I hadn't heard of this Daddy thing until this book, and then I revisited another of Annabeth Albert's books, Hope on the Rocks, where Dr Quinn Strauss refers to bartender Adam Ringer as Daddy. I don't recall that Adam used the word back in describing himself, maybe that's why I didn't grasp the idea, that it was a kink, if that is the right word.

But in this novel, this is the kink that is explored and I found it enlightening. Fresh-faced barista Levi and old hand electrician Joe would fall into a scene where Joe would play Daddy to Levi, initially to fulfil a major fantasy of Levi's.

Creating the 'scene' was their way into intimacy and exhilaration.

At first I was somewhat horrified, and I agree with Thinger, Carol420, below - I found it demeaning to Joe and inappropriate for Levi, etc. But I do appreciate that ultimately Albert was quite successful in leading me to an understanding of the characters and what they were doing. I can't believe I'm saying this but for these two people the Daddy play seemed valid, diverse and hot!

It's an interesting world...reading romance. Plenty to ponder!

Reading more comments below, thanks VeraBkLover, the issue of Joe's body image came up a few times - I too would liked to have seen that developed more.

A former football player, Joe was still a muscled, healthy guy, but he no longer had the athlete's body - and he was self-conscious - I wasn't sure if it was because he was overweight or, having once been a supremely fit man, anything less than perfection affected his self-esteem? It's not at all surprising, I just haven't seen it come up in a novel before.

Body image, it's a big one, for men - look at Barbie's Ken in the movie! ( )

Annabeth Albert is one of my favorites for m/m romance novels...I think I have read almost all of them and I've never given any less than 4 stars. It was almost painful giving the first book in this new series a 3-star rating. The story was good...I really liked the two characters and how they interacted with one another. What I didn't care for was the way young Levi spoke to Joe. With Joe's encouragement and permission, Levi called him "Daddy" when they were together. I know all people have different likes and dislikes... once or twice would not have been so bad...but it was every single time. It seemed that it demeaned Joe and lessened Levi's respect for the man he was falling in love with. I did like that there was a "happily ever after" at the end, but the "Daddy" thing was just too much of a turn off for me to rate it any higher. ( )

read it in one sitting, but can't say it was my fave. Felt like it was choppy and characters were referring to the events that weren't part of the book (telling not showing). I think book wasn't as tight as it could've been because there was plenty of scenes that didn't progress the plot or relationships.

I liked that Joe was plus-size (even though it isn't explicitly stated, but based on description he is) and also had body-image issues, which felt accurate. ( )

A good contemporary sweet romance. ( )