Review: Playing Hard to Master by Sparrow Beckett

Book Description

Pleasure and pain once again intertwine in the second installment of Sparrow Beckett’s Masters Unleashed series, following Finding Master Right.

Known as a brat in the kink community, Everly can intimidate even the most experienced Dom. Then she meets Ambrose, a dominant who finds her ways amusing. Not only does he charm the pants off her, he makes her crave his mastery.

After being abandoned by his submissive, Ambrose has avoided any serious connections—until he meets Everly, who refuses to be ignored. But just when he thinks he’s found the perfect sub, he finds out she’s an anti-poverty activist with harsh opinions about the rich. Telling her he’s wealthy will ruin everything, but he can’t collar her with a huge lie hanging over them.

Will the best thing that’s ever happened to him walk away when she finds out the truth?

My Review

Everly and Ambrose meet when he goes to her salon for a hair cut. They make tentative plans to meet up later at the local BDSM club. They find each other there that night and talk for a bit, it's obvious they like each other. They meet next by accident and hit it off again. Ambrose is rich but Everly doesn't care for rich people so he lies to her about his wealth. That was problem number one for me.

Ambrose is a Dom and Everly is a sub but a bratty one so she has a hard time finding a Dom that will put up with her. Ambrose actually like bratty subs so he isn't turned off by the way she acts and she's surprised by this since most Doms want her to change for them.  

Ambrose was still pining for his ex-fiance who had left without a word as well as for his best friends wife who he had for a short time when the two were trying to find their way to one another. Problem number two was that for the first half of the book, I was bored. I wasn't engaged much at all. 

Not only does Ambrose lie about being rich but he takes her back to his place and lies to her about who it belongs to. Then he gets a fake apartment and buys furnishings so he can take her there and she won't know the nice place he's been taking her to is actually his house. So when she does finally find out that he's rich and he's been lying to her from the very beginning, he's upset that she's so hurt and mad about the lies and deceit. I'd be mad about the lies too. He should have been honest with her from the very beginning. 

Although I did have a few problems with the story line, I did like both of these characters and it was nice seeing Banner, Kate and more of Kon. 

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars.