Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 

Plot/Storyline: 📖📖📖📖 

Feels: 🦋🦋🦋 

Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔 

Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡ 

Romance: 💞💞💞 

Sensuality: 💋💋💋 

Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑🍑🍑 

Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 

Humor: Just a bit 

Perspective: Third person perspective from both the hero and heroine 

(These are all personal preference on a scale of 1-5 (yours ratings may vary depending what gives you feels and how you prefer you sex scenes written, etc) except the Steam Scale which follows our chart from our Facebook groups. Check out Modern Manuscripts & Contemporary Kisses AND/OR Words for the Wicked for our contemporary romance groups) 

Should I read in order? 

I picked this one up alone and found it perfectly readable as a stand alone. I’m not sure how much character depth happens, if any, in prior books. 

Basic plot:

Arthur’s brother has racked up a massive debt at The Pearl, an exclusive hotel with brothel ‘room service’. His brother has given a very important family painting to take care of the debt, which Arthur finds absolutely unacceptable. The owner, Regan, says he can work off the debt by spending 10 nights in her bed instead. 

Give this a try if you want: 

- art – they sexually re-enact various paintings and I thought that was fun 

- some light Dom/sub kink with the heroine being the Dominant, hero is submissive 

- High steam – plenty of scenes and variety (nothing vanilla here!) 

- A touch of paranormal mystery, but most of the focus is on the couple, especially Regan 

- Older heroine, younger hero 

- Childless HEA 

- Heir to an Earldom hero, widowed hotel owner heroine – both characters are rich and powerful in their own rights 

Ages: 

- Heroine is 30, hero is 21 

My thoughts:

I found this one very interesting! I don’t usually try books like this, that are this erotic and have a submissive hero. I actually thought this one was historical when I picked it up (that’s what I get for hardly ever reading the synopsis!) but in many ways it still had a historical feel – so much of the storyline takes place at a hotel that is quite old and has a lot of history to it. The hero is the eldest son from an aristocratic family. It was just enough that I wasn’t super jarred as I sometimes can feel when reading contemporary. 

Anyway, very much about the sex journey here, and Regan recovering from her abuse of her prior marriage and hurt from her loss of her family. I thought the writing was wonderful. The sex was engaging, although I’ll admit a few parts got a bit too ‘mechanical’ for me and didn’t quite have the emotional pull I love. But some of them did, especially towards the end when they truly started embracing their feelings for each other. 

Arthur being a submissive was rather a delicious change for me. I am so used to reading all of my hero’s as very alpha and domineering, but I rather loved Arthur’s character and he loved to please Regan and was quite gentle. 

Regan’s character is a touch darker, but so heartbreaking. I really felt for her and ended up really loving how she was taking back her confidence and control of her life. 

This probably isn’t one I would reread, but I am happy to have given it a try. It was memorable and touching. And YES it has an HEA. 

Content Warnings: 

cheating mentioned – heroine cheated once on her abusive dead husband 

rape/abuse remembered 

loss of parents – brain tumor runs in heroine’s family 

heroine has been sterilized against having children 

hero and heroine are second cousins – they find out well after they’ve been having intimate relations but aren’t worried about as there won’t be any children from the marriage and it’s not against the law 

 

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes: 

14% 🔥 - cock touches and she ties him to the bed and climbs on top for sex 

24% 🔥 - cock touches for him, breast play, fingering, sex in front of a mirror 

33% 🔥 - missionary sex on the couch 

36% - beginning of a sex scene but cuts off (fades to black) 

42% 🔥 - oral for her, pearl necklace inserted (V) 

50% 🔥 - blowjob with pearls inserted anally for him 

61% - dream/nightmare sex where heroine is someone else 

71% 🔥 - oral for her, standing sex against the door 

74% 🔥 - large pearl inserted in her (V), fingering, missionary 

79% - hallucinating sex between Arthur and a stranger (heroine hallucinates) 

85% 🔥 - anal doggy style, then DP with a vibrator (1V1A) 

98% 🔥 - sex scene