Reviewed by Vicki
TITLE: Personal Entanglement
SERIES: Thorne and Dash #2
AUTHOR: Silvia Violet
PUBLISHER: Silvia Violet Books
RELEASE DATE: April 30th, 2016
LENGTH: 219 pages
BLURB:
Several months ago Thorne hired Riley as an escort. They fell hard for each other and ultimately made their relationship personal rather than professional. Every moment they spend in bed is pure bliss, but good sex can’t solve all their problems as they struggle to make things work between them. Thorne convinces Riley to move in with him, but their differences in age and income weigh more heavily on Riley once they share a home.
If that weren’t enough, culinary school is turning out to be a disappointment for Riley rather than a dream come true, and he’s considering the daunting prospect of starting his own business. Thorne wants to swoop in and fix everything, but Riley keeps refusing Thorne’s money or advice, feeling like he’s losing control over his own life.
Thorne and Riley will have to rely on their love for each other to help them find the balance between independence and entanglement.
REVIEW:
Yeah! More Thorne and Riley!
We met these two in Professional Distance, and I fell in love with them…. Thorne is the ultimate rich guy, a loner, focused on his business and his causes, tending to throw his money around to try and solve issues, and willing to pay for sex. Dash is the kinky escort who comes to visit him every Friday night after his regular escort moves on. Of course the two become friends, lovers, and eventually end up in a relationship. Thorne, and us as well, get to know Riley, the man behind Dash. Riley is an aspiring baker, hoping to save up enough money to go to school and eventually open a bakery with his business partner. Dash is his escort persona. Thorne sees more and more of Riley as the two fall in love, but every once in a while Dash comes out to play….
So in this book, their drama continues. Riley is finally attending cooking school, but hates it. He really just wants to bake. The two move in together, but Riley is stubborn and scared, Thorne is his usual pushy self. Thorne wants to help Riley so bad, but Riley wants to do things on his own. This causes problem after problem, and neither sees or understands the others side. Part of the issue is the age difference, and the money plays a big part. Riley wants to make is own way in the world, Thorne wants to buy him everything. Thorne is just so clueless, and Riley is so stubborn! I loved it!
This plot is pretty basic, Riley is trying to focus on school, baking, catering, and eventually opening a bakery. Thorne is focusing on Riley, how to help him, and how to spend his money to make this happen for Riley. This all causes drama and stress between them, because they are both stubborn idiots. There is the usual miscommunication, or really LACK of communication, some arguing and grumbling between them, but it’s so fun to sit back and watch.
Then there is the sex…. whew. The hot, kinky sex. There is lots of it. Right on the edge of too much, but not quite over the edge. One more scene maybe and it would have been too much. There is a bit of BDSM in here, they aren’t in to a D/s relationship or anything, it’s all bedroom play, but it’s there. Some toys, some spanking, a cane is used, and I liked it. Silvia knows how to write a tasty sex scene!
Some authors excel at writing books with big deep plots, complex story lines, and big casts of characters. And some authors excel at writing more basic books, with simple plots and fewer characters. There is nothing wrong with either type of book, I actually tend to prefer the easier books personally. My life is busy and what I like about reading romance books is the way they make my brain shut down and focus on a story. Occasionally I want something deep, but more often than not I want something easy to follow. That’s not to say I want a fluffy light book every time, cause I love me some angst, but even with an angsty book the story itself can be simple. Sometimes I get lost in a complex story, I forget who is who and why we care, or what the long game is, that’s why I tend to avoid mysteries. I want drama and angst, or light and fluffy, there certainly needs to be some interest in the plot, but I don’t need a big long drawn out story or mystery and intrigue…. So all of this is to say that the books I have liked most by Silvia Violet have been the ones that are simple stories between two (or three!!) men falling in love and dealing with their crap. She is really, really good at giving me exactly what I want. Sometimes it’s external drama that causes issues, sometimes it’s internal drama. Within each man, or between them as a couple (or threesome!). I don’t use the words basic or simple as an insult, trust me, I don’t mean it that way. I’m just saying that I like a plot that is easy to follow! (No Game of Thrones for me, thank you very much!)
These two books are the perfect example of Silvia’s writing. Thorne and Riley are complex men, trying to make a relationship work, each with their own issues. THEY cause the drama between them more often than not. Both unintentionally try to screw this relationship up. Repeatedly. Way back at the beginning of Professional Distance they could easily have sat down, talked, admitted they were falling in love, dealt with the age difference, the money difference, the professional differences between them and the story would have been over. HEA all the way, after 100 pages. But that doesn’t happen in real life, and it certainly didn’t happen with these two extremely stubborn men! And I am very glad it didn’t happen. We’ve gotten two books of great drama out of them!
Thorne and Riley are complex men with complex lives, but this story is not complex. It’s just about the two of them, with the help of a couple of friends, trying to make a life together. That’s it. Nice and simple and EXACTLY what I want. Yes, it’s a smutty romance novel, so there is plenty of kinky sex (also EXACTLY what I want!), a touch of BDSM, an age difference, a financial difference, some arguing, some miscommunication, some drama (totally of their own doing, the idiots!), and a really good ending. The writing was excellent, the characters engaging, the sex was plentiful and hot, the drama worked given their circumstances and lives, even the miscommunication issues worked and didn’t feel forced, and the ending was perfect.
I am so looking forward to seeing where Silvia takes Thorne and Riley next!
Here is my review of Professional Distance.
RATING: 
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