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shelleyannegerton

Shelley

I'm just another Goodreads refugee and this is my back up plan. Please be patient with me while I find my legs on here. 

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Screwing the System - Josephine Myles 3.5 Stars for The Blog Of Sid Love

This book has been on my list to read for AGES! So in an effort to dwindle the pile I dragged my feet and threw myself onto my loveseat, puffing out the biggest sigh. I don’t know why, I just thought it was going to be a chore. Shrugs.

But then this happened …

“So, Mr. Grant, (… ) Are you a hands-on kind of boss?”

“I prefer to keep a professional distance from my employees.”

“So if I wanted to get to know you better, more intimately”—

—“I’d have to fail this interview.” “Fail it? But you’re doing so well.”

“Let’s just say I have a few extracurricular activities that might interfere with my ability to sit down and drive each day.”

Oh my! Can you imagine saying that to your prospective employer who’s really built and looks like George Clooney? Yeah? Okay, maybe I would too, especially if I was Cosmo and trying to sabotage the interview in favour of my dole benefits.

Turns out this book was not a chore at all. I flew through the pages with a smile on my face and a fan in my hand. This is my first Josephine Myles novel and my first impression was that her style is reminiscent of Anne Tenino, which is a good thing. The writing is a breeze, the sex is sweltering, and the characters are divine even if one of them is a cheesy Daddy type who shops at Bikers –R –Us. The humour is perfectly pitched, but unlike Tenino, it is very British for which I am forever grateful. I always get such a kick when I can so closely relate to the Briticism’s.

I know guys like Cosmo: common, cocky, confident, street smart dole scroungers with a plan to make it big, or just make it. When Cosmo hooks up with Alasdair, it’s would seem he’s landed with his arse in the lard – but he’s not a complete scrounger and he ain’t prepared to be anybody’s twink house boy either. Cosmo is not a twink; he’s a struggling musician with a kink.

Alasdair’s like a proper posh git by day and a leather wearing Top by night. He says all this cheesy stuff but the man dominates like a Master! What starts as Cosmo’s education in submissive kink quickly evolves into something more. It’s a great dynamic, not only the age gap but the issues that come from two fella’s that live on opposite sides of the class scale, and in England that is still a great divide.
In between the budding romance, the BDSM scenes (hot and hard) and the redemption of Alasdair’s guilt over the loss of a long lost lover, Myles gives us an unpretentious, humorous and unapologetically honest view of the class system in England. I just loved her perspective.

So what’s wrong with it? Well, the synopsis hints at some angst and there simply isn’t any. There was plenty of scope for it, but the author shy’s away from any anticipated conflict in favour of sweetness and humour. It’s a build-up that dwindles with a deflated soft pffzzz … just like my rating.

I do recommend this, it was good fun. Note I didn’t say clean fun, because it is quite deliciously filthy. For those who worry about the BDSM, Myles gets it right I thought. The writing, the humour, the Briticism’s, the chemistry and Cosmo, are what carried this for me, and also why I'm rounding up for GR.

If it’s on your TBR pile? Know that it’s worth your time and your money. I say go for it.