THE CLIENT
Author: Stella Gray
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: July 13, 2023
When I won the modeling contest, I lost my freedom.
KZ Modeling owns my body.
But they’re willing to rent it out.
The first time I learn my fate and I’m auctioned off changes everything.
Because it’s also my first time.
And the gorgeous, haunted billionaire who now wants exclusive rights to me for the next six months?
He has no idea I can’t say no.
But the real shock is discovering I don’t want to.
This is how it’s going to work, Miss Jasinski. We will date publicly, we will fuck privately, and any feelings you develop for me you will keep to yourself. Understood?”
The second I read the blurb to The Client, I knew it would be my first Stella Gray book. And having finished it, it certainly won’t be my last.
This sounds like a darker story than it was. While it touches on some dark subject matter like trafficking, it doesn’t go too detailed and so just grazes the gray-ish. Izabela was hoping a modeling contract in the US would be the answer to everything. With an aunt and uncle in Poland who are barely making ends meet to support her sick sister, every penny she earns goes to them. But while she heard whispers of the dark side of her modeling agency, she’s never wanted to believe it. That is until she gets sold.
On the auction block, she gets sold to a man, but that’s not who she ends up with. That would be the man’s younger, devastatingly handsome billionaire son. And there’s no love lost between him and daddy dearest. I must have spent half the book wanting to cock punch the eldest McConnell. Rhys is a jaded man, but given his history with his father, I can’t say I blame him. He’s attracted to Izabella and hates how he’s drawn to her. While a virgin, luckily Izabella isn’t the typical annoying virginal heroine. She’s a touch naive but with a backbone and I found her gentle nature with a spine of steel so endearing. This is a woman who loves her family fiercely and would do anything for them.
The chemistry between her and Rhys was palpable. She’s attracted to him beyond her understanding and he’s determined to keep his heart out of it. The ending did feel a bit rushed in my opinion, but it was still super satisfying. All in all, I really enjoyed this book and need to read the rest of Gray’s backlist now.
