Book Review: The Men with the Golden Cuffs

• Book Blurb

  A woman in danger…

  Serena Brooks is a bestselling author of erotic fiction. She knows how to write a happy ending but hasn’t managed to find one of her own. Divorced and alone, she has no one to turn to when a stalker begins to threaten her life. The cops don’t believe her. Her ex-husband thinks she’s making the whole story up. She has no one left to turn to except a pair of hired bodyguards. They promise to guard her body, but no one can protect her heart.

  Two men in search of love…

  Adam Miles and Jacob Dean are halves of a whole. They’ve spent their entire adult lives searching for the one woman who can handle them both. Adam is the playful, indulgent lover, while Jacob is the possessive, loving Dom. When Serena comes into their lives, Adam is certain that she’s the one. But Jacob’s past comes back to haunt them all. He is suspicious of Serena’s story, and his concerns are driving a wedge between him and Adam. But when the stalker strikes, they will have to come together or lose each other forever…

  A woman in danger…

  Serena Brooks is a bestselling author of erotic fiction. She knows how to write a happy ending but hasn’t managed to find one of her own. Divorced and alone, she has no one to turn to when a stalker begins to threaten her life. The cops don’t believe her. Her ex-husband thinks she’s making the whole story up. She has no one left to turn to except a pair of hired bodyguards. They promise to guard her body, but no one can protect her heart.

  Two men in search of love…

  Adam Miles and Jacob Dean are halves of a whole. They’ve spent their entire adult lives searching for the one woman who can handle them both. Adam is the playful, indulgent lover, while Jacob is the possessive, loving Dom. When Serena comes into their lives, Adam is certain that she’s the one. But Jacob’s past comes back to haunt them all. He is suspicious of Serena’s story, and his concerns are driving a wedge between him and Adam. But when the stalker strikes, they will have to come together or lose each other forever…

• My review

  I wanted to like this. Honestly, I needed to like this.

  On paper, this book should have been perfect for me: a heroine in danger, an abusive ex, two sexy men determined to show her that sex can be healing and pleasurable. I wasn’t in the mood for complex plots or layered characters—I just wanted spice, maybe some insta-love, and an easy-to-dive-into high spice contemporary romance. It seemed like the perfect fit.

  Instead, I DNF’d at 26%. I tried, several times, but I just couldn’t push through.

  The biggest issue for me was the dialogue—it didn’t feel convincing. For example, there’s a moment where the heroine is thinking about how hot Adam is. He whispers:

  “I would give a lot to know what you were just thinking about. It has your n!pples hard.”

  She feels embarrassed, and he quickly follows up with:

  “I was flirting. I wasn’t complaining. I was happy about it.”

  At this point, they’ve only known each other for a day or two, in a work setting. To me, it felt jarring that he was already talking about her n!pples and then brushing off her discomfort as “flirting.” I understand this was meant to be insta-lust, but the execution was off.

  That’s the thing with erotic romance: if the story doesn’t seduce your mind, the scenes don’t land and come across as far-fetched—or worse, unintentionally ridiculous.

  That said, I know I’m in the minority here. The ratings on Amazon and Goodreads show that plenty of readers loved this book. I’m apparently part of the 1% giving it a one-star rating. So take my review with a grain of salt.

  I wanted to like this. Honestly, I needed to like this.

  On paper, this book should have been perfect for me: a heroine in danger, an abusive ex, two sexy men determined to show her that sex can be healing and pleasurable. I wasn’t in the mood for complex plots or layered characters—I just wanted spice, maybe some insta-love, and an easy-to-dive-into high spice contemporary romance. It seemed like the perfect fit.

  Instead, I DNF’d at 26%. I tried, several times, but I just couldn’t push through.

  The biggest issue for me was the dialogue—it didn’t feel convincing. For example, there’s a moment where the heroine is thinking about how hot Adam is. He whispers:

  “I would give a lot to know what you were just thinking about. It has your n!pples hard.”

  She feels embarrassed, and he quickly follows up with:

  “I was flirting. I wasn’t complaining. I was happy about it.”

  At this point, they’ve only known each other for a day or two, in a work setting. To me, it felt jarring that he was already talking about her n!pples and then brushing off her discomfort as “flirting.” I understand this was meant to be insta-lust, but the execution was off.

  That’s the thing with erotic romance: if the story doesn’t seduce your mind, the scenes don’t land and come across as far-fetched—or worse, unintentionally ridiculous.

  That said, I know I’m in the minority here. The ratings on Amazon and Goodreads show that plenty of readers loved this book. I’m apparently part of the 1% giving it a one-star rating. So take my review with a grain of salt.

Character & romance details

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