there. I'm not a cellist but Amani's reentry into playing seemed... unrealistic. The romance moved a bit too fast for my liking, and I do wish we'd gotten more scenes with Ash, and Amani's mother, and Julie & co, and at the massage parlour, and just general little things that would take us out of the relationship for a bit. Also Cole McCade's prose is extremely pretty, really good and evocative to read, and it's part of what made this so enjoyable but... sometimes it was juuuuuust this side of purple.
All extremely minor things tho. I enjoyed this thoroughly, can't wait to try more of his work.
endemictoearth's review
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Super romantic and over the top, but so lovely. At first, I took issue with the fact that both protagonists were so young; I thought the story could have been better served by having them be a bit older, but as the story went on, it was clear that this was a very deliberate choice.
r43_3's review against another edition
4.0
A writer who's kink-conscious, TW-aware and open, sex work-positive, and writes characters who actually communicate? Not to mention the diversity in the MCs (this review is also somewhat for His Cocky Valet), the inclusion of men dismantling toxic masculinity, and openness about how problematic the super rich are - be still my heart, I'm in love.
Spoiler
and even having the billionaire do something about it?!_ashton_reads_'s review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this couple a bit more than the first book. Their dynamic was
kharlan3's review
hopeful
mysterious
5.0
Top contemporary romance of 2023. I wish the audio narrator had shared an identity more closely with our main character.
iam's review against another edition
5.0
Aaaaah this was amazing!!! I'm totally in love!
Content warnings include: A comprehensive list can be found in the book itself, available in the preview on amazon.
I truly enjoyed reading this. I was totally enamoured by Amani from the very beginning, which made me relate to Vic a lot. Though Vic was also a great character in his own right.
The setup of the novel made me wary at first, but it worked out so well, especially with the two characters who were amazing: Amani, who is Moroccan-American, black, Dom, femme, student, masseuse, cellist, and Vic, who is British-American, white, billionaire, CEO, masc, convinced he's straight and totally unawares of what else he likes in bed.
Not just their sexual dynamic was great, I also loved the conversations they had about class, as in the detachment of rich people from the life of the actual 99%. More conversations or at least side remarks about religion, racism, toxic masculinity and of course kink were also present, and I thought handled very well.
The writing was truly beautiful as well, almost poetic at times without being overbearing, but raw and emotional. I especially enjoyed the describtions of clothing, which were presented so naturally and engaging that I didn't just skim over them.
What I found curious was the age of the characters. Amani is 20 and Vic is 24, and I found it fascinating to see their life and their personal experiences at an age I can immediately relate to and compare, yet which were so fundamentally different from my own. For some reason, I was more aware of this in this book than any others I've read recently.
The one thing I would have wished for was more glimpses into the characters' lives around their relationship and how those two things impact each other. Maybe this would have distracted from the actual plot, but I liked reading about Amani and Vic so much that I just wanted to know more about their day to day life.
Content warnings include:
Spoiler
BDSM involding pain play, D/s, orgasm denial; sex on-page, chronic illness; mentions of sexual assault, bullying, racism, classism.I truly enjoyed reading this. I was totally enamoured by Amani from the very beginning, which made me relate to Vic a lot. Though Vic was also a great character in his own right.
The setup of the novel made me wary at first, but it worked out so well, especially with the two characters who were amazing: Amani, who is Moroccan-American, black, Dom, femme, student, masseuse, cellist, and Vic, who is British-American, white, billionaire, CEO, masc, convinced he's straight and totally unawares of what else he likes in bed.
Not just their sexual dynamic was great, I also loved the conversations they had about class, as in the detachment of rich people from the life of the actual 99%. More conversations or at least side remarks about religion, racism, toxic masculinity and of course kink were also present, and I thought handled very well.
The writing was truly beautiful as well, almost poetic at times without being overbearing, but raw and emotional. I especially enjoyed the describtions of clothing, which were presented so naturally and engaging that I didn't just skim over them.
What I found curious was the age of the characters. Amani is 20 and Vic is 24, and I found it fascinating to see their life and their personal experiences at an age I can immediately relate to and compare, yet which were so fundamentally different from my own. For some reason, I was more aware of this in this book than any others I've read recently.
The one thing I would have wished for was more glimpses into the characters' lives around their relationship and how those two things impact each other. Maybe this would have distracted from the actual plot, but I liked reading about Amani and Vic so much that I just wanted to know more about their day to day life.