Ask for It Book

3.5/5

I enjoyed Ask For It, my first full length novel by Sylvia Day. The writing style was comfortable and easy to read which made the story flow well from one scene to the next. The prose wasn't overly flowery - in fact, I didn't find it flowery at all and at times had to remind myself that this was a historical romance novel because there was such a lack of… elaborate or embellished dialog that is so often a part of the genre.

I'll just come right out and say that the sexual scenes were very hot and some were downright erotic. I mention this first because they are what stand out most in my mind after reading this book and one scene in particular had me doing an immediate re-read! But the book is more than just sex - the plot was intriguing with enough twists, turns and whodunits? to keep me interested and guessing from the start to the finish, and while I did have some idea of who the "bad guy" might be, I was surprised at the way it all came together in the end and I definitely enjoyed that aspect of the story. For a book that focused so heavily on the sexual relationship, the mystery/suspense part of the storyline was pretty darned good.

I really liked the hero, Marcus Ashford, the Earl of Westfield, and the heroine, Elizabeth, Lady Hawthorne, as individuals, but together they just didn't do it for me. In fact, they kind of drove me batty with their constant mood changes and indecision. One minute they wanted each other and the next they didn't. Their wishy-washiness set a tone throughout the book that made me unable to fully invest in them… to connect with them as people. I kept reading because I wanted to find out "who did it," but there was very little in their characters as a couple that had me hoping for their happily ever after which is not to say they didn't deserve each other or belong together, it's just that I never found myself cheering them on or needing that outcome.

I am looking forward to the next book, Passion for the Game, Christoper St. John's story.