| Title | : | As He Bids |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 56 |
| Publication | : | First published May 21, 2014 |
Certainly, she is heading that way when she spends her first week focusing more on the way Bruce Nelson’s mouth shapes his words than their actual meaning.
Novelette
As He Bids Reviews
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As He Bids by Olivia Rigal is the first part of the erotic romance The Curve Masters series. This is not a full story as it's one that ends rather abruptly and will continue on in the next installment so it's more of a novella length beginning to the plot.
Hannah has just begun an internship working for her long time crush Bruce at an auction house. For years she's had a this crush and now being so close to Bruce Hannah's imagination runs wild but that is before she thinks she's fired. Bruce however had other plans in mind and gets Hannah back to work where things heat up between them.
I'm not a huge fan of the continuing stories that don't give a reader much depth in one book but the writing in here wasn't too bad for a freebie so that was a plus. There isn't much given in this one other than finding out Bruce is basically a Christian Grey type and Hannah doesn't mind following orders so I'm sure things will heat up a lot more in the rest of the series.
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Well there's a workplace sexual harrassment scenario if I never saw one...and when that's all I can think about, then I know this isn't the book/series for me. Recent art graduate gets an internship and works with the man she's been obsessed with throughout her college years and, it seems, even adored from a distance when he was in high school with her brother. And he's equally entranced with her and determined to make her his own little submissive. I didn't find much new in this story and don't think I'll continue on in the series.
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Dnf 47%
I’ve suffered enough 🙄 -
I just couldn’t get into this book. No matter how hard I tried. I even read half of the second one
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I enjoyed the book a lot but I would’ve liked to of seen a little more depth of character in the two main characters.
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As He Bids by
Olivia Rigal
Applying for a summer internship at an upscale auction house just because she has a mad crush on one of the bosses, may be Career Fail 101 for Hannah Cohen.
Certainly, she is heading that way when she spends her first week focusing more on the way Bruce Nelson’s mouth shapes his words than their actual meaning.
My Review
So this story centres around beautiful, smart young intern Hannah Cohen, who nurses a secret obsession with one of the most eligible & successful art auctioneers in Manhattan. She is born to art royalty but retains her humility and refuses to use her name to get ahead in the art world.
She is thrilled when she is assigned to work along side the object of her desires, the very sexy Bruce Nelson, as his intern, but quickly realises that working in such close proximity to this man is as unnerving as it is arousing and the sexual tension that develops between them is positively palpable.
Bruce Nelson... well HANG ON...SWOON... this is a man who knows his place in the world, he exudes a sexy confidence that has women falling over themselves to be with him, but he gives nothing away. He holds his cards close to his chest.
Slowly it becomes evident that perhaps the feelings Hannah has developed for this domineering, sexy man may not all be one sided. The question is, can Hannah be prepared for the events that transpire between them? And can she be the person he wants her to be?
If your after a raunchy lunchtime read then this short but steamy little pocket rocket of a book is for you, I loved it!
I gave it 4 shining stars **** -
Interning in the arts, erotic and otherwise
Hannah Cohen - who does not look like her name, thank you very much - received an intern position she's been dreaming of for years with Bruce. She had a childhood crush on the older man that lingered through the years. He also was thinking of her all along, which is slightly creepier since he's six years older. (Ew. Waiting for her to be of age or not, ew.)
There's not a lot of disclosure for what the job involves, and it frankly makes me wonder if all internships in this company are run the same way. Long hours, experience with assessing artwork, a private apartment, spankings and oral sex. Oh, and he happens to be a Dom. Perhaps she missed that in the fine print? Lack of full consent or disclosure is a big no for me, as much as the older guy creeping on a minor - so this book won't make it into my favorites list.
As well as all of the above, let's add in some miscommunication for dramatic effect! Because sulking (him) and being upset or in tears (her) is hawt. Rawr. And subspace - of course, subspace, and subdrop, and Domspace because why not. After a first, fairly mild encounter - a pet peeve of mine for BDSM books that's almost as bad as collaring after the first scene or a short time period.
Despite my rants above, the actual writing style is engaging enough to bring the characters to life in this short story. As a series, side characters will doubtless develop their own tales, but I'm not intruiged enough to continue the series. An example of the writing:
"I will show you which sensations are more delightful than the tender touch. There are so many ways to light an inferno between your legs. I will show you all those that I know, and we will explore and invent new ones. Some of my ways will seem strange or barbaric at first, but I promise you, I will make you crave them." -
Hannah is a summer intern for Bruce, & she has a crush on him. He’s a bit cryptic, so much so that in the beginning she thought he had fired her, but she had misunderstood him. Shortly after this, he shows how controlling he is by telling her that she will come live with him (to avoid traffic problems getting to work).
He’s also a bit dark... “I will lead you to ecstasy but to do so I will first take you through hell.”
His character is presented as a take charge Dom, & although Doms are usually quite confident, his character is not as likable as characters in other stories as he is more conceited, controlling to the point of not being safe, really. For example, in the first half of the story he takes control of her life without speaking to her before, without getting to even know her on a personal level. He decides where she will be living, he behaves in a controlling manner at work (when he spanks her within hearing distance of people at an auction in a closet, with only a thin door between them and others), & he has sex with her without a condom & no discussion of birth control prior... It made me feel as if he was going to decide for her that if there was a consequence to them being together - like a baby - she would have no say in this at all. Nope!!!
Then, to make matters worse, she finds out that he’s been watching her for years, basically waiting for her to come to him. Ugh!
The second part of the book begins after he doesn’t take good care of her after she experiences sub drop. He then basically doesn’t come into work for weeks, just waiting for her to either force her to beg for him to come back or force his hand another way. Um... Doms are supposed to be confident, & here he’s showing that he needs her supplication or adoration.
I’ve read many books of this genre, but it isn’t up to par. -
As He Bids is the first book in Olivia Rigal's Curves Master series. In this book we are introduced to two lead characters--Hannah Cohen and Bruce Nelson. We get to watch the initial stages of a DOM/SUB relationship. The theme is the Dom's claiming of a sub.
Rigal does a great job in developing her primary and secondary characters. In her female lead, Hanna we see an intelligent, independent and strong woman struggling with her inability to handle the unknown especially in regard to romance. When overwhelmed with the uncertainty she runs to her save haven--her parents' home. What Hanna has not discovered is that she is a submissive. The male lead, is an intelligent, determined, independent and dominant male. The choreography they create as their romance unfolds is what creates the tension in this plot line.
I appreciated Rigal's use of literary devices such as backstory, dialog, point of view and descriptive language. In the backstory to allow readers learn Hanna and Bruce history and events that lead them to their encounter. Her use of dialog contributes to her story's smooth pace and heightens the existing tension between these two. Through Hanna's point of view, readers get a glimpse of how a novice experiences an introduction into the DOM/SUB culture. Lastly, the hook of the cliffhanger definitely gets the reader to read the continuing saga of their relationship, in Book 2 As She Begs. -
It Wanted to Be an Interesting Read
I didn't hate this novella, but I didn't love it. Being an art history geek - I enjoyed the art side of things, but the whole plot/circumstances were way too farfetched for me. I enjoy a good BDSM type novel, but I felt it was being forced rather strongly on the main character, Hannah. The timeline seemed way to quick for everything occurring. I also felt both main characters had an unhealthy previous obsession with one another and were both behaving highly immature for their ages/profession. While I'm slightly curious where the storyline is headed, I don't see myself continuing the series. -
Nothing good or terrible about this one, There is really no clearly defined story arc. The characters and whole setting seem unrealistic. If these two characters knew each other way back, they should have brought that up between them. The Sub / Dom scenario was lacking in any authentic manner. If he is a true Dom, he would have explained everything to her before starting any type of contact with her. Hannah makes some references to understanding alternative lifestyles but she doesn't ask any questions or set any boundaries or expectations. This reads more like a set up to future stories about the other characters in their workplace /Auction house.
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It's ok
I gave this 3* because it is ok but I just didn't feel it. It was like someone with no emotions wrote this. I didn't like Bruce, he fails epically at being a dom, and I didn't like Hannah. I didn't think she portrayed as a sub, even an unknown sub. I thought she just came across shy from finally being in the presence of her schoolgirl crush. Shy isn't necessarily submissive. -
Bryan and Hannah get 3.5 Stars.
A very sweet romance for inbetween. A childhood crush came true years later.
And yes it's a short story so obviously I think there could have happened more. But all in all, I did like the plottwists. The Drama around them. I even thought it would have been cool to see a confrontation between Hannah and her best friend after all this years. Sweet, dirty sexy.
Good read. -
A Unique Story You Don't want to miss!
This is a new author to my, and I am looking forward to reading others. A short story of a relationship that brews between a couple who knew each other years ago, and now are working together. Bits of dom/submission, etc. But this book is the beginning of that, and the story ends there. -
(2.5)
Definitely not my favorite book I’ve read. I wasn’t a fan of the writing style or really the story. I couldn’t connect with any of the characters and it just was kind of weird to read. Not to mention that it was super short. It just seemed like an incredibly underdeveloped story, in my opinion. -
Interesting
I loved the story line and leaving things to my very vivid imagination can be very exciting. However, after all of the lead up to finally getting Hannah to communicate what she wanted, I found it a little frustrating to not know exactly what she said. Other than that I found it very well written and a riveting read. -
At first I thought I recognized the story but that is probably because of the internship. After a few pages I knew this story was very much different than what I have read before.
This was invigorating, intense and also a bit informative of the art scene!
So happy that the second part was also included! -
Good
I liked the characters. But fell nothing is really explained about the BDSM world. Because she was so confused so was I. Felt it all happened to fast. Hannah has always been in love with Bruce and apparently he has watched her too. So they belong together but he wants her as a subbie. -
Although set in the world art, nothing was told in depth regarding that setting. The details of th dom/sub relationship were explored, even they had room left unex
plored. Although characters were introduced they seemed to just hang there. Even an incident of violence that happened on the train is just left hanging for no apparent reason. -
This was a good novella with a good description of the BDSM world that goes a little more in depth than I’ve seen in the past. Being a novella though, there just wasn’t enough relationship building between Bruce and Hannah. I did enjoy that Hannah was a plus size protagonist which is always nice to see, and I enjoyed the friendship between Elise, Tab and Hannah as well.
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More than a story!
I totally enjoy the art history weaved into a story of a young woman being able to accept herself as she is. This story is so well thought and corigraphed that it weaves a tale of two people, minus age, minus race, minus experience coming together to be as one.
I encourage you to read it for your inner self to see how you can break down your own barriers. -
This is an introduction novella and gets your mind whirling with what will come nexts.
The combination of old pieces of antiques combined with the vibrant character of Hannah just works so well.
This book smashes the stereotypes of what you imagine and antique internship to be and the way Olivia Rigal entwines the two worlds of BDSM and antiques is fascinating. -
I freaking love this book! It's exactly the kind of book I want to read at night and in the morning. Any time of the day, really.
I chose this rating because I sincerely believe it was earned. When I think of an erotic romance, this is what I expect -indeed, hope -to find. Much thanks to Olivia Rival for a truly sensational read.
