On a mining colony planet a long way from Earth, bandit Jedd Lightning dreams of making enough money to get his ship spaceworthy again. During a robbery at a high-class brothel, he meets gorgeous alien rentboy Storm and is instantly smitten—but the heist goes south and Jedd has to high-tail it out of there with only half the loot.
Enslaved by a fierce Madam, Storm’s shapeshifting talents make him the most sought after whore on Talmak. He literally can’t stop himself becoming his client’s fantasy lover. Sick of enforced transformations, he wants to escape, but he’s closely guarded and has no experience of the unfamiliar city outside the brothel.
Storm is willing—and eager—to do anything to persuade Jedd to break him out of his gilded prison. Lucky for him the arrogant outlaw needs Storm’s help to free his crewmate, held as hostage by a vicious mob boss who wants Jedd to complete the theft he was hired for. Storm keeps blowing away Jedd’s expectations—but with both the law and the mob against them, they could end up with nowhere left to run.
Well, this was a super fun, slightly campy, space jam of action-y goodness! I had a great time getting lost in the adventure and the world the author built. It’s an interesting premise that has a lot of room for growth and I’m hoping the niggles I have about the depth of a few plot points in The Perfect Whore will be expanded upon in future books in the series.
I’ve been a huge fan of Josephine Myles since I read First Impressions many moons ago and I’ve gotten so much more out of every book of hers than I expected. There’s generally a lot more to unpack in her stories than just the romance between the two (or three) MC’s. There’s a lot of self discovery that happens that makes her characters so fully fleshed out and satisfying to read.
The Perfect Whore is very different from past books of hers that I’ve read and I enjoyed the departure very much. And here comes my but, but, I did feel like I was missing the depth that I’ve gotten used to with the author’s other characters and while that may not be fair to The Perfect Whore to compare that way, I couldn’t help myself now and again. That’s why I say I hope that the depth will come in future installments.
What I do know of Jedd and Storm I like very much. There is so much more I want to know about them both and at by the end I felt like I had just scratched the surface.
Jedd is more loyal and upstanding than he wants to let on and his bad boy smuggler/thief persona fits well with the genre. I felt like he was a character sketched out rather than fully fleshed out and that there is more to be had from him. I know I feel that way because of the comparing thing and I’m possibly being unfair to what this story is meant to be, but I can’t help but want more from him and if following stories give me that I will be thrilled!
Storm is an amazing character. He’s a shape shifter that conforms to his client’s fantasies and the transformations are mostly out of his control. It makes him, literally, the perfect whore and an incredibly sympathetic being. He’s sexually empathic so he has just about as much fun as his clients do, but in the end it’s a lonely and sad life he leads at the brothel. It’s dangerous for him to be out in public and he’s way too valuable for the brothel to ever consider letting him go.
Jedd and Storm have an unexplainable connection. The shape shifting is there and the undeniable attraction is the same as with anyone else for Storm, but there is definitely something more. The shape Storm takes with Jedd is the closest to what he remembers his true self to be. He’s intrigued (as was I) as to what that might mean. Storm’s gotten a hint that some of his people may be out there, as in the “out there” of space, and I can’t wait to see where this goes and what it means for Jedd and Storm.
The story ends with an optimistic HFN, which is great, but there is soooooo much more to learn and this can continue on as a sexy and sassy fun space adventure or it can go a little further into the dynamics of Jedd and Storm. What is Jedd’s story, what’s he all about, how did he get here? I don’t even know where to start with Storm. Who is he, where are the rest of his people, can he ever be himself and exactly what does that mean? Regardless of which way the story progresses, I’m going to be reading it.
**a copy of this story was provided for an honest review**
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