rjordan19's reviews
951 reviews

Overall: 3.5 rounded to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋 (I debated between a 3 and 4...I prefer a bit more explicitness to the scenes?)
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥
Humor: A bit
Perspective: Third person from the heroine
More character focused or plot focused? character
How did the speed of the story feel? slow to medium
When mains are first on page together: Not too far in, 5% (chapter 1)
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happily ever after
Epilogue: Yes, not too far in the future
Format: listened to bought audiobook (audible)

Should I read in order?
This is a second generation of Gold Sky...I think you could definitely read book 1 first as this is the daughter of that book’s mains and the mom and fathers have plenty of page time in this book. Book 3 is also about a sister that has page time here. (Books 1 and 2 are first generation and books 3 and 4 are second generation)

Basic plot:
Florence is searching for a love like her triad parents – good thing she lives in Gold Sky where all forms of love are openly accepted..

Give this a try if you want:
- early 1900s Western America – book 3 was just prior to this one and that was 1910 but I don’t see a specific date for this novel
- Montana setting
- M/M/F pairing
- low angst/low conflict
- biracial heroine, scottish and mexican heroes
- small town/close knit community
- working women – Flo loves fashion and designs dresses, scarves, etc
- low to mid steam – I believe there’s 2 scenes? I could have missed something with audio because I get lazy with notes

Ages:
- Didn’t see any mentioned

First line:
“That isn’t how that works.”

My thoughts:
This one was very sweet. Very low angst. And I love my angst so I think I got a little bored with this story. But listening as an audiobook while life is stressful I did find things comforting about it.

The characters are all really sweet. I have loved getting to know Florence’s family throughout this series. And there is definitely some time in this book setting up for Rose. The heroes, Ansel and Brendan are just the sweetest men – very steadfast and loyal.

You get a lot of funny and adorable family time which if you’ve read book 1, continuing to see the mom and fathers living their HEA is fun.

I was thinking being MMF it would be a touch steamier, but it’s on the lower side. I think there’s 2 scenes, one being towards the end. Would have loved more steam!

Endearments

The heroes call the heroine ‘flower’. 

Content warnings: These should be taken as a minimum of what to expect. It’s very possible I have missed some.

- some brief scenes of racism (by out of town customers) and bigotry

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes: Sometimes my chapters are a bit off with audio (due to intro information/prologues/etc)

Safe sex: 

I don’t believe so 

Hows the consent? 

It’s good! 

Chapter 11 – 🔥kisses with all of them, oral for Flo

He moved slowly, deliberately, his hands gentle and methodical in his treatment of her dress and underthings. Up went her skirt, the hem gathering in his hands as he pushed it higher, and higher, and still higher, until the fabric of her skirts settled above her knees.
Florence watched still as he settled himself closer to her, his body now between her legs. She had parted them, allowing him to come closer, his shoulders nudging her knees and inner thighs, and only when he was leaning in, arms braced on either side of her thighs did he pause and look up at her.

Chapter 13 – kisses
Chapter 17 – 🔥anal fingering for Brendan, kisses, fingering for Flo, Ansel does Brendan, Brendan does Flo

Ansel raised up from his place on the bed and took to his knees behind Brendan. He leaned forward, a hand on the man’s shoulder for a moment as he leaned close to whisper in Brendan’s ear. “Are you ready for me?” His voice was rough, and Florence thought of gravel crunching beneath a wagon wheel, or flint striking steel. 

 

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋 (very vague language, flowery and poetic instead of explicit)
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥 (one very vague open door scene)
Humor: A touch
Perspective: Third person from the hero and heroine a bit from the villain (Braden)
More character focused or plot focused? character
How did the speed of the story feel? medium
When mains are first on page together: Not too far in, about 6% (there are some remembrances before this point)
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happily ever after
Epilogue: Yes, two months later
Format: voluntarily read an advanced reader copy through NetGalley in e-book form 4 years past due
(Descriptions found at end of my review)

Should I read in order?
This is the first in Lancaster’s Season of Scandal series.

Basic plot:
Hazel is ruined and desperate to find a place of safety. Help turns up in the unexpected and unwanted form of Joseph Sayle.

Give this a try if you want:
- Regency
- class difference elements – diplomat hero and ‘nobody’ heroine
- ruined heroine
- light road trip vibes
- diplomat hero
- former princess handmaiden
- close proximity
- villain to overcome
- low steam – one scene that is very light and a few kisses

Ages:
- Heroine is 22, didn’t catch hero

First line:
The residence of the Princess of Wales blazed with light.

My thoughts:
I really love the idea of this series. Compromised/ruined heroine is one of my favorite tropes so a whole series that features that sounds really fun to me!

But this one sadly fell a bit flat for me. There’s a lot of uncertainty from the heroine and a lot of self doubt. Lots of toeing around how each other feels while dealing with a villain, mystery side characters and some minor other woman drama.

The steam was a let down for me. It was open door but very light.

Content warnings: These should be taken as a minimum of what to expect. It’s very possible I have missed some.

- kidnapping of the heroine
- purposeful ruination by the villain and attempting to force the heroine to be his mistress
- parental death

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:

 
Safe sex: 

  I don't believe so but it's so vague you can't tell 

 
Hows the consent? 

  It's good!

 
42% - kiss
90% - kiss
94% - kiss, very vague open door scene (can’t really tell position, not a lot of details in any way and short scene) 

Overall: 4.5 rounded to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥 (There is also an epilogue scene but I decided not to count it)
Humor: Not much
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 to fast
When mains are first on page together: Not too far in, 8% or chapter 2
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happily ever after
Epilogue: Yes, 6 years later
Format: voluntarily read an advanced reader copy through booksprout in e-book form

Should I read in order?
I don’t think it’s necessary! These all stand alone really well in the series.

Basic plot:
Irene escapes the nunnery after being threatened with punishment for watching two men brawl (you know, the Regency thirst trap) when she tumbles off a cliff and is rescued by Simon.

Give this a try if you want:
- late Regency – 1822
- nun heroine
- hero falls first
- full figured heroine
- marriage of convenience
- ruined heroine
- shorter novel
- child free HEA (my assumption, not specifically stated)
- higher steam – 3-4 scenes within a shorter page count (some kink elements – light praise, degradation, toys)

Ages:
- I don’t believe they are mentioned

First line:
Now is my chance to escape

My thoughts:
I really enjoyed this quick and steamy read!

I loved both mains. Simon struggles with any type of scandal or bad behavior due to his parents shirking society standards for years so seeing him find his dirty talking voice was extra fun. Irene escapes a nunnery and runs right into a marriage to save her from being ruined. I enjoyed them circling each other and coming together to explore fantasies.

There is some elements of jealousy here and I eat that stuff up in romance. It triggers something rather feral in Simon 😏
It may be toxic but ugh I just melt when the hero loses it like that!

Quotes/spoiler-y thoughts:Any mistakes/typos are my own

Her gown clung to lush curves and the moonlight highlighted every hill and valley through the wet, translucent material. You’re supposed to be a gentleman. Whipping his coat off. He wrapped it around the shivering woman to provide a semblance of modesty.
---
“Prove it,” she challenged, excited by the prospect of freeing Simon from his invisible bounds. “Maybe I don’t want a proper congenial husband. Maybe I want a beast. I believe I overheard Lady Rushmore refer to Lord Mason as a -”
He didn’t let her finish.
Simon’s lips stole the words from her mouth with bruising efficiency.

 

Content warnings: These should be taken as a minimum of what to expect. It’s very possible I have missed some.

- mention of suicide of parent
- parental death
- forced into a nunnery for life to atone for parent’s sins by grandparents
- toxic aspect of religion/Christianity
- some scenes of jealousy and insecurity from the hero

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:

Safe sex: 

  No, but they are married 

Hows the consent? 

It’s good! 

29% - 🔥 fingering for her, missionary

“My impure thoughts were sin enough. I didn’t care to add to the list.”
“What a shame. It might have made your time at the convent more bearable, though I can’t deny a certain satisfaction knowing I’ll own your first orgasm.”

56% - 🔥 oral for her, bj but it’s interrupted

“I want to please you, husband,” she murmured, the words breathy and tantalizing on his sensitive flesh.

75% - 🔥 nipple clamps, hero masturbates on the heroine, her on top with mirror play

“Other men want to debauch my sweet little nun. They want to put their filthy hands on your soft curves and show you the carnal pleasures of sin, but I’m the only man with that right. It’s my fucking duty. Now get on your knees, wife.”

95% - kiss
98% - you walk in on a sex scene started with DP (with the jade dildo in the butt) 
 

 

Overall: 4.5 rounded ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥 ( I combined a few acts because they were close together so it might feel hotter than that to you)
Humor: A bit
Perspective: First 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: Not too far in, about 11% or chapter 2
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happily ever after
Epilogue: Not really? One of the last chapter wraps it up a bit, and then the final chapter is from Commander Tensel’s POV (a future book’s main character)
Format: voluntarily read an advanced reader copy from the author in e-book form

Should I read in order?
I do think you’ll get a better sense of the world building and alien culture if you read in order (and the Necia Alien Warrior series and Treasures of Trillume series are kind of intertwined)

Basic plot:
Renee takes the chance to leave her marriage and grown children and join the human exchange program to participate in a study regarding attraction between aliens and humans

Give this a try if you want:
- science fiction romance
- this takes place in a futuristic Earth where alien contact has been made and there are human exchange programs to foster relationships between aliens and humans.
- mostly space/alien setting
- higher technology
- married heroine with 2 kids – her marriage is basically platonic and they are best friends but not in a passionate love with each
- heroine in her 40s (46?)
- alien hero / human heroine
- fated mates
- alien vampire vibes
- an immersive alien culture and human/alien research plot
- medium steam – 2-3 scenes (I combined a few scenes into one long scene since they were close together) including exhibitionism, blood play, knotting and some bondage aspects.

Ages:
- Heroine is 46, didn’t catch hero

First line:
“I think this is the best fucking decision you’ve made in the last ten years,” my best friend, Holden, said with a smack to my back, jarring my balance.

My thoughts:
I really loved this addition to Robert’s Necia Alien Warrior series! This one is character focused and takes place on a space ship with plenty of opportunity for close proximity.

I think Robert is doing something refreshing with her aliens – the world is complex and immersive, the technology fun and futuristic, and the mating culture takes center stage with these exhibition friendly space vampires 😆

I loved how both of our mains came with unique issues they were overcoming. Our hero, Sou-el, isn’t quite the prime specimen of his species. Having damaged enzymes has made him settle for being a researcher, not a warrior, and not finding a mate. And Renee is trying to figure out what to do with her life now that she realizes she has a friend only and not a husband. She worries about trusting her heart and body with attraction. But when these two meet, it is so perfect and steamy and your heart just soars for their connection to each other.

I really enjoyed how character focused this one was! Some of her books (more the Treasures of Trillume series) can be more complex with political factors coming into play so I really loved just being able to fall into these two as a love story.

Cock/Hero Stats/World Building:

- Sky Robert includes a Trillume Universe Glossary which I love! Her books are mostly stand alone with a focus on the couple, but the books do kind of layer together with the world building and different specifies. This gives you a run down of the world building thus far.
- necia bathe each other (or maybe only the females get bathed? I am unsure), which is giving oral...it’s needed for their body functions.
- necias have 2 hearts
- Sou-el has damaged glands so he hasn’t found a mate
- have fangs that lengthen for mating
- Sou-el has long white hair
- they are very scent oriented and can form bonds to another’s scent
- cock is tinted the same coloring as his scales and has nodules pulsing in and out of the shaft and base

Endearments

Hero calls the heroine ‘pulsunne’.

Quotes/thoughts: (Any mistakes are my own)

“Thank you, mother,” I strained to keep myself from yelling at her. “I’m aware of my age.”
“She’s fucking hot,” Holden retorted while giving me a nod of encouragement. “She’ll have her pick of alien cock wanting a taste of humanity.”
---
My daughter’s words of warning tugged at my thoughts to never uncross my legs when sitting down in front of a necia warror. My mouth grew dry as my lips parted, my breathing coming out in pants. It was an invitation for them to touch you, and here he was eye-fucking me as his legs were parted, displaying his interest proudly, but I couldn’t bring myself to admit that the same warrior sitting before me actually wanted me, when he had to me that he would never touch me again.

 

Content warnings: (This should be taken as a minimum because I could have missed some!)

- child sacrifice mentioned (not followed through on… the hero’s guardians were sacrificing him to their goddess but someone found him in time (he was tied to rocks while a tide came in)
- possible feelings of infidelity – the heroine is married when she leaves to go into the attraction program, but both are consenting and aware she may be sexually active with others
- divorce

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:

 
Safe sex: 

  No 

 
Hows the consent? 

  It’s good! 

 
Chapter 2 (17% or so) there is a licking scene
Chapter 8 (40%) - 🔥Sou-el goes into rut. Blood play (hero cuts himself and heroine licks it. Heroine admits she’s never orgasmed, fingering for her, squirting
Chapter 18 (80%) - 🔥 her on top, exhibitionism, knotting then there’s a break and the scene continues after they wake 

 

Overall:4.5 rounded to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥
Humor: Yes
Perspective: Third person from both 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: Very soon in, about 4% (after a brief set up for the hero’s mistress situation)
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happily ever after
Epilogue: Yes, 7 months later
Format: voluntarily read an advanced reader copy through NetGalley

Should I read in order?
I picked this one up alone and thought it was very readable alone. The characters from book 1, Basingstoke and Francesca are characters in this one and do have some page time so ideally for all character background reading in order would be pleasant. (much of the first half of the story takes place at Basingtoke’s house so there is frequent interaction)

Basic plot:
Prue takes the opportunity to blackmail the Duke of Montford when it falls into her lap. He did scheme to take over a thousand pounds from her father and cut her season short after all..

Give this a try if you want:
- Regency (1818)
- house party-ish setting for much of the book (in Kent)
- close proximity
- heroine blackmails the hero
- enemies to lovers – the hero won a large wager against the heroine’s father
- hero is a bit possessive/jealous
- medium steam – 3 full scenes

Ages:
- hero is 28, didn’t see heroine mentioned but would guess early 20s?

First line:
Jasper St. Vincent, the Duke of Montford, had a talent for sin.

My thoughts:
I have read quite a few Anna Bradley books and have loved a lot of them. I wasn’t a big fan of her mystery series because I just prefer character driven romance and I was so very excited that she came back to that with this book.

I adore Bradley’s writing. She just wraps me up in swoony lines and her characters can get all angsty and emotional and pull at my heart and I found that with this novel. So many scenes I just loved, and thought there was some great humor here too.

I do think there’s some things going on in this plot that some others might find tiring – the evil mistress plot for one (which, thankfully, is not a huge part). And the hero borders on a bit of a jerk in some scenes.

I have such a soft spot for the name Jasper. I was already in love with him when I heard his name! I loved Jasper – I loved how he fell for Prue and just started acting a fool for her. I eat that UP! And I was so engaged with his heartbreak towards the end. Jasper has my heart!

Prue was a great heroine too. I liked how spunky she was and how she was raised to be fairly independent. But there’s so much she doesn’t know, especially about love and passion and the way she falls for Jasper was lovely.

I love Bradley’s steam. She’s usually on the lower end (and here the scenes aren’t super long) but there’s something there, emotionally, that just makes her scenes feel so much stronger to me. I have missed reading her books and now I want to go back and read all that I’ve missed! (Like book 1 of this series)

And I do have a shelf for ‘feisty older lady’ for those interfering matchmaking grandmotherly figures, but I found that in a grandfather here and just loved it! I really enjoy when the grandparents are trying to hook up the grandkids 😂

Endearments

The hero calls the heroine ‘sweetheart’. 

Quotes/spoiler-y thoughts:Any mistakes/typos are my own

This is something I’ve always loved about Bradley’s writing. She makes these things so powerful, so forbidden.

The fire had died down some time ago, but she’d left the study door open behind her when she entered, and as he came forward, a dim shaft of light from the hallway fell over his face.
Another gasp tried to tear itself loose from her chest, but this one caught in her throat, lodging there as he sauntered toward her.
The coat, cravat, and waistcoat he’d been wearing last night were nowhere to be seen. He was in his shirtsleeves, the wide-open neck of his white linen shirt exposing the hollow of his throat, a smattering of crisp dark hair peeking out from the layers of loose linen. His head was a mess of tousled dark waves, and the hint of a beard shadowed his jaw and neck.
“Why...what are you doing here?” That throaty, breathless murmur wasn’t her voice, was it?
---
“For God’s sake, Basingtoke, you can’t truly be considering a match between Miss Thorne and Luttress? Are you mad?” Why, Miss Thorne would eat the poor vicar for breakfast, luncheon, and dinner. She’d flay him alive with that sharp tongue of hers, fricassee him, then bake him into a pie and swallow him whole. “I can’t think of any gentleman less suited to Miss Thorne than some puffed-up vicar.”
---
“May I see the earrings?”
She blinked. “See them? I didn’t bring them with me, Your Grace.”
“No? Whyever not? They’re rather an integral part of your blackmail plot.”
“It’s not a …” she trailed off, drawing in a deep breath. “If I’d brought them, what would have stopped you from simply taking them from me?”
“What stops me from doing whatever I like with you now?”
---
If he’d been in her place, he’d have blackmailed him, too. Except he’d refused her, hadn’t he? He’d sent her away, thinking himself very ill-used, and now she’d be obliged to marry a smug, conceited, self-righteous fusspot of a vicar!
Damnation, but this was a disaster. He must see her at once and tell her he’d changed his mind, and would be perfectly delighted to be blackmailed, after all.
---
But he didn’t look snarly now. A less perceptive lady might even make the mistake of thinking him harmless. His hair was tousled, as if he’d been dragging his fingers through it, and his cravat was undone. The long golds of linen hung limply around his neck, leaving the smooth, olive skin of his throat bare.
---
“No!” He tore his gaze away from the maddening wisps of her loose hair, the firelight gleaming on the golden strands and flickering over the long, slender line of her neck. He wouldn’t get another chance to undo the mess he’d made with that wager with her father, so he’d simply have to keep his gaze averted from that...that mockery of a gown.
Especially that fiendish little bow tied under her bosom.
---
Basingstoke held up a hand, and she trailed off in into silence. A good thing, too, because the next world about to fall from her lips was “arse.”
“I don’t see why Miss Thorne can’t join us. She regularly shoots with her father at home, and knows the rigors involved. She’s a crack shot, too, Montford. You should see - “
“No, I shouldn’t see, and I won’t, because she isn’t coming with us.”
Montford cross his arms over his chest, his dark green frock coat pulling tight at his wide shoulders.
And here it came again, the word “arse,” burbling up in her throat, clawing its way into her mouth -
---
A soft laugh floated toward her from the darkness. “I didn’t come for Basingstoke, Miss Thorne. I came for you.”
---
“I beg your pardon, Your Grace, but I don’t see what this has to do with me.” Nor did she wish to, by the look of him. He was polite enough, but there was something dark underlying his calm, as if he were holding onto his temper by the slimmest thread.
“You may beg all you like, Miss Thorne, but I’m afraid it’s much too late for that. You’ve made your bed, and now you’ll be obliged to lie in it. Or perhaps I should say, we’ll both be obliged to lie in it, together.”
Lie in bed, together? For one wild moment, an image flashed behind her eyelids. The Duke of Montford as he’d been in the painting, every inch of his body on glorious display, from his smooth, olive skin to the crisp, dark hair dusting his chest, his flat, taut belly…
---
“Now, if you’ll pardon me, Your Grace-”
“Not quite yet, Prue.” He sauntered toward her, his eyes dark and his lips pressed into a tight line. Oh, he was so angry, but she stood her ground as he got closer and closer, pressing her into the doorway, his hands coming up on either side of her face, caging her in. “Perhaps I haven’t made myself clear.”

When Jasper is losing his mind for Prue and traumatizes her poor maid

He pressed his ear to the door, waiting for the thud of angry footsteps approaching, but there was nothing but a faint shuffling sound, and the door remained firmly closed.
“I know you’re in there, Prue. I can hear you moving about. Come out of there at once and give me a chance to seduce you, damn -”
“Jasper? For pity’s sake, what in the world are you shouting about? I could hear you all the way from the entryway!”

 

Content warnings: These should be taken as a minimum of what to expect. It’s very possible I have missed some.

- mention of parental death
- toxic mistress
- hunting/shooting of guns and a gunshot accident/wound

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:

Safe sex: 

No, but they are married 

Hows the consent? 

  It’s good – he asks at some points and otherwise I believe it’s implied 

38% - brief mention of hero self pleasure
45% - kiss
62% - 🔥 kisses, missionary (V loss for heroine)

Need to be careful with her...go slowly...a proper gentleman, not a ravening animal…
But he was losing the battle, his control slipping, his chest heaving with his panting breaths as he toyed with the loose neckline of her night rail. His hands shook as he dragged it lower, trailing his lips over her neck, then burying his mouth in the warm, fragrant hollow of her throat, tasting the pulse that fluttered wildly under the soft skin there.

75% - 🔥 kisses, fingering/oral for her
He slid his hands down her body, pausing to squeeze her waist before catching a handful of her shift in his fist. He dragged it up, over the long, slender line of her legs and inched his fingers underneath it, his knuckles brushing against her thigh, his palm hot against the sweet curve of her belly.

96% - 🔥 hand job for him (incomplete), missionary

He growled against her damp flesh, his hand creeping under the flimsy linen of her shift and up her thigh, then he shifted to kneel between her knees, spreading her wider with a gentle nudge of his hips.
“Want you, Prue.” 

 

Overall: 3.5 rounded to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥
Humor: A bit
Perspective: Third person from only the heroine (I think??)
More character focused or plot focused? a mix, but more character
How did the speed of the story feel? medium
When mains are first on page together: Pretty soon in with the prologue
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happily ever after
Epilogue: No, but the last chapter takes place a week or so later and wraps everything up
Format: listened to bought audiobook

Should I read in order?
This is the second generation from books 1 and 2 of the series, specifically the daughter of the characters from Heart and Hand. The family has some page time together so I think ideally getting their story would heighten your enjoyment of this story.

Basic plot:
Seylah has given up on August ever noticing her, but he perks up when she shows signs of moving on.

Give this a try if you want:
- early 1900s Western America – 1910
- Montana setting
- size difference (she’s tall but he’s taller)
- I don’t want you until I can’t have you (hero)
- childhood friends to lovers / family friend to lovers
- small town/close knit community
- working women – Seylah shuffles papers for the Sheriff’s Department but desires to be deputized
- lower steam – I could have missed some but I have this at 1 scene

Ages:
- Both are mid 20s (they are similar age and heroine is 14 in the prologue, main story is a decade later)

First line:
Seylah had never been a particularly elegant girl.

My thoughts:
I ended up enjoying a lot about this third installment to Carter’s Gold Sky series.

I liked that it was so character focused – it’s a big thing that deters me from Westerns, because I’ve read some with non stop action and I get bored. I didn’t find that here – I liked the character focus and the close community and family. I loved how August was such a concrete part of their group.

I was hoping for more angst – especially with the set up in prologue – I felt like it kind of worked out a bit too easily with August’s sudden motivation and steadfastness after the buildup of hurt and uncertainty. (I also was sad that there wasn’t a big resolution to the hurt of the prologue too)

There were some minor things that were a bit refreshing to me in this one and things that didn’t go quite like I expected. Reading romance for so many decades can definitely make some things predictable but I found myself seeing things go a bit differently than predicted in this one and I liked that!

I was hoping for a bit more steam, but it felt shorter than a lot of the other HR I have been reading lately. The audio is less than 7 hours and my usual listens are 9-11 hours.


Content warnings: These should be taken as a minimum of what to expect. It’s very possible I have missed some.

- some scenes of danger, violence, and death on page

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes: My chapters might be off from the actual book because I just looked at my audible screen...(might be one off because of the intro/prologue?? I can’t recall how it counted it)

 
Safe sex: 

No 

 
Hows the consent? 

It’s good! 

 
Chapter 10 of 17 – kiss
Chapter 12 of 17 – kiss
Chapter 15 of 17 – oral for her, missionary 

 

Overall:  2.5 rounded to ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 
Readability: 📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔 (I really expected more being fantasy like this but at the end I felt like I really didn’t know anything remotely beneath the surface of either main. Even with the love letters!)
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋 (The scenes were there – the explicitness was there – maybe I was hugely missing an emotional aspect? I just didn’t love the way they were written)
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Humor: There’s a bit? It’s not a super humorous book but there’s definitely some banter/back and forth
Perspective: Third person from both 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: First contact through letters is about 6% in – they aren’t actually on page together until 25%
Cliffhanger: No this ends with a happily ever after
Epilogue: Yes, seven years later
Format: read e-book version on kindle unlimited

Should I read in order?
This is the first in the Fae Kings of Eden series.

Basic plot:
Rennick knows he has a mate at age 13. Letters arrive to her until her 25th birthday, when he comes in person to collect her.

Give this a try if you want:
- fantasy romance
- fated mates
- fae hero/human heroine
- epistolary
- well-endowed hero
- dark hero/villain hero
- connected emotions (they can feel each other’s strong emotions, even from a long distance)
- other woman/other man drama
- tattooed hero
- virgin hero (he doesn’t act like it though – they had ‘places they could go to watch and learn’)
- higher steam – 7 scenes

Ages:
- I think they are both around 25

First line:
Rennick didn’t know which frightened him more; the voices in his head no one else should hear, or the name those voices whispered and what it meant.

My thoughts:
Our author opens with
If you are looking for a literacy masterpiece, this might not be for you.
Now, I WASN’T looking for a literary masterpiece! And I can let so much go in a book. And this COULD/SHOULD have been so good to me. I was so hopeful. It had so many things I could have loved – it maybe implemented just a touch differently.

I feel bad but this book – I struggled so bad. I rage finished it.

It didn’t get too far in before I realized I was having a disconnect with the… writing style? I guess? So if you try it and don’t see any issues then my complaints probably won’t be relatable. And I truly hope you enjoy it if you try it.

Now I put off my review forever because I just could not open this book back up and go over all my notes. So I’ve definitely lost some of my rage disappointment since then and will hopefully be a bit more level-headed.

I never was able to like Rennick. He was like...the caricature of a villain hero. I wanted a villain hero – I wanted a dark main that was going to seduce our heroine through letters, and then burn the world down for her. I felt like I got an immature brat. Maybe reading the scenes of him being younger (the story starts and he’s 13 I think?) I just never left that head space, I don’t know.

When he’s 13/14 and he wants his mate NOW
When she explained why, his father agreed, but upon finding out the news, Rennick destroyed his father’s study in a fit of uncontrollable rage.

I liked Amelia a bit more than Rennick, but not much. I didn’t get much beneath the surface from her.

The writing – the 4 kingdoms are called Desert Kingdom, Mountain Kingdom, Tropical Kingdom, and Garden Kingdom. Guess what the human kingdom is called? Human Kingdom. I swear my mouth fell open when I read that. The only thing I could really get to know about these kingdoms were that they were...in the desert, in the mountains, in a tropical area, and...the garden kingdom was nice. And going in I was SO EXCITED that Applegate openly says she’s focused on characters and not the plot – That is what I love in romance! I don’t want a ton of political intrigue, or boring pages of telling of all the fantasy things...I like character focus. But I need more than whatever this is. It turns out I do have a minimum.

I enjoyed some of the letters. I LOVED THE IDEA OF THIS BOOK!! Oh my gosh epistolary exchanged between fated mates who cannot meet for a number of years???? It’s PERFECT for romance! But...I was so disappointed. The letters got weird. They didn’t drive up tension for me. Amelia went from hating him to suddenly falling in love with him after off page letters. WHAT? What made her fall in love with him? She just hated him! I wanted to fall in love with them! And you just gave me weird letters and took away the love and then just told me it was there… (argh I’m getting bitey all over again)

I also love jealousy in a hero. Even over the top. And even leading to murder, etc. And I get it’s marketed as morally black which means without conscience. But I struggled with him murdered an innocent side character. I just wish there had been the tiniest bit of push back from Amelia. But the fact that Amelia is the one that kind of encouraged it makes it worse. I guess that’s a line for me? If she had changed her mind and he had been forceful or something I would have had no issue…

Overall I wanted to love this book – it has so much that I could have loved – but I felt like I was reading an immature jealous (not in a good way – like I’m pretty sure they are going to be jealous of each other. Will he cut her hands off if she masturbates? 😂) relationship and it did not give me any feels or romance :( I am sad. Please don’t let my ranting deter anyone, it obviously has worked for so many, this is just my own personal take.

Now I’ll just drop some random quotes and thoughts

Rennick wasn’t a cruel man; he never had been. He was rational and level-headed, always thinking ten steps ahead, and the ability to rule came naturally to him. Everyone loved him, and he loved his kingdom.

Just because you say it doesn’t make it true. 😂Rennick has acted cruel and careless multiple times – it’s part of his morally black MO – and he’s also never been level-headed? It’s always very emotional – never thinks things over – just reacts. So none of this is ever shown, we’re just supposed to believe it when it goes against the scenes we’ve been given so far.
And immediately after that quote, ‘hot rage coursed through Rennick’s veins’ and he slices his throat. ‘Taking a life was nothing new.’ I just feel like all I’m given doesn’t totally add up to the character I’m shown. It’s kind of all over with whatever fits the current scene. And the actions don’t match the description we’re given of Rennick especially.
---

Amelia stood motionless as her brain slowly caught up to what he’d said and realized she didn’t know him at all. She’d been a fool to think that she did.

She just found out he might be royal fae. Instead of a regular fae. BUT YOU LOVE HIM!!! This just seemed like such an overreaction.

Yesterday she would have gone to the edge of Eden with him, but that was when she thought she knew him.
---
“I’m going to hell,” she muttered, hating herself for being unnaturally turned on my his words. Gilpin, please forgive me.
Rennick moved back to his side of the bed and turned on his side to face her. “If he was a good person, he rests now in an eternal paradise. If he wasn’t, he deserved to die anyway.”
The words were as simple and pragmatic as they were fucked up. She looked to the gods. “Please let us into the heavens when we die” Can we call it Good Person Kingdom?
---

“Stop threatening to kill people,” she whisper-yelled, calming slightly at his touch. “You can’t murder someone for not liking me. You would likely have no kingdom left.”
Oooo can we call it...Empty Kingdom?
---
She had to calm his insecurities before he burned the entire world to ash.

Nooooo then it will be Ash Kingdom (OKAY FINE I’LL STOP)
---
And here we get his clever endearment

“Do you remember the different pet names you tried out in your first letters? You always marked them out, but I could read them anyway.”
“Yes.” He laughed lightly. “I was nervous because I wanted it to be perfect.”
“It was.” She paused before asking him, “What made you decide on ‘love’?”

Love? That’s it? I love love as an endearment but don’t act like it was amazingly clever or original 😂
---
I do think this was one line I actually really adored in this book

Gods. He wanted to tell Ora to leave right then, but he knew his mate wanted to prove a point, something he would fuck her for later.

Content warnings: These should be taken as a minimum of what to expect. It’s very possible I have missed some.

- on page death of hero’s mother
- hero murders an innocent side character for holding the heroine’s hand (she was consenting and encouraged him)
- hero cuts a chunk of his arm out because the heroine said another woman touched him there

Author does have a link for content warnings – they include not suitable for under 18, graphic violence, graphic death, gore, orphaned female main character, loss of parent, the main characters both do a few morally black things to anything they deem a threat to their mating bond, explicit sexual scenes, mature language.

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:

 
Safe sex: 

  No 

 
Hows the consent? 

  It’s good 

 
18% - there’s mention of Amelia losing her virginity – the hero knows because he can feel it
20% - Amelia has remembrance of Gilpin spilling his seed down her throat and then fucking her but no details (not the hero)
35% - 🔥oral for her, heroine sits on the hero’s face, her on top on his hand with his finger in her ass
44% - 🔥fingering for her
57% - 🔥oral for her, him standing/her on the bed sex followed by toy play (hero does the heroine with a dildo, biting (hero bites her neck)
66% - 🔥bj, him behind her holding the bedpost, anal dilators
83% - 🔥sex in the woods with the anal dilator still in
91% - 🔥bj with a facial, oral/fingering for her
95% - 🔥wedding night anal 

 

Overall: 4.5 rounded to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋 (I really loved Eaton’s scenes here – I liked the language used for the foreplay but it got light for anything after)
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑 (I would have loved them a bit longer!)
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥
Humor: Yes, a bit
Perspective: Third person from both the hero and heroine and some minor details from a maid
More character focused or plot focused? character
How did the speed of the story feel? medium to fast
When mains are first on page together: Takes a little bit, but the book is shorter so it doesn’t feel quite as long, 20% (chapter 3)
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happily ever after
Epilogue: Yes, several weeks later
Format: read an e-book copy through kindle unlimited

Should I read in order?
This is the first in Eaton’s Ladies of Seduction series.

Basic plot:
Mara decides to take a lover, since her husband abandoned her in the country, and the rumors quickly swirl to her husband.

Give this a try if you want:
- Regency (1813)
- country house setting
- second chanceish/marriage in jeopardy
- emotionally strong hero (hero cries)
- heroine nurses hero back to health
- jealous hero
- lessons
- medium steam – 3 full scenes but they are a touch short
- this felt like a quick read to me – amazon has it at 179 pages

Ages:
- I didn’t see them mentioned

First line:
“Have you heard the news?” Lady Harmsworth asked in a hushed tone that was not very hushed at all.

My thoughts:
I ended up really enjoying this story!! Even though this is the year of second chance for me apparently 🤣 6 this month and 10 this year. But this one worked for me better for a few different reasons.

First, this one has a shorter page count so that helped me get into it. I didn’t feel bogged down in tons of memories. It does have flashbacks which usually drive me kinda nuts, but it was only a few scenes and it helped me feel like I was getting their complete story, which I always want in second chance to help salvage those relationship feels.

Second, I felt like their relationship was still ‘new’. They had barely started when they separated so I felt like I wasn’t missing a lot of that initial build up of tension.

I loved the plot of this one! I loved the interfering servants and the whole idea of our heroine taking a lover to show her husband that she is bored and won’t actually sit and wait around for him. I loved that the hero came back and pursued.

I did have a few minor issues. I do think his love happened too fast. Within a short page count and the separation and then when they come back it got steamy pretty quick – I felt like I needed a few more non intimate interactions and bonding moments between Mara and Ambrose to really feel their connection and that he was falling in love with her.

I was a bit confused because during the first intimate scene, it’s mentioned that is the heroine’s first orgasm. (37% ”What...what was that, Ambrose?” she breathed, half afraid to ask but too intrigued not to. “Your first orgasm, and I suppose I’ve myself to blame. Our wedding night was hardly the stuff of legend.”) But later in the book there’s a flashback to some foreplay on a bridge before they were married and it seemed like she orgasmed there too??(74% but this is a flashback to before they are married When the crescendo began to build for the fourth movement, Mara stiffened, her willowy frame going taut as a violin string. On a gasping cry that a bird enthusiast on the far end of the park confused for the call of a brown thrasher, she came at her own hand (which he was manipulating against her))

And I had a love/disappointment thing going with the steam. What I got I really did love. I loved the language, I loved the ‘good girls’ and hair grabs – but at the same time it felt so light and short and I was sad. I wanted the scenes to be longer and more developed because what I got, I really loved and thought it was really good. I just wanted MORE. Being a short book, I think they worked with it, overall though.

I think this is my first Jillian Eaton? I really had fun with her writing. I liked her humor and her characters and I’m really curious where this series will be going! I will definitely try to come back and read more when they come out.

Quotes/spoiler-y thoughts:Any mistakes/typos are my own

Anchoring a fist amidst her riotous mane of curls, he’d dragged her head back and deepened the kiss in a vain effort to sate the beast that was bucking within him, snarling for release. Given free rein, the beast would have taken Mara in the carriage, pushed her against the seat, and done indescribably wicked things to her. Things that would make her scream. Things that would make her pant. Things that would make her beg.
---
Just lay there and let him do what he wants, Kitty had advised in the days leading up to the wedding, and Mara had tried. She truly had. But it hadn’t worked. None of it. And in the end, Ambrose had left the bedchamber with a growl of dissatisfaction, and he hadn’t come back.
Ever.
But he was here now, along with his enormous...arousal.
---
“Do you like when I pet you?” he asked in a husky, vibrating whisper that made her toes curl. “Spread your thighs for me, Mara. Yes. Just like that. Good girl.”
---
Eyes glazed, heart pounding, cock hard as a damned iron pike, he fell to his knees and shoved her skirts up and over her knees. “Hold these,” he ordered, his voice muffled by the stocking he was in the midst of peeling off her slender calf...with his teeth.
---
Ambrose snorted. “Ashcroft is a stingy old miser. I’d be willing to bet a hundred pounds that’s glass, not crystal, and I…” His mouth hung open, no sound emeging as he watched a beam of light from a nearby window dance across the dusting of freckles on her nose. “I…”
I am falling in love with you.
I am in love with you.
I’ve been in love with you.
---
“Easy,” he whispered, trailing his mouth along the slender curve of her neck. “Let me touch you, Mara. Let me prepare you. Another finger. That’s a girl. My God.” His groan vibrated against the hollow behind her ear. “Your little quim is so fucking tight.”
 

Content warnings: These should be taken as a minimum of what to expect. It’s very possible I have missed some.

- mention of bruises, beatings, brutality while children at home form heroine about her father
- toxic and abusive parenting from both hero and heroine’s family
- mention of miscarriages of a side character
- mention of killing of hero’s pet dog by hero’s father
- domestic abuse remembrances resulting in the heroine’s mother’s death
- scene of danger and injury where hero is attacked by wild dogs and sustains a leg injury

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:

 
Safe sex: 

I don’t think it’s mentioned but I don’t believe so (They are married) 

 
Hows the consent? 

  It’s good/implied – there is a questionable kiss, but she is into it 

 
28% - kiss (flashback)
34% - 🔥 kiss, breast play, fingering for her
45% - heroine self pleasure but it’s a bit short, so I didn’t count it
48% - kiss (flashback)
52% - 🔥 kisses, clears the dining table of dishes and sets her on the table to give her oral and he masturbates
65% - kisses, fingering for her, missionary
75% - 🔥 fingering for her outdoors, hero comes in his pants (happens on bridge) (flashback)
91% - spooning sex but it’s a fever dream and quite short 

 

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥 (I could have missed some, I was very lazy with this audiobook)
Humor: A bit
Perspective: Third person from both hero and heroine
More character focused or plot focused? a mix, more plot focused at the end
How did the speed of the story feel? medium to fast?
When mains are first on page together: I didn’t note it, but I believe it was pretty soon in
Cliffhanger: No this ends with a happily ever after
Format: listened to an audiobook from the library (Hoopla)

Should I read in order?
Ideally, yes. There’s overlapping plot points that come into play within all 3 books, as well as villain carry over.

Basic plot:
A bet brings husband and wife back together after 3 years of separation

Give this a try if you want:
- Georgian – 1784
- second chance
- marriage in jeopardy
- bet – the hero gambles for the heroine to have to try to make the marriage work and he wins
- Duke and the duchess
- villain/spy plots
- medium steam – I believe there’s 3 full scenes but I was quite lazy with my note taking

Ages:
- Didn’t catch, sorry! Would guess mid to late 20s for heroine? Late 20s to early 30s for hero?

My thoughts:
Another second chance. I was just ready for the similar plotlines (all marriage in trouble second chance with similar animosity feelings between the mains) within the series to be over. I don’t really have much to say on it. In all these books I felt like there was a lot internal thoughts, a lot of remembering and explaining of past events that bored me. It felt like a lot of telling and not showing.

I think if you love ‘save the marriage’, second chance romance with some added in spy/villain danger this series might really work for you. I, however, am ready to move on!


Content warnings: These should be taken as a minimum of what to expect. It’s very possible I have missed some.

- remembrance of miscarriages
- some scenes of violence and danger

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:

 
Safe sex: 

I can’t remember I’m sorry! But they are married. I want to say no? 

 
Hows the consent? 

It’s good/implied 

 
39% - kisses
52% - heroine self pleasure, fingering for her, humping without penetration o for the hero
77% - sex
81% - sex
These are lazy notes, I apologize 

 

Overall: 4.5 rounded to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋 (I love Murdoch’s intimate scenes!!!)
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑🍑 (varies, but one scene is like 12% of the book!)
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥🔥 (It feels steamier than this though because there’s mutliple tension building punishment scenes and partials, and one scene I combined into one flame has alllll the sex acts and alllll the holes 🤣
Humor: Not much, it’s a darker, angsty story
Perspective: First person from both the hero and heroine (mostly hero!)
More character focused or plot focused? character
How did the speed of the story feel? medium
When mains are first on page together: Not too far in, about 6% (chapter 2)
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happily ever after
Epilogue: Yes, but it’s a preview for the next book (Augusta)
Format: voluntarily read an advanced reader copy in e-book form from the author

Should I read in order?
I think you could pick this one up alone – it’s very character focused on the couple. There’s some minor mention of a bet that starts the series, and some minor page time with the prior characters but nothing extensive. I think if you read in order it might give you more background for the omegaverse style though. You can get a prequel novella (that does end on a cliffhanger and the mains don’t have their HEA written yet) titled The Duke’s Christmas Rejection or start with book 1, The Duke’s Unwilling Bride. (There is like a minor mention of Robert in the prior book’s epilogue and how he wants the governess but can’t fall to her charms but it’s not super long – you might feel like you missed a bit because you start off with him wanting her but there weren’t any interactions between them for the most part in prior books)

Basic plot:
Robert has been hurt by a prior interest trying to trap him in marriage – but he can’t seem to stay away from his tempting governess...

Give this a try if you want:
- Regency
- country estate setting
- omegaverse (view spoiler)
- Duke and the governess
- trying to get compromised is a plot point
- lots from the hero POV
- OBSESSED hero
- big ravishment fantasy vibes
- class difference/forbidden love
- kink includes somnophilia, punishment/whipping, figging, bondage, breath play, light praise, knotting
- higher steam – I have it at 4 full scenes but there are multiple tension building partials and punishment scenes and also one scene is very long and has multiple acts with it (since they were all close together following each other I combined it into one flame) so this may feel hotter than what I have it marked.
- PLEASE check the content warnings and kink elements to see if this is for me you. It includes dubious and non-consent acts and has big ravishment fantasy vibes that won’t work for everyone.

Ages:
- Heroine is 18, didn’t catch hero but believe he’s older (maybe mid to late 20s)

First line:
Raucous merriment and ribald laughter fill the space, drawing a haggard groan from my lips.

My thoughts:
Oh, I very much enjoyed this angsty omegaverse!

This to me had a great build up of tension – there were a lot of partials and sleeping scenes in the beginning that I loved. It felt like it took awhile for them to both fully come together and I prefer that denial of fulfillment in the beginning.

So much of this one is from the hero’s POV and I am always into that. There are some sections that felt like we were circling the same thoughts – but it also worked for me because it was so character driven, and so involved with their feelings and emotions and that is what I want in romance!

I did think Robert’s switch from never being able to marry her, to decided that he could actually marry her was a bit too abrupt – I think it would have worked better if maybe he wasn’t SO vehement at first about it and was more just lightly fighting his urges.

I love how immersive Murdoch’s relationships are and how well she writes angst. I got so wrapped up in these two and how badly they both wanted each other. And their push and pull is repeated throughout the book and it just kept building higher and higher until they collide in the best way. Her heroes can be a bit dark and aggressive (it IS called darkverse after all 🤣) but I have so much fun with these knowing no matter what we go through we’re going to have a HEA at the end and lots of kinky fun in between.

Quotes/spoiler-y thoughts:Any mistakes/typos are my own

“And if I say no?” My lips tremble as the softly spoke query flits into the air.
“Well, my dear governess,” he grumbles, tightening the rope around my ankle before sliding the strands through a ring. “I would say we are far past that. Refuse me all you wish, but you’ve entered my sacred space without permission. You’ve thrown yourself into my bed, and now I will have my retribution.”
---
At the first brush of my lips against hers, electricity rocks my body. It sizzles through me, making my brain stop thinking anything coherently. This goes beyond lust. What I feel for this little omega is savage, feral, and without restraint.
---
Anything to not have to go back home.
This time, when I look up, the duke’s gaze has changed. It’s molten, like pure fire, consuming me as our eyes lock. There’s something different about it. Electricity swirls between us, making the hairs on my arms stand on end. This time, his gaze is not just predatory, it’s nearly feral.
---
“Cheeky,” he chuckles, sliding his finger under my chin to force my gaze back up at him. “You are temptation incarnate,” he breathes. My very own Daphne. Shall I force you down onto this desk and devour you? Shall I make you truly mine?”
“I-I-” Words escape me as he undoes his cravat.
---
“I want to hear you, sweet girl. I want your cries of pleasure to fill my years. But don’t be too loud, or everyone will know what naughty things we’re doing behind these closed doors. You wouldn’t wish to entrap yourself, would you?”
---
No. This will not be borne.
With a snarl, I dry off my hands and storm over to her, not gentling my touch as I toss her skirts up. Instead of coaxing her thighs apart, I slide my foot in between her legs and forcefully shove them open. Though she whimpers, and a delicate tendril of unease fills the air, it’s still overpowered by the scent of her blossoming arousal.
She likes my rough treatment, craves it even. Why in all of Hades does she resist?
---
He cuts me off by wrapping his hand around my throat again as he curls his arm around my waist, hauling me back against him. I feel so small against his chest. It heaves against me, matching the rapid staccato of my own frantic breathing. Heat infuses my body, turning me molten in his arms.
---
“This-this is improper,” I whisper, both horrified and delirious all at once.
“Impropriety left the moment you contrived to trap me. You wanted me so desperately, Miss Gillet. Well, now you have me. And God help you for it.”
 

Content warnings: These should be taken as a minimum of what to expect. It’s very possible I have missed some.

- there’s a lot of classism vibes from the hero – he obviously learns his lesson since he gets with the governess but he really thinks he’s above her
- double check the steam/kink in case this isn’t your vibe – including drugging of heroine by hero to perform sex acts while she’s asleep, noncon and dubcon scenes, spanking/punishment
- there are scenes of illness for the hero’s mother where he worries she will pass soon (and mention of his father passing but there is not a lot of grief dwelled on)
Author given content warnings include: noncon, dubon, discipline, somnophilia, anal play, figging, whip play, miscommunication, ABO dynamics, biting, marking, nesting

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:

Safe sex: 

  The heroine takes a suppressant so she can’t get pregnant, condoms used in some scenes 

Hows the consent? 

  This has major non consensual and dubious consent vibes – it’s a dark romance ravishment fantasy. We know the heroine has an attraction but the hero definitely crosses the boundary of consent multiple times 

There’s a few spanking for punishment scenes with some good tension and light touches, the beginning of fingering for her, anal fingering, before 30%
32% - 🔥 what feels like a dream pleasure scene for the heroine that we find out was the hero giving her oral after drugging her to sleep (It’s a bit short? I still decided to count)

I want to cry out, to beg him to put an end to this torment. As if he can hear my thoughts, he touches that part of me which has ached since the moment Blackport nearly ran me over with his horse. This time, the tears streaming down are of relief as pleasure washes over me, building with each stroke.
Whispers flood my ears, all of them nonsensical as I writhe beneath the touch of this demon.
41% - 🔥 hero encourages the heroine to take laudanum, then carries her to his pleasure chamber, ties her up, oral for her, flogging for her, hero barely penetrates her anally and has one (She is asleep the entire time)
This feral need to mark her, to claim her eats at my brain until I have to stop for a moment just to breath.

48% - figging punishment
70% - breath play in the stables, fingering/oral for her but interrupted
75% - 🔥blow job for him (complete), fingering for her, missionary (v loss for heroine), doggy, her on top, anal
”Open your mouth for me, Governess.” Unable to resist my commands, her mouth drops open. “That’s a good girl. Such a bloody good girl for me.”
95% - 🔥whip play on St. Andrews cross, missionary with biting mark (bonding)

I know how she wants it. She wants me hard and fast, pounding into her with a wild abandon. And who am I to deny my wife’s wishes and needs?