Good story, couldn't wait to keep reading all what was going to happen. I look forward to reading more by this author.

Providence is a really interesting if cliche character study to show you how a provocative and daring photographer and a curious and free-spirited consultant form a fun, interesting, and voyeur-ish relationship.

I enjoyed the book. It was flows really well and it’s easy to read from the very beginning. I liked that Rebekiah and Lindsey are so different. You would never expect them to get together. They come from different backgrounds. It’s insta lust when Rebekiah walks into Lindsey’s office ready to get rid of an inheritance left yo her.
This is the first woman and woman relationship type of book I’ve read. It was hot and sexy. I’ve never read a book where a photographer takes intimate pictures of women. Really sexy.
I would recommend it. For me it was something different and I’m glad I took a chance.

This story is a bit strange but it surprised me on the way. It was quite good even if I didn't expect that. Theonly negative thing was that the end felt rushed.

It’s interesting that I don’t really know where to put this in mind but I like it. A lot. Lindsey Blackwell is a wealth management consultant and workaholic. When she takes over a colleague’s (who is fired under a cloud of suspicion) clients she hands most off to her staff but one intrigues her. Rebekiah Kearns has inherited a vast sum of money which she wants to give away. In their first meeting Lindsey convinces her to consider alternatives.

Both Rebekiah and Lindsey come from vastly different backgrounds but their experience of neglect and over-exposure is very similar. It has also affected their adulthood in weirdly similar ways. I loved the way their relationship developed and the way that sex is woven into the story as both creating a connection and keeping a separation. I’m not sure how Hays did it, but it worked for me.

“Providence” is also a slow-burn BDSM romance and I loved how that played out too. I wouldn’t have thought it was possible to do BDSM and slow-burn in the same story but it seems it can be done very effectively. It helps that I liked both Lindsey and Rebekiah as strong women willing to expose their vulnerabilities.

Book received from Netgalley and Bold Strokes Books for an honest review.

An honest review thanks to NetGalley. This book started out really slow for me, I felt like I wasn't given enough information about Rebekiah's backstory and relationships. It seemed like throughout the book new relationships of Rebekiahs would pop up and then we weren't really told anything about them. The relationship between Rebekiah and Lindsey I thought was written very well, the insta lust to something much more serious and lasting. This is a good romantic read, I was just let down with the other relationships and lack of backstory in the book as a whole.

Providence by Leigh Hays is a contemporary romance with light BDSM, Lindsey Blackwell is a successful wealth manager, she's spent years traveling around the world for business and using Providence, RI as the home base for her office and brief layovers stateside. Rebekiah Kearns is a successful erotic photographer struggling to right her course after the loss of her friend, Emma, who also left her a substantial amount of money.

Rebekiah approaches Lindsey's firm to get rid of the money but all that changes once she meets Lindsey. The two are immediately drawn to each other, despite neither desiring a traditional relationship.

Hays does an excellent job of building intimacy. The relationship that develops between Rebekiah and Lindsey seems to surprise them both but it was also very believable. The character arcs are handled well and very impactful and overall the story is low angst relationship-wise. I do think the author focused more on developing Lindsey and that made her easier to like. Rebekiah is more guarded both toward Lindsey and also the reader, so I didn't feel like I got to know her well.

One thing that really sets this book apart for me is that Lindsey is sober. Hays does an excellent and nuanced job of discussing addiction and sobriety. I am not sure I have encountered another sober character in romances and so many novels heavily feature wine and drinks in bars as a way to intimacy. This was refreshing and really important.

I'd definitely recommend this book for anyone who likes contemporary romances and doesn't mind light BDSM, bordering on erotica.

While there were a couple of things in this book that required some suspension of disbelief, it was one of the most refreshing and sexiest romance novels I've read in a long time. The two leads had sizzling chemistry, the power dynamic between them was exciting and erotic, the romantic storyline was not formulaic in any way. I felt the family & work drama that the author added in was unnecessary. All the scenes with the two leads came alive with perfectly written dialogue and chemistry - this is the author's strongest point and very impressive. Everything else for me wasn't needed and I would have liked to see the two leads spend more time together. Overall though I really look forward to this author's next work - she has a unique voice and real talent.

This book feels a lot like a half-formed thought. There are some interesting scenes and character interactions, but as a whole, it didn't quite work.

The characters didn't feel fleshed out enough for me. I couldn't really get a sense of who they were. Some of the choices they made didn't really make sense to what we knew about them up to that point.

Everything felt like it also just sort of happened without any real reason. There was an instant attraction the moment the characters saw each other that didn't feel believable. There was no real moment where we understood why this one person changed the way either of them had been living their lives up to that point.

Finally, I felt like there were a lot of loose ends by the end that never felt resolved. Conflicts introduced that we are just supposed to accept got resolved because there were several time-jumps that stretched from a few days to a few months. I felt like I was missing out on getting to see certain moments between them that were led up to then skipped.

I felt like the concept was really interesting for this book, but just wasn't actually fleshed out enough.

I really enjoyed this. I thought at first it was a romance but it was a little bit more than expected but then you get back to romance.. The chemistry is great you won't be disappointed I just couldn't stop reading until the end.

I found this book to be fascinating and is one that I will want to go back and read again. I found about halfway through the book that there was an interesting dynamic going on between the main characters as well as their families. The relationships were very atypical. Lindsey's family is from money with her mom being a senator. They were not very close, but Lindsey had others around her that became her surrogate family. The same with Rebekiah. Her parents died when she was young and she had been raised by a family friend, showing a different family dynamic. I found this very interesting and will love looking into it again further.

I found the relationship between Rebekiah and Lindsey to be excellent, with both of them having come from heartbreaks in their past. There is a timidity with Lindsey, but at the same time she is drawn to Rebekiah and her photography. I enjoyed the light BDSM and control that each of the characters fought for. The story felt real and gritty and very passionate between the two. I very much enjoyed it.

I was provided with an ARC of this book by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

Received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for a honest review. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own


I would have loved more build up. I wasn’t a fan of the writing style. Hated the name Rebekiah.
Rushed ending. But an okay book to read

I just love strong, brilliant women and this author came through. The energy between the MC’s was great, the dialogue was real and I rooted for them from page 1

This was very good. Rebekiah and Lindsey are both compelling, well-drawn characters and I rooted for both of them individually and wanted them to be together from the beginning. This author has a confident, deft touch for romance and it was clear the characters were fully-formed on the page, their motivations clear and the driving forces behind their actions forced the story along at an excellent pace.

The only part that felt added on at the end was the plot about Lindsey getting arrested. It felt out of place int he book, like it belonged to some other genre of novel. It didn't ruin the story at all, it just felt at odds with the rest of the book.

Regardless of that plot misstep, Lindsey and Rebekiah had definite chemistry and the sex in the book in quite hot.

This is an interesting book with well developed, well written characters and an interesting narrative about photography, wealth, eroticism, and having a purposeful life. Rebekiah receives a huge inheritance after the death of a friend and just wants rid of it. She doesn't want her work or her life to be tainted by money. She approaches a company of wealth managers to help her achieve the divestment. Enter Lindsay who is happy to help Rebekiah with her wishes but also wants to have her consider what other options she has. They come to an agreement which pushes both well beyond their comfort zones.

The writing is fast paced and the characters are likeable even if the behaviours are outside anything I am familiar - or comfortable - with. The changes are slow and seem to fit and the results are satisfying. I won't put any spoilers here but I felt good at the end that this is what Rebekiah and Lindsay would do. Nothing too stretching but they both grow and develop in a credible way.

Recommended if you want something light and entertaining that is a bit different.

I was given a copy of this book by Netgalley in return for an honest review.

Humm...what to say. After reading other reviews, I was not sure if I wanted to take a chance on this read. I am not a big fan of BDSM. Based on the reviews (lite BDSM), I went for it. A pleasant as well as educational surprise. Rebekiah Kearns, photographer, emotionally lonely, and not looking for a relationship. Lindsey Blackwell, wealth management consultant, enjoys her work, and too busy for relationships. Lindsey and Rebekiah meet because Rebekiah has inherited some money and wants to give it away. After meeting with Lindsey, she decides to go in a different direction. Both Lindsey and Rebekiah have issues with family. There is also an issue with Lindsey and her work environment which could have been dealt with a little more. I also would have liked a little more background information on the MC. As I read, I found myself wanting and needing more information. The dog was a nice addition.

I enjoyed the description and the premise of what the story could be, but the actually story lacked a bit in my opinion versus the potential of what it could have been. I struggled initially to feel the connection (more than lust) between Rebekiah and Lindsey. As the story progressed there was a lot of backstory and characters brought into the fold and I really had no vested into in them.

Near the end of the story I finally felt some of the emotional pull and connection between Rebekiah and Lindsey, but the loss of Lindsey's livelihood seemed to overshadow their HEA.

I will give this story 2.75 stars.

I received an ARC from Bold Strokes Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a lukewarm read for me. I think it’s because I didn’t like Rebekiah very much.


There are a few incidences of Rebekiah photographing people without their consent (like the girl checking her out in the crowd and the random woman she gets caught staring at in the BDSM club) and she’s gotten to the point where it seems she expects to have sex with the subjects of her erotic photo shoots. She even lampshades the “alarming” number of her models that she’s slept with. The one that pushed me over the edge was when she was photographing Lindsey in a very intimate and vulnerable moment, and Linsey asked her to stop for a number of reasons. Rebekiah does for a minute, then starts back up! I don’t know why Lindsey didn’t just get up and leave right then.

The BDSM was a bit iffy for me. I’m no expert, but telling someone they’re a submissive because you want them to submit to you doesn’t seem right to me. The relationship doesn’t really get emotional or intimate until they drop the Ds aspect.

The pacing was quite slow. I nearly DNFed a few times but I’ve recently bailed in another book so I stuck this one out. Until the 78% mark, Rebekiah and Lindsey are apart, often for weeks with no contact. There’s not a lot of angst or tension between them. We basically get to see them going through the motions of their daily lives for the majority of the book. The love story is crammed into the last bit of the book and scenes that could be hot are narrated over, for example were told that their texting gets more intimate and flirty, but we never see much of that.

The sex scenes were a mix of explicit, some Ds/pain play, FTB, and one very detailed scene that had me wincing and clenching my butt cheeks in sympathy. They also have the safety talk, a bit late, but it was good to see it. Both of them seem to have substance abuse issues and Rebekiah privately admits to high-risk behavior in the past.

We get a sudden “big reveal” about Rebekiah, but the issue of needing a big reveal wasn’t very clear to me. I understood she is an open minded person with a non-traditional upbringing, but there wasn’t a whole lot of tension or mystery leading up to the reveal. Although apparently it solves all her and Lindsey’s issues, so there is that.

Overall, the book is well-written and includes a lot of diversity in lifestyle, and I enjoyed the last 20% quite a bit. My main sticking points were pacing and iffy consent.


Rating: 2.75 stars

This was a different book for me. Not in a bad way, just different. I'm a bit older than what I perceive the target audience would be and my internal reactions to their nontraditional sexual and relationship behaviors proved my point. It was interesting to read the book coming from an almost Uhaul monogamous relationship of 24 years. I think the BDSM aspects of the book were well done and not sensationalized like some others I've read. I think my biggest issue with the storyline was with Lindsey's job issues. They were alluded to a couple times and then a dramatic very late climax with very little details. Just an event and then what seems like weeks or months later there's resolution with little explanation on how it happened. I would have appreciated more on that part of the storyline. All in all it was a good book and I'd give this author another try with her next book. I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review of the story.

Two professional women with very different backgrounds, interests and experiences meet for business and quickly moves onto intimacy,

The story has explicit erotic encounters, a relationship that evolves as each woman explores boundaries and trust.

I don't usually read books that have extended sexual scenes... I prefer mysteries, romance. However, the erotic scenes added to the plot without being gratuitous or offensive.

I became invested in the characters - I would like to see how Lindsay and Rebekiah continue to heal past wounds, grow as individuals.

I greatly enjoyed the book and look forward to reading more of this author's work.