Do you like reading romances where opposites attract? I totally do, I think it’s because me and my husband are polar opposites in so many ways and it’s so fun to see how fictional couples complement each other just like we do. This one was so fun, it was steamy and funny and super quirky, basically everything I love in a rom com.

When Cade’s aunt dies she leaves her failing sex toy store to her, much to Cade’s dismay. She also has a co owner in Selena who is a free spirited, fun loving and incredibly open hearted woman. Watching these two try and compromise on their vision for the store was both hilarious and adorable and watching them fall in love was even cuter. I really liked this one and enjoyed the authors style, so much sex positivity and so much heart

Satisfaction Guaranteed by Karelia Stetz-Waters 💋

Thanks to @readforeverpub and @netgalley for the eARC. Satisfaction Guaranteed is out now!

If you’re looking for a fun, steamy read this summer, look no further than Satisfaction Guaranteed. The novel follows uptight Cade Elgin and free spirited Selena Mathis, who unexpectedly become business partners when Cade’s aunt dies and leaves them each half of her failing sex toy shop. It’s a sapphic, sexy read this checks all of the boxes:

- opposites attract
- WLW romance
- sex positivity
- steamy but realistic sex scenes
- love interests who are actually interesting

I really appreciated the refreshingly honest lesbian sex scenes, which prettily accurately captured the feeling of wearing a strap on for the first time. 🍆👀 I’m all for destigmatizing the enjoyment of sex, especially lesbian sex, which is so often inaccurately portrayed in media through a male lens. Sex can be such a scary and taboo topic in many households, and growing up in a very Catholic, very Mexican home I myself never received The Talk™ let alone any kind of information about sex with other women. Thankfully I found the perfect partner to go on this journey with, and I’ve learned a lot along the way.

So if you’re in the mood for a fun and steamy literary romp, pick up Satisfaction Guaranteed for a guaranteed good time.

This book was a 10/10 for me. Hard for me to find a lesbian romance I relate too but this on e was steamy and so gooood

I'm a totally sucker for starchy one falls for chaos one, so I loved seeing how Cade and Selena sparked together. I am also a sucker for "these are my final words and testament and I will *make* you live/work together for this goal* romances, so the part with having to try and flip the sex shop into a viable business worked for me.

There were also so many truly romantic moments, and the author really knew how to play on that sexual tension. I was *ready* for these two to bang when it finally happened. Also Cade's outfits, how they were described, unf, and Selena's motorcycle? Loved it.

As others have noted, this is a very vulva focused story, even at the sex store, so please do know that going in. I cannot otherwise comment on the rep.

I was also hoping that Cade telling Selena she had never orgasmed did not result in Cade immediately having orgasm(s) with Selena the first time they are together, but hey, good for Cade.

Overall a truly solid romance that I had a blast reading. Great to see a ff romance from a major publisher too. More please.

Thank you to the publisher for the eArc. I also checked out a finished copy from the library.

I know many people loved this book but it maybe just wasn't for me? The humor did not work for me and neither did the sex toy shop. There is a LOT of talk about anatomy and for all of the 'we are very advanced in our feminist thinking' there was very little inclusive think in regards to trans or nonbinary bodies. It just feels weird in 2021 to tout how advanced you are but not be actually inclusive - I guess I wanted an acknowledgement if not actually including them.

Beyond that, Selena is just the type of character that grates on my nerve. Which is absolutely a me thing. She would not listen to Cade and was extremely over the top with all of her actions. Not that Cade was so innocent in everything. I did not love the trope of 'she's never had an orgasm before and this person will cure everything'.

So...just not for me.

CW: death, grief, inappropriate past relationship with College professor

Satisfaction Guaranteed is an opposites-attract contemporary WLW romance between a free-spirited artist/sex toy salesperson and a buttoned-up accountant/gallery manager. When Cade Elgin's aunt passes away and leaves her half of her sex toy store and house, Cade plans to sell it and move on with her life. But there are two major problems. First, there's the fact that the house has two mortgages and the shop is in so much debt that the "inheritance" is really just a few hundred thousand dollars of negative money. Second, there's Selena. Selena is a non-practicing painter who has been renting from Cade's late aunt and also working in the shop. She's the other inheritor and she really doesn't want to sell. Cade being a numbers person wants to just clean her hands of the whole mess, but Selena talks her into giving it one big try.

The shop is in Portland and Cade's family's gallery is in NYC, so after they get over their initial disagreements and decide to make a go of it, the conflict hinges on two things:

1) Selena and Cade both think the other person couldn't possibly want someone so different

2) long-distance sucks

Selena was in a relationship with her emotionally abusive former professor and dropped out of school and stopped painting because of it. The professor is present in the book in a few ways and it's Not Fun. Cade has been told by several past partners that she's terrible in bed. This is one of those "I've never had an orgasm until you" books and while that's not a trope I enjoy, I did appreciate that if the author was going to go there, she handled it okay. (I just have a really hard time believing that someone who has "free-love" parents and runs a whole business doesn't think to read a book about vibrator use. (At one point she just shoves a toy into her body with no lube or warmup and the pain is described on page. Did not want.) And if she's that smart and determined to make it happen, I'd assume it to be a physical or mental block that isn't overcome simply by someone helping you masturbate. Anyway, it was handled better than in the vast number of "magic penis" books.

Selena is bi and on a sex-break because she was sort of hiding from love by just having casual sex and... relatable. It didn't feel to me like the "bisexual people are slutty cheaters" stereotype, just an unhealthy (for her) rut she wanted to not be in. This worked for their relationship because Cade is so scared of sex that she's almost confused/worried to find herself the pursuer.

There's a lot talk about anatomy: vulvas, vaginas, clitorises (clitori?). There are mentions of trans folks in the book, but it's very much a "love your vulva" vibe and I assume AFAB folks with dysphoria won't enjoy this book. As a cis woman I appreciated the consistent use of correct words. (You don't wax your vagina, FFS.) Selena holds a Paint Your Vulva evening at the shop and the name she has given to her vulva is mentioned many times. It's vulva-riffic.

The romance felt truly romantic. The relationship barriers felt natural and I appreciated that both women were real characters with histories and family stuff of their own. They don't exist only in the context of this one relationship. It's also a relationship I believe has what it takes to make it long term. Sometimes I get to the end of an opposites-attract romance and think that the couple will hate each other after the infatuation stage wears off, but I trust that when Selena starts getting paint on the doorknob, Cade will roll her eyes and get out the 409.

Audio Notes: Lori Prince, who apparently narrates every WLW book on this planet, does her usual slow and steady thing here. I listen to too much lesfic because it doesn't matter how fresh or funny a book is, I'm convinced it's Jae's Paper Love when her voice is coming through my headphones. Lori Prince's narration is good, this is a Suzanne Problem.

In all, I recommend Satisfaction Guaranteed. It's fun and sexy and not gimmicky as it so easily could have been with the sex toy shop premise.

***

Content Warnings/Notes: death of a relative (cancer, not on page), emotionally abusive ex, past unpleasant sex, probably other things but it's been a month since I read the book and I didn't take notes

I definitely get the hype behind this fun, sexy romance!

I loved Cade and Selena as a couple. They’re the perfect example of opposites attract: Selena helps Cade let down her hair, and Cade inspires Selena to get control of her life. I thought they had great chemistry, and I loved their banter.

The romance is certainly a slow burn, given that Selena has taken a vow of celibacy at the beginning of the book. When we get to it, though, it is well worth the wait. Since they work in a sex toy shop, you know their sex scenes are going to be full of steam! Sometimes over-the-top sex scenes can feel fake and forced, but that wasn’t the case in Satisfaction Guaranteed. They felt natural and realistic, while still very hot. Another plus is how incredibly sex-positive it is. A lot of the dialogue focuses on how to figure out what you want and on consent, and I think the book did a good job of subtly slipping in a lot of important messages.

Overall, a very well-written book with steamy sex and a relationship you can’t help but root for.

Satisfaction Guaranteed made my heart SING. It is a story with significant sex and consent positivity that reminds us that who we are and what we create is beautiful. I have so many highlights from reading, laughed so many times, and got teary eyed at the end. This is my first book by Karelia but it won't be my last!

When Cade's aunt passes away and leaves her co-ownership of a failing sex shop, Cade immediately wants to sell especially because of her frustrating (and sexually frustrating) experiences with her co-owner Selena. But when Cade and Selena work together to turn the sex store around, they realize that they are each what the other person needs.

I adored both Cade and Selena - they are so different and I love seeing opposites attract in romance because it is so close to my real life. I really loved Selena's sex positivity, her dedication to using correct terminology for anatomy, and how outwardly confident she was even as her internal confidence was shattered. And Cade. WHEW CADE. Her frustration with not being what she thought her family wanted to be. Her struggle with intimacy. Her beautiful love for Selena. JUST heartstopping.

I also loved the frank discussions about inclusivity, or lack thereof, in the LGBTQIA+ community. "People won’t shop here because they don’t feel comfortable. Men, masc women, trans men…they won’t feel comfortable. Everything here says cis, white female Red Hat Society, YOLO. Literally everything says YOLO. All this stuff says one kind of person belongs here.” This was a great addition to the book and felt super realistic.

Read the acknowledgements and reading guide at the end. Don't be ashamed of getting to know your body sexually and what you need. And find someone who holds loving space for you the way that Cade and Selena do for each other. I absolutely loved this book and highly recommend!

Full Review Here: http://www.millennialbeautysisters.com/satisfaction-guaranteed-review/

I enjoyed Satisfaction Guaranteed but I have to admit that the characters fell a little flat for me. I LOVE falling into the lives of characters and I felt like Selena and Cade both had so much history and past that we could have dug into but we just really didn't get to see enough of that!

The storyline was funny and unique, I found myself missing Aunt Ruth. I'm glad I stuck with this one, I didn't really get pulled in until about 35-40% of the way through the book. The side characters were eccentric and lovely but again, I don't feel like I got enough of them to really understand their impact.

Cade and Selena's romance was fast and I was happy to see them get a happy ending, the world has enough suck, we don't need unhappy endings too ;)

Something that was 10/10 for me was the women's issues / body positivity / open expression factors of the book. I think we can always use more of talking openly and honestly about bodies in appropriate and accurate terms. Be gone with the prudish whispering! The readers guide that comes with the book was excellent and would make for some insanely interesting book club chatter no doubt!

It was a fun sapphic romance and hit all the right spots. I got the ARC from netgalley and read it in a day. Loved Cade and Selena’s tension and growth. The dual pov worked really well and the side characters kept the story going in the best way. Its a story about two women falling for each other but also figuring out how to love themselves as well. Great read.

3.5 stars. Cade and Selena co-inherit a house and sex toy shop from Cade's late aunt. The two women have never met before the funeral, but are suddenly forced to work together to save the store and house from a mountain of debt. Plus there's an inconvenient attraction between them. But Cade doesn't date and Selena has taken a vow of celibacy, so it shouldn't be a problem. Right?

The premise is great, but the character development here could've been stronger, especially for Selena. Cade is a more fully-formed person. I didn't feel the chemistry between them as strongly as the author would've liked. But I was still happy for them at the end.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC to review. All opinions are my own.

The characters in this one are so lovable! The same way you can’t help but love Ted Lasso; you will love Cade and Selena!
🥰Really Liked \\ 🔥high steam
🤟Genuinely funny, heartwarming, opposites attract trope.
📚Boyfriend Material + The Roommate
🎶Simply Irresistible by Robert Palmer

This book was just okay for me.

I really liked Cade and Selena as characters. They are total opposites but had amazing chemistry together. I loved seeing their relationship develop throughout the book.

I didn't really care that much for the side characters. The pacing could be a little off at times as well, which took me out of the story temporarily.

Have you ever felt second-hand anxiety for a character? Because that was so me with Cade and her type A personality with her go with the flow / hippie / pot smoking family. I felt that. Just that pressure to be the one who holds everything together because everyone else is acting irresponsibly hit home.

This was a cute and funny sapphic romance. I really enjoyed the way that sex was talked about and how both MC's had very different levels of sexual experience yet they never made each other feel bad about it. Cade has never had an orgasm and has only had sex a handful of times, yet Selena never made any comments about it and was possibly the perfect partner for Cade. Selena on the other hand is very sexually experienced and very open about her sexual history and Cade never made her feel bad or any sort of sex shaming. It is just such a relief to not have to deal with that in a romance novel. It was very much appreciated.

Certainly a book about opposites attract and while they got off to a rocky start, Cade and Selena found their way to each other and learned that they fit together just right.

I did like that this book was realistic about a lot of things and didn't sugarcoat the main issues. I can't really say a lot without being spoilery, but this is a happily ever after but a realistic one.

As a whole this book is super cute and I definitely recommend it.

Rep: bi/pan MC (unspecified), lesbian MC, sapphic romance

CW: death of a friend/aunt, financial troubles, sexual misconduct by an authority figure (off page but discussed), explicit sex

4.5 Stars

This is was my first book by Karelia Stetz-Waters and I absolutely adored it. Maybe I shouldn’t be so shocked but unfortunately, I have bad luck when it comes to new-to-me authors.

“Satisfaction Guaranteed” is one of those books, in my opinion, you’re either going to love or hate. The humor is either going to hit or miss so my suggestion would be to read the excerpt to see if you’ll like it. If you enjoy the first chapter, you’ll enjoy the book. Alternatively, if you don’t like the first chapter, I really don’t have a lot of hope you’ll love the rest.

Looking at the cover and reading the blurb, I thought this was going to be fun and entertaining rom-com. And it was. But it also had a lot of heart and a theme of learning to love and accept yourself as you are. It’s a slow burn, opposites attract romance with a lovable cast of characters.

Cade Elgin is the buttoned up, serious type. She’s an accountant for god’s sake. (I say this, as an accountant.) She comes from a family full of self -described hippies. They’d rather smoke a little weed and have a good time rather than worry about things like work. Cade, being the opposite of that, has always considered herself to be the black sheep of the family. She’s 29 and has never had an orgasm. She’s gotten to the point where she feels like she won’t ever have love because she’s too dull and boring and all anyone sees when they see her are her famous parents.

Selena Mathis, on the other hand, is just about as opposite of Cade as she can get. She fits in well with the Elgin family in that she’s more of a free spirit who loves love and expressing that love. She’s also an artist but with the way her life is going, hasn’t been able to paint in a while. She thinks of herself as a mess and has taken a vow of celibacy until she gets her life straightened out.

Both characters are fully developed and I loved how each are portrayed. Neither one is really how they come across at first. Selena had more depth to her than I originally thought she would. Cade had a lot of heart and humor underneath her more stoic persona. Their insecurities were real and interesting. I enjoyed them learning to accept themselves but also letting others love them as they are. Figuring out you don’t have to change who you are for someone to love is powerful and I loved seeing how it changed how they see themselves.

They are forced together when they inherit a store from Cade’s aunt. But it isn’t just any store, it’s a sex-toy store called Satisfaction Guaranteed. The store is in debt and if they don’t figure out a way to get along and work together, they’ll lose the store. As you can imagine, there are plenty of opportunities for humor and funny shenanigans and I thoroughly enjoyed those moments.

I enjoyed this a lot and am excited to read more from Stetz-Waters. It’s one I highly recommend if you’re looking for a funny rom-com with some heart.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and Forever Press in exchange for an honest review.

I had mixed feelings about this book! I didn't love pretty much any of the characters but found the book to be compulsively readable nonetheless.

Things I loved:
* Dead relative meddling from the beyond
* Portland! (I'm desperate to visit)
* The store!
* It was a very quick read

Things I didn’t love:
* Just about every character seemed exaggerated—they felt like caricatures.
* The assumption that having a stable, serious job (like accounting) = boring personality
* I didn’t start getting invested until about 80% in

A sapphic opposites attract sex shop romance? Sign me up! In this adult romantic comedy we follow 𝗖𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗘𝗹𝗴𝗶𝗻 and 𝗦𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗮 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀. Cade, an art gallery owner, meets Selena, former painter, and they inherit a sex shop. They work together to try to pay off its debt.

This was genuinely such a fun read! I ended up reading it in about a day. The pacing was amazing and help keep me entertained all throughout it.

3.5 rounded down. It was a very sweet story and I found myself relating to Cade on almost every single page (I, too, am a boring and often uptight person whose family always makes fun of me for it). I enjoyed seeing Cade and Selena’s relationship blossom and their efforts to save Satisfaction Guaranteed. Also, Selena’s supporting cast of characters (and Cades friend Amy) were all amazing.

However, I felt like the tropes were underdeveloped and didn’t really advance the plot. It was sort of fake dating, sort of enemies/friends to lovers, sort of a forced proximity romance but I don’t think any of the aforementioned got the attention they needed. Some parts of the book were a teensy bit repetitive. I had really high expectations for this book going into it based on how well-received it was by my friends, so maybe I set myself up for being the slightest bit disappointed.


Big thanks to Netgalley for an ARC of this book!

This sapphic rom-com was a good time. Cade has lived a very full life, with little adventure and zero romance. When Cade inherits a sex toy shop, she doesn't know how this is going to go. The last thing she expects is the sexy Selena to be part of the deal.
Selena had sworn off romance, but did not expect Cade to tickle her fancy. She doesn't want to mess up Satisfaction Guaranteed, but Cade is very tempting.
I enjoyed this a lot! I thought both Cade and Selena were great. The characters around them felt a little more like cartoonist and bland than I would have hoped, but they didn't necessarily take away from the story.
I would definitely pick up another title by this author!

I was granted access to the book after the day of release. I purchased it myself the morning of release cause the premises sounded amazing. It was wonderfully gay and sec positive.