Title: Craving Sugar
Author: Elena M. Reyes
Genre: Contemporary/Erotic Romance
Release Date: October 27, 2017
Blurb
Earn extra
cash by becoming a high-class companion.
Travel,
eat, and have your every expense taken care of.
The catch:
I’ll be someone’s sugar baby for a year. Paid to be a private escort.
Beau Carter
is young and beautiful with a bright future ahead of her. Her dreams of
becoming the first woman in her family to graduate from college are just within
her grasp, when the financial aid runs out. Up to her eyeballs in debt, she
works night and day to make ends meet, but even that can only last for so long.
Hendrix
Parker lost it all four years ago. Angry at the world, he’s become an asshole—a
bitter shell of the man his family once loved. A recluse, he is now forced to
leave his sanctuary in the Florida Keys and become an active member of the real
estate developer community he now dominates.
Problem
is—he’s all alone and needs a buffer. Someone to draw attention away from him.
“I bought
you to be my whore.”
Craving Sugar is not my first time reading Elena M. Reyes’ writing. Since I have never been let down by her work in the past, all I needed to see was her name and “over the top alpha” to make me want to read this book. Alphas are my favorite type of hero, and if he’s an asshole too, that’s like hitting the jackpot! If there is anything I can assure you about this book, it’s that the hero in this story is the epitome of both of those things.
Hendrix Parker doesn’t date. He isn’t opposed to a one night stand, but other than that, he prefers to be alone. The downfall of this is that he often finds himself in need of a date when he has to attend business functions he can’t get out of. His best friend, Jax, encourages him to remedy this by getting a sugar baby. Actually, “encourages him” is an understatement. He practically badgers him to death to get him to consider it. Jax is a sugar daddy himself, and he assures Hendrix that the mutually beneficial arrangement is exactly what he needs. Hendrix reluctantly agrees to give it a try, and when he sees Beau, he knows he made the right decision.
Beau Carter is the perfect daughter, sister, and friend. She is always there for everyone in her life even to the detriment of her own happiness. Her best friend constantly uses her to cover her shifts at work, her mother expects her to be at her beck and call, and her sister uses her as her own personal nanny. When Beau needs money for college though, the only person she can depend on for help is herself. Her parents are already helping her sister financially to the point where there is no way they would be able to assist her in anyway. She doesn’t have any idea how it’s even possible for her to come up with her tuition waiting tables, and that’s why when a well-meaning women approaches her about being a sugar baby, she actually takes it into consideration. Ultimately, she lets her need for an education outweigh her pride and agrees to meet Hendrix for lunch.
Neither of them were prepared for what happened next. A business arrangement was all it was supposed to be, but after their pants came off, the boundaries of their relationship started to blur. It isn’t long before Beau begins to wonder if the money she is receiving is worth the cost to her heart.
Craving Sugar is a steamy as hell romance with a complicated hero that might test your patience. Hendrix drove me crazy throughout much of the book. I mean, Beau had to have whiplash trying to keep up with his mood swings. I sure did! Don’t get me wrong, he had a reason behind his infuriating behavior, but I struggled with why she would have the feelings she had for him considering the way he treated her. Despite him making me wish I could jump into the book and karate chop him in the head, I did want him to get the girl. I knew he was sabotaging himself, and I just wanted him to stop. I knew once he did, everything would be fine. Because I loathe weak heroines, I was happy with Beau’s evolution and proud that she finally started demanding the respect she deserved from others. If you are looking for a romance with a true alpha, asshole hero and a healthy dose of smut, look no further! This one’s for you!
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Excerpt
ONE
Hendrix
“I’m not hiring a whore,” I all but snarled, pissed at the idiot in front of me. I was tired and stressed; lacked the basic urge to be an understanding individual,
Hendrix
“I’m not hiring a whore,” I all but snarled, pissed at the idiot in front of me. I was tired and stressed; lacked the basic urge to be an understanding individual,
much less give the asshole in front of me the
benefit of doubt.
Jax, my closest friend since college, had caught
me off guard—something that never happened these days.
Nothing surprised me anymore, not since that
night four years ago. The night my entire world stopped.
Fuck. Focus on the here and now.
“Why?” he asked, bringing me away from that dark
path filled with memories—moments frozen in time that never failed to haunt me.
“Answer me.”
The jerk sounded amused—a pit bull with a bone.
He wasn’t going to let it go.
Rubbing a hand down my face, I bit back a tired
groan. “No.”
Of all the moronic crap he could have spewed, I
had not been expecting this; for me to hire someone to play the role of my
girlfriend for the next few months.
“Think about it, Hendrix. It’s legal, safe...” he
ticked each reason off with his fingers “...and, she must sign an NDA to
enter into this kind of an agreement. No one will know.”
Slamming back the shot of whiskey in my glass, I
leveled him with a glare. “Get the fuck out.”
“Speak up, man. Your staff went home.” Holding
his now-empty tumbler out in front of him, he twirled the glass atop my desk.
“There’s no one here to judge you. That prim and proper act you put on can be
turned off.”
“Is all this a joke to you?” I hissed out from
between clenched teeth. “Am I your amusement for the evening?”
“Come off it, Parker. I
came here to see the asshole I know, my friend, not this...” he waved his hand
absentmindedly in my direction. “To be honest, I don’t even know who you are
anymore.”
“Then leave.”
“No. Enough with the hiding. Emptiness—”
I slammed my hand down; the cup of pens close to
me tipped over from the impact. “Don’t go there, Jax. Just get up and walk out.
Quit pushing.”
“Jesus, man, what the hell is holding you back? A
memory? Ghost?”
“Enough.”
“Dammit, Hendrix.” He pushed his chair back and
stood to pace the length of my office. Ran a hand roughly through his blonde
hair in agitation. “This...” he pointed a finger between us “... is an
intervention. You’re young, successful, rich—own the real estate game in South
Florida. Known as an asshole, a shark in the business arena, and that’s gained
you quite a desired reputation.” Stopping by the window on the far right, Jax
turned and glared. “You have that whole tall, dark, and handsome shit going on
with your over six-foot-two stature and brooding charm. People respect you, but
fuck, man, that’s not enough when you’ve forgotten what it’s like to live.”
“I’m content enough.”
Jax scoffed at my response, his hands placed on
the window ledge in front of him. “Content is the equivalent of blah. My
friend, you need to rediscover the feel of a woman beneath you. The passion.
The heat between her legs.”
Ignoring his spiel, I shut my laptop off and
stored it. “Still a no on hiring someone just to appease you.”
No matter how desperate I was to pull the
pressure off my persona.
No matter how long it’d been since I dipped my
dick into something tight...wet.
Smirk firmly in place, he walked back over and
grabbed the bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue Label on my desk. “Prude much,
Parker?” He poured himself another fifth and then sipped slowly, all the while
studying me with a cocked brow. “And I never once mentioned hiring a whore.”
Pushing my glass toward him, I sat back. “What’s
the difference? Both are paid to keep you company.”
“Sugar babies are where it’s at, my friend. A
mutual exchange of benefits.”
“Answer me this...” Jax nodded “...is money
exchanged?”
“It can be if—”
Holding a hand up, I halted his pathetic excuse.
“And you don’t call that prostitution?”
“Would you say my girlfriend Crystal is a
prostitute?” What would the young woman I met on his boat a few weeks back have
to do with anything? “That she’s easy and out to make a quick buck?”
The hell?
“She’s...?” I asked, because Jesus. Was this man
really sitting here in my office telling me he had a live-in play toy? That he
bought her? “What kind of barbaric shit is this? How could you do that? What if
word gets out, you idiot.”
“And if it did, so what? I’m not ashamed of her
or us.” His jaw was set tight, and his blue eyes dared me to say anything
negative about her. Jax, my easygoing friend, was pissed. Fuming, if the way
his hands were clenched was anything to go by.
“I meant no offense to her, but couldn’t you meet
someone through a more traditional route? Someone who cares about more than
just the zeros that decorate your bank balance?” This entire conversation was
giving me a headache, and I rubbed my temples. I was too tired to continue
trying to make sense of this confession.
“And I’ll counter that question with one of my
own.” My mouth opened to protest, but he shook his head before taking another
sip of whiskey. His eyes were on mine, unwavering. Looking for something.
“Wouldn’t you rather meet someone and know their intentions up front? No games
or playing pretend. A mutual and even exchange.”
Headache now pounding, I pushed back my seat as
if I were standing to leave. “Still not interested—”
Not taking the bait, Jax leaned over the table, a
mischievous look in his eye. “Then let me paint a better picture for you,
Parker.” He was about to drop some knowledge on me, and I knew it. Should’ve
seen it coming for miles. “You have two months to find a date for the few events
honoring your pompous ass this fall. And before you say that you’ll decline and
hide away on your boat in the Keys, it’s not going to happen. The mayor will
not take no for an answer...he and his wife live for these events. To
mingle with the rich and arrogant.”
“Would you stop worrying about my life? I’ll be
fine.” Absentmindedly, I ran my fingers across my short beard. My mind still
reeled from his admission.
I’d spoken to Crystal that day and was impressed.
In school, and working toward her master’s in psychology, she seemed to have a
good head on her shoulders.
Didn’t hurt one bit that the body attached to the
head was downright sexy.
His laughter pulled my attention away from the
memory of the tiny auburn-haired beauty in a bikini. “Admit it, Hendrix, you’re
curious.” Tone smug, he had a gloating gleam in his eye.
“Not in the least.”
“So, if I informed you that the account was
already made and you have some hits, you wouldn’t care? I should just shut
everything down?”
My fists clenched in anger. “Are you serious? Do
you have any idea what that could do to my reputation—”
“Let me stop you right there.” Holding out a hand
toward me, Jax dug into his laptop bag on the chair beside him. From inside he
pulled out a plain manila folder and pushed it across toward me. “This is all
the information you’ll need: contract, company NDA that I signed for you,
health screening information, and what you’ll need to submit. Read it. Sleep on
it. Check out the website and the girls’ files available for possible match.”
“I don’t have time for this.”
“Too
late. It’s already done.”
Author Bio
Elena M. Reyes was born and raised in Miami Florida. She is
the epitome of a Floridian and if she could live in her beloved flip-flops, she
would.
As a small child, she was always intrigued with all forms of
art—whether it was dancing to island rhythms, or painting with any medium she
could get her hands on. Her first taste of writing came to her during her fifth
grade year when her class was prompted to participate in the D. A. R. E.
Program and write an essay on what they’d learned.
Her passion for reading over the years has amassed her with hours of pleasure. It wasn't until she stumbled upon fanfiction that her thirst to write overtook her world. She now resides in Central Florida with her husband and son, spending all her down time letting her creativity flow and letting her characters grow.
Her passion for reading over the years has amassed her with hours of pleasure. It wasn't until she stumbled upon fanfiction that her thirst to write overtook her world. She now resides in Central Florida with her husband and son, spending all her down time letting her creativity flow and letting her characters grow.
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