Book Review
Title: Testing Zoe by Abby Gold
Genre: Erotic, Romance
Rating: 3.25 Stars
Testing Zoe was a book I won in a giveaway years ago. Which has been gathering dust on my shelves. However, the reading slump I have been in over the last two months needed to be broken so I whipped out the smutty stuff to help me out. All I can sum this book up as is one extended sex scene with teeny tiny tender moments scattered throughout. However, I do have to safe that even though it isn’t on the extreme level as something like Den of Vipers it promotes unsafe practices that should never be attempted in real life, but it does highlight some BDSM practices that other books tend to ignore like safe words.
This review isn’t going to be long because the main plot if you can call it that revolves around the different situations our MFC finds herself in. Speaking of the MFC, Zoe, she is likely, attractive yet naive in a way and she is sex slave of Phillip. She has already been his slave for a little while at the beginning of the book, but she is going to be put through a series of tests to test her devotion and loyalty to her Master before she is allowed to stay permanently with him. There is an implied age gap, but it is never given a number, but we know Zoe is in her early twenties. Phillip is a stern Master often bordering on cruel but never crossing that as he is always aware of what Zoe can take even when she isn’t sure herself.
Each chapter highlights a different situation and the reactions of Zoe during those times. Some situations like the sauna aren’t enjoyable for her but she endured because it is her Master’s wish. At times the sexual situations seem to drag on for an extremely long time without anything of substance happening but there are some tender moments that break this up. Adam is another Master she spends time with, and he could seem himself falling for her completely, but she is loyal to Phillip. Zoe throughout the book is pushed to her limit time and time again to prove herself to her Master and when the end finally comes, she gets her biggest test yet.
Throughout the book, Zoe has shown an aversion to being initiate with women, so her Master sends her to be trained which she doesn’t really enjoy. Upon returning he has temporarily taken another slave, Petal. While she is jealous at first, Zoe comes to empathize with Petal and develops an attraction to her only for Phillip to send her away rather cruelly. He also introduces her to Vivienne and asks Zoe to choose whether he marries this woman or her, and Zoe’s decision is never shown leaving it up to the reader. Honestly, I’d like to think that this test was to show Zoe that Phillip is devoted to her as she is to him, but I have a sinking feeling the author intended her to be a slave forever.
Overall, it was an interesting read and if you want a smut fest that is heavy on the S&M then give it a try, but for me it lacked character work and an actual plot that usually keeps me gripped even in the smut. Take The Dare by Harley Laroux, one of my faves, short and heavy on smut, but focuses on the dynamic between a boy and the girl who bullied him while being attracted to him. Given enough space to grow up and develop into his own person, he dominates her in a way she didn’t even know she wanted and even when he is the meanest to her, he still respects her as a person which we don’t get here.
Buy it here:
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
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