Raffaello (Rafe) is looking for a mistress. He chooses his mistresses in the way most people would hire a secretary. There is an application and interview process. Arianna (Ari) is looking for a job so that she can care for her ailing mother who is in the hospital in a coma.
Rafe has decided that Ari will be his new mistress and he will stop at nothing to make sure that happens. Ari is torn morally. When she finds out what the “job” entails, she does not want to prostitute herself but she needs money to pay mounting healthcare bills. The stress of the bills and the guilt over her mother’s situation is almost too much.
At this point, I thought the premise of the book was okay. It seems to be the standard “Pretty Woman” theme. And there are valid reasons why Rafe is a heartless manipulator, unwilling to give his heart to any woman. But here is where the book’s plot began to deteriorate. Rafe lacks compassion for Ari’s situation. He exploits her attraction in order to satisfy his lust. At every opportunity, he uses his wealth and power to intimidate her. Anytime a man has to coerce a woman, it is not romantic. He might not have used brute force, but he might as well have in my opinion.
By the end of the book, there is no resolution. The cliffhanger made me question if there was a missing chapter. Two things were clear: Rafe is a Class A jerk and Ari is in a worse position.
There are two more books in the series (I did not know this was going to be THAT type of series) and I assume the characters will have a happy-ever-after by the end. I am not wasting my time to find out.
Two words: VERY DISAPPOINTED
I liked Melody Anne’s other books – Billionaire and Tycoon series. Her style seemed to be jaded-wealthy-man-finds-love-with-sincere-down-to-earth-woman with variations along that theme. This book seemed to be a 50 Shades of Gray style series. I did not have any interest in reading FSOG, nor do I want to read imitators of it. On the other hand, if you liked FSOG, then you might like Surrender (Volume 1)
The Opinionated Woman's Musings 
I agree with you–a book in a series, or even a single on its own, should have a decent ending. I plan a series for Dana’s Dilemma, but each book ends on its own, yet has an interest for the reader to read more. This author sounds like a novice, or has the misunderstanding that readers would buy the next book to find out the ending. Since the characters don’t seem to be all that dynamic, I doubt that there will be many that want to buy the second book. Myself, I would feel cheated and put her on my Do Not Read List.
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There is a trend these days where many are trying to duplicate the success of Fifty shades of gray with the ultra dominant alpha male taking full control of the situation and the female in distress being manipulated. There is too much of an unhealthy relationship for me to see it as romance.
Plus, the three books have to be read together and in order. If the reader is hooked, they will be forced to read all three to see how the story ends. In my case, I am a bit of a rebel. Don’t make me do anything. I buy what I want when I want. Every book should be able to stand on its own. The 3 books should really just be one book. They do it to make more money.
I have not written off the author just yet because I like her other series. But I know what to look for in her synopsis to determine what her writing style will be. For this book, I saw her name and assumed it would be similar to other contemporary billionaire/poor girl romances. I think she sold herself short by trying to copy FSOG and probably alienated some of her fans. I’ll give her another chance, but if she is going in a new direction from sweet, cute romances, I will probably remove her from my author list.
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