DNF at 28% (skimmed to 46%)

Oof this was not good. It reads like a bad fanfiction of Pretty Woman rather than a thoughtful retelling. The dialogue is awful, there are so many continuity errors and inconsistencies, and there's zero connection between the MCs - it's pretty much just very badly written porn.

I wanted to like this as the dynamic in the synopsis intrigued me more than the film it was poorly copying, I mean adapting... The characters held promise in my imagination but the reality fell far, far shorter than I could have anticipated.

There was so very little tying the men together romantically and even the spiciest of spicy spice couldn't promise a believable evolution in their romance. Adding in so much ridiculousness with the ex, the imbalance between what each man gave one another, and the uninspired prose and I just could not get into the story.

I hoped so much to rave about this book, to like it enough to recommend it, to have enjoyed the time it took to read the story, but sadly, none of those things can happen here. I was disappointed and unimpressed. I've read great reviews of the story so it's clear my opinion isn't shared by the majority of the readers and that's totally okay, you should totally read it for yourself, but I fully admit this story and this author is just not for me.

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. I did not care for this book and could not connect with the characters.

This gay erotic romance is LOOSELY based on the movie Pretty Woman. The author has re-written many het romances with a sexy gay slant, and this is no exception.

Roland is a wealthy businessman whose lover of the past 20 years, Kenneth, had recently left him for a younger man. Despite being trim and eligible, Roland feels unsexy and unlovable as a result. He’s due to show up at Kenneth’s at the end of the week for some charity functions, and he wants some sexy eye candy on his arm to help bolster his emotions.

Josh is in his mid-20s. He’s divorced but still sharing custody of his young son with his ex-wife, who’s a sweet gal and Josh’s best friend. They both work as a bookstore, and want to buy it to save it from closing down, but neither has enough capital. Roland learns of their predicament, and he’s totally attracted to sexy and virile Josh, so he offers him $5000 to spend the week as his escort–especially to Kenneth’s society parties. Josh is down–and he’s willing to expand Roland’s sexual horizons is myriad ways.

If you are looking for a dewy-eyed monogamous love story…keep looking. Josh gets up to some very dirty business with Roland, sexying him six ways from Sunday. This includes barebacking, and sharing him with some hardbodied pals, and public sex in an East Village sex shop. Roland’s libido is on fire, and he knows that Josh’s commanding presence is the reason. Plus, Kenneth is all jealous, wanting a piece of Josh the moment they meet.

It’s raw and raunchy and down and dirty fun, but there’s a sweet ending that resolves Josh’s money woes and brings he and Roland together in a new venture. I honestly laughed at some of the meaty descriptions and the aromatic experiences–oniony armpits and musty jockstraps–that turn Roland on. He’s so deliriously happy being Josh’s play-partner it was easy to accept some of their “shocking” sexcapades. I highly recommend if you are looking for an erotic gay romance and don’t mind multi-partner playtimes.

This LGBT novel take off of the popular 80’s romantic comedy seems to miss a lot of marks and it is a shame as the premise is very promising.

Field’s book is more erotica than romantic novel and lacks a certain depth that the film it takes off seems to offer in spades. There is no real emotional or heart connection beyond the bump and grind of sexual appetites and the opening up of orifices that leaves the reader a bit cold.

The main characters are likable but if Field had take the time to delve into the emotional side of the characters beyond the sexual, this could have been a definite winner. The ex boyfriend of the piece is very two dimensional and as far as the new boyfriend, he is just there with no real character points to life him up. The secondary characters are better drawn which happen to be woman and they definitely come more alive on the page then any of the gay characters on hand.

The book, if judged on the erotica angle is very well handled and Field’s tends to excel on these passages but lacks emotional depth to make this a memorable book. Having read this less than a day ago, the story is losing all essence of ever being read which is a real shame.

Overall, this is not very thought out romantic comedy and wondered maybe if another writer took advantage for this gay take off of a classic film that maybe we would have something that had a bit more feeling and more oomph. If you are looking for erotica, then this maybe your cup of tea. If you are looking for romance and seeing how two people connect on an emotional level, then this book is sadly lacking.

"Roland learns in less than a week’s time that his future can still hold both earth-shattering sex and a love of real substance."

I guess it was on me to do my research beforehand, but there was absolutely no substance to be found in this book. Roland and Josh had next to no emotional or romantic chemistry and I felt uncomfortable reading it as it went on. By the time I got to the gangbang, I knew this book wasn't going to be for me. I'm sure other people loved it and would recommend it, but it was a DNF for me.

I am sorry to not have been able to enjoy this novel. Based on the premise, it seemed to be exactly my thing, but sadly I was proved wrong.

Heat Factor: The narrative ties together the sex scenes rather than vice versa
Character Chemistry: They didn’t have time to develop chemistry with all the sex going on
Plot: Pretty Woman with an oddly reversed power dynamic
Overall: I would not characterize this as a romance novel

I swooped in and downloaded this galley copy because I thought it would be a sweet, fun romance. It’s actually a reissue of a book that dates back about a decade, and it might show its age a little bit. The new cover evokes Pretty Woman. The title also references that story. Who doesn’t know Pretty Woman? It’s a pretty classic romance at this point. The power dynamic is wacko, but yeah, classic.

Just so you are not as surprised as I was...other than in some bare structural essentials, this story is not Pretty Woman. I’m not even sure it’s a romance novel. Given that the protagonists meet and are having lots of sex in the first chapter, and also given a flow of narrative scene-sex scene-narrative scene-sex scene throughout the book, I'd characterize this as erotica. Maybe romantic erotica.

Here's the thing about the romance, though: I don't buy it. Perhaps it's a realistic take on romance since the story runs the course of about a week, but there's so much explicit sex that there's really no opportunity to show a romantic relationship developing. Burgeoning romance shoehorned in during the narrative scenes with sentences like: "Roland picked up a few suits, dress shirts and ties for Josh. Roland knew Josh wouldn’t need all the outfits that week, but liked buying things for him." Or: "Roland put his hands in his pockets and stood there with a huge smile on his face. He’d so wanted to remain detached, but when Josh’s eyes lit up and his smiled formed, Roland almost stopped breathing." Seriously. That's it. The romance is pretty much 100% about how much these guys want to bone. The sex also trends to be more adventurous as the narrative continues, as in This Is A Sexual Awakening. There's no "I love you" and no "I want this to last" either.

In terms of writing style, the prose is simple and immediate. Not a lot of variance in sentence structure. The verbiage is earthy, too. The protagonists fuck every opportunity they have (and that's the word they use with each other, too. There’s some sexual chewing at one point - yes, chewing, not nipping. One frequent description that also just did not make sense to me was this one: "He loved the way Josh smelled, like a man should smell: of raw beef and onions…" Also yeasty beer is in that raw meat and onions sexy smell category.

This book is just not what I signed up for.

Pretty man, walkin' down the street...
Pretty man the kind I like to meet...

Well, I don't know how to properly articulate my feelings and thoughts about Pretty Man by Ryan Fields, but I will try .
I finished reading this book last night and promptly wrote a not so positive review. However, on reflection , I realized I was being unfair and here is why .

I guess , I will begin by saying that the book cover and the book title was what first caught my eye about this book; then I noticed it was written by a man , that made me curious . As large number of the MM romance books out there are written by female authors and this gave me the opportunity to read it from a man perspective.

Hence, I shouldn't have but I was surprised, that there isn't any romance in this tale . The MC have it's a strong sexual connection and sexual chemistry that is off the charts. However , they don't connect in an emotional level and that makes all their sexual encounters hot , yes , but it's just about sex.

As a result and considering on what draw me to read this book ; I clearly confirm what we already knew, men and women approach to sex , and in this case , casual sexual encounters are different. Therefore, Ryan Field , answered what I wanted to know.
I wanted Josh and Roland to express their feelings and be loving and tender towards each other , but that wouldn't be true to who they were ; and , that right there , after I thought about it , made me change my rating.

This is a tongue in cheek version of Pretty Woman and Cinderella story. We get the famous shopping scene, the night at the Met to see the Opera, the expensive gift, the not kissing in the mouth rule , hero being afraid of heights and the a$$hole who make a pass to Josh the escort and the one of Roland realizing Josh is more than an escort to him.

Yeah , we get all that and we also get a lot, and I mean loads sex scenes, some a bit OTT and quite porn like . There are threesomes , voyeurism , exhibitionism, sex in a sex shop , sex in the car , sex in a changing room ... right , you get it , a lot of sex ...in the end , it became somewhat absurd and a little to much. And I have to laugh , because folks, it's a first as I. Always. Want. More. Sexy. Times.

I didn't love Pretty Man , but I liked it . It didn't have all the sexual anticipation and build up I enjoy , but that is okay too, if everything's the same , that will be boring .

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through NetGalley for my honest review.

I love the thought of this book, but the execution...not so much. My main concern about it is that there's no tension - whether it be sexual or otherwise - between the characters. There's no building to the grand finale, and it's just kind of...porn-y.

I am aware that I'm perhaps not the target audience, being a woman and all, but I'm no stranger to this genre, and I missed the tension. The exitement. The growing relationship between the characters.

2,5 stars. Not a complete dud, but I would read other books before this one.

This story just wasnt for me. It is supposed to be a re-telling of the film Pretty Woman, but a gay version. I really liked the characters but there were too many sex scenes and not enough story. The writing was also a bit wooden, Not a favourite for me.

DNF

This is not what it is advertised to be. There is little plot and no romantic connection between the leads.

So, I loved Pretty Woman, still do, and when I'm flipping channels and find it on, I usually stop my search for something to watch right there. With that in mind, the idea of a M/M version of the story appealed to me. Unfortunately, that's the last thing about this one that did appeal to me. In the introduction, the author says, "If you remove the erotica, the story line itself is the classic Cinderella trope." The problem is if you remove what passes for erotica, there's not much story to consider. There are a few loose similarities to the movie, the most prominent being the cover, but the key element is missing - Chemistry! There is zero chemistry between this pair. Of course, with so little actual story, it's hard to build any character depth, anything to show why these two can't keep their hands off each other. The few things brought in to add some angst are quickly glossed over for another sexcapade - and I use that term loosely. While the steamy time is considerable, it's repetitive and often times, eye-rollingly over the top. To sum it up, most of the book reads like bad 70's porn and is not something I would recommend to anyone looking to read a romance.

As a "remake" of a story goes, this one was going well...until we got to the point of Josh's "friends". I just didn't get the rhyme or reason behind it. Nor did I get the sex shop scene. I guess I was looking for an arrangement to love story. There just seemed to be less love and a lot of sex.

2.5⭐⭐⭐ This was an OK read but not what I was expecting, I was expecting something more. It followed Pretty Woman reasonable well, but the characters weren't really that well fleshed out. It wasn't until the end that you get that these guys had real feelings for each other.

Thanks to NetGalley and Riverdale Avenue Books for a copy in return for an honest review.

This is a retelling of Pretty Woman, with quite a few updates and modifications. The story drags a little, and I'm not sure I understood why Roland paid off those debts, but if you push through to the half point the story picks up.

*Received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun, sexy romance, satisfying all the way through. Faithful to the feeling of the film, but original enough that I never got bored. I wish the ending had been fleshed out a bit more, as it felt like it ended quite suddenly. A very enjoyable read that I would recommend to anyone looking for some fun!

Quirky story which I thought I would love because Pretty Woman is one of my favorite movies. It's definitely slapstick humor and if you just go into the book without any expectations but to laugh then I think this will be the book for you. For me, it made me cringe a little and I couldn't get into the book. Great premise and idea though.

I enjoyed this campy MM remake of Pretty Woman and while it was a very humorous read I felt that it was missing something. I liked the characters even though their interactions were a bit much at times. All in all I found it a nice way to pass a bit of time.

I liked this book a lot! It was a super fun play on the movie Pretty Woman and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Some of the writing was a bit stilted, and some of the descriptions seemed a bit clinical. However, the story itself was really great and I would definitely read more from this author.