FVJen

Sophie/husband and Lucien

Hmm, something a little different than anything I have read before. Not sure how to get around this whole married thing. Full review on Fiction Vixen Book Reviews

There’s only one thing in life Lucien Knight really hates, and that’s husbands who cheat on their wives.
There’s only one problem in Sophie Black’s life. Her cheating husband…
From the moment Lucien and Sophie meet, the seal is set.

Sophie is a little tired of her boring, vanilla life. Lately her husband has been away more than he has been home and she is starting to suspect something she won’t even voice out loud. Her current PA job is working for a letch so when she has the opportunity to interview for Knight Inc, an adult entertainment company, she jumps at it. She doesn’t tell her husband what company she is interviewing for but simply tells him about the interview. Not that it will matter because it will all happen when he is away on a ten day business trip.

When she steps in to Lucien Knight’s office she knows there will be trouble. He is a seductive, beautiful man she might not be able to resist. She participates in the most bizarre interview where she is asked to repeat words like ‘clitoris’ or ‘masturbation’. Lucien is captivated by her innocence but knows she will not survive in his industry if she cannot do certain things. In a move that surprises both of them Lucien offers her the job, and against her better judgement Sophie takes the job.

Standard company policy makes Lucien investigate his new employee and he finds that her husband has been cheating on her for a long time. He is not on a business trip but really on a holiday with his two-year affair. Lucien has serious issues with men cheating on their wives as his mother was cheated on by his father resulting in her death. He refuses to let Sophie go through that and decides to give her ammunition to fight her husband with. He will shore up her defenses by showing her what a sexual woman she really can be and that she shouldn’t be treated like her husband is treating her.

Somewhere along the way two things happen. We are given an insight to Sophie’s husband and how he feels about his affair. The woman has given him an ultimatum of sorts. He was basically forced to go on holiday with her or she would tell his wife about them. The second thing is that even after many times of hearing Lucien say that monogamy is unnatural and he would never do it, Sophie has slipped under his skin. There was no thought to monogamy but she has made him feel different. She has done something to him all the previous polished women were not able to do.

It seems that if you have an erotic romance these days it must be compared to Fifty Shades or Bared to You. I don’t always get the comparison because most of the books are really nothing like them. Knight and Play was one of those books compared and other than there being a copious amount of sex nothing else is similar. Lucien is not terribly tortured. He is a multimillionaire but is very self-assured and knows what he wants. He has demons but they are not so overwhelming that we spent the whole book focusing on them. Sophie is a married woman which none of the other heroines have been and she is a bit older and established. I wonder if the comparison makes people more likely to pick up the book or if it turns off just as many people? Either way it seems to be used quite often lately.

So now I want to talk about the big, pink elephant in the room. Sophie is married. She is married and having an affair with her boss and that is what this book is about. Cheating is a huge no-no for me. Like a non starter and somehow I started the book thinking Sophie had been cheated on but was now divorced. That is not the case. Sophie and Lucien both have the idea that because her husband is cheating on her that makes it ok for them to have an affair also. I spent most of the book trying to pretend that she wasn’t married. Without the married part, this book was exactly what I like. Rich guy, who happens to own sex business, gives great pleasure to repressed woman. Perfect. But she is married!! See, I couldn’t get past that part. For the most part, neither could Sophie. She has thoughts and feelings of what was supposed to be her forever love. Her husband and her go back to when they were children.

I think the married storyline actually ended up adding an extra layer that I didn’t expect. Normally I would expect the book to end with said rich guy falling in love and everyone living happily ever after. Sooo not the case here. In fact, I am not sure what will happen because we have the dreaded cliffhanger. This one is a doozy. Sophie’s husband has returned home and Lucien is knocking on the door for the confrontation. People, look. These cliffhangers are NOT COOL.

So if you can handle the fact that the whole book is done with the premise of cheating then I think you will like this one. I don’t mean that statement how it sounds because, of course, nobody likes cheating. The book is very well written and explores how some people might deal with the emotions of this type of betrayal. It was definitely out of my comfort zone. I can’t end without saying that the sex was some of the hottest I have read and I read a lot of it. Lucien is one creative, interesting dude. Final grade- B

Favorite Quote:

“You see?” He gestured to their bodies with his hands. “Man.” He touched his fingers to his chest and raised his eyebrows. “Woman.” He brushed his fingertips over the base of her throat. “Sex is natural.” He trailed one finger down the valley between her breasts to her navel, making her stomach muscles jitter in response. “And fucking beautiful.” His clear blue eyes held hers. “Now, forget everything else,” he said, “And Get. On. That. Bed.”