We finally have some relationship talk!!! Riku and Ten are moving forward with each other in funny, awkward and sweet moments. 

Steam: some hand holding

Overall I enjoyed this one. We're fully immersed in the love triangle and it's really conflicting for me. Time spent with Chiaki and Ten and Ten and Riku. Definitely some humorous parts! 

Steam: none

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Plot/Storyline: 📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔 
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑  
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥 (Some may count this a touch hotter than me – the scenes were on the short side and not super descriptive) 
Humor: Just a bit
Perspective: Third person perspective from both the hero and heroine 

Basic plot:
Louisa is tired of being poor and knows no man is society is going to swoop up and save her with marriage. She applies to be a chaperone for a family of 2 American heiresses looking for husbands. Her brother and his two friends want introductions and her to put in a good word so their dowries can save their disastrous finances. But the more time Hawk spends with Louisa and the heiresses, the more time he can’t get just Louisa out of his head.

Give this a try if you want:
- Victorian time period – this one takes place in 1888
- Low to mid steam – there are a number of scenes but the details are on the vague/flowery side
- Brother’s best friend – they knew each other as children, but he is 8 years older than her so they didn’t spend a lot of time together
- Hero needs an heiress
- Focus on the relationship (no villain/murder to solve)
- Ruined heroine
- Working heroine (she’s a chaperone) and a Duke hero

Ages:
- Heroine is 26, hero is 34

My thoughts:
Well, I was excited for this one but sadly the hero ruined it all for me. 

I enjoyed Heath’s writing – it’s been quite awhile since I’ve read her and I’m eager to read more. In this one, I did really love Louisa. She’s fed up with her useless, head in the sand brother, and decides to work for her own money since their estate is under major financial stress.

Hawk has known Louisa for years and never paid much attention. But now the attraction he feels felt pretty instant. And while I don’t love that, I was okay with that. But then we spent half the book with him chasing someone else. Yes, he was attracted to Louisa but it didn’t seem to make him question or stop pursuing one of her charges. 

I adore ruined heroine and I got that here. But I was really disappointed in this scene. And after she was ruined I was hoping the book would turn around for me because the things that had kind of been irritating me would be out of the way. But afterwards I just got frustrated by different things. 

I just never really connected with the hero. I never really felt their tension together, their longing, their love. And the ending was such a disappointment to me. I just wanted way more from this book. I wasn’t happy with the hero or the heroine by the end of this book.  

Though I loved that the hero has never taken a mistress! Though he ruins it by talking about brothels so I guess that kind of negates it.


One line I loved!

“I’m sorry, Alex,” she said quietly, “but it is not my place to convince you that the ladies are worthy of you, rather you must convince me that you are worthy of an introduction.


Content Warnings:

Brief mention of death of parents – father died of a heart attack 3 years ago in the story, mother soon after)
Brief mentions of smoking

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:

Pg 180 – kiss
Pg 202 🔥 – first sex scene, missionary – a few pages but the wording is extremely vague.
Pg 257 🔥 = her on top
Pg 286 – sex scene
Pg 350 – sex? I don’t even know for sure what happened here it’s so vague

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 

Plot/Storyline: 📖📖📖📖 

Feels: 🦋🦋🦋 

Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔 

Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡ 

Romance: 💞💞💞 

Sensuality: 💋💋💋 

Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑🍑🍑 

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

Humor: Just a bit 

Perspective: Third person perspective from both the hero and heroine 

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

Should I read in order? 

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

Basic plot:

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

Give this a try if you want: 

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

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

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

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

- Older heroine, younger hero 

- Childless HEA 

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

Ages: 

- Heroine is 30, hero is 21 

My thoughts:

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

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

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

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

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

Content Warnings: 

cheating mentioned – heroine cheated once on her abusive dead husband 

rape/abuse remembered 

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

heroine has been sterilized against having children 

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

 

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes: 

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

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

33% 🔥 - missionary sex on the couch 

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

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

50% 🔥 - blowjob with pearls inserted anally for him 

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

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

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

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

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

98% 🔥 - sex scene 

 

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Plot/Storyline: 📖📖📖📖
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’s perspectives


“You’d better start making love to me if you’re going to make blasphemous jokes.”
“I started making love to you when I took your boots off.”


Should I read in order?
It’s not necessary but I did find myself wishing I had read book 2 (I did read book 1 of the series).

Basic plot:
William is a member of the Society of Beasts where Josiah is the administrator. William has never really looked at Josiah, as he’s just a servant, but all that changes when suffering from a claustrophobic episode, Josiah is able to calm him like nothing else has. They end up striking a bargain to work together – Josiah helps William overcome his fear if William will help Josiah get information about a rival club.

Give this a try if you want:
- Regency time period (1820)
- Much of this story takes place in Bath, which I thought was fun! The rest in London.
- Unrequited love – Josiah has been pining for William from afar
- A bargain struck – William requests Josiah to help him get through his claustrophobic episodes and Josiah agrees if he helps him infiltrate a rival club
- Fake relationship trope – yay!
- One bed – even more yay!!
- M/M relationship
- Disability featured - William suffers from claustrophobia due to trauma
- Mid to high steam -
- Lots of focus on the relationship – there is just a touch of mystery going on here and the two work together on a common goal but so much of the page time is them spending time together and getting to know each other deeper
- Class difference – William is a snobby 3rd son of a nobleman and Josiah is a servant

Ages:
- Didn’t see them mentioned – would guess mid/late 20s?

My thoughts:
I enjoyed a lot about the first story in this series but I LOVED this one. So, so much. I am definitely going to go back and read book 2. This book gave me so many feels and butterflies of falling in love!

William is described as a bit of a snob. This makes his falling in love with Josiah, a servant, that much sweeter. And as you get to know him, and his judgment eases it’s just so rewarding to experience. The walls he’s erected fall and while I didn’t know how I would feel about William in the beginning, I ended up absolutely loving him.

Josiah takes pride in his position with the Society of Beasts and everything runs smoothly as a direct result of his care. His fascination with William is double edged – he drives him insane with his temper and careless remarks but has also caused a longing in him so he can’t think of another.

These two together were pure perfection. It gave small vibes of sunshine and grump and I loved seeing Josiah take control and William experience vulnerability with him. There was just so, so much sweetness in this book. So many little things I adore in romance. Whispers against lips when you’re feeling so unsure. Thinking of them when they aren’t with you. The uncertainty of how a gift will be received. A simple holding of a hand making me breathless. It was lovely. So, so lovely.

Some random parts I noted:

So, so hot

Standing together, separated by buckskin, linen and little else, the thought of exploring what lay beneath had Harley reaching for the wasitband of Josiah’s breeches.
“Now, now.” Josiah’s soft laughter in his ear was intensely frustrating. “I’m leading. Remember?”
“Then hurry up and lead, damn it.”
“If you’re impolite I’ll have to open the door. We can’t make progress if you’re too exciteable.”
“You know very well we can.”
“Then let me.”


And this is a way to make consent even hotter

“I want to-”
“Yes. You can. Don’t ask if you’re going to take charge.”
“Ah. Now that’s what men in charge don’t understand.”
“What do you mean?”
“You can get so much more if you ask nicely. Didn’t you know that?”
“I didn’t ask for a treatise on class in the middle of – oh, Jesus.”
“You see? I asked. Or half asked, before you interrupted, and now I have this.” Josiah’s hand was hot against his cock; the man had undone Hartley’s breeches so quickly that he hadn’t noticed.


How sexy when buying gifts for his lover

Hartley opened one of the drawers, treasures glittering through the glass under his fingers. “Well? What do you think?”
“All of those look far too extravagant.”
“I assure you, they’re not. Hartley’s voice had changed. Now it was a low, intimate murmur of such unexpected softness that Josiah blinked. “Give me an inch, and I’ll drape you in diamonds. These little cameos look modest enough – what about that one?”


And this utterly endearing event

It was only then, staring at the pin, that he realized he was going to purchase it for Hartley. Even if he never actually showed it to the man, even if the pin lived out the rest of its days tucked deep in a handerkerchief and shoved in a vase or card box somewhere in his office, he was going to buy it for him – buy it as a small, deeply ineffectual gesture of his sentiments.


Swoon

“I’m not laughing.” Hartley’s smile made Josiah ache. “Would you like me to?”
“No.” Not true; he wanted everything of Hartley’s, his laughter, his touch. Anything he saw fit to give him. “I...I...”


Keeping a part of you special and only for each other

“Because I won’t wear my new pin until I see you again. I don’t want it cheapened by other eyes. So do the same, please.”

Content Warnings:

Drinking and brief mention of prior opium use
Scenes of terror suffered from claustrophobia
Remembrance of being trapped in a house on fire

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:

20% - kiss
33% - 🔥 kisses and Joseph gives William a blow job
39% - kiss
50% - kisses in an alley
54% - kiss
60% - 🔥 kisses, fingering, William gives Josiah a hand job, W penetrates J (all this takes place in a greenhouse)
80% - William gives Josiah a blowjob, mostly fade to black
81% - 🔥 kisses, W penetrates J
94% - 🔥 kisses mutual hand jobs

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 

Plot/Storyline: 📖📖📖📖 

Feels: 🦋🦋🦋🦋 

Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔 

Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡⚡ 

Romance: 💞💞💞💞 

Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋 

Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑🍑 

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

Humor: Yes 

Perspective: Third person perspective, fairly evenly split between hero and heroine 

You probably don’t have to – these two spend a lot of time together with minimal time with the other characters from the series, but the series is really good and does flow together. At the very least, maybe read the prior book, The Scandalous Vixen, because the heroine here is in that book in a scene with Xander (It’s the story of this heroine’s brother). If you walk into this book alone you might feel like the story started without you. 

Pippa pretends to be a wallflower because she knows she never wants to marry. She aspires to do more with her life than simply get married, especially when the man she craves is off limits to her. 

- Age gap (older hero) – they are 10 years apart but it’s talked about quite a bit – he needs spectacles for dim light reading and the heroine refers to him as having ‘advanced age’ ;) 

- Friend’s little sister – Xander and Pippa’s brother have been friends for a number of years 

- Class difference – heroine is the sister of a duke, hero is a commoner 

- Heroine nurses hero back to health 

- Later Regency time period (1826) 

- Unrequited love feel (both pine for each other 

- Heroine pursues hero (it’s definitely mutual, but Xander is more hesitant than Pippa) 

- Hero that’s a decent amount taller than the heroine 

Ages: 

- Heroine is 22, hero 32 

I love how Sumner titles her chapters (example, Chapter One reads “Where a hero decides he must act to save the heroine”). I remember seeing authors do this years ago and I feel like I never see it anymore. 

The first scene of this book, where Xander goes and basically rescues Pippa from a potentially dangerous situation is so perfect for setting the tension. I just loved it, the little touches, the longing, the wanting, the descriptions of our characters, I could just picture them so clearly here. And from here on out it just got more wonderful. 

Can I just say my toes absolutely curl when the hero calls the heroine “luv”???? Every. Time! 

Xander came from nothing in the rookery and has built through hard work everything he has. He still has such a strong sense of what is right and wrong and is very protective of Pippa, though he fights hard to not dirty her with his hands. He’s opening an exclusive club called The Devil’s Lair and Pippa desperately wants to see the opening. 

Pippa was fun! She has no problem going after what’s important to her – she wants more out of life than to just be a wife. She is envious of what Xander can accomplish as a man, and without the ties of her level of society. She also has no problem chasing Xander – he’s definitely a participant but he repeatedly tries to do the right thing and leave her alone. 

There was a lot of things I found sweet and romantic between these two. That sweetness combined with some serious steamy and emotional scenes made this a wonderful read to me. The fact that Xander keeps trinkets from her, close to him, was so cute. I also really loved the proposal at the end. This is definitely one of my favorites of the series, though I think I liked book 1 (The Brazen Bluestocking) a bit more, just because I prefer when the hero pursues. Still I loved this story! 

My only other complaint is something I saw in the last book and unfortunately it was only a couple chapters before I saw it again and now it’s become ‘a thing’. The use of italics. They all work, and it’s not like it’s badly done, but it’s so frequently, now every italicized word jumps out at me with a seriously over the top pause/jump in tone. And it kind of ruins it for me. I can’t stop. I can’t unsee it. I’m hoping if I don’t read her again for awhile I will forget about it and be able to read like a normal person.

 

A few other notes: 

That’s Xander! 

Ugh I love it so much 

So fn cute. 

This book had a lot of great moments of humor, but I really appreciated this one – when Pippa’s brother finds out his friend’s been swiving her 

 

Content Warnings: 

House fire with injuries 

Brief mentions of war in India (where his brother fought) 

Brief mention of opium 

Brief mention of hero trying to kiss someone else to get heroine out of his head (that’s as far as it went) 

Physical abuse remembered by heroine’s father 

 

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes: 

47% - kiss 

52% - kiss 

58% - 🔥 kisses, fingering for her 

60% - 🔥 masturbation scene in a carriage for him (a bit short/close to the prior scene) 

66% - 🔥 oral for her, missionary 

71% - 🔥 missionary 

78% - 🔥 incomplete blow job, her on top in a curricle 

95% - 🔥 her on top 

 

Overall: 4.5 rounded to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 

Plot/Storyline: 📖📖📖📖 

Feels: 🦋🦋🦋🦋 

Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔 

Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡⚡ 

Romance: 💞💞💞💞 

Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋 

Sex Scene Length: 🍑 

Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥 

Humor: Yes, some light humor 

Perspective: Third person from both hero and heroine, though it’s more time with the heroine 

Should I read in order?  

It’s not necessary but there is a short story titled Scandals of Tokyo that is a prequel to this story – Ned is the hero, and he is a character in this story. 

Basic plot:

Griff is anticipating his wards arrival in Japan and seeks Suki’s help as a teacher to assist in their education and learning the language. He has no idea Suki already has some assumptions about him due to her scandal column in the Tokyo Daily news. Suki is trying to turn her gossip column into a more serious journalism opportunity and she finds some unexpected help with Griff. 

Give this a try if you want: 

- Tsukiji, Tokyo setting in 1897 

- Secret writer/working women trope 

- English, divorced hero/Japanese-French independent but innocent heroine 

- Secret identity 

- Slow burn feel 

- Lower steam – kisses and 2 full scenes 

- Working together on a cause (kind of a mystery?) 

Ages: 

- Hero is 31, heroine is 23 

My thoughts:

I have been SO EXCITED about this story! I love that it brings us to Japan (I have been begging for more Asian romance settings and have only seen a handful of suggestions) and that unique time period of Meiji era. Japan has opened her borders and is on the cusp of many changes within its culture. 

Hallman does a wonderful job of immersing us in the land, scenery and culture. Subtly woven into events, observations and discussions it flows so you can envision the beautiful carp streamers, traditional dress, and cherry blossoms. I loved these aspects of the story, adored leaving the London scene I’ve been in for so many stories. 

Griff is our hero. Rumors surround him since his wife left him soon after their move to Japan. Now he’s been seen around town with a war widow and Suki makes some assumptions about his character and relationship perhaps a bit unfairly due to her own background. Griff turns out to be one of the sweetest heroes, strong yet gentle, and I really fell for him. 

Suki is such a unique heroine and I adored her. She writes a gossip column under the Tokyo Tattler but dreams of more prestigious stories. She also teaches at a school and speaks French, Japanese, and English. She’s hardworking, funny, kind and caring. 

Something I really found refreshing about this book was nothing quite happened the way I thought it would. Some romances can feel predictable after awhile, and I’ll be honest, with some of the secrets these two had going on I brought some assumptions forward about what would happen and was happy to get a more unexpected story. 

This story I found to be fun, smart, sweet, engaging, and a bit adventurous. I found the ending to have a unique resolution and I loved the couple’s tenacity to solve their mystery. I am totally going to be following this series. 

Here’s a few random parts that I wanted to note from the book 

I love when these little tidbits are included! It brings the area/time period to life 

I thought this was interesting as I never would have thought about it this way! The difference among cultures. 

Another interesting cultural difference 

I LOVE that Griff has a unique laugh! It’s so cute! There’s a few scenes with it. 

 

Content Warnings: 

Talk/implied scenes of brothels 

Mysterious death of a character (found to be overdose) 

Opium usage mentioned 

Sexual harassment (halted, but heroine gets her breast groped) 

Abandonment by parent (heroine’s father left her at a young age) 

Talk of colonialism 

Mob scene that results in anger, slurs, and rocks thrown 

Minor violence and threatening with a gun 

 

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes: 

31% - kiss 

40% - kisses, breast touches 

58% - brief remembrance of hero masturbation 

68% - kisses and light touches 

74% 🔥 - kisses, touches, fingering orgasm for her 

94% - kiss 

95% 🔥 - kisses, missionary sex 

 

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Plot/Storyline: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔 
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋 
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑  
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥
Humor: A bit
Perspective: Third person perspective from both hero and heroine


Should I read in order? 
Probably – this one is okay as a stand alone, but there’s so many interwoven friends becoming family relationships in this small town that I think your enjoyment would be better following everyone’s HEAs together. 

Basic plot:
Ridge Steele is a former preacher. Accused of crimes, he must make his home among a town of outlaws but he longs for someone to share his life with. He corresponds with a prisoner, Adeline, to be his mail order bride. Upon her release, she travels to meet him.

Give this a try if you want:
- Western America setting in 1882 (Texas)
- There’s plenty of heavier themes running through this book – it is very much focused on finding love and recovery after trauma so be okay with various content warnings (There’s not too much on page, much of it is remembered/implied)
- Disability featured – heroine suffers from selective mutism
- Mail order bride trope/marriage of convenience
- Big family feel – their town has a family feel with everything coming together and helping each other, though they aren’t actually related

Ages:
- Heroine is 20, couldn’t find an age for hero (would guess late 20s?)

My thoughts:
So, I definitely don’t want to let my lower rating deter anyone from giving this a try! If you think the things above sound like something you would enjoy then definitely give it a try.

This book has a lot of themes about healing within it. So many of the characters suffer, and they find ways to cope and overcome their life traumas. There’s also a lot of things that happen on page, where the characters work together, or work with other members of the town to really bond together and fix problems.

But, for me, I just didn’t like it. There was so much going on, so so much. The romance got a little lost for me and sadly I didn’t feel much tension between the two of them. I eventually got bored, even though there was a lot of action and things happening. I wanted the book to end a few times earlier, but then a new drama would occur that they would have to overcome. It was just a lot for a person that tends to prefer those simple books based on relationship development.

I did listen to the audiobook. I’m not sure if it affected how much I would have enjoyed the book versus reading – I think it would have been similar. I can’t say I loved the narration, but I had problems with the book more than the narration.

Also was it just me, or did the man with the ‘lovely Irish accent’ in the book sound like Count Dracula? Lol

Narrator was Meghan Kelley.


Content Warnings:

- Lightening strike sets hotel on fire
- Slut, bitch used against females 
- Solitary confinement remembered
- Physical assault/attempted sexual assault
- Violence, shootouts
- Remembered deaths of various people
- Missing child (short – only about 1-2 chapters)
- Some religious abuse (heroine’s father is a zealot and abuses his family due to his beliefs)
- Cigarette usage/rolling
- Prison torture remembered
- Tornado that damages but doesn’t kill anyone
- Kidnapped and abused physically by villain (heroine’s father)
- Heroine’s mother kills heroine’s father while he ‘baptizes’ heroine

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes – all the scenes were on the lighter side – I listened to the audiobook and it’s a little harder for me to tell how long the scenes are that way

8% - kiss
25% - kiss
37% - kiss
38% - kiss
50% 🔥 - kisses, touches, breast play, fingering
53% 🔥 - sex by a lake
73% - kiss
96% 🔥 - kiss, missionary, fairly short

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Plot/Storyline: 📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋 
Emotional Depth: 💔💔 
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋 
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑 🍑  
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 
Humor: Only a touch
Perspective: first person and only the heroine’s point of view


Should I read in order?
I don’t think you need to. There is only minor mention of Circe in the first book and in this book only minor mention/page time with characters from the first story. 

Basic plot:
Circe goes to sleep on Earth and wakes up in a corral of women on an alternate universe. She is hunted by Dax Lahn who takes her as wife and makes her his queen.

Give this a try if you want:
- You must be okay with endless content warnings and dark romance feel. Like, it’s a lot of rape and dubious consent
- Historical feel – heroine is from contemporary times on Earth but alternate universe time is primitive without current technology
- Medium to high steam – plenty of open door scenes
- Language barrier – our heroine and hero don’t understand each other for half the book 


My thoughts:
I am so so sad with this book. I was so looking forward to it! Especially after reading the first one that I really enjoyed. This one, maybe my expectations were too high. I’m not sure. But overall it didn’t work for me and I was disappointed in it. 

I’m just going to kind of whine and complain and may get into specifics. So.

I wish there was a more ‘complete’ feeling with the people switching to the alternate universe. I feel like it was a bit better explained in the first book but I’m still just wanting some better closer and wrap around with it. And maybe that comes in the later books of the series, I’m not sure. 

To me, the tension was destroyed early on in the book due to the hero’s behavior towards the heroine. It was hard to regain that when they were starting to form a relationship together. I hate that he raped her repeatedly and then they just started having good sex. I live for that built up of wanting and longing and I didn’t find that here because of that. 

The language barrier – I really liked that aspect, I have been craving that in romances lately. But here it was strange because when they started learning each other’s language the hero would copy these full sentences of hers and it just sounded kind of ridiculous. I have no complaints over how fast they learned it – that’s find I understand the page time needed it. And I liked how he would go and try to find the meaning of some of the words. But it was creepy when they would be having sex and he would just copy everything she said. Weird. Lol

I can excuse a lot. A LOT. But even this hero was too much for me. I am okay with dark romance and all the heavy content warnings but I hated that he hit her. I hated it so much. So so much. It was kind of irredeemable to me. And then when Circe just repeatedly forgives him everything because it’s the way it is it got annoying. I understand, ‘its the way their customs were’ but she would get so upset and then be put in her place by everyone and just forgive him. I was okay with it the first few times but when it just kept happening repeatedly I was so ready for him to put in some effort and repent. 

The ending I wasn’t sold on either. He said all those horrible things to her and she left and he just brings her back and basically says your mine and she’s like okay. I was just so disappointed, I think I could have really liked this book if there have been a bit more balance between the characters. If the hero had to give a bit more. 

This maybe could have been helped with time in the hero’s head but we didn’t get that. And I’m always sad over that. 

The writing isn’t my favorite. This is just personal preference, it wasn’t riddled with errors or anything. But the whole ‘ohmygod’ and ‘oh shit’ just repeatedly was so irritating to me. I am find with that language but when it’s said like 7 different times on 1-2 pages perhaps it’s time for a new phrase. 

I don’t know. I’m mad at this book lol. I enjoyed the first so much, even though it had a few things I didn’t like. Nothing like this though. The other books in the series, their synopsis didn’t really grab me so I’m not sure if I’ll continue. I might try another by her in another genre and see if it has the same things that bother me.

Content Warnings:

Lots of use of the word “savage” to describe people
Implied/remembered rape scenes
Lots of dubious consent
Slavery
Violence and death
Domestic abuse – hero hits the heroine and bruises her face for a long period of time
Note: the heroine is the only blond and pale skinned character and she is the queen of their Golden Dynasty

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:

Pg 48 – fingering for her, doggy style
Pg 53 – her on top
Pg 109 – oral for her
Pg 139 – fade to black blow job followed by touches, fingering and doggy style
Pg 194 – fingering for her, missionary, doggy style
Pg 201 – fingering for her
Pg 243 - sex
Pg 285 - sex

Overall: 3.5 rounded to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 

Plot/Storyline: 📖📖📖 

Feels: 🦋🦋🦋 

Emotional Depth: 💔💔 

Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡⚡ 

Romance: 💞💞💞 

Sensuality: 💋💋💋 

Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑 

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

Humor: Yes 

Perspective: third person with the majority from the heroine’s perspective 

Should I read in order?  

You don’t have to. There’s some mentions of the first book’s heroine and how she traveled back in time and ‘left’ the heroine of this book. But overall I don’t think you need to read it, it doesn’t really establish how the special item they use to time travel works so you won’t be missing any major world build up for it. 

Basic plot:

Katy is having her bachelorette adventure with her girlfriends when she’s thrown back in time to medieval Wales. 

Give this a try if you want: 

- 1294 Wales (I could be a few years off on this time period, it might be 1292 – I already returned my library book so if anyone wants to check I’d love that!) 

- American, contemporary heroine/Welsh, medieval hero 

- Hero nurses heroine back to health 

- Heroine disguised as a lad trope 

- Marriage of necessity 

- Secret identity 

- Road trip romance 

My thoughts:

There was a lot I really enjoyed about this book! And some things that I didn’t love. But overall I found it a fun time travel. I liked the characters, I liked the plot, loved the steamy scenes. I think I’ll probably read the next one in the series too. 

The things I struggled with – I wanted the heroine’s relationship with her fiance established better or at least what she wasn’t in love with about him. Because all we really got was that he had to call her about a wedding question and it just seemed a little extreme, her reaction, not having any background other than that. I felt a bit bad for him haha. 

I wanted a bit more character depth throughout the journey. At the end, I still felt like I didn’t really know either main character super well, though maybe the hero had a bit more depth than the heroine. I think part of this was the fact that they didn’t understand each other for much of the first half the book so a lot of the plot was outside battles and road trip danger. I also could have used more time in the hero’s head. 

Still, this book had so, SO much that I have been craving lately. A Welsh hero! Language barrier challenges. Medieval time! And I am always up for some road trip romance and time travel. 

Content Warnings: 

Scenes of war and violence 

Death on page 

Scenes of hunting/killing animals on page for food 

Heroine is injured with an arrow to the arm 

Scenes of attempted sexual assault of side character by side character 

Possible infidelity depending on your tolerance – heroine is still engaged when she goes back in time and has hot sex 

 

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes: 

Pg 122 – neck kisses and light touches 

Pg 131 – kisses, touches, breast play, missionary 

Pg 137 – he picks her up and licks her pussy while she holds onto a tree branch (haha) then missionary but they are interrupted 

Pg 181 – wall sex, sex bent over the bed, oral for her, missionary 

Pg 212 – oral for her followed by missionary 

Total pages 263