Depravity by Jacob Chance

Depravity is the first book in a series called King University. It’s the highest quality of smut, albeit not quite as juicy as the title may suggest.

It’s the story about 19 year old Sophie who accepts a babysitting job for the summer before she’s starting College. She doesn’t expect Miles Decker, the single father of her new charge, to be quite so sexy though. The sexual tension between Sophie and Miles is through the roof, and despite the age difference and despite Sophie being employed by Miles, they decide to give in to their mutual attraction. But they set an expiration date for their fling. When Sophie starts College, it all needs to end. However, saying goodbye is harder than any of them thought it would be. And it gets real complicated when it turns out that Miles is actually teaching one of Sophie’s classes.

I really enjoyed this read. First there’s the age gap between Sophie and Miles, giving the story that delicious edge. And then there’s also the forbidden student-teacher dynamics. Great really.

This is my first encounter with Jacob Chance’s writing and I didn’t even notice that the author is in fact a guy before I decided to write the review. In my experience, it’s really unusual for male authors to write F/M romance. And if they do, the main female character is more often than not depicted as one part pornstar and one part 50’s housewife. But Chance did a great job portraying Sophie by writing her as an actual human being(!!!) with the thoughts, wants and feelings that go along with that.

I read Depravity back to back and loved it. It’s great entertainment with some really hot and panty-melting scenes. It’s absolutely worth your time if you’re in the mood for a romance with some nice naughty. However, there are a few things that lowered the overall reading experience. First and foremost, it’s the fact that the actual student-teacher scenario didn’t occur until the very end of the book. Don’t get me wrong, it was a fun, sexy read up until that point too, but in the blurb to this book, the fact that Miles is Sophie’s teacher is quite prominent. Also, the expected ensuing drama was frankly disappointing. As was the resolution of said drama. Unfortunately, this is very usual within this genre, but it’s still disappointing every time it happens. To rush that final shit-storm that all good stories need before the HEA is a big mistake since it’s so very anticlimactic. To really appreciate the high, you need a good long look at the low first. So to speak. In Depravity, the final drama more or less fizzled out without really becoming that big of a thing in the first place. But, there’s plus points for two long epilogues. I love those. That way of prolonging the HEA is just great.

I’ll probably read the second book in the King University series, Devilry, as well. That’s an M/M romance with the major part of the story actually taking place while the main characters are in fact at King University (which wasn’t quite the case for Depravity). And I guess that’s the best rating any book can get really, if a reader can’t wait to start in on the sequel.