Eighty-One Nights

EIGHTY-ONE NIGHTS is the first instalment in Georgie Cates’ contemporary, adult BEAUTIFUL ILLUSIONS erotic, romance duet focusing on thirty-three year old, Scottish businessman and widower Maxwell Hutcheson, and twenty-two year old, American student Caitriona ‘Lou’ Louden.

Told from dual first person points of view (Lou and Max) EIGHTY-ONE NIGHTS follows the fake boyfriend/girlfriend arrangement between thirty-three year old, Scottish businessman Maxwell Hutcheson, and twenty-two year old, American student Caitriona ‘Lou’ Louden. Maxwell Hutcheson is looking for a companion but when his best friend Brady suggests the services of Inomorata, Maxwell never expected to fall in love. Enter American Caitriona Louden aka Lou, a young woman struggling to make ends meet, including the fees for her university tuition. What ensues is the building relationship and romance between Lou and Max, and the fall-out as Lou and Max’s time together comes to an end, an ending destroyed by betrayal and vengeance.

Caitriona Louden struggles with her ethics when her roommate Rachel suggests becoming an Inomorata woman, a for-hire girlfriend for rich men looking for temporary arrangements, and beautiful eye-candy. Meeting Maxwell Hutcheson finds our heroine slowly falling in love with a man whose former in-laws are unwilling to accept our heroine in his life. Targeted by more than one person willing to destroy her life, Cat is forced to walk away from the man with whom she is falling in love.

The relationship between Lou and Max is an arranged affair with an expiry date of eighty-one days. Never expecting to fall in love Lou is faced with heart break and betrayal before their time is up. The $ex scenes are intimate, erotic and passionate, without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

There is a large ensemble cast of colorful and secondary characters including Caitriona’s best friend and roommate Rachel; Max’s sister Sara, her husband Adam, as well as Max’s brother Ian Hutcheson. We are introduced to Inomorata’s chatelaine Coram her son Chambers, as well as Max’s former sister in law Blair.

If you are a fan of, or have read the author’s original BEAUTY series focusing on Jack Prescott and Laurelyn Prescott, you will notice the numerous similarities and recognizable premise to the current plot development of EIGHTY-ONE NIGHTS. There is also a slight cross-over with the author’s BEAUTY series and the mention of the band Southern Ophelia. The author has been transparent with the parallel correlations calling it a fusion of her ‘old favorites and new material’. I welcomed the familiarity as I loved the BEAUTY series but I was also hoping for some deeper twists to the original plot line.

EIGHTY-ONE NIGHTS is a familiar story of friendship, romance, heart break and love. There are moments of happiness and pain; revelations and acceptance; betrayal, vengeance, grief and loss. The premise is engaging, entertaining and captivating: the romance is seductive, provocative, and impassioned; the characters are energetic, bold and strong. EIGHTY-ONE NIGHTS end on a cliff-hanger, you have been warned.

I am rating this duet separately. You will not be disappointed with this story. As Max turns to “Inamorata” a high scale buy a date service he asks for 81 days with Cait. He has been alone awhile in a marriage that was over before his wife’s accident...so he is being discreet. The propelling story between them is steamy hot and unfolds at a great pace...you just know there is something more to the evil sister-in-law, Blair who keeps inserting herself in his life. He has a baby that he did not father because he thought he was sterile and so keeps that a secret from his in-laws trying to reconcile that he will raise her even though she was born of infidelity. Ava Rose is raised by Nannies, he has very little to do with her. Of course Cait “Lou” bonds with the wee one and brings Max around to actually raising her as his own. So I was hoping for a lot of answers and spicy hot sex into the second book as well...this one was a 5 for me cause it had all my elements- semi hot alpha, chemistry, secrets and attraction.

I loved Hutch and Lou. Thank you Georgia for sharing this beautiful, sexy and intriguing story with all of us. Your stories are always great and the characters wonderfully relatable and amazing. I look forward to reading book 2.💋❤️🔥