Very inclusive, very spicy. This is a bit predictable near the end, but still a great read cover to cover that I did not want to put down.

This was my very first book by Darcy Romaine and I can say confidently that it was one of the best tastefully written smut books that I've read this year. Darcy has a very smooth writing style, one that will capture your attention from the first page and leave you with your mouth dropped by the end of it. I LOVE dark romances and she did an amazing job writing this dark romance with so many different aspects of the sexual lifestyles in the world: there's some spice for every reader in this book.

I really loved the dynamic between Nikolai and Corrine. They had incredible chemistry, an undeniable attraction to one another and that made for some incredible spice scenes. I loved that Nikolai had a caring/soft side to him and wasn't your typical alpha billionaire. It was a pretty well paced read that I got through in one sitting. My only complaint was the 3rd person POV. It isn't my favorite POV to read books in, but regardless of that personal choice of my own, it was an incredible 5 star read! :)

please note that the trigger warnings and topes/themes may contain spoilers
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
HEA: HFN
POV: dual 3rd person POV
spice: several open-door spicy scenes
TWs: classism, death of a parent, disinterested parent, domestic abuse, misogyny, slut shaming
Kinky Content: anal, BDSM, BDSM club, biting, breast play, breath play, c0ck warming, collaring, CNC, crawling, cum play, dacryphilia, dirty talk, Dom/sub dynamics, hand necklaces, exhibitionism, impact play, irrumatio, financial domination, finger licking good, fingering, kneeling, lingerie, marking, nicknames, nipple play, objectification, “one more”, oral, orgasm control, orgasm denial, mild pet play, pierced nipples FMC, praise, public sex, rimming, roleplay, mild sadism, sexting, spanking, subspace, voyeurism
standalone: standalone
final thoughts: HOLY SMOKES!! This book blew me away. New book boyfriend alert.
I LOVED the dynamics and character growth between the MCs in this book! The MMC was attentive, great at aftercare, a communicator, supportive, and interesting. The FMC was strong, vocal, a communicator, and interesting. I loved having both MCs being strong and interesting. The spice was SPICY, the plot was great, the side characters brought depth to the story… overall this book was so good, and I’ll definitely be adding more books from these authors to my TBR!
I need more findom/spoiling books in my life- bring on all the billionaires!
THE EXTENDED EPILOGUE!!!! That on it’s own is a 5 star read… I mean come ON.
The only thing that could’ve made this better was to be first person POVs which is my personal preference for a romance

read this book if you love
🔢 age gap (29/41)
⛓️ BDSM
💵 billionaire
🧑‍🏫 boss/employee (kinda right?)
🍪 cinnamon roll MMC
🥵 dirty talk
💬 epistolary
💏 fake dating
😳 forbidden lovers
🏝️ forced proximity
🎁 grand gestures
🧑‍🤝‍🧑 great side characters
😏 kinky
🌈 LGBT+ representation
💞 mutual pining
🥰 nicknames
😜 possessive MMC
🙏 praise
🚙 road trip
👦 she falls first, he falls harder
🌍 world building
💼 workplace romance

I throughly enjoyed the story of Nikolai and Corrine.
It was a very spicy book with detailed scenes that painted vivid images in your mind.

Billionaire? Crawls to him? Calls him sir? Dark romance? SIGN ME UP!! I ran for this book the moment I saw it. I have such a weak spot for stories like this!

The Pleasure Protocol was a really great book and a titillating read! I enjoyed the dynamic between Nikolai and Corinne very much. Both are confident characters and masters in their line of work.

I liked the bi-sexual elements that both had had same-sex partners in the past, one of which is why the main couple gets together in the first place. It gives an interesting dynamic with wondering how the dynamics were in those partnerships.

I loved that Corinne was confident as a sex worker and wouldn’t take any degradation or ill-talk about her line of work. It was a very unique twist that Corinne was with a client at an event and Nikolai was at that same event and to see the impacts of seeing her with someone else. Nikolai was very respectful of her profession and understood but it was a great scene in that you don’t often see the main characters with other clients and I enjoyed that moment.

The dynamics in the book were great between the characters and side characters. The spice was GREAT! The BDSM clubs and scenes were great also. Overall great read!

Incredibly hot and spicy! Just like I like them!!! I had a great time reading this. I do wish there was a little more character history and development but that's really not what this was supposed to be.

This was sexy. I loved every second of it! The bisexuality representation was great and it has a little bit of everything for everyone.

Thank You Netgalley, Renard & Corbeau, LLC, and Darcy Romaine, Kat Alexander for the advanced copy. Now available on KU. Honestly, I had a hard time getting past the Pet and Sir aspect of the relationship. But otherwise of course it's hot with restrained pleasure, from behind, and leashes. There were more aspects I didn't like than I did like so for that I had to give it 2 stars

This is an amazing read! It's spicy, the main characters are both Bi/queer, and the writing between both authors is amazing. They worked so well together to make sure that the story flows together.

This goes into detail of BDSM, pet play, and so many other kinks. They did an amazing job!

Please check the trigger warnings!

Thank you to Netgalley and Authors for the eARC.

A spicy Pretty Woman retelling! Think Pretty Woman with an experienced bedroom worker who knows how to play the part and spice it up just the way her clients want her too. He's the billionaire with no time to weed out gold diggers and she's the bedroom worker who loves her job. They are a perfect fit in all the ways until feelings start leaking in! That's enough of a tease for you, you'll have to read to see how it works out for everyone. Good character development, interesting light plot, fantastic spice to really get you heated up especially if you like a bit of pet play in the BDSM world. Can't say that is my cup of tea, but I can definitely see where it might be appealing to someone and the writing definitely made it a fun read!

It's a great read, definitely very spicy. But the characters are kinda flat. You get a sense of a problem that is being created between the two main characters, but when the problem comes out, it's weird. In the last 20% the dynamic between the two completely changed and they didn't behave themselves like normally. Then a few pages further, they suddenly have the solution, and then they skip two years after. I didn't really like the ending, it was very sudden and strange. But that didn't take away that I liked reading it.

The Pleasure Protocol is everything you want in a kink romance, hot main characters who respect each other, a plot that keeps you reading to see what happens next, and rich atmospheric setting.

I found this book well-written and easy to read, but it didn’t end up being my cup of tea. But I do think a different reader would love this book!

I really appreciated that the authors included thorough content warnings in the author’s note at the beginning of the novel. (There are quite a few so I recommend checking that out before starting the book.)

Even in my spicy books, I like there to be more plot. There weren’t really any meaningful obstacles to their relationship or a non-romance related plot. If you are here for spice and not plot, this book would be great.

The queer representation in this book didn’t resonate with me. I was interested in this book because it was tagged as LGBTQIAP+ on NetGalley. Neither character’s queer identity or queer experience was central to the story. Both Corinne and Nikolai mention having previous same-sex partners, but don’t ever use a label for themselves. I’m calling them bisexual for this review since the author describes the characters as bisexual in the author bio at the end of the book. The book never uses the word bisexual, queer, pansexual, or any other term. I understand that labels aren’t meaningful to all members of the community, but it felt strange to me the characters were described as bi in the author bio but never in the novel itself. I love it when books explore what it means to a character to be bisexual, why that identity matters to them, and how it changes the way they relate to the world (if at all). Authors definitely aren’t obligated to make bisexuality a plot point or central to who a character is, but I personally would have enjoyed the book more if their bisexuality was discussed at least in passing beyond a mention of prior same-sex partners. (In other words, bisexuality is central to how I see myself and I enjoy reading about characters who feel the same way!)

If anyone else has read this book (or have thoughts about bi rep in romance novels in general), I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Highlights:
-bi woman dating a bi man
- sex worker x client
- billionaire romance
- heavy on the spice 🔥 (and light on the plot)

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book!

Thank you for the ARC!

I truly wanted to DNF this 10% in but I stuck it out because at least the two main characters seemed emotionally healthy enough that the guy didn't treat her like shit and she didn't just accept it. Overall, I can appreciate the fact that Nikolai wasn't a douchebag but that wasn't enough to save it.

I don't really have any complaints about the characters themselves; Nikolai & Corinne were fine but I kind of just couldn't care about them getting together. The whole time they were practically already acting like a couple that it just felt boring seeing them have a third-act breakup that wasn't a third-act breakup.

Something that did bother me about the story was how some of it was told off the page. I can't give a specific example of this happening, both because I started skimming at some point because I wanted the book to end and because doesn't that defeat the purpose of an ARC? But there were moments where Nikolai and Corinne would be talking about a conversation they supposedly had but I couldn't remember actually happening and it just threw me off.

Back to Nikolai being anti-relationships: they did actually have a conversation about that and his past experience with relationships but that was about it? By the time of the big old love reveal, Corinne was hung up on the fact that Nikolai had apparently mentioned many times before about not wanting a relationship, but I remember them having a total of one (1) conversation about that?

I'm not one to kink-shame or anything but the whole "sir" thing threw me off. Not even the fact that Corinne would refer to him as but the way she was doing it. It just irked me that she kept saying "my sir." "My sir is taking me to xyz" Maybe it's just me being nit-picky but "my sir" just does not roll off the tongue or sound good to me and it made me hate that whole aspect of the book. I also feel like them going so deeply into that BDSM scene was too much at once. Like, once it seemed like they were testing the waters of one thing, immediately they would start something new, and it just felt like a lot thrown at the characters (and ME) at once.

I wouldn't read this again, nor would I ever recommend this book to someone I like and want to keep in my life but I guess it was fine?

🔥ARC Review 🔥

The Pleasure Protocol by Darcy Romaine and Kat Alexander
Release Date: May 21, 2024

Pages: 334

⚠️Content Warning⚠️
Please check content warnings BEFORE reading.

Format: 📱

What to Expect:
🖤Age Gap
💙Anti-Sex Work Language
🖤Billionaire
💙BDSM
🖤Bisexual MMCs
💙CNC
🖤Death of Parent (Mentioned)
💙Degradation
🖤Dom/sub
💙Edging
🖤Escort Service
💙Mention of DV
🖤Objectification
💙Pet Play
🖤Role Play
💙Sir/Pet
🖤Spanking
💙Third-Person POV

Book Description:
Billionaire CEO Nikolai Zaitsev has used an escort service for years. Maybe he’s jaded, but it’s easier to pay for intimacy than worry about another partner using him for his money. His latest companion, Corinne, charms him with her stunning beauty and charisma—but when she crawls for him and calls him Sir their first night, his desire for dominance roars to life.

Corinne Ryan is a first-rate escort who knows better than to fall in love with a client. It’s the number one rule of this business, and she’s already been hurt too many times. But everything changes when Nikolai pulls her into a dark, sensual world with a different type of rules, and she finds herself collared and leashed as his pampered Pet.

Each night of pleasure brings them closer, and that most important rule gets harder to follow. As feelings blossom, they both fight to stay within the bounds of client and escort. Can they finally admit they've broken their own rules, or will they lose what’s become most important: each other?

Ratings:
FMC: ⭐⭐⭐⭐.25
MMC: ⭐⭐⭐⭐.25
Plot: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
Overall: ⭐⭐⭐⭐.25

BWBH Review:
Nikolai is a billionaire with zero time for relationships and everything they entail. For more intimate matters, he relies on an escort service. When his normal escort is no longer available for an event, he hires Corrine. He is instantly mesmerized by how she carries herself and her stunning beauty.

Nikolai and Corrine agree to a weekly arrangement: She will visit him every Sunday, and he will spoil her rotten. But with regular intimacy come feelings, no matter how hard they try to look past them.

The Pleasure Protocol is perfect for readers who enjoy Russian billionaires, a strong, confident FMC, and a whole lot of “Yes, Sir”.

Thank you to Darcy Romaine, Kat Alexander, and NetGalley for the ARC.

I was bored by this book. I couldn't force myself to get into it and there was nothing compelling enough to endure the slog. The characters were pretty flat, the plot was tropey with the filthy rich attachment avoidant man and the escort who didn't seem to have any personality traits aside from submissive, and the writing style was a bit slow. It might be the book for you but it was not the book for me.

This book has enough spice to satisfy me for a very, very long time! With the amount of sexual lifestyles mentioned (escort, BDSM, pleasure rooms, sexual role-play, etc), I would say this book is for a very mature audience. It's a different level of hot and spicy, and I loved every minute of it!

Nikolai Zaitsev is a billionaire with zero time for a relationship. He finds it easier and more convenient to indulge in temporary connections through escort services. When he connects with an escort named Corinne, there is instant attraction. She is sexy, she is confident, and she knows how to play the game without making it look like what it is - just a game. There is no doubt Corinne is good at what she does, and that is what makes Nikolai want her even more. What starts as a mutually beneficial date slowly turns into something more serious for the two. They both understand and accept each other's needs, no matter how kinky, and eventually start to break each other down, bad!

This book is beyond spicy! There are several sexual moments between Nikolai and Corinne, and although I enjoyed it, it started to feel a little repetitive halfway into the book. Things started going flat and started feeling predictable. I found myself feeling the opposite of how I felt at the beginning of the book. Aside from that, everything else in the book was great! The characters were very likable. I loved Corinne's confidence and attitude, and I loved how Nikolai, although being the no-nonsense businessman he was, was also such a sweetheart. It was wonderful watching their relationship slowly change, without them having to change who they were.

Thank you NetGalley, Xpresso Book Tours, Darcy Romaine, and Kat Alexander for this ARC!

Nikolai Zaitsev is a man of business with no time for emotional entanglements, on the other hand he has no trouble finding time to treat his new companion to luxury and heated looks. Corrine Ryan knows what she's doing, and sticks by her rules that protect her from possible incidents in her work.
In this forbidden romance between client and escort, the line between lust and longing is thin. With the heat that never simmered and the level of communication between these two delightful and complex characters, I really enjoyed this novel.

Darcy Romaine and Kat Alexander have written an exciting contemporary romance, complete with BDSM and bisexual characters. Following Corinne's storyline of her work as a first-rate escort and her fiery personality was entertaining and I thoroughly enjoyed the companionship between her and Nikolai.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced copy.

If you’re looking for spice and plot, this book is for you. I found myself engrossed with characters and the plot.

Both authors writing flowed seamlessly together which is not always the case.