Escort by Skye Warren
Contemporary Romance
Released: March 18, 2018
Self Published
Reviewed by Mandi
I’m always game for escort books. In the past I’ve enjoyed Curio by Cara McKenna and Escorted by Claire Kent.
Escort features a hero, Hugo, who is from Tangier (a big city in Morocco). At the age of fifteen, after his mother died, he fell in love with an older woman who started to teach him about sex (not a fan that he was only fifteen at this point. Not a fan at all). He thought their love was mutual, until she brought him to the states and started to whore him out. Now as an adult, he is a wealthy escort, taking very high-end clients. His newest client lives in the penthouse of a swanky hotel, but when she opens the door, she is a surprise.
Bea has lived in this penthouse for ten years. Unable to leave the safety of the hotel, she has literally not left. She ventures down to the hotel restaurant and bar sometimes, but feels safest behind the door of her room. Her hotel room is homey and comfortable, and for reasons you will discover, she hasn’t left for ten years (the reader slowly discovers why she has a hard time leaving, so I don’t want to spoil the reasons). She is also a virgin, so she hires an escort to take her virginity so she can move on from that part of her life. Hugo is intrigued by her – but when he learns she is a virgin, he doesn’t feel like he is the man who should take her virginity. But when she opens up about her life, and shows her vulnerable side – Hugo is there to comfort her. She is nothing like he has ever met and he is intrigued and falls for her quickly. They continue to meet, and Hugo starts to show her pleasure and Bea learns she can trust him. They both have some dark secrets in their past and they share them, working together to heal one another.
“It makes you sad, this?”
“Yes,” she whispers. “It makes me sad, thinking of all those days I never dipped a toe in. Because I was too afraid. That’s the only reason.”
“And you wonder what else you’re missing?”
“I know what else I’m missing, but that doesn’t make the fear go away.”
“Then what does?”
Her green eyes meet mine, a little fearful, a little wry. “Apparently, you.”
I like the idea of this book but I just didn’t connect with this book or the characters. I’m not sure what it is exactly.. Hugo and Bea hit it off very quickly, and maybe it felt that they were too emotionally invested in one another, instead of exploring the paid service Hugo is supposed to be providing. I missed that dynamic before we move into “real” feelings.
I also felt like some aspects of the book felt – too over the top – or they made the scenarios feel unrealistic. For example, Hugo belongs to this club, called The Thieves Club. Hugo and his super close friends meet and discuss their life. When they started meeting, they barely had any money to their names. Now they have all made something for themselves. (I assume the other men may get future books). This meet-up of the guys didn’t feel natural to me. Their friendships didn’t feel genuine. I don’t know – not to use this phrase again – but there was no connection there for me. There is also a villain introduced later in the book that felt too rushed and too coincidental. He didn’t work for me.
There are definitely sweet moments between Bea and Hugo. They really do end up caring for each other. I liked Bea – and in a different setting with more time devoted to her and her personality,I would have really enjoyed her. I just personally didn’t care for the feel of this book. The romance felt too rushed and I just needed something else in this one.
Grade: C-
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