Helpful Score: 6
This was my first book by Kate Pearce, but probably not my last. This story had many dark and disturbing elements... but it really left me thinking. That doesnt happen too often for me with erotica reading.
I loved Jane. For someone so young and with so few rights she goes after what she wants with everything she has. I like that she is pretty normal but still shares her husbands base thrill/need for more exotic sex. Even at his most crude, she was able to keep pace.
Minshom. Wow. He is a hard character to like. This guy is a strong dom and as far as the bdsm world goes a decent one. He gives the sub's what they want without going too far. I think I didnt hate him or the things he does because I just viewed him in the position of a dom and those around him chose to be there to be his servants/submissives.
Robert and Captain Gray were interesting characters too. Heck all the players in this story have a pretty good part.
This story was not the regular erotica "happily ever after" kind of story and may not be for everyone. The stories were dark, the characters dark and the sex dark. Im a mushroom and I thrive in the dark, I liked it.
I loved Jane. For someone so young and with so few rights she goes after what she wants with everything she has. I like that she is pretty normal but still shares her husbands base thrill/need for more exotic sex. Even at his most crude, she was able to keep pace.
Minshom. Wow. He is a hard character to like. This guy is a strong dom and as far as the bdsm world goes a decent one. He gives the sub's what they want without going too far. I think I didnt hate him or the things he does because I just viewed him in the position of a dom and those around him chose to be there to be his servants/submissives.
Robert and Captain Gray were interesting characters too. Heck all the players in this story have a pretty good part.
This story was not the regular erotica "happily ever after" kind of story and may not be for everyone. The stories were dark, the characters dark and the sex dark. Im a mushroom and I thrive in the dark, I liked it.
Helpful Score: 1
Originally read 2010; reread 2013.
As I am no longer an erotica newbie, I found nothing shocking this time round. I could understand the character development better, and enjoyed the story more.
Original review; 3.5*
This is the second of Kate's House of Pleasure series I've read...I really liked the previous book, Simply Wicked. It grabbed me immediately. This one, however, did not. I struggled through most of the book to identify with any of the characters.
Don't get me wrong - it is a well-written story, which is one of Kate's strengths! But I found it ugly. Minshom is supposed to be the hero of this book...sorry, but IMO he never stops being an "arse" (villian? I never really saw him that way in the previous book). Sure he finally, and I do mean finally, "allows" some people he's been tormenting to live happy lives (or make their own choices about the lives they lead)...but that does not make him any kind of hero in my book.
I did laugh at the "heroine's" attempts to irritate him...wives are good at that and he damn well deserved it! I didn't think she was much of a heroine, though.
Look...some of us go through some really crappy stuff in our lives...and especially our childhoods. Been there. It's no excuse. Who you chose to be is just that, a choice. I had no sympathy for Minshom as an adult (certainly for the abused child). And I think Kate took too long to expose his history to enough depth to allow any attachment to build for the character.
I do intend to read the rest of the series...I like the writing and I'm interested in the stories of several of the characters.
As I am no longer an erotica newbie, I found nothing shocking this time round. I could understand the character development better, and enjoyed the story more.
Original review; 3.5*
This is the second of Kate's House of Pleasure series I've read...I really liked the previous book, Simply Wicked. It grabbed me immediately. This one, however, did not. I struggled through most of the book to identify with any of the characters.
Don't get me wrong - it is a well-written story, which is one of Kate's strengths! But I found it ugly. Minshom is supposed to be the hero of this book...sorry, but IMO he never stops being an "arse" (villian? I never really saw him that way in the previous book). Sure he finally, and I do mean finally, "allows" some people he's been tormenting to live happy lives (or make their own choices about the lives they lead)...but that does not make him any kind of hero in my book.
I did laugh at the "heroine's" attempts to irritate him...wives are good at that and he damn well deserved it! I didn't think she was much of a heroine, though.
Look...some of us go through some really crappy stuff in our lives...and especially our childhoods. Been there. It's no excuse. Who you chose to be is just that, a choice. I had no sympathy for Minshom as an adult (certainly for the abused child). And I think Kate took too long to expose his history to enough depth to allow any attachment to build for the character.
I do intend to read the rest of the series...I like the writing and I'm interested in the stories of several of the characters.
Helpful Score: 1
this book had me going up and down with emotions
But as the story started it held me right to the end.
But as the story started it held me right to the end.
This book is definitely not for everyone, and I went back and forth on whether I liked the hero, all the way until the end. I was certainly engaged with what was happening, though.
I had high expectations for Minshom's story. Heroes with a tragic past oftentimes make the best heroes. But I had a hard time connecting with him. He was so emotionally crippled, in so much pain, that he just shut down and embraced his sexual excesses. It was frustrating to follow his struggle throughout most of the book that by the time he finally tries to redeem himself, it was too late to connect with him to make it believable. Jane wasn't terribly exciting, and I wasn't intrigued with the secondary characters as they were just sexual partners without substance. 3 stars.
Riveting. The best in the series so far. Loved the banter between Lord and Lady M. Loved the sex scenes. Loved the whole story!
Linda E. (txag80) -
I delayed reading this installment of the series because the focal character had previously been portrayed as an awful human being. He was stil pretty bad, but wow! what a back story! Kate Pearce really brings the reader in and wraps them in the tangle of past hurts, current insults and lusty diversions. This book offers a real story, with real passion. 4 dark stars!
