Comrades (Mastering the Virgin, #4)

James And Michael Are Comrades In Loss, Desperate To Entice Their Charlotte To Return Willingly To Them.

This book tells the story from James and Michael’s POV. It is heavy on the erotica, but the storyline is engaging.

This is part four of eighteen in the Mastering the Virgin series (collectively known as Mastering Charlotte). In part one, James, an older dominant and recently divorced after over twenty years of marriage, and Michael, an easy-going, gorgeous man for whom women line up, became fast friends. Their friendship survived a four year business loan as well as seven years of clubbing and sharing women. But one email sent James in pursuit of a fantasy that Michael didn’t approve of, putting their friendship in jeopardy. Despite Michael’s protestations about ethics and morals, James attended an auction with the goal of purchasing one week with the beautiful and innocent Charlotte, a stunning twenty-two year old redhead, as a treat to himself for winning the big city renovation project that he coveted for seven years.

In book two, James wins Charlotte. Michael’s voice in his head nearly had him walk away, but he is convinced that the small fortune he spent to win Charlotte actually spared her from a horrible fate with one of the others bidding. When James learns she needed the money to attend college, he knows it isn’t enough to get her all the way through, so he proposes that he arrange an opportunity for her to sell access to other men, whom he approves, while at the same time fulfilling another fantasy of his – to watch her with others and for others to watch them. James calls Michael after his first night with Charlotte, explaining all. He wants Michael involved to ensure he doesn’t push her too far, but Michael is torn. He hates the idea of James paying for Charlotte, but Charlotte is enchanting and he cannot refuse.

In part three, James tells Michael his plan for the week is to give Charlotte what she wants. Great pleasure and an education. Toward that effort, he invites a select group to contribute to her college fund. Michael isn’t happy with this, but reluctantly agrees to observe and step in to stop things if necessary. Already he realizes he might want more than just the week with Charlotte. At the end of the week, James senses true voluntary submission when Charlotte kneels for him and a connection that he hasn’t felt in decades.

In part four, James and Michael leave Charlotte at the train station and she begins her university studies. Both men are lost, unable to return to their former routines and at her mercy to reach out to them. James fully expects Charlotte to move on with young men her own age; he knows he is much too old to keep her happy himself in the long term and accepts it, despite the feelings for her he tries to hide. Michael, much closer in age to Charlotte, isn’t afraid to admit to his true feelings for her. When she finally calls James and asks to visit him and Michael for the weekend, not for a new contract but to simply spend time together, the men know they must make her visit so wonderful that she chooses to return to them again. James devises a plan to keep her coming by giving her more of what she wants – pleasure and money to finance her education. He accordingly arranges a surprise for her that has Michael once again uncomfortable. Other than with James, he doesn’t want to share her – even if she does like it – but concedes rather than risk losing her.

This story is about James and Michael as comrades in their strong attachment to Charlotte and their sense of loss after she leaves them. They are two very different bachelors who somehow balance one another out. James – divorced, introverted, and older, is father to an adult daughter roughly Charlotte’s age. Jaded, he had turned off all emotion until he met Charlotte. With her, he feels tenderness for the first time in decades. Michael, conversely, is an extrovert. He is in touch with his feelings and has empathy for others. He witnesses Charlotte’s adoration of James and a softening in James when he speaks with her that is unlike anything he had witnessed before. With Michael’s youth, good looks, and professional success, he has no shortage of women to choose from, but he recognizes immediately that Charlotte is as special as James claims her to be.

James and Michael’s story of becoming comrades in Charlotte’s absence is a quick read. The POV alternates between James and Michael. The writing is engaging but does contain errors. The plot is intriguing. The story about the men as comrades in loss, desperate to entice their Charlotte to return willingly to them, is an interesting angle. The characters are nicely developed given the length, although it would be nice to learn more about Michael. I rate this book four stars.

I received a free advance copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.