Review: Hot Ticket by Olivia Cunning

Is it just me, or isn't this one of the HOTTEST covers you've ever seen?  I've loved it since the day it was revealed a few months back, and I loved it as much as I KNEW I would love this story. Mostly, because I learned that Jace Seymour is the SWEETEST man alive.

The sweetest, most tormented (yet KINKY) man alive!

Jace happened to be all I believed he would and more; and Hot Ticket is not only a MASTERPIECE, but it’s possibly the most heartfelt story in the Sinners on Tour series. 

But let’s back up a little bit in time and remember the day Jace met Aggie at a strip club in Vegas:

It was at a particular bachelor party when Sed went batshit crazy wanting to rip every man in the room’s eyes off for watching, cheering and lusting after his beloved Jessica. Jace met her right before chaos started, and while bouncers were punching their way across the room to protect the hard working ladies, he had no other option than escape but promised to return for her, the one and only true mistress who captivated his innermost desires as well as his heart.

It really didn’t take much to figure that out, but due to his band mates complicated situation at the time inside the strip club, Jace missed his opportunity to have a really dominating encounter with the lovely yet mysterious “Mistress V”.

Aggie on the other hand, was a goddess in leather ready to take Jace to the highest peak of pleasure…and pain, until all hell broke loose and he had to leave in a heartbeat. She recognized his troubled heart, felt for him, maybe even loved him from the very beginning.

I really enjoyed Aggie’s character. Not only was she a hardcore dominatrix who managed her lifestyle so professionally;  she was also a vulnerable human being that understood Jace from the moment she laid eyes on him.

Jace really never expected to find love. Actually he never though he DESERVED it. Jace, being Jace was just a mysterious member of Sinners that really didn’t talk too much, didn’t say too much, didn’t show too much of ANYTHING except his knowledge on BDSM (which Brian and Myrna found extremely useful in Backstage Pass) and he was a mystery all together up to the day he met Aggie.

When they finally reach an agreement on how things would have to work being that she lived in Vegas, their relationship becomes the key to Jace’s salvation and a breakthrough for Aggie's well protected heart. What I think I loved more about this book (besides the HOT SEX SCENES) is that there is a true redemption message hidden in the journey Jace and Aggie have to go through. 

We learn about Jace’s past, his self inflicted guilt and how much he loves his cat, Brownie with whom he has the funniest conversations while feeding her:

Jace opened his apartment door and tossed his duffel bag on the floor. He set his bass guitar down gently beside it. “Hi, honey, I’m home!” His voice echoed through the sparsely furnished one bedroom apartment. He hung his keys on their hook and closed the door.

“Brrohttp rrown rrown rrown rown”. Brownie, a black tuxedo cat with white paws and a large, white inverted triangle under her chin, trotted in his direction and wrapped her sleek body around his boot. Round and round his ankle she went, still meow-purring in her unusual fashion.

He lifted her and snuggled her against his chest, her front paws resting on his shoulders. Her soft tail flicked against his arm repeatedly. “Did you miss me?” She rubbed her face against his jaw and batted at his small hoop earring with one paw

“I missed you too. Tony been feeding you properly?”

“Brrroowww rrrowwwn.” He carried her toward the kitchen, and she switched from her unusual meow to purr in earnest…Jace set Brownie on the kitchen counter and pulled several cans of food, reading the contents to her as he set them one at a time in a row in front of her.

…“So what will it be?” She put a definitive paw on top of one can.

“Salmon?”

“Brrrooowww rrrowwwn”

“Alright. Fish breath, it is. But if you think I’m going to let you lick my chin later, you’re in for a surprise”

...And also while telling her about his life:

Brownie joined him on the sofa and helped herself to his lap while she licked her paws and rubbed them over her face.

“I met a girl”

Brownie paused and stared at him with amber eyes. He chuckled. “What’s that look for?” Sometimes he thought she understood what he was saying. “Don’t worry. I won’t let myself get too attached to her”...

But of course, by now we know he actually did.

Jace won my heart since the beginning: his shocking past is only the tip of the iceberg. There is much more to him than his kinky tastes. Jace hides a troubled little boy with a huge amount of guilt that needs to leave his heart and Aggie arrives just in time to cross the fire with him.

This story is majestically written as only Mrs. Cunning can do it, including small details that we had doubts about (remember: this book was meant to be # 3, instead of # 4) and we saw a different side to Erick Sticks, a still hopelessly in love Trey Mills, a Brian Sinclair enjoying his new wife and a devoted Sedric Lionheart, who left behind his bad boy days and committed himself to love and lust ONLY after Jessica.

Besides all the emotional turmoil, concerts, heavy metal songs, leather corsets, nipple clamps, psychologists and a very lovable cat;  this book will make you fall in love with Jace -and the rest of the band- over and over again.