The Goode Girl

by Shiloh Clark

When I first got the invitation, I thought it was a sick joke from some creep at the grocery store, but the offer is legitimate. The Auction wants me, and for half of the final bid, I just have to spend a night with the highest bidder.

It’s enough to change my life. My fiancé Dylan’s life. Money like that would get us out of his gambling debt, and I could finally breathe without feeling like there’s a group of thugs waiting to strike at any moment. Money like that would mean freedom for the both of us.

It’s wrong. God, I know it’s wrong, but I’m not just doing this for me. I’m doing this for us.

And it’s only for one night.

At least, it was before Alessio Morrone won the bid.

Genres: Romance, Erotica, Novella, Smut, Dark Romance, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance

122 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 17, 2021

Reviews

[Riley · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was such a hot novella!!! pure smut! i really enjoyed this and it was a very quick read!

after her fiancee gets them into a ton of debt, the heroine gets an offer from a place called The Auction where billionaires can bid on one night with her

[CHAMPAGNE · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 smutty ✨cheating✨ stars

This was mediocre smut at best. The cheating was mild and the heroine does feel remorse, so that's something.

IMO, her boyfriend was the biggest asshole and I hate him, he didn't deserve to get cheated on but... well.

Also, this was written by Jack Harbon— who is quite literally the only man I trust to write women that doesn't have quivering pointed boobs 😆

Much respect for Jack, but this was just okay. This is a Daddy Kink just fyi, I like this kink but it isn't everyone's cup of tea.

[Milina’s library · Rating 3 out of 5]

I mean it was hot but i think my expectations were too high :’) this is about a sugar daddy arrangement basically, and the heroine is engaged to another man. Doesn’t really have a happy ending it just has a hot moment and a potential for a future.

[sil ♡ the book voyagers · Rating 4 out of 5]

jack harbon gave us daddy and breeding kink, an auction where the heroine auctions herself for money, a stern grumpy billionaire, and so much steamy sex! this was so good omg mia and alessio together were pure gold I'm a romantic so i think of this as a happy for now ending so lmao

[Shealea · Rating 1 out of 5]

Will not finish - gave up at 56% mark.

These kinks do not resonate with me. If you're into the daddy/baby dynamic and breeding (and if you don't mind haphazardly edited text), this may work better for you.

[Ashlee » libraryinthecountry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whew! This is a fiery, fun and quick read and exactly what I needed right now. You can absolutely bet I’ll be reading more from Jack Harbon/Shiloh Clark in the future. This was an utterly delectable escape that isn’t ashamed to take what it came for, even if it means breaking some hearts along the way.

CW: You can expect daddy, praise, and breeding kinks in this, as well as infidelity and voyeurism.

[hea booktubes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Received an ARC. These characters were so messy lol, the drama. Ok so her fiancé has gotten into 6 figures worth of debt at a casino and she’s been being harassed and threatened because of it, because of this, she ends up selling herself for a night, and feels immense guilt about the cheating, even though the fiancé was the fuck up in the first place. Honestly, I can’t imagine not just dumping this man child, but ok, you do you. Because she doesn’t have enough money for the debt, she keeps cheating, and they’re supposed to be getting married, within the month. So, messy. The fights, first of all, gold, secondly, literally leave the inconsiderate little prick. Anyways the drama comes to a head and I found the ending of the book to be quite interesting, ends in a hfn. The filthy scenes were exceedingly filthy. Mild daddy kink. Cheating. Some inconsistencies, and I just couldn’t agree with the characters a lot of time, I was just like *what* are y’all even doing. But, overall, really enjoyable.

[maha · Rating 3 out of 5]

i received an ARC of this book in exchange of an honest review. this does not affect my opinion in any way.

THE GOODE GIRL is the perfect read if you're looking for a quick, filthy story for your afternoon. let's take a look at what i liked and what i didn't like about it!

what i liked:

- though the story is short, it managed to perfectly lay the story's ground info and deliver a strong plot without any part feeling rushed.

- the main character, Mia, was very well-written. the author gave her many layers, and delivered a strong character development arc for her.

what i didn't like:

- the writing did put me off a bit. this seems to be a problem for me with this author's works. i just cannot get into his writing, and i cannot figure out why.

- apart from Mia, the other characters seemed...flat. i wish we had seen more of some other characters, or at least more of the two men in Mia's life. i think i would've loved the book more.

in conclusion, i would recommend THE GOODE GIRL for any of my fellow erotica readers! bonus point if you're into the daddy kink in books *blinks*.

[astro · Rating 1 out of 5]

everything about this book is ridiculous. bye.

[Maya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this was originally recommended by Katee Robert, and you know I'm always down for some smutty novella action.

Fair warning, this novella does have cheating. It also claims to not have an HEA but from where I was sitting both parties seemed pretty happy to me.

This was truly a wild ride and was very hot. Would def recommend it!

[Laci · Rating 3 out of 5]

With (Pure Smut) in the title, the depth of story was not what I was expecting. Read it in one day.

[Devon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well...

I was looking for something short to read and had seen this novella floating around so I picked it up and it was a miss for me.

This novella follows Mia who takes part in an auction in order to pay off her fiance Dylan's debts, but fate has other plans when she meets Alessio and finds herself doubting everything she once knew.

You know how certain full-length novels could work as novellas and certain novellas could work as full-length novels? This one falls into the second category, I feel like this was the kind of story that needed many more chapters and words to truly flesh out the story because in all honesty, this could have been a great full-length novel.

My other issue was how this was promoted as "Pure Smut" when in reality there was a lack of it. There were a few instances where there was a lead-up to a smutty scene and then a sort of "fade to black" thing would happen before going to the next chapter and moving to another part of the story.
From the smut that was fully presented it was pretty hot ngl I just wish that there could have been more seeing as how again it was labeled "Pure Smut"

Something I did like about this novella was the relationship that Mia had with her sister Lora, it was really sweet to see how supportive Lora was to Mia despite everything that had gone down over the course of the story and how no matter what had happened she would still be there to support her. I also did like the overall message of the novella that was focused on how we should go after what we want despite what people have to say because our happiness is the most important thing.

So this was a miss for me overall but there was still some good aspects to it that I think should be noted

[Paige · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars.

Honestly, there was a lot more story here than I expected for a series with “smut” in the title. A lot of page space spent on arguments with her fiancé, which just wasn’t what I was here for.

I thought it was going to be like 80% sex, where it was only like 40% sex.

This heroine confused me. She was so fed up with her fiancé — and seemingly had been for years — yet she let him walk all over her again and again. But then in the next scene she was a total bad bitch standing up to mobsters? It was all over the place.

The hero had essentially zero emotions, which is to be expected from the “this is not a romance!” disclaimers.

It does have a vague HFN — the couple is together sexually, but no real emotional development or any declarations of love.

I saw in a few places this had breeding kink, but there was only like one comment halfway through about him getting her pregnant, but that never went anywhere (like I thought he was going to knock her up and then have her marry this other guy or something)

Contains: sex auction, dubcon / coersion, voyuerism, daddy kink, cheating, sex toy (remote control vibe)

Steam: 5/5🔥

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not even sure how to rate this.

So. This story is exactly what it says it is—it's an erotic story (not a romance), that involves a lot of hard to like people, daddy kink/humiliation kink/domination play, and a situation of cheating-for-pay. I'm not someone who gets their pearls clutched over the last part and have enjoyed some books with similar themes (I recently read a similar one by Kat Taylor/Katee Robert, for example) but something about this one really didn't Do It for me. A certain amount of "god, I am horrible/a slut/etc in this type of story goes over fine with me, but this one leans really heavily into that aspect and it took all of the Sexy out of the story for me. She thinks she's a cheating slut. Her fiancé thinks she's a cheating slut. Alessio pretty much thinks she's a cheating slut—but seems the most fine with it. And when we add the dimension of who the author is into that... it made it all feel a bit icky rather than taboo and a bit naughty. Obviously for a lot of people this worked, it just didn't for me. YMMV.

So I didn't really enjoy this one so much—except for the breeding kink—but I am curious to read some of this author's other work.

Real rating: 2.5 stars

[moonydew · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars…

Wayyy too much plot for this porn! I wanted more porn! Loved the priase in this, good daddy kink too, and for it being an auction it didn’t feel super slimy and there was soem fun exhibitionism at the end but I felt like this was way too much about her ex.

2/5 on spice. 2/5 on kink. 1/5 on tears. Short but not enough Smurf

[✭ emilee ✭]

dnf @ 50-ish%

i feel similarly to a lot of reviews that i saw of people who either didn't finish this one or didn't like it. the conflict that the main character, mia, has with her fiance made no sense. she's hesitant to get back together with him after what he does to her and even alessio, the guy that she's cheating with/has this contract with is like why are you still with him if he treats you so badly???? idk i just couldn't get past this as it's a pretty big part of the plot. i wish there just was way less of her with her fiance and more with her and alessio.

[fatima · Rating 4 out of 5]

“It’s not love. It’s sex. The best sex I’ve had in my entire life. The only kind of sex I’ll ever accept again. Maybe the rest will come later down the line, or maybe it won’t. The only thing I know without a shadow of doubt is that I’m no longer preparing to be something for everyone else in my life. I’m only chasing this high.
Whatever else happens with Alessio Morrone is a bonus.”

This was all over the fucking place but so good

[Nawshin Flora · Rating 1 out of 5]

Infidelity? A big no. And the smut wasn't remarkable either. Nothing compares to Katee Robert and R.M. Virtues level of smut 😌🤭

[Mieke · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5/5⭐️ - This is a short, spicy novella I stumbled upon on booktube. It was a fun read but nothing groundbreaking. Do make sure to read the author’s note at the start of the book before continuing.

[emery Buriedinbookland · Rating 4 out of 5]

The dirty talk in this was *chef's kiss*

[stevie__reads]

DNF @ 64%

I’d like to quote the great Billie Eilish for my review of this one. 🎵“I can’t stand the dialogue, she would never be that satisfied, it’s a male fantasy”🎵

[Jade Melody · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5**

[mckenna · Rating 1 out of 5]

smut was horribly written

[Izzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Note this does not feature a HEA. Kinda happy for now ending.

I started this last night and finished it up very quickly this morning. I couldn't put it down. The smut in this was delightful. We really got a great mix of kinks and honestly it just was so good.

[B · Rating 1 out of 5]

daddy kink

[babygyalreadit · Rating 4 out of 5]

VERY HOT

This is a very smutty & straightforward novella. Our heroine finds herself in a bind bc her fiancé has a gambling problem and to fix it she auctions herself. Only it turns into so much more than that. This book was 5/5🌶 with a HEA definitely read it if you want out of a slump

[LaurensBookshelf · Rating 3 out of 5]

See all I’m looking for in life is a Alessio but i just known I’ll end up with a fucking Dylan

[a_littlebitbookish · Rating 1 out of 5]

It was too long and too short at the same time. The sex scenes were not good and I hated this book and if it wasn't for it being only 120 pages

[madison 💜 · Rating 2 out of 5]

more like a 2.5

idk this wasn’t really for me. i was pretty bored with it. it says “pure smut” but there weren’t many scenes, there was a lot more plot that i didn’t find interesting so

[Q · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mia is saddled with a deadbeat fiancé, chased by his debt collectors, and feeling pressured to marry her childhood friend despite his alcoholism and gambling addiction. When she gets the opportunity to pay off her fiancé’s debts by selling herself for a night, she takes it, but soon realizes that the debt is only a symptom of what is truly ruining her life. This story is full of angst and super racy, steamy scenes, just don’t expect too much in the romance department.

*Spoilers*

Through Mia’s encounters with Alessio, she finds catharsis for her shame and unhappiness and finally realizes she shouldn’t be putting up with her fiancé’s bullshit anymore. After a few ugly showdowns and emotional blackmail, with some sexy times with Alessio in between, Mia is finally able to walk away from the toxic relationship. The story ends in an unusual HFN, since the two aren’t romantically together quite yet, but there is hope there.

While this was a fun read and I was immersed in the story, I struggled with relating to the Mia character because she swung so much between being an innocent, naive doormat to a badass bitch and it made me wonder how a woman like her could have stuck around with Dylan so long when she clearly had no patience for his crap. I also prefer more of an emotional connection between the hero and heroine, and I found Alessio mostly stoic and detached. I did appreciate that the author recognized that their relationship was still in its early stages and was not yet at the romance stage even by the end.

Also, it seemed weird that Alessio got more bang for his buck after dropping $150K for only one night, by paying much less for a much more explicit commitment from Mia to pay off the balance of Dylan’s debt.

Note: I received an ARC from Booksprout