Where does The Pool Boy belong on my Erotic Novel Hotness Scale?
I was attracted to The Pool Boy for two reasons. First, the title. I was looking for something fun, frivolous and sexy. Second, I’m a big Age Gap fan, and I love, love, love Reverse Age Gap stories in particular. The idea of an older, successful woman hitting it off with a younger guy – chef’s kiss!
Well, The Pool Boy by Nikki Sloane fit the bill of what I was looking for, and I’m pleased to let you know it delivered.
The Story:
The story was deeper than I thought it was going to be. I won’t get into all of the details but here’s the gist. Erika is just a bit past forty and is recovering from a divorce. How said divorce came about was a minor but well-played element of the story.
Career-focused, Erika is oblivious to Troy, a younger man who is her pool boy. But before you roll your eyes and say, “Oh, I see where this is going…” take heart from the fact that Troy’s relationship with Erika goes way back, and the pool boy angle is just a ruse for him to have a shot with the woman he’s been infatuated with for a very long time.
It is this longstanding infatuation twist that makes the story as compelling as it is because when sparks between the two fly, you can really feel the yearning and desire of the male protagonist. He’s been pining for Ericka for a long time, and it shows when things finally get physical.
To my surprise and delight, the relationship between Erika and Troy isn’t driven forward by sex alone (though it’s a significant part). What you won’t glean from the title of the book is that there is a strong musical element to the story.
Erika is a former singer and is now a music exec, while Troy is an aspiring country singer. Their paths don’t cross because of their age difference, but when Erika finally sees Troy’s talent, the story becomes as much a Workplace Romance as it is a story of two lovers who are years apart in age.
To the author’s credit, she weaves both angles equally well, resulting in multiple levels of angst and conflict between the characters and the relationship they’re not sure they should be pursuing.
In actual fact, it’s Erika who has all the hesitation. She’s near the height of her career, and the risk she’s taking on by being physical with Troy is greater by some measure. These risks and the internal debates Erika had about her fling with Troy gave the story a realistic feel that made me care more for the characters than I may have otherwise.
The Hotness:
Amount of Sex: 6/10 There was a decent amount of sex in The Pool Boy, and you didn’t have to wait until the second half of the book to get to it. There were five to six sex scenes, and they were explicit, making Pool Boy a truly spicy erotic story.
Spiciness Factor: A solid 7/10. The scenes were well-detailed and explicit. The author does a great job of describing oral sex from both the male and female perspectives. Ericka, in particular, in one scene, gives a hot blow job that stayed with me for days after the read. To my delight, there was also some backdoor action, which was cut short. This scene, had it gone the full distance, had the potential to earn this story another full Spiciness point. Alas, in this case, story prevailed over sex.
Kink Factor: 2/10. The sex scenes were hot and well-written, but for the most part, they were vanilla male-female action. This is how I like my erotica, so thumbs up for me. But if you’re a person who likes things bound, dominated, or role-played, Pool Boy doesn’t have much or any of these elements. I give it some points because of the age angle and the backdoor scenes.
Overall Hotness: The Pool Boy is a male-female, straightforward, Age Gap erotic novel. Within the confines of this niche, I give it a Scorching 6 out of 10 (see scale below).
Final Thoughts:
The book is well-written, the story is well-paced, and there are enough conflicts and twists to keep the reader engaged. If you’re a fan of male-female erotica that has a compelling, believable story that also has a good amount of explicit sex scenes and steamy visuals, Pool Boy by Nikki Sloane is for you
I give Pool Boy five stars.
FYI: I listened to the story and both the narrators (male and female) brought their respective characters to life.
Sloane Cameron’s Scale of Erotic Hotness:
- Lukewarm
- Toasty
- Sweltering
- Smoldering
- Sizzling
- Scorching
- Blazing
- Molten
- Fiery-Red-Hot
- Incandescent-White-Hot
