Eliza's Review: A Hard Bargain by Ashe Barker

Title: A Hard Bargain (The Hardest Word #1)

Series: Yes

Author: Ashe Barker

Release Date: April 4th, 2014

Rating: 3.5 stars

Cliffhanger:. Of Sorts

This is book one in the The Hardest Word serial.

Over forty-million pounds in the bank, but the one thing she wants to buy is not for sale.

Freya Stone is a Lottery winner. A Euromillions Lottery winner to be exact. The week she won, hers was the only winning ticket. And it was a rollover, seeing her almost forty-five million pounds richer. But with no taste at all for a wealthy lifestyle, Freya bought herself a flashy car and a fancy apartment, then ran out of ideas and stuck the rest in the bank to be carefully invested by her own private wealth consultant.

One passion her wealth will enable her to indulge, however, is her appetite for submission. Or so she thinks. Following a childhood illness, Freya is unable to speak. She gets by pretty well with a combination of British Sign Language and a notepad, but her lack of speech makes negotiating difficult. She can’t tell a Dom what she needs, and she can’t use safe words. None of the Doms she’s played with so far have been especially interested in training a novice sub who doesn’t even squeal.

So Freya decides to buy tuition from a Master who comes highly recommended. Why not? She has the funds at her disposal, and nothing better she’d like to purchase. Twenty-five thousand pounds for a month with the Dom she’s fantasised about for ages seems like a bargain to her.

But experienced and harsh Dom Nick Hardisty has other ideas. Infuriated at Freya’s attempt to buy his services, he turns her down flat, while also demanding that she pay for her temerity by submitting to a punishment which he will administer personally.

Can Freya accept his discipline? Can she convince him to reconsider and provide the help she needs? And Nick Hardisty drives a hard bargain. If he won’t accept her money, what will his price be?

Reader Advisory: This book contains references to age regression scenes and uncomfortable BDSM encounters. It also includes pain play, spanking, restraints, anal play and nipple clamps

Books like this are what I like to call a "Side-read"

My definition of a Side-read:

"A sexy, quick, easy read; that wasn't planned but just sort of happened and your main boo(k) will never know about"

The blurb explains it all but to summarise:

Freya Stone is a 23 year old woman, left until to speak after a childhood illness. Lucky as she might be in being a lottery winner she can't have the one thing she desires most, Dom Nick Hardisty's acceptance to train the inexperienced sub she is.
Reluctantly but eventually Nick relents but it comes at a price, in this first book we see the challenges Freya has to over come not only in her disability but also as a novice submissive.

Was this Side-read good enough to warrant a repeat performance? Yes! I look forward to another quickie with "Hard Lessons"

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