“For the next two days, you answer to nobody,” she murmured, ghosting her lips over Diana’s. “And I answer to you.”

An f/f romance between an escort and an aspiring politician's daughter. It could almost be classified as erotica, just for the sheer amount of sex scenes, but it was enjoyable all the same. I liked this! The characters had a lot of chemistry, the writing was simple and serviceable, humorous at times, and the story was engaging. Once I started this, I flew through it. I really liked the fact that there was no judgement or slut-shaming towards Ronnie because she enjoyed her job as an escort. I really enjoyed the B-plot with Diana's mother (mostly as it related to Diana learning to deal with her). There was a D/s aspect to Diana and Ronnie's relationship that I enjoyed, and it didn't get obnoxious and over-the-top like it can be in some rich/poor romances.

The book erred in two major ways. Well, "major". I still enjoyed reading it despite these things. But I really think the book needed to be a bit heavier on the romance. They had tonnes of chemistry, yes, but I wanted more emotions! We don't necessarily need to lose any of the steamy scenes, but we needed more time with Ronnie and Diana two show them falling for one another. The little time-skips between the months didn't help. I just didn't really buy into their romance much, which is a shame, because I think with a little more work it had the potential to be touching.

The second thing is that I feel like we didn't get enough insight into Ronnie as a character. With Diana, we had the plot with her mother, which again, I appreciated. But we barely saw Ronnie outside of her time with Diana, except for a few scenes at her place of work, and there are a few sentences about her out-of-town family. It's sort of explained that she's a bit of a loner, but I still think she could have been given deeper character work. It made the book seem very unbalanced.

3.5 stars. This was a fun read despite these things. I'd definitely give this author another try.

3.5 stars

My first Hartsfield book and it appears this is her first Lesbian romance. A good first book in this genre. There is good chemistry between Ronnie the executive escort and Diana the born-to-riches business woman. The story follows the plot line of Pretty Woman; the story telling works with Ronnie and Diana. Ronnie is portrayed as a sincere, caring escort, drawing a line between business and desire, until she crosses it. And then she tries to right the lapse by distancing herself from her desire. Of course that only creates more longing and morose. Diana comes off as competent in her business persona, yet spoiled and unassertive especially when it comes to her parents; a poor little rich girl.. Although she craves a relationship with Ronnie and is willing (and able) to pay for it, she is not willing to figure out how to move it to the next level.

The existential lesson from the story is about choosing love or a secure status quo. Both characters face the choice of love and risk, or security of job and family.

I received this ARC via NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

It was another attempt to read more books with romance in it and I must admit, I quite liked it.
Imagine Pretty Woman, but cuter, less angsty and predatory, and with ladies only. Seriously, everybody in this book is a WLW, not only the main characters. And all of them are women in power.
The comparison is not accidental--the author really borrowed some things from Pretty Woman, like the bath scene, for example. But it felt more like an homage than anything else.
I think the book should be classified as erotica rather than romance, because there were so many steamy scenes there. Sure, they weren't very graphic, but just the number of them makes it a very nsfw read.
I know that happy endings are typical of this particular publisher, but most of the time I felt that there was no conflict in this book. The main characters' relationship felt at no point threatened, even when they were taking a break.
I liked everything else about it: how cute Ronnie and Diana were together and how interesting they were apart, the idea and the setting. In Night Life, sex work is not villainized or disdained, but simply a profession. Even though I don't usually read romances, I enjoyed how cute and straightforward it was.

What happens when an escort falls for her client?

This book is about a wicked attraction between an escort and her client that led to lines being blurred and boundaries crossed.

Ronnie loves her job and is good at it. With 6 years under her belt, she is the blonde belle of her agency and has all kinds of clients in her pocket. When she was assigned to uptight Diana, the instant attraction tied her to Diana like an intangible cord and she found herself doing the impossible - yearning for more.

Diana needed a break. When her best friend arranged for an escort to ease off her tensions from work, she did not expect to be captivated by Ronnie, a seasoned escort. Rich but confined to the whims of her family, Diana was a marionette at the mercy of her mother’s manipulation. When she met Ronnie, tables were turned and she became the master controlling the lines between them. Stakes began piling high when both found themselves mutually drawn and unable to walk away from the arrangement.

Expect hot scenes in the book played out interchangeably by the leads and I loved how their arrangement transcended to courtship through the pages.

I just reviewed Night Life by S.J. Hartsfield. #NightLife #NetGalley

Diana Silver is working on her mother's election campaign and is stressed and needs a little relaxation. Her friend Phoebe, hires an escort for Diana.

Ronnie Kent, has been an executive escort for several years. She identifies a bisexual. She is hired to meet Diana in a hotel room at a predominately business hotel for their tryst. After a game of cat and mouse during their initial meeting they eventually have sex and both cannot get the other out of their mind.

Diana hires Ronnie via the agency many more times when has a free moment between her election duties. Eventually the two women are no longer having a tryst, but rather an emotional romance.

Night Life is the debut book from S.J. Hartsfield. Her debut had elements of both erotica and romance. Overall I liked the main story, but the "Mummy" and Evelyn secondary story was a bit mundane with the election campaign. I would definitely read more offerings from Hartsfield when available.

I really enjoyed the ending of this book! 4 stars

I received an ARC from Riptide Publishing and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Cute story. The plot was predictable, but I didn't expect otherwise going in. It would have been nice to see more of Diana and Ronnie bonding, because there wasn't much for their relationship to be founded on, but it wasn't glaringly obvious. The ending was cute, although I wasn't all for the "I love you" being in the middle of a political speech. I liked that after everything went down, Evelyn still defended the couple. Overall, a sweet, lighthearted read.

I’ve never read erotic fiction before and I’m not usually one for Romance but I did enjoy this. One of the things I never really liked about erotic books is that it’s easy to get too trashy and over the top for me. Luckily I didn’t feel that way with this one. There’s also a nice balance here between the naughty bits and the overall plot.

The sub plot with Evelyn didn’t really hit the mark like it was supposed to for me. Those moments kinda bored me.

I did like the ending, was super cute.

Overall this was a pretty good book and I wouldn’t say no to reading more from this author.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.