Take a photo of a barcode or cover
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Overall: 3.5 rounded ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥
Humor: Yes, a bit
Perspective: third person from both hero and heroine
More character focused or plot focused? more plot
How did the speed of the story feel? medium
When mains are first on page together: Pretty soon in - the beginning of chapter 2 (about 6% in)
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happily ever after
Epilogue: Yes, maybe about a year later
Format: listened to the audiobook from the library (Hoopla)
Should I read in order?
This is the first in Anders’ Devilish Debutantes series.
Basic plot:
Cecily realizes her husband just married her for her dowry so she hatches a plan to have an affair to get him to divorce her.
Give this a try if you want:
- Regency (my assumption)
- London setting
- taboo/forbidden vibes – the heroine is married to the hero’s cousin
- affair
- heroine in danger – multiple attempts on heroine’s life
- a bit of a bonkers soap opera feel!
- medium steam – 3 scenes
Ages:
- Hero is around 29. I didn’t catch heroine but would guess early 20s?
First line:
If it’s the last thing I do, I will free myself of that scoundrel.
My thoughts:
This is my first Annabelle Anders and I had a roller coaster of feelings about this book. Definitely going to try more from her!
So this one gets a bit crazy. It actually has a lot of things I generally don’t love in romance (the heroine being in a relationship with someone else the whole book, lots of attempted murders of the heroine and a pregnancy that she hides from the father for a time
But, there was something about it I was rather fascinated by. I was very into the first half of the book – I liked that the mains spent a lot of time together and I did love the taboo vibes of having an affair with your husband’s cousin haha. The ending got pretty crazy. This isn’t one I would reread, but it was definitely memorable.
I mean, this is the first book I’ve read that the cheater literally gets his balls chopped off. So if you are here for that type of revenge, definitely pick this one up!
Content warnings: These should be taken as a minimum of what to expect. It’s very possible I have missed some.
- mention of hero (Earl’s brother) being in India, having relationships
- multiple attempts on heroine’s life, including pushing her into the road, poisoning, snakes put in her bed
- feelings of infidelity – the heroine is married (to not the hero) and he cheats on her multiple times, has a mistress and is cruel – she begins a campaign to get him to divorce her, including sex with his cousin while still married
- childbirth death of a parent
Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:
Safe sex: No – the hero blows it in her while she’s married to his cousin and they have been separate since the wedding
Hows the consent? It’s implied/explicit. They talk about acts and both are definitely consenting
34% - kiss
44% - kiss
57% - 🔥 kisses, oral for her, followed by a bit of talking and then missionary
One thought pulled into his mind and took up residence. She is mine. She stared down her body at him with a very heavy lidded gaze. “You wicked, wicked man,” she said teasingly, whereupon he caught his breath.
75% - 🔥 kisses, missionary
”I don’t need romance today, Stephen,” she said a bit breathlessly, “as long as I have you.”
He was in awe, painfully aroused, but in awe nonetheless.
“Then have me you shall.”
86% - 🔥 oral for her
“I can make love to you without penetration. I can take a great deal of satisfaction without it.”
“Oh, you can, can you?” She dared him.
Readability: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥
Humor: Yes, a bit
Perspective: third person from both hero and heroine
More character focused or plot focused? more plot
How did the speed of the story feel? medium
When mains are first on page together: Pretty soon in - the beginning of chapter 2 (about 6% in)
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happily ever after
Epilogue: Yes, maybe about a year later
Format: listened to the audiobook from the library (Hoopla)
Should I read in order?
This is the first in Anders’ Devilish Debutantes series.
Basic plot:
Cecily realizes her husband just married her for her dowry so she hatches a plan to have an affair to get him to divorce her.
Give this a try if you want:
- Regency (my assumption)
- London setting
- taboo/forbidden vibes – the heroine is married to the hero’s cousin
- affair
- heroine in danger – multiple attempts on heroine’s life
- a bit of a bonkers soap opera feel!
- medium steam – 3 scenes
Ages:
- Hero is around 29. I didn’t catch heroine but would guess early 20s?
First line:
If it’s the last thing I do, I will free myself of that scoundrel.
My thoughts:
This is my first Annabelle Anders and I had a roller coaster of feelings about this book. Definitely going to try more from her!
So this one gets a bit crazy. It actually has a lot of things I generally don’t love in romance (the heroine being in a relationship with someone else the whole book, lots of attempted murders of the heroine and
But, there was something about it I was rather fascinated by. I was very into the first half of the book – I liked that the mains spent a lot of time together and I did love the taboo vibes of having an affair with your husband’s cousin haha. The ending got pretty crazy. This isn’t one I would reread, but it was definitely memorable.
Content warnings: These should be taken as a minimum of what to expect. It’s very possible I have missed some.
- mention of hero (Earl’s brother) being in India, having relationships
- multiple attempts on heroine’s life, including pushing her into the road, poisoning, snakes put in her bed
- feelings of infidelity – the heroine is married (to not the hero) and he cheats on her multiple times, has a mistress and is cruel – she begins a campaign to get him to divorce her, including sex with his cousin while still married
- childbirth death of a parent
Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:
Safe sex:
Hows the consent?
34% - kiss
44% - kiss
57% - 🔥 kisses, oral for her, followed by a bit of talking and then missionary
One thought pulled into his mind and took up residence. She is mine. She stared down her body at him with a very heavy lidded gaze. “You wicked, wicked man,” she said teasingly, whereupon he caught his breath.
75% - 🔥 kisses, missionary
”I don’t need romance today, Stephen,” she said a bit breathlessly, “as long as I have you.”
He was in awe, painfully aroused, but in awe nonetheless.
“Then have me you shall.”
86% - 🔥 oral for her
“I can make love to you without penetration. I can take a great deal of satisfaction without it.”
“Oh, you can, can you?” She dared him.
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Overall: 3.5 rounded to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥
Humor: Yes – Waters has some delightful humor and dialogue!
Perspective: third person from both the hero and heroine
More character focused or plot focused? character
How did the speed of the story feel? medium
When mains are first on page together: They are together in the prologue, and then once the current story begins, at the end of chapter 1
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happily ever after
Epilogue: Yes, one year later
Format: voluntarily read an advanced reader copy from NetGalley in e-book form
Should I read in order?
I don’t think it’s 100% necessary for rebel readers – I’ve only read one other in the series – but the family is close knit the characters do overlap in the stories. I think it will up the enjoyment to read the series in order :)
Basic plot:
Sophie realizes her sister won’t move on in love until she stops worrying about her, so she stages a fake engagement with West.
Give this a try if you want:
- Regency (1818)
- London setting
- second chance – with a 7 year separation
- disability rep (hero has a leg injury)
- fake relationship
- widow heroine
- child free HEA
- you like the slow progression of a past relationship over flashbacks
- celibate hero
- lower to mid steam – 2 full scenes
Ages:
- I believe the hero is 31 and the heroine is 26
First line:
Sophie Wexham was quite convinced that a future duke was the worst possible man to fall in love with.
My thoughts:
I really enjoy Waters writing. I love her character focus and witty, funny dialogue. I love how she brings her characters to life so well. Her relationships feel so real and have such depth.
I struggled a bit with this one purely because it’s a trope I struggle with. Second chance is one of my least favorite tropes. I find it just misses a lot of what I really love in romance. I did like that this one gave us the beginning of their story. That is something I’m a bit sad if we don’t get when watching a second chance reconnection. Buuuuuut I also tend to dislike flashbacks. And their story is given throughout flashbacks throughout almost the whole story. Also, mini complaint, maybe it’s repetitive but I really like when we’re jumping time if the chapters are all labeled. For these, the past events were but then we would start the next chapter and I’d wonder for a minute if we were still in the past or present day – so I like when those are all labeled.
I loved both of these characters but did start to get a bit irritated with Sophie towards ¾ ish mark. I thought she just refusing to budge when it came to West and it was really heartbreaking to see. West was such a wonderful hero and the way he was just hurt by her over and over was frustrating – until he realizes what Sophie’s fear is. And I ended up being really placated and in love with the end of their story. Sophie’s fears made sense and made me understand why she was acting the way she was.
Quotes/spoiler-y thoughts:Any mistakes/typos are my own
“You really think,” West said, his voice still low and even, “that we could go to bed together, and walk away again?”
“I’ve confidence in my own ability to resist temptation,” Sophie said lightly.
“Then I don’t have much confidence in your memory,” he said. “Because I have relived that night – afternoon – we spent together hundreds of times in the past four years, and I don’t think either of us could walk away again. I think we’d ruin each other.”
“I’m a widow. You can’t ruin me.”
His gaze on her was steady. “I didn’t mean your reputation.” A brief, heavy pause. “I meant that I’d ruin you for anyone else.”
Content warnings: These should be taken as a minimum of what to expect. It’s very possible I have missed some.
- mention of carriage accident resulting in the death of a friend and a physical disability (leg damage) for the hero
- toxic family – hero’s father manipulates and coerces heroine to give up marriage to the hero and there’s scenes of him bullying and manipulating the hero as well
Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:
Safe sex: Hero pulls out
Hows the consent? It’s good – they are both consenting and it’s discussed/implied for the scenes
There is an off page, alluded to scene around 50% or so
62% - kiss
69% - 🔥kisses, start of a blow job, oral for her, cuddled in bed together sex
”Then come here,” he said, pushing himself back a bit on the bed as she approached. When she was standing directly before him, he reached out and seized her by the waist; it took a bit of awkward maneuvering, but a few moments later she was on the bed, straddling him.
He leaned back and, with a firm grip on her thighs, urged her forward, until she was straddling his face.
“You might want to hold on to the bedpost,” he said.
82% - 🔥her on top on the settee
“Unbutton your breeches,” she said, barely recognizing the commanding note in her voice, and his hands immediately went to the placket on his breeches. “Now touch yourself,” she added, and he obeyed, stroking with a sure hand.
Readability: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥
Humor: Yes – Waters has some delightful humor and dialogue!
Perspective: third person from both the hero and heroine
More character focused or plot focused? character
How did the speed of the story feel? medium
When mains are first on page together: They are together in the prologue, and then once the current story begins, at the end of chapter 1
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happily ever after
Epilogue: Yes, one year later
Format: voluntarily read an advanced reader copy from NetGalley in e-book form
Should I read in order?
I don’t think it’s 100% necessary for rebel readers – I’ve only read one other in the series – but the family is close knit the characters do overlap in the stories. I think it will up the enjoyment to read the series in order :)
Basic plot:
Sophie realizes her sister won’t move on in love until she stops worrying about her, so she stages a fake engagement with West.
Give this a try if you want:
- Regency (1818)
- London setting
- second chance – with a 7 year separation
- disability rep (hero has a leg injury)
- fake relationship
- widow heroine
- child free HEA
- you like the slow progression of a past relationship over flashbacks
- celibate hero
- lower to mid steam – 2 full scenes
Ages:
- I believe the hero is 31 and the heroine is 26
First line:
Sophie Wexham was quite convinced that a future duke was the worst possible man to fall in love with.
My thoughts:
I really enjoy Waters writing. I love her character focus and witty, funny dialogue. I love how she brings her characters to life so well. Her relationships feel so real and have such depth.
I struggled a bit with this one purely because it’s a trope I struggle with. Second chance is one of my least favorite tropes. I find it just misses a lot of what I really love in romance. I did like that this one gave us the beginning of their story. That is something I’m a bit sad if we don’t get when watching a second chance reconnection. Buuuuuut I also tend to dislike flashbacks. And their story is given throughout flashbacks throughout almost the whole story. Also, mini complaint, maybe it’s repetitive but I really like when we’re jumping time if the chapters are all labeled. For these, the past events were but then we would start the next chapter and I’d wonder for a minute if we were still in the past or present day – so I like when those are all labeled.
I loved both of these characters but did start to get a bit irritated with Sophie towards ¾ ish mark. I thought she just refusing to budge when it came to West and it was really heartbreaking to see. West was such a wonderful hero and the way he was just hurt by her over and over was frustrating – until he realizes what Sophie’s fear is. And I ended up being really placated and in love with the end of their story. Sophie’s fears made sense and made me understand why she was acting the way she was.
Quotes/spoiler-y thoughts:Any mistakes/typos are my own
“You really think,” West said, his voice still low and even, “that we could go to bed together, and walk away again?”
“I’ve confidence in my own ability to resist temptation,” Sophie said lightly.
“Then I don’t have much confidence in your memory,” he said. “Because I have relived that night – afternoon – we spent together hundreds of times in the past four years, and I don’t think either of us could walk away again. I think we’d ruin each other.”
“I’m a widow. You can’t ruin me.”
His gaze on her was steady. “I didn’t mean your reputation.” A brief, heavy pause. “I meant that I’d ruin you for anyone else.”
Content warnings: These should be taken as a minimum of what to expect. It’s very possible I have missed some.
- mention of carriage accident resulting in the death of a friend and a physical disability (leg damage) for the hero
- toxic family – hero’s father manipulates and coerces heroine to give up marriage to the hero and there’s scenes of him bullying and manipulating the hero as well
Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:
Safe sex:
Hows the consent?
There is an off page, alluded to scene around 50% or so
62% - kiss
69% - 🔥kisses, start of a blow job, oral for her, cuddled in bed together sex
”Then come here,” he said, pushing himself back a bit on the bed as she approached. When she was standing directly before him, he reached out and seized her by the waist; it took a bit of awkward maneuvering, but a few moments later she was on the bed, straddling him.
He leaned back and, with a firm grip on her thighs, urged her forward, until she was straddling his face.
“You might want to hold on to the bedpost,” he said.
82% - 🔥her on top on the settee
“Unbutton your breeches,” she said, barely recognizing the commanding note in her voice, and his hands immediately went to the placket on his breeches. “Now touch yourself,” she added, and he obeyed, stroking with a sure hand.
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
Overall: 4.5 rounded to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋 (I still want just a bit more from her scenes.)
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑 (They are pretty short)
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥
Humor: Yes
Perspective: Third person from both hero and heroine
More character focused or plot focused? plot
How did the speed of the story feel? fast
When mains are first on page together: Pretty much the first page, because Colin is eavesdropping on Della (lol) but actually interacting together is about 21% or so of this short story.
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happy ever after
Epilogue: No
Format: voluntarily read an advanced reader copy from the author in e-book format
Should I read in order?
You could! Pier’s books take place in the same universe but this one felt very stand alone, even within the series. (the series is about a set of brothers and are quick reads, so it’s not a large commitment to read the series in order)
Basic plot:
Della has loved Colin forever, but is ready to move on if he doesn’t love her back. Colin overhears Della saying how much she loves him – as a friend – and is devastated he can’t be more to her.
Give this a try if you want:
- Regency (1816)
- hero is an animal lover and hosts a garden party for animal adoption
- unrequited love (from both, really)
- childhood friends to lovers
- a pigeon and a hedgehog bring our couple together
- medium to higher steam – 3 scenes in a shorter page count
- shorter story length (novelette?)
Ages:
- Didn’t see them stated
First line:
Heart of gold I tell you,” the dowager duchess of Whitewood chuckled.
My thoughts:
There was something just so romantic and sweet about this story that I adored. How much the hero wants love, and how much he cares the heroine made me melt. The animal interactions were especially adorable and unique.
Again, this is a short story, so I’m very forgiving on character depth and the plot flow. I liked the speed this one moved along, but do think it felt like a really abrupt ending. Super cute couple though and I loved how they came together after both nursing such a secret longing for each other.
Quotes/spoiler-y thoughts:Any mistakes/typos are my own
Hastily, she pulled out one of his shirts and lifted it to her face. The smell was divine.
She would not pine for him and his pine scent.
---
“You’re no fun.” She swatted his chest. His sculpted chest. The swat lasted perhaps longer than a normal swat might. Did he just flex?
---
“Don’t you think it’s about time you told him?”
“I think he should say something first. He’s the man.”
“Oh my dear. Since you’re showing your youth, I shall show you my age. Men don’t know what women think. They hardly know what they think.
Content warnings: These should be taken as a minimum of what to expect. It’s very possible I have missed some.
- implied passing of the hero’s father
Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:
Safe sex: No
Hows the consent? I didn’t see any consent concerns! I think it’s explicit and asked in most scenes
21% - heroine self pleasure
A yearning tore through her body and settled between her thighs. Hot. Pooling desire. She wanted to touch herself. Imagine it was him.
31% - kisses, fingering for her, hero comes in his pants
He bit down on her neck. Not wanting to leave a visible mark, he licked down to her nipple and tugged it into his mouth through his shirt. He would never wash this shirt again.
57% - oral for her, missionary
He pushed the dress off her shoulder and pressed kisses to the exposed skin. Creamy, soft skin that he could kiss for days. Hands were swarming the dress, undoing buttons. Clamoring to get her out of the restrictive clothing.
Readability: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋 (I still want just a bit more from her scenes.)
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑 (They are pretty short)
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥
Humor: Yes
Perspective: Third person from both hero and heroine
More character focused or plot focused? plot
How did the speed of the story feel? fast
When mains are first on page together: Pretty much the first page, because Colin is eavesdropping on Della (lol) but actually interacting together is about 21% or so of this short story.
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happy ever after
Epilogue: No
Format: voluntarily read an advanced reader copy from the author in e-book format
Should I read in order?
You could! Pier’s books take place in the same universe but this one felt very stand alone, even within the series. (the series is about a set of brothers and are quick reads, so it’s not a large commitment to read the series in order)
Basic plot:
Della has loved Colin forever, but is ready to move on if he doesn’t love her back. Colin overhears Della saying how much she loves him – as a friend – and is devastated he can’t be more to her.
Give this a try if you want:
- Regency (1816)
- hero is an animal lover and hosts a garden party for animal adoption
- unrequited love (from both, really)
- childhood friends to lovers
- a pigeon and a hedgehog bring our couple together
- medium to higher steam – 3 scenes in a shorter page count
- shorter story length (novelette?)
Ages:
- Didn’t see them stated
First line:
Heart of gold I tell you,” the dowager duchess of Whitewood chuckled.
My thoughts:
There was something just so romantic and sweet about this story that I adored. How much the hero wants love, and how much he cares the heroine made me melt. The animal interactions were especially adorable and unique.
Again, this is a short story, so I’m very forgiving on character depth and the plot flow. I liked the speed this one moved along, but do think it felt like a really abrupt ending. Super cute couple though and I loved how they came together after both nursing such a secret longing for each other.
Quotes/spoiler-y thoughts:Any mistakes/typos are my own
Hastily, she pulled out one of his shirts and lifted it to her face. The smell was divine.
She would not pine for him and his pine scent.
---
“You’re no fun.” She swatted his chest. His sculpted chest. The swat lasted perhaps longer than a normal swat might. Did he just flex?
---
“Don’t you think it’s about time you told him?”
“I think he should say something first. He’s the man.”
“Oh my dear. Since you’re showing your youth, I shall show you my age. Men don’t know what women think. They hardly know what they think.
Content warnings: These should be taken as a minimum of what to expect. It’s very possible I have missed some.
- implied passing of the hero’s father
Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:
Safe sex:
Hows the consent?
21% - heroine self pleasure
A yearning tore through her body and settled between her thighs. Hot. Pooling desire. She wanted to touch herself. Imagine it was him.
31% - kisses, fingering for her, hero comes in his pants
He bit down on her neck. Not wanting to leave a visible mark, he licked down to her nipple and tugged it into his mouth through his shirt. He would never wash this shirt again.
57% - oral for her, missionary
He pushed the dress off her shoulder and pressed kisses to the exposed skin. Creamy, soft skin that he could kiss for days. Hands were swarming the dress, undoing buttons. Clamoring to get her out of the restrictive clothing.
emotional
funny
hopeful
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔 (Long has great character depth – especially in this one where they spend so much time focused on each other)
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞💞💞 Sooooooo romantic
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥 if you’re a bit generous. It feels like a slow burn and two scenes I counted are quite close together, so might not actually feel this hot
Humor: Yes
Perspective: Third person from mostly the hero and heroine but also a bit from Ian Eversea’s POV (the heroine’s brother)
More character focused or plot focused? character
How did the speed of the story feel? maybe a bit slow in parts. Slow to medium
When mains are first on page together: Pretty soon in - about 10% or so (Chapter 3)
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happily ever after
Epilogue: Yes, not too far in the future
Format: Listened to audiobook from the library (Hoopla)
Should I read in order?
So, ideally, yes? The families are large and you will miss some references here and there if you don’t read the prior ones. There is something really satisfying about learning the whole families stories...but I also feel like this one is okay for a rebel reader to pick up alone. Yes, there’s some characters and plot points mentioned from prior books but they aren’t a big part and really don’t matter. These two spend almost the entire book together and are focused on each other the entire time.
Basic plot:
When Alex finds Ian Eversea naked with his betrothed, he decides to get revenge by seducing Ian’s innocent sister, Genevieve.
Give this a try if you want:
- Regency (my assumption)
- Sussex setting
- elements of revenge seduction
- size difference – hero is much taller
- hero pursues
- hero loves first
- widower hero
- age gap (older hero)
- large family and house party vibes
- lots of playful banter and dialogue
- other man drama
- stargazing cuddles
- medium steam – it’s a slow burn feel with 3 scenes (though 2 are close together)
Ages:
- The hero is ‘near 40’ so 39? And the heroine is ‘just past 20’
First line: (Taken from audio, might have butchered)
From a deucedly awkward crouch between a bird bath and a shrubbery in the back garden of a Sussex manor house, Ian Eversea watched the silhouette of a woman pass tantalizingly once, twice, hallelujah three times before the upper story window.
My thoughts:
Oh my goodness, this book, THIS BOOK!!! I just adored this book. Absolutely LOVED.
My expectations were a touch low because I haven’t really loved this series thus far. Books 1 and 3 were a bit too busy for me and books 2 and 4 were kind of slow and had a few things I was annoyed with. But this book is my romance perfection!
I loved how character focused this one is. They spend so, so much time together and you really, truly see them fall in love. It doesn’t happen out of nowhere. We enter the scene with a heartbroken heroine and a hero bent on revenge. And watching their getting to know each other, in a cautious (perhaps even hostile for Genevieve) way that shifts into a slow opening of laughter, of banter, of flirting, that develops into longing so desperate. I want this in all my romances. This is my favorite thing about romance. This is the butterflies I chase.
The plot was a bit unexpected to me (when I saw revenge seduction, I assumed that would be the ending drama was finding out ‘the truth’. And it delightfully went in another direction) and I just loved that. The humor is subtle, witty, and delightful in so many scenes. The way Alex torments Ian throughout the book was gold. And the heroes love for...horses. I adore how Long really brings house parties to life. This is what I love about house parties. I love the different games, the varying plans the day. Just so, so much fun.
The romance in this book is so swoony. The things Alex says...the references he makes. To the ending that just gutted me. This book stole my heart.
Endearments
Hero calls the heroine ‘venus’
Quotes/spoiler-y thoughts:Any mistakes/typos are my own. I would have had so many more but I listened to audio and taking quotes is a pain
Oh, he’d warrant he could make the girl forget Lord Harry Osbourne. And after that, she’d need to spend the rest of her life forgetting the Duke of Falconbridge.
---
She didn’t move to test whether he’d release her. He wondered if he would release her if she tugged. He decided he wouldn’t. But she didn’t tug.
“Genevieve,” he murmured speculatively, landing hard on that first syllable, gliding over the next as though they were soft, rolling Sussex hills. As though each syllable had it’s very own character, and deserved equal attention. He wound more of her hair in his fist again, and again. So soft. And in this manner, he reeled her absurdly closer to him. And she came to him.
Content warnings: These should be taken as a minimum of what to expect. It’s very possible I have missed some.
- feelings of infidelity (not between the mains) – the opening scene is the hero being cuckolded by Ian Eversea and his betrothed
- talk of hunting and shooting animals
- death of spouse
- death of infant/child (remembered)
Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:
Safe sex: hero pulls out
Hows the consent? It’s good – definitely implied at the least – they both are consenting
56% - kiss
68% - kisses, breast play, light cock touches…
74% - 🔥 kisses, oral for her, missionary
“And so...do you intend to have your way with me, Venus?” he murmured.
79% - 🔥 kisses, spooning in bed sex
“Do you want me again, Genevieve?”
“You will.”
86% - 🔥 breast play in front of the mirror, fingering for her, him standing behind her sex
“Watch,” he ordered into her ear and his rough, ragged breath was a caress too, raising gooseflesh along her arms, her throat. And so she did.
Readability: 📖📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔 (Long has great character depth – especially in this one where they spend so much time focused on each other)
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞💞💞 Sooooooo romantic
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥 if you’re a bit generous. It feels like a slow burn and two scenes I counted are quite close together, so might not actually feel this hot
Humor: Yes
Perspective: Third person from mostly the hero and heroine but also a bit from Ian Eversea’s POV (the heroine’s brother)
More character focused or plot focused? character
How did the speed of the story feel? maybe a bit slow in parts. Slow to medium
When mains are first on page together: Pretty soon in - about 10% or so (Chapter 3)
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happily ever after
Epilogue: Yes, not too far in the future
Format: Listened to audiobook from the library (Hoopla)
Should I read in order?
So, ideally, yes? The families are large and you will miss some references here and there if you don’t read the prior ones. There is something really satisfying about learning the whole families stories...but I also feel like this one is okay for a rebel reader to pick up alone. Yes, there’s some characters and plot points mentioned from prior books but they aren’t a big part and really don’t matter. These two spend almost the entire book together and are focused on each other the entire time.
Basic plot:
When Alex finds Ian Eversea naked with his betrothed, he decides to get revenge by seducing Ian’s innocent sister, Genevieve.
Give this a try if you want:
- Regency (my assumption)
- Sussex setting
- elements of revenge seduction
- size difference – hero is much taller
- hero pursues
- hero loves first
- widower hero
- age gap (older hero)
- large family and house party vibes
- lots of playful banter and dialogue
- other man drama
- stargazing cuddles
- medium steam – it’s a slow burn feel with 3 scenes (though 2 are close together)
Ages:
- The hero is ‘near 40’ so 39? And the heroine is ‘just past 20’
First line: (Taken from audio, might have butchered)
From a deucedly awkward crouch between a bird bath and a shrubbery in the back garden of a Sussex manor house, Ian Eversea watched the silhouette of a woman pass tantalizingly once, twice, hallelujah three times before the upper story window.
My thoughts:
Oh my goodness, this book, THIS BOOK!!! I just adored this book. Absolutely LOVED.
My expectations were a touch low because I haven’t really loved this series thus far. Books 1 and 3 were a bit too busy for me and books 2 and 4 were kind of slow and had a few things I was annoyed with. But this book is my romance perfection!
I loved how character focused this one is. They spend so, so much time together and you really, truly see them fall in love. It doesn’t happen out of nowhere. We enter the scene with a heartbroken heroine and a hero bent on revenge. And watching their getting to know each other, in a cautious (perhaps even hostile for Genevieve) way that shifts into a slow opening of laughter, of banter, of flirting, that develops into longing so desperate. I want this in all my romances. This is my favorite thing about romance. This is the butterflies I chase.
The plot was a bit unexpected to me (when I saw revenge seduction, I assumed that would be the ending drama was finding out ‘the truth’. And it delightfully went in another direction) and I just loved that. The humor is subtle, witty, and delightful in so many scenes. The way Alex torments Ian throughout the book was gold. And the heroes love for...horses. I adore how Long really brings house parties to life. This is what I love about house parties. I love the different games, the varying plans the day. Just so, so much fun.
The romance in this book is so swoony. The things Alex says...the references he makes. To the ending that just gutted me. This book stole my heart.
Endearments
Quotes/spoiler-y thoughts:Any mistakes/typos are my own. I would have had so many more but I listened to audio and taking quotes is a pain
Oh, he’d warrant he could make the girl forget Lord Harry Osbourne. And after that, she’d need to spend the rest of her life forgetting the Duke of Falconbridge.
---
She didn’t move to test whether he’d release her. He wondered if he would release her if she tugged. He decided he wouldn’t. But she didn’t tug.
“Genevieve,” he murmured speculatively, landing hard on that first syllable, gliding over the next as though they were soft, rolling Sussex hills. As though each syllable had it’s very own character, and deserved equal attention. He wound more of her hair in his fist again, and again. So soft. And in this manner, he reeled her absurdly closer to him. And she came to him.
Content warnings: These should be taken as a minimum of what to expect. It’s very possible I have missed some.
- feelings of infidelity (not between the mains) – the opening scene is the hero being cuckolded by Ian Eversea and his betrothed
- talk of hunting and shooting animals
- death of spouse
- death of infant/child (remembered)
Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:
Safe sex:
Hows the consent?
56% - kiss
68% - kisses, breast play, light cock touches…
74% - 🔥 kisses, oral for her, missionary
“And so...do you intend to have your way with me, Venus?” he murmured.
79% - 🔥 kisses, spooning in bed sex
“Do you want me again, Genevieve?”
“You will.”
86% - 🔥 breast play in front of the mirror, fingering for her, him standing behind her sex
“Watch,” he ordered into her ear and his rough, ragged breath was a caress too, raising gooseflesh along her arms, her throat. And so she did.
hopeful
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Overall: 4.5 rounded to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋🦋 (I liked the angsty ending!)
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋 (the scene was a touch light on the details)
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑 (about average-ish for HR, 4% or so of the novella for a scene)
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥
Humor: Yes, a bit
Perspective: Third person from both hero and heroine
More character focused or plot focused? character
How did the speed of the story feel? maybe a touch slow. Slow to medium to me.
When mains are first on page together: Not too far in (11% of the book, but the story starts at 7%...)
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happy ever after
Epilogue: Yes, maybe a week or so in the future
Format: I ashamedly read a very, very, very old NetGalley ARC of this book. 2020 WAS A BAD YEAR OKAY?!
Should I read in order?
So, I’m not sure how intertwined the series is with characters. I think they are all mostly stand alone. This one especially felt fine to pick up because most of the story is the main couple snowed in at the inn. Jonathan has some page time here at the end and he has his own story in the series (technically a later book in the series as it’s #10), as well as the Duke of Nottingvale, who gets book #12.
Basic plot:
Isabelle gets snowed in at the Houville Hoot & Holly inn when her maid takes ill. There she meets Calvin and soon they realize they can both help each other because of their missing companions.
Give this a try if you want:
- Regency (1814)
- class difference – working class hero (fashion designer) and a lady heroine (daughter of a duke)
- snowed in at the inn vibes
- artist heroine
- bit of a quiet/awkward hero
- forbidden love vibes
- close proximity
- secret identity
- holiday themes
- shorter novel
Ages:
- Hero is 29, heroine is 24
First line:
Although Lady Isabelle Borland’s carriage climbed toward the northernmost peak of England, she did not gaze out of the window in her usual dreamy way at the picturesque snow-blanketed landscape shimmering in all directions.
My thoughts:
This is my third book from this series and every one of them has been so adorable and cute and fun. I think perhaps next holiday season I will back around and read the ones I have missed.
This one was a touch slow in parts, especially compared to book 12 which was just fun and fast and witty. But this one was very sweet and I got really attached to our heroine. I loved the snowed in vibes. I struggle sometimes with secret identity because it feels like lying...but I loved the angst at the end and their make up.
This just makes me want more Ridley!
Quotes/spoiler-y thoughts:Any mistakes/typos are my own
Gleaming black Hessians on his feet, flawless buckskins molded to his legs, an exquisitely tailored frock coat over an understated waistcoat. Dark hair, darker gaze. Neckcloth so bright it dazzled the eyes. Every stitch was perfect, every hair in place. He was like a portrait entitled Dangerous Rake: Virtuous Ladies Should Not Dare Come Near.
---
A widow.
Not a married lady.
A widow clothed in bright olive, not the black of mourning or the gray of half-mourning. Mr. Lepine had been gone for well over a year, perhaps even many years.
Long enough for his widow to respond, What husband?
---
“When I’m dressed in a fresh gown, would you help me fasten it?”
No. He was very busy. She would just have to...sit right next door in a state of half-dress, while he attempted not to think about her.
---
He gathered the loose flaps of her gown to the nape of her neck. “Hold this.”
She reached up behind her neck to grab the twilled silk as requested, and instead accidentally caressed Mr. McAlistair’s fingers.
He froze.
She froze.
Now they were holding hands in the most awkward way possible, with one of her elbows jutting high in the air.
Content warnings: These should be taken as a minimum of what to expect. It’s very possible I have missed some.
- parental death remembered
Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:
Safe sex: Hero pulls out
Hows the consent? It’s pretty explicit – the hero goes slow and asks permission/for the heroine to be sure
57% - kiss
68% - kisses
76% - 🔥 oral for her, missionary
“Let me undress you,” he said gruffly, setting her beside the bed rather than on top of it.
She peered up at him with a half-smile. “One last time.?”
“No.” He tried not to question why the words one last time chafed so much. “For the first time.”
Readability: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋🦋 (I liked the angsty ending!)
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋 (the scene was a touch light on the details)
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑 (about average-ish for HR, 4% or so of the novella for a scene)
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥
Humor: Yes, a bit
Perspective: Third person from both hero and heroine
More character focused or plot focused? character
How did the speed of the story feel? maybe a touch slow. Slow to medium to me.
When mains are first on page together: Not too far in (11% of the book, but the story starts at 7%...)
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happy ever after
Epilogue: Yes, maybe a week or so in the future
Format: I ashamedly read a very, very, very old NetGalley ARC of this book. 2020 WAS A BAD YEAR OKAY?!
Should I read in order?
So, I’m not sure how intertwined the series is with characters. I think they are all mostly stand alone. This one especially felt fine to pick up because most of the story is the main couple snowed in at the inn. Jonathan has some page time here at the end and he has his own story in the series (technically a later book in the series as it’s #10), as well as the Duke of Nottingvale, who gets book #12.
Basic plot:
Isabelle gets snowed in at the Houville Hoot & Holly inn when her maid takes ill. There she meets Calvin and soon they realize they can both help each other because of their missing companions.
Give this a try if you want:
- Regency (1814)
- class difference – working class hero (fashion designer) and a lady heroine (daughter of a duke)
- snowed in at the inn vibes
- artist heroine
- bit of a quiet/awkward hero
- forbidden love vibes
- close proximity
- secret identity
- holiday themes
- shorter novel
Ages:
- Hero is 29, heroine is 24
First line:
Although Lady Isabelle Borland’s carriage climbed toward the northernmost peak of England, she did not gaze out of the window in her usual dreamy way at the picturesque snow-blanketed landscape shimmering in all directions.
My thoughts:
This is my third book from this series and every one of them has been so adorable and cute and fun. I think perhaps next holiday season I will back around and read the ones I have missed.
This one was a touch slow in parts, especially compared to book 12 which was just fun and fast and witty. But this one was very sweet and I got really attached to our heroine. I loved the snowed in vibes. I struggle sometimes with secret identity because it feels like lying...but I loved the angst at the end and their make up.
This just makes me want more Ridley!
Quotes/spoiler-y thoughts:Any mistakes/typos are my own
Gleaming black Hessians on his feet, flawless buckskins molded to his legs, an exquisitely tailored frock coat over an understated waistcoat. Dark hair, darker gaze. Neckcloth so bright it dazzled the eyes. Every stitch was perfect, every hair in place. He was like a portrait entitled Dangerous Rake: Virtuous Ladies Should Not Dare Come Near.
---
A widow.
Not a married lady.
A widow clothed in bright olive, not the black of mourning or the gray of half-mourning. Mr. Lepine had been gone for well over a year, perhaps even many years.
Long enough for his widow to respond, What husband?
---
“When I’m dressed in a fresh gown, would you help me fasten it?”
No. He was very busy. She would just have to...sit right next door in a state of half-dress, while he attempted not to think about her.
---
He gathered the loose flaps of her gown to the nape of her neck. “Hold this.”
She reached up behind her neck to grab the twilled silk as requested, and instead accidentally caressed Mr. McAlistair’s fingers.
He froze.
She froze.
Now they were holding hands in the most awkward way possible, with one of her elbows jutting high in the air.
Content warnings: These should be taken as a minimum of what to expect. It’s very possible I have missed some.
- parental death remembered
Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:
Safe sex:
Hows the consent?
57% - kiss
68% - kisses
76% - 🔥 oral for her, missionary
“Let me undress you,” he said gruffly, setting her beside the bed rather than on top of it.
She peered up at him with a half-smile. “One last time.?”
“No.” He tried not to question why the words one last time chafed so much. “For the first time.”
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (Are you judging me? Well I almost cried at the ending so I HAD to give 5 stars!)
Readability: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡ (The sex is very fast so not much tension build up)
Romance: 💞💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑🍑 (There’s a variety of scenes and some kind of blend together...most of the book is sex)
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 (It was kind of hard to ‘separate’ scenes, but most of the book is steamy)
Humor: Yes. I mean he was a dildo for 700 years.
Perspective: First person from both the hero and heroine
More character focused or plot focused? character (and sex) focused
How did the speed of the story feel? medium to fast (it’s pretty sex focused, so kind of hard to gauge)
When mains are first on page together: It takes a bit – 13% or chapter 3
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happy for now.
Epilogue: No
Format: read through Kindle Unlimited
Should I read in order?
This is a stand alone romance.
Basic plot:
Felicity is writing about sex toys through the ages when she discovers one of her dildos is actually a man
Give this a try if you want:
- contemporary/PNR romance
- age gap (haaaaa) the hero has been a dildo for like 700+ years
- hero lived in Northumbria in 1341 before he was transformed into a dildo
- author/historical heroine – she is writing a book about the history of sex toys
- curse to overcome
- hand crank vibrators
- shorter novel – goodreads has it as 103 pages
- some light kink elements – specifically brat heroine and sex toy usage, some light praise/degradation
- high steam – most of the novel is sex
Ages:
- Didn’t see them mentioned but would guess late 20s/early 30s for heroine and same for hero??
First line:
We barely make it out of the feast before I press her against the stone wall and yank up her skirts.
My thoughts:
Yes! I am back with another inanimate object romance.
In this novel, we have a selfish hero that is only out for his own pleasure. Leaving a trail of unsatisfied quims behind, he eventually meets his match with a witch that curses him for leaving her unsatisfied. Sentences to being a dildo until someone voluntarily sucks him off, he is stuck in that form until our modern day historian gets experimental with her research sex toys.
I ended up loving this romance! It was just so funny, and steamy, and I loved the turn around for the hero. I adored the ending scene, it’s probably one of my favorite sex scenes I’ve read recently….I mean I almost cried that’s how attached to these characters I was…
The sex toy notes in this well as well as the euphemisms through the years were absolute treasures to read in this novel. It was just super fun!
Euphemisms
Polish the wood/pearl
sneezing in her satchel
licking the oracle
lick the fly-trap
little death
sticking the Jasper in the nonny nonny
sinking into the chapel of ease
breaking the arrow
gospel pipe
egg white cannon
putting the pin in the purse
Cock/Hero Stats:
- It’s a decent sized cock but human! Lots of semen though. 600 years worth.
Quotes/thoughts: (Any mistakes are my own)
I love that the heroine scrolls through bookstagram for smutty books...where I’ve seen this one featured quite a few times
Alright, what book is she recommending on her bookstagram today? Pulling up the app, I scroll through her account for a minute until I found one that sounds like it could be interesting.
---
The woman who saved me tosses a blanket in my direction, which is disappointing. Covering up is the last thing on my mind. I drape it casually over my shoulders, making no attempt to hide my best features.
“Could you?” She waves a hand in the direction of my cock.
---
She sighs and rubs a hand down her face. “I guess if I had the use of my hands for the first time in centuries, I’d want to touch everything, too.”
I don’t want to touch everything. I want to touch her.
---
“Come here,” I growl at Felicity as I continue to work her up.
She gives me a confused look, as if to say, I’m already right in front of you.
“No, I want you closer.”
---
“Let me be your rake, your scoundrel, your deviant devil.” I run a firm palm up her spine and twist it into her hair. “I’m going to make your most obscene fantasies from true.”
---
Two different vibrators and a butt plug. “Please tell me those aren’t really friends of yours.”
---
“Does a hoe till the soil or does the farmer?”
Her head cocks to the side. “The farmer.”
“And who will be using these toys on your, Felicity?”
“You.”
“Right. So who’s going to make you come? A bit of plastic or the hand that welds it?”
“You,” she says with a bit more confidence. “You’re going to make me come.”
“I may be a selfish bastard, but I’m quite willing to use every tool at my disposal. I’m going to make you come with my fingers, my tongue, my cock, and every sex toy I can get my hands on.
---
The playfulness drops away, turning into quiet seriousness. “You’re the heart in my chest, Felicity.”
Content warnings: (This should be taken as a minimum because I could have missed some!)
Author given content warnings: I’ve paraphrased these - Hero is cursed and turned into and used as a dildo without consent (so elements of noncon/dubcon are at play here)
Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:
Safe sex: No? I might have missed some birth control talk but he blows it in her
Hows the consent? It’s pretty consensual – there’s talk of boundaries though the hero is pretty cocky about sex
28% - 🔥 hero uses hand crank dildo on the heroine, fingering for her, her on top
“Now, come for me, darling. My cock is hard enough to snap. I need you to come. Now.”
34% - 🔥 dry humping o for her, followed by oral for her on the table, followed by doggy style with her supported by the table
“You’re wrong about me not wanting to do this,” he says. “I want to make you come again, Felicity. For my own sake, yes. But also as a selfish bastard who wants to taste and touch you until you shatter.”
54% - 🔥 hero jerks off on the heroine
“Are you sure you don’t want to play?” He asks in a low rumble. “You seemed to enjoy my cock in your mouth when I was a dildo.”
65% - 🔥 fingering for her, toy usage – butt plug on her and vibrator on him, blow job for him with her laying on her back on the bed and him standing
“Go sit on the couch like a good boy, and I’ll be out in a few minutes.”
“First,” he says, holding the top of the door frame and blocking the way into the bedroom. “I’m not a good boy. And second, I’m not going anywhere without a kiss.”
89% - 🔥 her on top, sex against the wall (some elements of brat/submissive heroine vibes)
I tug her shoulders, pulling her so her head falls over the edge of the high bed, neck supported by the mattress while her head hangs free.
I tap my cock on her chin. “Open.”
She hesitates for a moment, her eyes spark with something like defiance, but she opens her mouth. Interesting. Does my little historian want to be a brat?
//
“Say it,” I command. “Tell me what you like.”
//
I stop thrusting, pin her to the wall with my hips, and bring one hand up to cup her jaw, sliding my thumb into her mouth. She sucks on the digit, and I let myself revel in the flare of heat that goes straight up my arm and down to my cock before I tug her jaw down and wrench open her mouth.
//
My little historian doesn’t want to be a good girl. She wants to be a brat. No, my little historian wants to be bad. I suspected it before, but now I’m certain. If I give her enough, push her enough to get over her awkwardness and insecurities, she’ll scream. I’m sure of it. She’ll scream so pretty for me. She just needs a shove.
I tug her hair. “I told you to tell me what you want.”
She swallows again, nervous, then bravely pinches her lips between her teeth. Brat. I smile. Perfect little brat.
//
I grip her hair, pull her face to my crotch, and use the tip of my prick to pry open her lips. “Such a dirty girl, stuffing me between your lips.”
Readability: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡ (The sex is very fast so not much tension build up)
Romance: 💞💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑🍑 (There’s a variety of scenes and some kind of blend together...most of the book is sex)
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 (It was kind of hard to ‘separate’ scenes, but most of the book is steamy)
Humor: Yes. I mean he was a dildo for 700 years.
Perspective: First person from both the hero and heroine
More character focused or plot focused? character (and sex) focused
How did the speed of the story feel? medium to fast (it’s pretty sex focused, so kind of hard to gauge)
When mains are first on page together: It takes a bit – 13% or chapter 3
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happy for now.
Epilogue: No
Format: read through Kindle Unlimited
Should I read in order?
This is a stand alone romance.
Basic plot:
Felicity is writing about sex toys through the ages when she discovers one of her dildos is actually a man
Give this a try if you want:
- contemporary/PNR romance
- age gap (haaaaa) the hero has been a dildo for like 700+ years
- hero lived in Northumbria in 1341 before he was transformed into a dildo
- author/historical heroine – she is writing a book about the history of sex toys
- curse to overcome
- hand crank vibrators
- shorter novel – goodreads has it as 103 pages
- some light kink elements – specifically brat heroine and sex toy usage, some light praise/degradation
- high steam – most of the novel is sex
Ages:
- Didn’t see them mentioned but would guess late 20s/early 30s for heroine and same for hero??
First line:
We barely make it out of the feast before I press her against the stone wall and yank up her skirts.
My thoughts:
Yes! I am back with another inanimate object romance.
In this novel, we have a selfish hero that is only out for his own pleasure. Leaving a trail of unsatisfied quims behind, he eventually meets his match with a witch that curses him for leaving her unsatisfied. Sentences to being a dildo until someone voluntarily sucks him off, he is stuck in that form until our modern day historian gets experimental with her research sex toys.
I ended up loving this romance! It was just so funny, and steamy, and I loved the turn around for the hero. I adored the ending scene, it’s probably one of my favorite sex scenes I’ve read recently….I mean I almost cried that’s how attached to these characters I was…
The sex toy notes in this well as well as the euphemisms through the years were absolute treasures to read in this novel. It was just super fun!
Euphemisms
Polish the wood/pearl
sneezing in her satchel
licking the oracle
lick the fly-trap
little death
sticking the Jasper in the nonny nonny
sinking into the chapel of ease
breaking the arrow
gospel pipe
egg white cannon
putting the pin in the purse
Cock/Hero Stats:
- It’s a decent sized cock but human! Lots of semen though. 600 years worth.
Quotes/thoughts: (Any mistakes are my own)
I love that the heroine scrolls through bookstagram for smutty books...where I’ve seen this one featured quite a few times
Alright, what book is she recommending on her bookstagram today? Pulling up the app, I scroll through her account for a minute until I found one that sounds like it could be interesting.
---
The woman who saved me tosses a blanket in my direction, which is disappointing. Covering up is the last thing on my mind. I drape it casually over my shoulders, making no attempt to hide my best features.
“Could you?” She waves a hand in the direction of my cock.
---
She sighs and rubs a hand down her face. “I guess if I had the use of my hands for the first time in centuries, I’d want to touch everything, too.”
I don’t want to touch everything. I want to touch her.
---
“Come here,” I growl at Felicity as I continue to work her up.
She gives me a confused look, as if to say, I’m already right in front of you.
“No, I want you closer.”
---
“Let me be your rake, your scoundrel, your deviant devil.” I run a firm palm up her spine and twist it into her hair. “I’m going to make your most obscene fantasies from true.”
---
Two different vibrators and a butt plug. “Please tell me those aren’t really friends of yours.”
---
“Does a hoe till the soil or does the farmer?”
Her head cocks to the side. “The farmer.”
“And who will be using these toys on your, Felicity?”
“You.”
“Right. So who’s going to make you come? A bit of plastic or the hand that welds it?”
“You,” she says with a bit more confidence. “You’re going to make me come.”
“I may be a selfish bastard, but I’m quite willing to use every tool at my disposal. I’m going to make you come with my fingers, my tongue, my cock, and every sex toy I can get my hands on.
---
The playfulness drops away, turning into quiet seriousness. “You’re the heart in my chest, Felicity.”
Content warnings: (This should be taken as a minimum because I could have missed some!)
Author given content warnings:
Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:
Safe sex:
Hows the consent?
28% - 🔥 hero uses hand crank dildo on the heroine, fingering for her, her on top
“Now, come for me, darling. My cock is hard enough to snap. I need you to come. Now.”
34% - 🔥 dry humping o for her, followed by oral for her on the table, followed by doggy style with her supported by the table
“You’re wrong about me not wanting to do this,” he says. “I want to make you come again, Felicity. For my own sake, yes. But also as a selfish bastard who wants to taste and touch you until you shatter.”
54% - 🔥 hero jerks off on the heroine
“Are you sure you don’t want to play?” He asks in a low rumble. “You seemed to enjoy my cock in your mouth when I was a dildo.”
65% - 🔥 fingering for her, toy usage – butt plug on her and vibrator on him, blow job for him with her laying on her back on the bed and him standing
“Go sit on the couch like a good boy, and I’ll be out in a few minutes.”
“First,” he says, holding the top of the door frame and blocking the way into the bedroom. “I’m not a good boy. And second, I’m not going anywhere without a kiss.”
89% - 🔥 her on top, sex against the wall (some elements of brat/submissive heroine vibes)
I tug her shoulders, pulling her so her head falls over the edge of the high bed, neck supported by the mattress while her head hangs free.
I tap my cock on her chin. “Open.”
She hesitates for a moment, her eyes spark with something like defiance, but she opens her mouth. Interesting. Does my little historian want to be a brat?
//
“Say it,” I command. “Tell me what you like.”
//
I stop thrusting, pin her to the wall with my hips, and bring one hand up to cup her jaw, sliding my thumb into her mouth. She sucks on the digit, and I let myself revel in the flare of heat that goes straight up my arm and down to my cock before I tug her jaw down and wrench open her mouth.
//
My little historian doesn’t want to be a good girl. She wants to be a brat. No, my little historian wants to be bad. I suspected it before, but now I’m certain. If I give her enough, push her enough to get over her awkwardness and insecurities, she’ll scream. I’m sure of it. She’ll scream so pretty for me. She just needs a shove.
I tug her hair. “I told you to tell me what you want.”
She swallows again, nervous, then bravely pinches her lips between her teeth. Brat. I smile. Perfect little brat.
//
I grip her hair, pull her face to my crotch, and use the tip of my prick to pry open her lips. “Such a dirty girl, stuffing me between your lips.”
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖📖 (even though this had a number of elements I’m not usually into, I was really fascinated and so curious what would happen)
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥
Humor: Yes, a bit. This isn’t a lighthearted book, there’s heavy themes. But the humor is woven throughout.
Perspective: This is third person from both the hero and heroine and a few minor chapters from the heroine’s brother, Joshua, who is 13
More character focused or plot focused? plot focused
How did the speed of the story feel? medium to me
When mains are first on page together: 12% in
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happily ever after
Epilogue: Yes, 6 months later
Format: voluntarily read an advanced reader copy through NetGalley
Should I read in order?
This is the first of Galen’s Misfortunes Favorites series.
Basic plot:
On his thirtieth birthday, King loses everything. When his creditors come calling, he finds one person there for money from him willing to hide him until he pays her back.
Give this a try if you want:
- Regency – 1814
- London setting – Seven Dials
- heroine is the proprietress of The Silver Unicorn (alehouse)
- riches to rags – hero loses his title
- children in the story – Vi has two younger brothers, 13 and 6 (?)
- curse to overcome
- dare I say ‘ugly duckling’ hero vibes? This hero is a bit self centered and spoiled...perhaps a bit of an idiot – and this book shows his turn around
- villain to overcome
- interesting author notes!
- medium steam – 3 scenes but one is at the very end
Ages:
- Hero is 30, heroine is 21
First line:
Witches scared him.
My thoughts:
The King and Vi starts with a troublemaker hero that desperately wanted attention and ended up being expelled from a number of prep schools. These leads to him eventually going too far in a dare and getting cursed, along with his 2 friends. King loses everything and finds himself facing Vi, whose tavern he assisted in wrecking the night before, demanding her share of his money to right his wrongs. They work out a bit of a bargain where she will house/hide him while he gets his affairs in order.
This leads to some delicious close proximity between King and Vi, and him bonding with her two younger brothers she also cares for. Now King definitely isn’t someone you are really loving in the beginning. He’s a bit lazy, self centered, and doesn’t really think of long term repercussions. And one of my small issues with the story was it was a good 40% before I felt like he started to turn around into someone I didn’t want to kick.
This story really has a lot that is not really my jam in romance. I don’t love children being main characters, and these two get lots of page time and even tend to invade the steamy scenes because they are worried about them having privacy from them (maybe a bit too close to home in my current phase of life haha). It’s also a plot that revolves around a villain character and just isn’t as focused strictly on the characters and their relationship development like I usually prefer.
But maybe it was the curse (I do love magic elements and curses!), but I ended up enjoying so much about this book. I think this is my first by Galen and I definitely want to try some more by her. I enjoyed her writing a lot – the action/suspenseful scenes I was on the edge of my seat to find out what would happen. I loved her humor. I loved the heart she put into her characters! I think she did such a good job turning around King and I thought it ended up being believable.
I’m left quite curious about King’s friends and fellow curse bearers. I will probably pick up the next in the series as well when it comes out this spring.
Endearments
The hero calls the heroine ‘sunshine.
Quotes/spoiler-y thoughts:Any mistakes/typos are my own
At the age of thirty, repay them in kind.
Pilfer, purloin, and pinch what it is they love best.
And then and only then will I find my eternal rest.
----
“Is she your woman?” the man asked, his fingers loosening slightly.
“As much as she’s any man’s,” King said. It was a pretty play of words, and the patron took it the way King wanted. He loosened his grip, and King lifted Violet’s hand from the bar and kissed it.
---
I love this stuff…
He reached out and took a lock of her hair, running it through his hand then winding it about his fingers until she moved closer to avoid having her hair pulled.
“What are you doing?” she asked as she put his other hand on her waist and tugged her against him. Her voice and tugged her against him. Her voice was still hard, but he heard the way it hitched.
“I’m about to kiss you,” he said.
She shook her head. “No, you’re not.”
“Yes, I am.” He released her hair and slid his hand through it to cup the back of her neck. “Last chance to tell me to stop.” He lowered his lips, pausing just a fraction from her mouth.
---
“Right now, there’s nowhere I’d rather be.”
She cocked her head dubiously.
“Very well,” he acknowledged her. “I would rather you had a servant and a cook and a feather mattress, but otherwise, there’s nowhere else.”
“Uh huh.”
“Perhaps a valet. And more blunt so I might see a tailor.”
“Yes, you certainly seem content.”
Content warnings: These should be taken as a minimum of what to expect. It’s very possible I have missed some.
- scenes of witchcraft, curses and minor peril when the hero takes on a dare to steal from the local witch
- hero has been estranged from his father for 10 years
- remembrances of a bar fight damaging the heroine’s ale house and knocking one of her workers unconscious
- danger/lifestyle of Seven Dials in St. Giles – child labor, starving, sex work, being cold – having to steal coal and not having enough to eat, abuse by gangs, and medical negligence due to location. Rape, child abuse, mention of sexual diseases given to children.
- a scene of harassment when Vi is managing the bar – grabbing of her body and demanding sexual favors
- childbirth parental death mentioned
- hero’s father is accused and charged with treason to the crown and it’s mentioned he will die by hanging
- mention of a friend’s wife and child dying in a carriage accident
- scenes of fire/arson, smoke inhalation, and danger
Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:
Safe sex: Hero pulls out
Hows the consent? Maybe like a yellow light for one kiss? The hero is kind of a boundary pusher – like he says he’s going to kiss her and she says no and he says yes...but he does basically tell her he’ll stop if she really wants (I think he’ knows how skittish she is about relationships) – you can view the scene under my quotes section above. Though for sex he lets her come to him and she’s definitely consenting. (Just a note that I like dubcon/noncon books but wanted to note for those that prefer to avoid these interactions)
42% - kiss
49% - kiss
58% - 🔥 kisses, it is interrupted for a minute, then picks back up with fingering/oral for her, missionary
“King,” she said as he moved to her throat and unfastened a button just below his lips.
“Hmm?” he asked, sounding as though he had all the time in the world when she was on fire to be touched.
“Don’t bother with that. Just toss my skirts up and -”
He pulled back. “Don’t rush me. I want to see you naked.”
73% - 🔥 kisses, oral for her, missionary
He turned her around and put both hands on her plump bottom. She had a narrow waist, and he loved the way it flared out at her hips and rounded into perfect spheres that gave him more than a handful to enjoy. He kissed her there, and she laughed. “What are you doing?”
“I’d have thought you would have enjoyed seeing me on my knees, kissing your arse.”
97% - 🔥 missionary
“Don’t stop.”
“Never.”
Readability: 📖📖📖📖 (even though this had a number of elements I’m not usually into, I was really fascinated and so curious what would happen)
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥
Humor: Yes, a bit. This isn’t a lighthearted book, there’s heavy themes. But the humor is woven throughout.
Perspective: This is third person from both the hero and heroine and a few minor chapters from the heroine’s brother, Joshua, who is 13
More character focused or plot focused? plot focused
How did the speed of the story feel? medium to me
When mains are first on page together: 12% in
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happily ever after
Epilogue: Yes, 6 months later
Format: voluntarily read an advanced reader copy through NetGalley
Should I read in order?
This is the first of Galen’s Misfortunes Favorites series.
Basic plot:
On his thirtieth birthday, King loses everything. When his creditors come calling, he finds one person there for money from him willing to hide him until he pays her back.
Give this a try if you want:
- Regency – 1814
- London setting – Seven Dials
- heroine is the proprietress of The Silver Unicorn (alehouse)
- riches to rags – hero loses his title
- children in the story – Vi has two younger brothers, 13 and 6 (?)
- curse to overcome
- dare I say ‘ugly duckling’ hero vibes? This hero is a bit self centered and spoiled...perhaps a bit of an idiot – and this book shows his turn around
- villain to overcome
- interesting author notes!
- medium steam – 3 scenes but one is at the very end
Ages:
- Hero is 30, heroine is 21
First line:
Witches scared him.
My thoughts:
The King and Vi starts with a troublemaker hero that desperately wanted attention and ended up being expelled from a number of prep schools. These leads to him eventually going too far in a dare and getting cursed, along with his 2 friends. King loses everything and finds himself facing Vi, whose tavern he assisted in wrecking the night before, demanding her share of his money to right his wrongs. They work out a bit of a bargain where she will house/hide him while he gets his affairs in order.
This leads to some delicious close proximity between King and Vi, and him bonding with her two younger brothers she also cares for. Now King definitely isn’t someone you are really loving in the beginning. He’s a bit lazy, self centered, and doesn’t really think of long term repercussions. And one of my small issues with the story was it was a good 40% before I felt like he started to turn around into someone I didn’t want to kick.
This story really has a lot that is not really my jam in romance. I don’t love children being main characters, and these two get lots of page time and even tend to invade the steamy scenes because they are worried about them having privacy from them (maybe a bit too close to home in my current phase of life haha). It’s also a plot that revolves around a villain character and just isn’t as focused strictly on the characters and their relationship development like I usually prefer.
But maybe it was the curse (I do love magic elements and curses!), but I ended up enjoying so much about this book. I think this is my first by Galen and I definitely want to try some more by her. I enjoyed her writing a lot – the action/suspenseful scenes I was on the edge of my seat to find out what would happen. I loved her humor. I loved the heart she put into her characters! I think she did such a good job turning around King and I thought it ended up being believable.
I’m left quite curious about King’s friends and fellow curse bearers. I will probably pick up the next in the series as well when it comes out this spring.
Endearments
Quotes/spoiler-y thoughts:Any mistakes/typos are my own
At the age of thirty, repay them in kind.
Pilfer, purloin, and pinch what it is they love best.
And then and only then will I find my eternal rest.
----
“Is she your woman?” the man asked, his fingers loosening slightly.
“As much as she’s any man’s,” King said. It was a pretty play of words, and the patron took it the way King wanted. He loosened his grip, and King lifted Violet’s hand from the bar and kissed it.
---
I love this stuff…
He reached out and took a lock of her hair, running it through his hand then winding it about his fingers until she moved closer to avoid having her hair pulled.
“What are you doing?” she asked as she put his other hand on her waist and tugged her against him. Her voice and tugged her against him. Her voice was still hard, but he heard the way it hitched.
“I’m about to kiss you,” he said.
She shook her head. “No, you’re not.”
“Yes, I am.” He released her hair and slid his hand through it to cup the back of her neck. “Last chance to tell me to stop.” He lowered his lips, pausing just a fraction from her mouth.
---
“Right now, there’s nowhere I’d rather be.”
She cocked her head dubiously.
“Very well,” he acknowledged her. “I would rather you had a servant and a cook and a feather mattress, but otherwise, there’s nowhere else.”
“Uh huh.”
“Perhaps a valet. And more blunt so I might see a tailor.”
“Yes, you certainly seem content.”
Content warnings: These should be taken as a minimum of what to expect. It’s very possible I have missed some.
- scenes of witchcraft, curses and minor peril when the hero takes on a dare to steal from the local witch
- hero has been estranged from his father for 10 years
- remembrances of a bar fight damaging the heroine’s ale house and knocking one of her workers unconscious
- danger/lifestyle of Seven Dials in St. Giles – child labor, starving, sex work, being cold – having to steal coal and not having enough to eat, abuse by gangs, and medical negligence due to location. Rape, child abuse, mention of sexual diseases given to children.
- a scene of harassment when Vi is managing the bar – grabbing of her body and demanding sexual favors
- childbirth parental death mentioned
- hero’s father is accused and charged with treason to the crown and it’s mentioned he will die by hanging
- mention of a friend’s wife and child dying in a carriage accident
- scenes of fire/arson, smoke inhalation, and danger
Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:
Safe sex:
Hows the consent?
42% - kiss
49% - kiss
58% - 🔥 kisses, it is interrupted for a minute, then picks back up with fingering/oral for her, missionary
“King,” she said as he moved to her throat and unfastened a button just below his lips.
“Hmm?” he asked, sounding as though he had all the time in the world when she was on fire to be touched.
“Don’t bother with that. Just toss my skirts up and -”
He pulled back. “Don’t rush me. I want to see you naked.”
73% - 🔥 kisses, oral for her, missionary
He turned her around and put both hands on her plump bottom. She had a narrow waist, and he loved the way it flared out at her hips and rounded into perfect spheres that gave him more than a handful to enjoy. He kissed her there, and she laughed. “What are you doing?”
“I’d have thought you would have enjoyed seeing me on my knees, kissing your arse.”
97% - 🔥 missionary
“Don’t stop.”
“Never.”
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥
Humor: Yes, plenty of banter
Perspective: Third person from both the hero and heroine
More character focused or plot focused? maybe a bit more character, but overall a good mix of both
How did the speed of the story feel? medium to me
When mains are first on page together: Almost immediately
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happily ever after
Epilogue: Yes, two years later
Format: voluntarily read an advanced reader copy through NetGalley
Should I read in order?
It would be enjoyable to do so but not totally necessary. There is page time with the two prior heroines and you’ll have a whole new understanding of the beach tent where this couple rendezvous a few times from the prior book (One Duke Down) but overall it’s pretty minimal and not affecting the story other than knowing the 3 heroines are friends. (Series starts with Girls Before Earls)
Basic plot:
Leo returns to Bellehaven Bay after 4 years away – just in time for Kitty to show him up in the architecture contest the town is hosting.
Give this a try if you want:
- Regency (my assumption)
- English beach side small town setting (Bellehaven Bay)
- architect mains
- childhood frenemies to lovers
- unrequited love (from the hero)
- heroine has dimples!
- prodigal hero returns after 4 years away
- rake lessons
- opposites attract – Kitty is a bit emotional and whimsical and Leo is more rigid and by the book
- bet/bargain between the mains
- lower steam – there are 2 full scenes (and some kisses) but one is at the end
Ages:
- I don’t recall seeing them mentioned? But would think about mid twenties?
First line:
Forty-eight months and seventeen days away from Bellehaven Bay should have cured Leo of his infatuation with Miss Kitty Beckett – the beautiful, talented heiress who considered him her nemesis.
My thoughts:
I loved a lot about this book – the beginning was just perfection to me. I enjoy Bennett’s writing. But I got a bit frustrated in the latter half with Kitty.
The town is hosting an architecture contest that will give the winner 100 hundred pounds and put their building to construction. This gives our mains lots of opportunity for close proximity as they both work in Leo’s grandfathers former business (he’s since retired). Kitty also relies on Leo for calculations with math.
While the steam was a bit lower than what I wanted, I very much appreciated the tension and longing woven throughout the story that made it feel so much more satisfying when they come together. Also I love time spent on a first kiss!
I enjoyed the twists in this one and the bit of unexpected events for me – many of them turning the hero/heroine stereotypes on their head. I have read many heroes that protect their heart the way Kitty does, but not many heroines and it was fun to see the hero have to work so hard to earn her trust. Kitty is so strong and independent but deep down has such a longing for family – Leo needs to prove himself endlessly to Kitty.
And this was also my qualm with the story here was the that I think Kitty took it too far. My heart broke a bit when all was bared towards the end and it wasn’t enough after Leo had been nothing but amazing and steadfast. And it’s not just one time she acts like this but repeatedly. It made me doubt that she’d ever be happy with him, when he’s been nothing but pretty amazing to her.
There was a lot of refreshing communication in this one, and so much sweetness. I love Bennett’s writing and found myself highlighting so many passages. Despite my frustration with Kitty towards the end, this was such an enjoyable read and Bennett is becoming an author I want to read more of!
Quotes/spoiler-y thoughts: Any mistakes/typos are my own
More confident, more worldly, more jaded. The truth was that he was still, one hundred percent, smitten with Miss Kitty Beckett.
And she was quite oblivious to the fact.
---
But no. Leo Lockland didn’t possess shoulders that broad. He certainly didn’t have those muscular thighs or that chiseled jaw.
---
Leo took a moment to digest the compliment – if it could accurately be classified as such. Then he said, “Let me see if I have this correct.” He held up a hand, preparing to tick off her list on his fingers. “You think I need a woman who’s meek, desperate, and not hideous.”
---
“Deal,” she confirmed. She didn’t release his hand right away, but instead searched his face – as if she longed to know his secrets.
He didn’t let go, either. When it came to Kitty, he would never be the first to let go.
---
“What about you, Kitty?” Leo asked, his voice deeper than it had been a moment before. “Can I tempt you?”
The image of him in the tailor’s shop, his fawn-brown eyes gleaming, flashed in her head, unbidden. She reminded herself that he was referring to tarts.
---
For the space of several heartbeats, he said nothing, and she did her best to focus on the sounds and sensations around her. Seagulls cawing overhead. The low roar of the ocean in the distance. The salty sea air licking at her ankles. Leo’s warm breath puffing close to her neck. The erratic thumping of her own heart.
---
I love how much she can wreck him
“I never claimed that cricket was my area of expertise,” she quipped, but her gaze followed the ball as it sailed straight up, dropped down, and smacked the center of his palm. “But that...that’s good.”
“What, this?” He followed the track of the ball as it momentarily hovered above his head – there was nothing special about it.
“The tossing,” she clarified. “It makes you look athletic. Quite masculine.”
Jesus. The ball bounced off his chest and plopped sadly onto the sand.
---
She narrowed her eyes, signalying that she knew exactly what he was about. “I suppose that they are doing what they do best, Leo. Pleasing women. Alas, I cannot teach you everything. Right now we are simply attempting to master the basics.”
Holy hell. He wanted to say that if he were ever given the chance to please her that he wouldn’t devote his entire life to it. That he’d make it his personal mission to see that she was drunk on pleasure for the rest of her days. That he’d worship every wanton desire till she was a puddle of sated bliss.
---
“Yes. At the end of the summer,” she added. As if he couldn’t be expected to recall exactly when her brithday was.
It was August twenty-second.
---
“I can’t resist you,” he rasped. “I’ve tried. But tonight...tonight you’re mine.”
Content warnings: These should be taken as a minimum of what to expect. It’s very possible I have missed some.
- parental death
- elements of infidelity (not with the mains) – the hero’s father was a bigamist
- Kitty is an orphan and has some trust and abandonment trauma
- scenes of drowning peril where the hero saves a child
- scene of domestic violence – remembrance of the hero’s father slapping him in a confrontation but immediately being horrified and apologetic
Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:
Safe sex: Hero blows it in his hand the first scene. The second scene I believe is inside her but it’s the end of the book and they are together
Hows the consent? Very good – the hero lets the heroine lead most of the interactions
35% - kiss
45% - kisses and breast play in the cave
60% - 🔥 oral for her, missionary
He swept his thumb over her skin, making a series of small circles. “What if I said I wanted to kiss you here?”
“I would say...you can kiss me anywhere you like.”
62% - the next day starts with blow job for him (complete) – it’s pretty short and right after the prior scene so I’m combining.
69% - kiss
94% - 🔥 spooning sex
Bringing her to the brink. Daring her to come.
“Don’t,” he whispered. “Not yet.”
Readability: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥
Humor: Yes, plenty of banter
Perspective: Third person from both the hero and heroine
More character focused or plot focused? maybe a bit more character, but overall a good mix of both
How did the speed of the story feel? medium to me
When mains are first on page together: Almost immediately
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happily ever after
Epilogue: Yes, two years later
Format: voluntarily read an advanced reader copy through NetGalley
Should I read in order?
It would be enjoyable to do so but not totally necessary. There is page time with the two prior heroines and you’ll have a whole new understanding of the beach tent where this couple rendezvous a few times from the prior book (One Duke Down) but overall it’s pretty minimal and not affecting the story other than knowing the 3 heroines are friends. (Series starts with Girls Before Earls)
Basic plot:
Leo returns to Bellehaven Bay after 4 years away – just in time for Kitty to show him up in the architecture contest the town is hosting.
Give this a try if you want:
- Regency (my assumption)
- English beach side small town setting (Bellehaven Bay)
- architect mains
- childhood frenemies to lovers
- unrequited love (from the hero)
- heroine has dimples!
- prodigal hero returns after 4 years away
- rake lessons
- opposites attract – Kitty is a bit emotional and whimsical and Leo is more rigid and by the book
- bet/bargain between the mains
- lower steam – there are 2 full scenes (and some kisses) but one is at the end
Ages:
- I don’t recall seeing them mentioned? But would think about mid twenties?
First line:
Forty-eight months and seventeen days away from Bellehaven Bay should have cured Leo of his infatuation with Miss Kitty Beckett – the beautiful, talented heiress who considered him her nemesis.
My thoughts:
I loved a lot about this book – the beginning was just perfection to me. I enjoy Bennett’s writing. But I got a bit frustrated in the latter half with Kitty.
The town is hosting an architecture contest that will give the winner 100 hundred pounds and put their building to construction. This gives our mains lots of opportunity for close proximity as they both work in Leo’s grandfathers former business (he’s since retired). Kitty also relies on Leo for calculations with math.
While the steam was a bit lower than what I wanted, I very much appreciated the tension and longing woven throughout the story that made it feel so much more satisfying when they come together. Also I love time spent on a first kiss!
I enjoyed the twists in this one and the bit of unexpected events for me – many of them turning the hero/heroine stereotypes on their head. I have read many heroes that protect their heart the way Kitty does, but not many heroines and it was fun to see the hero have to work so hard to earn her trust. Kitty is so strong and independent but deep down has such a longing for family – Leo needs to prove himself endlessly to Kitty.
And this was also my qualm with the story here was the that I think Kitty took it too far. My heart broke a bit when all was bared towards the end and it wasn’t enough after Leo had been nothing but amazing and steadfast. And it’s not just one time she acts like this but repeatedly. It made me doubt that she’d ever be happy with him, when he’s been nothing but pretty amazing to her.
There was a lot of refreshing communication in this one, and so much sweetness. I love Bennett’s writing and found myself highlighting so many passages. Despite my frustration with Kitty towards the end, this was such an enjoyable read and Bennett is becoming an author I want to read more of!
Quotes/spoiler-y thoughts: Any mistakes/typos are my own
More confident, more worldly, more jaded. The truth was that he was still, one hundred percent, smitten with Miss Kitty Beckett.
And she was quite oblivious to the fact.
---
But no. Leo Lockland didn’t possess shoulders that broad. He certainly didn’t have those muscular thighs or that chiseled jaw.
---
Leo took a moment to digest the compliment – if it could accurately be classified as such. Then he said, “Let me see if I have this correct.” He held up a hand, preparing to tick off her list on his fingers. “You think I need a woman who’s meek, desperate, and not hideous.”
---
“Deal,” she confirmed. She didn’t release his hand right away, but instead searched his face – as if she longed to know his secrets.
He didn’t let go, either. When it came to Kitty, he would never be the first to let go.
---
“What about you, Kitty?” Leo asked, his voice deeper than it had been a moment before. “Can I tempt you?”
The image of him in the tailor’s shop, his fawn-brown eyes gleaming, flashed in her head, unbidden. She reminded herself that he was referring to tarts.
---
For the space of several heartbeats, he said nothing, and she did her best to focus on the sounds and sensations around her. Seagulls cawing overhead. The low roar of the ocean in the distance. The salty sea air licking at her ankles. Leo’s warm breath puffing close to her neck. The erratic thumping of her own heart.
---
I love how much she can wreck him
“I never claimed that cricket was my area of expertise,” she quipped, but her gaze followed the ball as it sailed straight up, dropped down, and smacked the center of his palm. “But that...that’s good.”
“What, this?” He followed the track of the ball as it momentarily hovered above his head – there was nothing special about it.
“The tossing,” she clarified. “It makes you look athletic. Quite masculine.”
Jesus. The ball bounced off his chest and plopped sadly onto the sand.
---
She narrowed her eyes, signalying that she knew exactly what he was about. “I suppose that they are doing what they do best, Leo. Pleasing women. Alas, I cannot teach you everything. Right now we are simply attempting to master the basics.”
Holy hell. He wanted to say that if he were ever given the chance to please her that he wouldn’t devote his entire life to it. That he’d make it his personal mission to see that she was drunk on pleasure for the rest of her days. That he’d worship every wanton desire till she was a puddle of sated bliss.
---
“Yes. At the end of the summer,” she added. As if he couldn’t be expected to recall exactly when her brithday was.
It was August twenty-second.
---
“I can’t resist you,” he rasped. “I’ve tried. But tonight...tonight you’re mine.”
Content warnings: These should be taken as a minimum of what to expect. It’s very possible I have missed some.
- parental death
- elements of infidelity (not with the mains) – the hero’s father was a bigamist
- Kitty is an orphan and has some trust and abandonment trauma
- scenes of drowning peril where the hero saves a child
- scene of domestic violence – remembrance of the hero’s father slapping him in a confrontation but immediately being horrified and apologetic
Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:
Safe sex:
Hows the consent?
35% - kiss
45% - kisses and breast play in the cave
60% - 🔥 oral for her, missionary
He swept his thumb over her skin, making a series of small circles. “What if I said I wanted to kiss you here?”
“I would say...you can kiss me anywhere you like.”
62% - the next day starts with blow job for him (complete) – it’s pretty short and right after the prior scene so I’m combining.
69% - kiss
94% - 🔥 spooning sex
Bringing her to the brink. Daring her to come.
“Don’t,” he whispered. “Not yet.”
Content Warnings
Minor: Infidelity, Death of parent
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖 (I got bored and had to tell myself to pick it back up repeatedly)
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Humor: A bit
Perspective: Third person from the hero and heroine and some minor side characters
When mains are first on page together:
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happily ever after
Epilogue: Yes, but it’s about Godric St. John and from his perspective (the hero of the next book)
Format: listened to audiobook from the library (Hoopla)
Should I read in order?
Yes. This series builds with each book, with the Ghost of St. Giles being a character throughout as well as Winter having some page time in prior books.
Basic plot:
Winter lives a double life as the Ghost of St. Giles. His secret is in jeopardy after Isabel helps save the Ghost, but also becomes one of the orphanages benefactor...
Give this a try if you want:
- Georgian time period (1738)
- London setting
- class differences
- working class hero – he oversees an orphanage
- lessons for the hero on etiquette
- virgin hero
- intertwining series with plenty of character cross over and side characters
- higher steam - 5 full scenes (At least...I could have missed some since I waited like 2 months before writing my review)
Ages:
- I have notes that say ‘hero is not yet 30’ and ‘hero is 26’ so I have no idea if one of those was supposed to be the heroine but either way I would say they are both late 20s ish
First line:
The body in the road was the absolute cap to the day.
My thoughts:
I know so many of you loved this book and I am SO SAD I didn’t love it.
It didn’t work for me because I felt bored. I kept having to tell myself to pick it up. I didn’t really feel anything about anyone in this story. And I think there are a few reasons for this, just personal stuff with me and not the story.
First of all, I don’t think Ashford McNaab is the narrator for me. I have liked her but...I think she doesn’t get emotional enough for me? I’m not sure. But I think I will try reading the next book because I’m worried I’m starting to just have a ‘thing’ with her narration and I don’t want to risk it.
Secondly, this series does some things that I just don’t love as a romance reader. Most don’t care, but I really dislike getting a bunch of different perspectives other than the main couple. I want only focus on the mains, it’s just what I like. And this series isn’t really like that. It has stories starting all over for future books, it has POV in other characters that will be met later in the series. It keeps pulling me from the main couple and making my interest wane.
Thirdly, I was at the time of reading this, also well into Elisa Braden’s Rescued from Ruin series. Braden’s series also does a bit of the starting future books in a story and giving some other POVs in it so maybe I just needed to chose only one series at a time that does that or I start to get too twitchy.
I also think Hoyt’s books are just unnecessarily long. This is totally because I am in my grumpy, can’t focus, want short books phase and not her actual writing...but I can’t help but think how so much could have been cut with the same feelings within.
Also, I’m not the biggest fan of children being big parts in the story right now because I homeschool my kids and they are up my butt the entire day long and the last thing I want to read about is more kids. So taking place at an orphanage there’s a decent amount of child interaction.
Finally, I have been looking forward to this book for years and years and years. I thought he would be my favorite hero and it would be my favorite of the series and perhaps the expectations just did me in.
Perhaps I will pick it up again down the road and read it and see if my feelings change!
Content warnings: These should be taken as a minimum of what to expect. It’s very possible I have missed some.
- mention of darker side of life in St. Giles – sex work, murder, starving children, child/human trafficking, child labor, gin abuse, child abuse
- heroine is barren and has miscarried multiple times
- feelings of infidelity – heroine was cheated on by her husband and is raising his bastard child
- attempted murder – villain tries to kill the hero
- gun usage without injury
Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:
Safe sex: No but they aren’t worried about pregnancy and the hero is a virgin
Consent: I’d consider it implied – we are in both of their perspectives and we know they are interested in the acts
There is a kiss somewhere prior to 56% but I didn’t note the percentage
56% - 🔥 blow job behind the curtains where the hero is hiding
60% - kisses in the carriage
64% - 🔥 breast play, fingering for her with the heroine teaching him, missionary
68% - 🔥 her on top
73% - 🔥 come inside me, missionary on the table then he lifts and holds her
82% - 🔥 fingering for her, doggy-ish style (with her flattened into the bed)
88% - kisses
Readability: 📖📖📖 (I got bored and had to tell myself to pick it back up repeatedly)
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Humor: A bit
Perspective: Third person from the hero and heroine and some minor side characters
When mains are first on page together:
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happily ever after
Epilogue: Yes, but it’s about Godric St. John and from his perspective (the hero of the next book)
Format: listened to audiobook from the library (Hoopla)
Should I read in order?
Yes. This series builds with each book, with the Ghost of St. Giles being a character throughout as well as Winter having some page time in prior books.
Basic plot:
Winter lives a double life as the Ghost of St. Giles. His secret is in jeopardy after Isabel helps save the Ghost, but also becomes one of the orphanages benefactor...
Give this a try if you want:
- Georgian time period (1738)
- London setting
- class differences
- working class hero – he oversees an orphanage
- lessons for the hero on etiquette
- virgin hero
- intertwining series with plenty of character cross over and side characters
- higher steam - 5 full scenes (At least...I could have missed some since I waited like 2 months before writing my review)
Ages:
- I have notes that say ‘hero is not yet 30’ and ‘hero is 26’ so I have no idea if one of those was supposed to be the heroine but either way I would say they are both late 20s ish
First line:
The body in the road was the absolute cap to the day.
My thoughts:
I know so many of you loved this book and I am SO SAD I didn’t love it.
It didn’t work for me because I felt bored. I kept having to tell myself to pick it up. I didn’t really feel anything about anyone in this story. And I think there are a few reasons for this, just personal stuff with me and not the story.
First of all, I don’t think Ashford McNaab is the narrator for me. I have liked her but...I think she doesn’t get emotional enough for me? I’m not sure. But I think I will try reading the next book because I’m worried I’m starting to just have a ‘thing’ with her narration and I don’t want to risk it.
Secondly, this series does some things that I just don’t love as a romance reader. Most don’t care, but I really dislike getting a bunch of different perspectives other than the main couple. I want only focus on the mains, it’s just what I like. And this series isn’t really like that. It has stories starting all over for future books, it has POV in other characters that will be met later in the series. It keeps pulling me from the main couple and making my interest wane.
Thirdly, I was at the time of reading this, also well into Elisa Braden’s Rescued from Ruin series. Braden’s series also does a bit of the starting future books in a story and giving some other POVs in it so maybe I just needed to chose only one series at a time that does that or I start to get too twitchy.
I also think Hoyt’s books are just unnecessarily long. This is totally because I am in my grumpy, can’t focus, want short books phase and not her actual writing...but I can’t help but think how so much could have been cut with the same feelings within.
Also, I’m not the biggest fan of children being big parts in the story right now because I homeschool my kids and they are up my butt the entire day long and the last thing I want to read about is more kids. So taking place at an orphanage there’s a decent amount of child interaction.
Finally, I have been looking forward to this book for years and years and years. I thought he would be my favorite hero and it would be my favorite of the series and perhaps the expectations just did me in.
Perhaps I will pick it up again down the road and read it and see if my feelings change!
Content warnings: These should be taken as a minimum of what to expect. It’s very possible I have missed some.
- mention of darker side of life in St. Giles – sex work, murder, starving children, child/human trafficking, child labor, gin abuse, child abuse
- heroine is barren and has miscarried multiple times
- feelings of infidelity – heroine was cheated on by her husband and is raising his bastard child
- attempted murder – villain tries to kill the hero
- gun usage without injury
Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:
Safe sex:
Consent:
There is a kiss somewhere prior to 56% but I didn’t note the percentage
56% - 🔥 blow job behind the curtains where the hero is hiding
60% - kisses in the carriage
64% - 🔥 breast play, fingering for her with the heroine teaching him, missionary
68% - 🔥 her on top
73% - 🔥 come inside me, missionary on the table then he lifts and holds her
82% - 🔥 fingering for her, doggy-ish style (with her flattened into the bed)
88% - kisses
challenging
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖 (The page count dragged for me and I was constantly distracting myself with other stuff because I struggled to come back to it)
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋 (Overall the scenes were decent and held a lot of that emotional/explicit combo I wanted – but they were also a touch light (compared to her later work) with some fading and lots were interrupted.
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥 (If you’re generous with the third)
Humor: A bit – quite a bit of bickering humor between them
Perspective: Third person from the heroine, hero and the hero’s mother (eww)
More character focused or plot focused? character
How did the speed of the story feel? medium
When mains are first on page together: Almost immediately
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happily ever after
Epilogue: Yes, 5 months later
Format: read on Kindle Unlimited
Should I read in order?
This is the first of Scott’s Heart’s Temptation series.
Basic plot:
Thornton and Cleo were a love match – but that was 7 years ago. Now she finds herself in his company at a country house party.
Give this a try if you want:
- Victorian (1880)
- second chance romance – after a 7 year separation
- house party
- masquerade
- you’re okay with mention of infidelity and the heroine being married when she reconnects with the hero
- very small epistolary section
- medium steam – 3 full scenes if you’re generous with the last one as it’s pretty short.
Ages:
- heroine is 25, hero is about 30
First line:
Cleo, Countess Scarbrough, decided there had never been a more ideal moment to feign illness.
My thoughts:
I know this is one of Scott’s earlier works and probably doesn’t have the same writing voice her more recent novels have. I did read Her Errant Earl awhile ago, but this is my second by her.
This one was quite a bit lighter in steam that her more recent releases. It had a number of kisses and partial scenes, but only 3 ‘full’ scenes and 1 was really quite light and short.
This book had a whole bunch of things that are at the bottom of the barrel for my romance likes, which is totally my preference and not the book’s fault. I didn’t connect with either main – I thought the hero was a complete jerk (which I usually like, honestly) but he just said things that bothered me through the entire book (I can deal with a bit in the beginning and then he stops). He just came off to me as very immature. I felt like he acted young – the way he talked and handled his emotions, the getting drunk because he was ‘bored’. I just didn’t like it.
I did like the heroine a bit, but not much because her decisions and lack of communication bothered me.
There was a lot of things I wasn’t a fan of that went right up until the end of the book. This also contains quite a few tropes I just don’t usually like. enemies to lovers bickering. Second chance. Pregnancy. Lies. Other woman drama. Toxic AF mother in law. This felt like more of a high drama plot with the angry and judgmental mother in law and the heroine being married, and the hero jealous of other men and the heroine jealous of other women...it was very ‘soap opera’-ish which just isn’t my jam but I know many people enjoy!
There were a couple interactions I liked. And I did really like Ravenscroft as a side character so I’m excited for his book.
Quotes/spoiler-y thoughts:Any mistakes/typos are my own
oh, my
Thornton twisted her until her back slammed against the door with a thud. His tongue swept into her mouth. Her hands gripped his strong shoulders, pulling him closer. An answering ache blossomed within her. Somehow, he found his way under her skirts, grasping her left leg at the knee and hooking it around his lean hip. Deliberate fingers trailed up her thigh beneath three layers of fabric, finding bare skin.
---
“What I choose to do with Cleo or any other woman here is no one’s concern but mine.”
“Why do you call her by her Christian name?”
“Because she is Cleo to me,” he said, the admission torn from him against his well. “She will always be Cleo.”
At this point the hero hasn’t endeared me to him much at all, but I kinda love Ravenscroft…
“Ravenscroft, you bastard,” he remarked in a deceptively casual tone, “have you become so depraved you’ve taken to peering beneath ladies’ skirts in the library?”
//
“Blessed angels’ sakes! Why would you fight over me?”
“Because you’re a beautiful woman,” Ravenscroft announced through gritted teeth at the same moment Thornton muttered, “Damned if I know.”
---
Thornton broke their kiss and caught her wrists, raising them above her head, pinning them to the bark with one strong hand.
//
Thornton looked into her eyes and a most wicked smile curved his mouth. “Now that I’ve gone you at my mercy, will you call me Alex?”
“Thornton,” she began.
“Naughty, naughty,” he said in a low voice, pulling her wrists higher.
Content warnings: These should be taken as a minimum of what to expect. It’s very possible I have missed some.
- mention of heroine’s husband cheating on the her throughout their marriage
- feelings of infidelity – the heroine has intimacies with the hero while she’s married (her husband is a dick)
- miscarriage remembered
- assault on page – the hero’s mother slaps the heroine
- hero calls the heroine a bitch (quite late in the book too – almost 90% in)
Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:
Safe sex: No. The heroine is married to someone else but has been separated from him for awhile.
Hows the consent? implied? Kind of? The hero definitely doesn’t ask and if he did the heroine would probably say no, though we are in her perspective and know she has a longing and feelings for him.
2% neck kisses, beginning fingering for her
10% - kiss
21% - bath scene where he washes her hair and a kiss
30% - kisses
33% - kisses
44% - 🔥 kisses, fingering/oral for her, sex against a bookshelf
“Trust me, my love.”
“I do,” she said, meaning it. She clutched at her voluminous satin ad raised it to her waist.
He pressed his mouth to her inner thigh. “Hook your leg over my shoulder.”
54% - 🔥 kisses, blow job (incomplete), fingering/oral for her, missionary
When he reached for the fastening on his trousers, she stopped him.
“No.” She pushed him to his back on the bed and hooked her leg across his so that she straddled his lean hips. She dropped a kiss on his taut abdomen, savoring the rigid cords of his muscle, then moved lower, sinking a playful tongue into his navel.
72% - kiss
93% - 🔥 missionary – it’s pretty short
“You’re going to kill me, woman.”
“I can’t think of a better way to die.”
Readability: 📖📖📖 (The page count dragged for me and I was constantly distracting myself with other stuff because I struggled to come back to it)
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋 (Overall the scenes were decent and held a lot of that emotional/explicit combo I wanted – but they were also a touch light (compared to her later work) with some fading and lots were interrupted.
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥 (If you’re generous with the third)
Humor: A bit – quite a bit of bickering humor between them
Perspective: Third person from the heroine, hero and the hero’s mother (eww)
More character focused or plot focused? character
How did the speed of the story feel? medium
When mains are first on page together: Almost immediately
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happily ever after
Epilogue: Yes, 5 months later
Format: read on Kindle Unlimited
Should I read in order?
This is the first of Scott’s Heart’s Temptation series.
Basic plot:
Thornton and Cleo were a love match – but that was 7 years ago. Now she finds herself in his company at a country house party.
Give this a try if you want:
- Victorian (1880)
- second chance romance – after a 7 year separation
- house party
- masquerade
- you’re okay with mention of infidelity and the heroine being married when she reconnects with the hero
- very small epistolary section
- medium steam – 3 full scenes if you’re generous with the last one as it’s pretty short.
Ages:
- heroine is 25, hero is about 30
First line:
Cleo, Countess Scarbrough, decided there had never been a more ideal moment to feign illness.
My thoughts:
I know this is one of Scott’s earlier works and probably doesn’t have the same writing voice her more recent novels have. I did read Her Errant Earl awhile ago, but this is my second by her.
This one was quite a bit lighter in steam that her more recent releases. It had a number of kisses and partial scenes, but only 3 ‘full’ scenes and 1 was really quite light and short.
This book had a whole bunch of things that are at the bottom of the barrel for my romance likes, which is totally my preference and not the book’s fault. I didn’t connect with either main – I thought the hero was a complete jerk (which I usually like, honestly) but he just said things that bothered me through the entire book (I can deal with a bit in the beginning and then he stops). He just came off to me as very immature. I felt like he acted young – the way he talked and handled his emotions, the getting drunk because he was ‘bored’. I just didn’t like it.
I did like the heroine a bit, but not much because her decisions and lack of communication bothered me.
There was a lot of things I wasn’t a fan of that went right up until the end of the book. This also contains quite a few tropes I just don’t usually like.
There were a couple interactions I liked. And I did really like Ravenscroft as a side character so I’m excited for his book.
Quotes/spoiler-y thoughts:Any mistakes/typos are my own
oh, my
Thornton twisted her until her back slammed against the door with a thud. His tongue swept into her mouth. Her hands gripped his strong shoulders, pulling him closer. An answering ache blossomed within her. Somehow, he found his way under her skirts, grasping her left leg at the knee and hooking it around his lean hip. Deliberate fingers trailed up her thigh beneath three layers of fabric, finding bare skin.
---
“What I choose to do with Cleo or any other woman here is no one’s concern but mine.”
“Why do you call her by her Christian name?”
“Because she is Cleo to me,” he said, the admission torn from him against his well. “She will always be Cleo.”
At this point the hero hasn’t endeared me to him much at all, but I kinda love Ravenscroft…
“Ravenscroft, you bastard,” he remarked in a deceptively casual tone, “have you become so depraved you’ve taken to peering beneath ladies’ skirts in the library?”
//
“Blessed angels’ sakes! Why would you fight over me?”
“Because you’re a beautiful woman,” Ravenscroft announced through gritted teeth at the same moment Thornton muttered, “Damned if I know.”
---
Thornton broke their kiss and caught her wrists, raising them above her head, pinning them to the bark with one strong hand.
//
Thornton looked into her eyes and a most wicked smile curved his mouth. “Now that I’ve gone you at my mercy, will you call me Alex?”
“Thornton,” she began.
“Naughty, naughty,” he said in a low voice, pulling her wrists higher.
Content warnings: These should be taken as a minimum of what to expect. It’s very possible I have missed some.
- mention of heroine’s husband cheating on the her throughout their marriage
- feelings of infidelity – the heroine has intimacies with the hero while she’s married (her husband is a dick)
- miscarriage remembered
- assault on page – the hero’s mother slaps the heroine
- hero calls the heroine a bitch (quite late in the book too – almost 90% in)
Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:
Safe sex:
Hows the consent?
2% neck kisses, beginning fingering for her
10% - kiss
21% - bath scene where he washes her hair and a kiss
30% - kisses
33% - kisses
44% - 🔥 kisses, fingering/oral for her, sex against a bookshelf
“Trust me, my love.”
“I do,” she said, meaning it. She clutched at her voluminous satin ad raised it to her waist.
He pressed his mouth to her inner thigh. “Hook your leg over my shoulder.”
54% - 🔥 kisses, blow job (incomplete), fingering/oral for her, missionary
When he reached for the fastening on his trousers, she stopped him.
“No.” She pushed him to his back on the bed and hooked her leg across his so that she straddled his lean hips. She dropped a kiss on his taut abdomen, savoring the rigid cords of his muscle, then moved lower, sinking a playful tongue into his navel.
72% - kiss
93% - 🔥 missionary – it’s pretty short
“You’re going to kill me, woman.”
“I can’t think of a better way to die.”