Acquiesce

Acquiesce

by Chevoque

3 out of 5

Synopsis
Lenka Roberts was a post-grad student, finishing her master's degree in plant protection. She received a reward, usually given to professors, who had devoted their entire life's work to the concern. Her wounded mind made her weak. Making her question and fear everything she did. She denied herself all pleasures in life, to avoid failure and heartache.
Malcom Clifton, her benefactor and a billionaire before the age of thirty, made her an unrefusable offer. Promises of being a better version of herself and achieving more, through her sexuality, made her curious. Even if the idea of the offer was insane and bound to head for heartbreak, she needed the release.
Malcom helped Lenka let go of the demons that crossed her mind, but in that, she found his. They were dark and pulled him deeper into self-destruction with each passing day. Malcom's habitually secluded ways disappeared when he was with Lenka.
Rule number one of the agreement was to not fall in love. It became unavoidable as their connection became stronger than their rationality. Their souls stretched the length of time to find one another. Fate brought them together, but monsters would test their devotion. 



Review
Lenka is a young and brilliant scientist, sure to be a rising star for South Africa. One night she meets her mysterious benefactor, handsome billionaire Malcom Clifton, who offers to train her to access the top tiers of society. All she has to do is embrace her sexuality, and not fall in love with him.

I wasn't sure about this book. I honestly thought it was amazing and worthy of five stars in some points, with equal lows in others.

Although Acquiesce has a few characteristics shared with others in its genre, Chevoque has written a book that steers clear from the standard formula. It gives the story something that is original and refreshing, but I wonder how effective it is.

I loved the music theme that ran throughout the book - not only because it had some of my favourite songs! It was like a soundtrack, seamlessly written into the story.

Lenka is a cool character, she is foul-mouthed, not afraid to be honest, and frankly, someone I could definitely be friends with! She's intelligent, she loves her work and her independence. There's a lot of emphasis on the importance of friends, and Lenka is devoted to her dog. After Malcom's offer of training, she embraces it completely, while never losing her ability to voice her opinion.

Malcom is... suitable for the role. He's confident, good-looking. Oh, and it's nice to have a male character that a) doesn't become a big softie after a few chapters; and b) doesn't reel out cliche or cheesy phrases.

The not-so-good?

I thought this would be along the lines of My Fair Lady, with the rich, emotionally detached bachelor, who looks to train women to prove his own superiority. And the slightly coarse new protege, and the journey she takes. Well, My Fair Lady with a little more sex involved.
But there was very little interaction with society. The only time we really see Lenka and Malcom out in society, it only leads to Lenka meeting some of Malcom's ex-projects, and getting into a bitching match.
I kinda hoped for a little more. More interaction, more training. Don't get me wrong, the training that did occur was interesting, but it was brief, led to sex, and was never to be seen again.

Lenka, for all that I liked her to start with, if a flippin' idiot. And worse, she knows she's an idiot. ((Spoiler alert!)) Jeffrey gives you a bad vibe; nobody likes Jeffrey; your friend warns you that Jeffrey might have committed murder before... let's shag Jeffrey!

The book is over 300 pages long, but it felt like it reached it's natural conclusion halfway in. Chevoque goes on, continuing the story of what happened next. As I said, it strays from the norm for this genre, with the second half of the book covering what happens next. Despite the fact Malcom's a billionaire, and all the problems he and Lenka have had to overcome, it's very real life, very easy to recognise.
But if I'm very honest, it didn't hold my attention, and I started to skim read a few of the scenes.

All in all, the author has a good voice and I would be interested in reading her future work.

Goodreads link
Amazon.co.uk