4.5 STARS ✮ EVE DANGERFIELD ✮ ACT YOUR AGE

ACT YOUR AGE

Eve Dangerfield

✮✮✮ 4.5 STARS ✮✮✮

I'm all for stepping out of my comfort zone so I tried Daddy-kink in the past and know that it isn't my cuppa. That said, when Eve asked me to review Act Your Age and I read the blurb I thought that this story could be fun. Now, it is that but, boy, I didn't see this book coming at all. Let me explain:

Ty is a grumpy grade-A asshole. Two years ago his fiancée left him for another man, the same week sweet Kate "Middleton" McGrath joined the company he works for and her sweetness has been calling to him ever since. He doesn't embrace the attraction, no, he shows Kate at every turn that she is an unwelcome distraction. Having a workplace affair can get them in serious trouble so the motivation to give Middleton a wide berth is solid.

The whites of her eyes were pure milk, the irises a chocolate brown, sweet as her godawful personality. - Tyler

Kate on the other hand has had a crush on Ty from day 1. She knows he doesn't like her but that doesn't diminish the pull. Her attempts at seducing Ty are cute and a little bit clumsy and while I laughed at her efforts I also cheered her on. And when she finally succeeds we get a really deep look into the characters' minds.

Kate and Ty are multilayered and complex characters. Both of them have a difficult past that shaped them into who they are today. Ty's inability to open himself up to being happy and maybe losing, his guilt because of his sexual preferences, his struggles with the age difference. When Kate gives him what he craves for the first time in his life it's the first time he doesn't have to pretend he is somebody else.

It felt like he’d inherited another man’s tastes. As though some higher power had said ‘Daddy is the word, and the word is Daddy and Daddy is the only thing that will turn your crank. Also you have a sadistic streak, enjoy that. Amen.’
Getting off on such a massive cultural taboo had always freaked him out. He grew up thinking he was evil on the inside, like Ted Bundy or Ivan Milat. - Ty

He can be sweet and caring, although his attempts are a bit awkward in the beginning. He smothers his growing feelings but we know how well that works...I wanted to kick his butt a couple of times, Ty isn't an easy hero to get along with but when he finally lets his guard down he is beautiful, charming, absolutely enchanting.

A girl showed up at my work; the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen. She’s so sweet it hurts your teeth, and I hate her for it because I’ve lost my taste for sweet.

Kate was a revelation. What a wonderful heroine. Her growth from the beginning as an awkward, shy girl to the end when she has grown into herself, a lovely, smart and confident woman with a strong will to boot, is amazing. Her childhood and teenage years were far from great and she needed what every emotionally abused child would do - she adapted. So the girl we see in the beginning is a far cry from the woman she lets herself be in the end. She stays true to her quirky self but with so much more self-confidence.

This story isn't just kinky smut - I get that a grown up calling a man Daddy is kind of weird to "normal" people, whatever that is - but Eve Dangerfield gives us insight into the minds of people who are attracted to this life style. It isn't like you can flip on a switch and say "Today I like Daddy-kink." As it is with all nonconformist ideas, accepting this life style, living and embracing it, comes with a great deal of responsibility. If you exploit it, people will always see you as a pervert.

I think Eve did a fantastic job opening my mind to things that might make me uncomfortable but let me still enjoy the story as a whole. Did I think the sex scenes were hot? Yes, some of them were scorching, others I wanted to skip because they made me squirm but I didn't because I really wanted to understand. Will I read other Daddy-kink books? Maybe from trusted authors and definitely from Eve Dangerfield.

I also need to mention the humor in this book. This author's way with words never lets the story slip off into a depressing super-angsty read. Yes, there is some angst but it is the perfect dose. I laughed out loud multiple times. I loved her crew of friends, especially Rapunzel, who took Kate under her wing. There is a little twist almost at the end of the story that I totally didn't see coming.

If you're still on the fence please give this a try and read it with an open mind. This story isn't just about the kink, it's got all kinds of sweetness, humor and charm.