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2.5��

I've been waiting for this book for 1 damn year. This was awful. Awful.



I'm speechless. In this book the author lost her touch. I re-read many of her books from all of her series continuously, so I know this is an exception here and she does state she had a tough year behind her, so I'm thinking that must be it then, because this was terrible.


🟣 Dubai
🟢 Arab sheikh, an American
🔵 Age gap - 11 years
🟡 Double bi-awakening
🟠 Dual POV much needed (no, that wasn't it)
�� Kidnapping, human trafficking
🌶�� Spice was the only good thing


For a main character who's kidnapped and then trafficked to a silent auction in UAE, Aiden, Jordan's 21 - year old younger brother, doesn't really get what's happening. He's going into this with no fear or worries and it's almost ridiculous how he's acting like he's in some kind of movie and when it's over, he gets to go home. No trace of the awful business he's been drawn into, he's talking to everyone like he's having a minor inconvenience in his life.

Aiden was bought by a sheikh Zain, who's a 32 - year old son of an emir, but he's independent of his family and rich. Zain bought Aiden for his younger brother Gadiel, who's a somewhat openly gay man in a muslim country and Zain is trying to limit his sex scandals by buying him a sex pet. Gadiel had such a small role in this whole story, it was crazy he was even mentioned. I thought Aiden and Gadiel would become friends and figure out a way to work together for a year, but Aiden just kind of stayed with Zain - not as an imprisoned sex slave, but like a hired help who offers sex favours - and that was that.

The interaction between Zain and Aiden was one big cringe fest. The way Aiden was speaking to Zain is a complete fantasy, that would never fly for a bought slave. Aiden was too cocky and kept mentioning over and over again throughout the book he's a bought sex slave, not to mention asking Zain of his brother's sex preferences. It caught me by surprise, since I thought this was clearly Zain and Aiden's time now, because Gadiel was nowhere to be seen.

“You’re getting repetitive, you know,�� Aiden said, turning on the lamp on the nightstand. “So, does your brother prefer to top or bottom?�� Zain sighed. It was the most long-suffering sigh Aiden had ever heard in his life. It made him grin. He knew he’d won. “Probably the latter,�� Zain said, his eyes still closed. “I once walked in on him having his asshole licked.��



Now, bear in mind these are two straight men talking. Both straight, Aiden accepting he wants Zain, but Zain constantly saying how he's not gay, it's not natural, being disgusted with himself and Aiden, I mean fine, I get some people think like that, but for a sheikh in a modern Arab country where a lot of men actually are gay - they're just gay behind closed doors, they have discreet communities and events, men do hook up over there - Zain's bi-awakening was a disaster, he was negating everything that was happening between him and Aiden.

"Zain was going to make him do something. Something disgusting and humiliating. Like... Like make him suck his cock."

"Aiden grinned. "Are you saying you've watched gay porn? Yeah, you're totally straight!"



Aiden was constantly on his ass about Zain being possibly attracted to men. It was getting tiresome. An annoying little shit, that's what he was.
Zain grew up without a mother in a somewhat disfunctional home - I liked him, yet he was presented as a muslim who strayed, who wasn't raised right, who's got problems with himself and doesn't know how to just be.

"This man had effectively raised himself, without any real moral compass or religious guidance. Whatever code he possessed, he'd fashioned it on his own, for better or worse."

MONEY. It's the money. It's the education, the travelling, living a good life in a developed modern country, in a safe environment and having many privileges - that's extremely important and that's what made him who he is. A solid, confident, successful man. How is faith or lack-of factored into this is beyond me. There are plenty of moderate muslims around and the richer you are, the more liberties you have, and that's not unique to Dubai, that's everywhere.

Zain as a kid had noone close to him around when growing up, he wasn't raised or molded into a person who'd be open and emotional, while i think that absolutely wasn't the case. Zain's character wasn't portrayed favourably and there was so much the author could do with his character, yet even at the end of the book he was a man almost too held back. I liked Zain very much, but he was misunderstood in this story and Aiden with his terrible and inappropriate comments didn't make the situation any better.

Another thing I really disliked was Aiden's family. This is a 22 - year old guy and I get the fact he was kidnapped and they're worried, but giving the guy safety, peace and therapy and still treating him like a child was just too much for me. They were terrible towards Zain and I didn't really think it was because he had Aiden living with him, no, I'm pretty sure it was because he was an Arab.
This was an adult man telling his parents what he wants, yet they were physically forcing him away from Zain and didn't listen to a thing he said. What an awful family.

The epilogue didn't impress me either. I felt like there was no satisfying resolve. Zain married someone and got divorced off-page and then in the epilogue came to live in the USA. I somehow didn't find that ending satisfying, too much was left unsaid and I still feel both MMCs didn't reach that emotional maturity and closeness they were capable of. For this particular situation we needed to see them in a neutral environment and have a taste of their life together, especially Zain and how he's handling being out, living with a man.

It just feels like this couple is hated. I don't know why but I don't have a nice, sweet feeling about their story. The book maybe needed a few more pages and a better developed relationship, because this wasn't it.


I honestly hope Gadiel's book is going to be better. He's only 18-19 in this book, so hopefully his story will be more in line with the books we've read so far in this series.