
(Playboys of Boston #1)
Author: Suzanne Rock
Format: ARC
Length: 368 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Rating: 4 Stars
Leo Perconti's life is spinning out of control. As head of his family's hotel conglomerate, it's his job to save his family from bankruptcy. At the center of his turmoil is Karin Norell, a quiet, alluring housekeeping manager who compliments his dominating personality and lets him feel in control once more.
As Karin explores her passion, her feelings for Leo deepen. Unfortunately, Karin and Leo come from different worlds, and when the two worlds collide, the cost can be devastating. As the service staff at The Palazzo rise up against the Perconti family, both Leo and Karin are faced with losing what each of them holds most dear. Together they must learn that true power comes from vulnerability and trust that can only happen when you let your insecurities go. - Goodreads
My Thoughts
The Cinderella-esque take on the whole billionaire vs. ingenue trope is one designed to keep one reading. The added factors of threat of discovery by both the media co-workers, and other members of the Perconti family; the juxtaposition their their employee to employer statuses against those of their burgeoning personal entanglements, and the powder keg of employee unrest among the lower staff, are all factors which are a serious draw for readers of erotica.

Luckily, Karin proves that she is not one to be bullied, blackmailed, or cornered by either his temperamental outbursts or his stoney silence.
The erotic interplay between Leo and Karin achieves just the right balance between truly erotic, and too much too soon for the middle class masses to which it is marketed.
The fact that the emotional bond between the two lovers is allowed to escalate, just as the eroticism does, is a sure fire win/win in the drama department.
This is a very necessary aid for a relatively flat performance story-wide, on the part of other parties.
As stated earlier, the down-sides of this read lie in the moments which do not concern themselves with Karin and Leo. Those moments having instead to do with some other Perconti or a friend or acquaintance of Karin perhaps.
Instead of the sharp-edged technicolor view that we are given the privilege of in terms of all things Leo and Karin. We find ourselves lost in a sea of impressionistic water colors, which only hint at a picture that we are never fully allowed to see.
At His Service is a captivating exploration of love, sex, desire, and power, sure to make even the most hardened cynic believe in billionaire princes and passion filled 'happily ever afters'.
About Suzanne

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