THE REBEL BRIDE by Catherine Coulter

PUBLISHER Signet, 12/1979
REISSUED: Topaz, 1994/2006 Signet with expanded content
SETTING: England, 1800s
HEROINE: Katherine Brandon
HERO: Julian St. Clair
BODICE RIPPER? Maybe
RAPE? Yes, by husband
GRADE: A++

FROM PUBLISHER: Clearly young Lady Katharine Brandon was a beauty, with her rich auburn hair, striking green eyes, flawless face and form. But a beauty was one thing Katharine clearly had no interest in being.

She dressed in a young man's breeches, practiced dueling with pistol and rapier, gambled with cards, defied her father's commands and evaded all suitors.

Imagine Katharine's surprise when the fabulously wealthy, notoriously pleasure-loving , Julien St. Clair, Earl of March, demanded her as his wife. Imagine her dismay when her father asked and received his pricefor yielding her to this man. But no one in all of English society could ever imagine what could happen when a lord who would not be denied and a woman who refused to be mastered turned marriage into a game in which it took far more than love to conquer all ....

SPOILER SUMMARY: Julian is taken with Katherine, whom he calls Kate, from the first time he meets her, having a mock duel with her brother, Harry. She's his neighbor. They develope a friendship with each other. Her home is rundown and she dresses in outdated clothing and Julian decides to offer her marriage. He talks with her father first and despises the man instantly. He visits Katherine at home and proposes to her in front of her father. She turns him down. She's lived with a physically abusive father her whole life and doesn't want much to do with a man. Right after Julian leaves, her father beats her severely and she can't walk. Julian gets wind of it and threatens to kill her father if he ever lays a hand on Katherine again.

Katherine does marry Julian but she's very unhappy about it and they have a marriage in name only. This is where the bodice ripper part come into play. Julian comes up with this terrible plan to abduct his own wife, to teach her about passion. Katherine is out riding in the park one day and Julian, on his horse and wearing a mask and using a fake German accent, snatches her off her horse and takes her to a cabin. He blindfolds her right away and rapes her. He then drugs her, takes her to their home and tells everyone that he found her passed on in the park where she's apparently fallen off her horse.

Katherine, not knowing that her own husband raped her, can't tell him what really happened to her. She ends up getting pregnant and comes up with a plan of her own. To fool Julian into thinking the baby is his, she decides to begin a sexual relationship with him so that she can later pretend that he's the father of the child.

Eventually Julian tells her what happened and their relationship sours even more. She has a miscarriage when she falls off her horse and things worsen. They work things out eventually and Julian helps her remember that she was raped in the woods by several men when she was little. They have their happily ever after.

MY THOUGHTS: This is one of the best books I've ever read and I'm proud to have a personally autographed copy. I first read the expanded, reissued 1994 version in 1995 when I purchased it at a grocery store. I've since read the original version and can't tell the difference even though there's an almost 100 page difference. The abduction plot is exactly the same. Catherine doesn't remove any violence from the original Signet Regency's when they come back into print.

I'd only been reading romance for no more than 2 1/2 years when I read this and its left one hell of an impression on me. I have the original Signet Regency, that's a little under 300 pages. I got rid of my original 1994 paperback when I decided to replace it with a new hardcover. I think this is a pretty unique story, and a true gem, that outshines all the garbage that's being published today.

Todays readers, those who don't like the older stuff, wouldn't enjoy this at all. Even though what Julien did was horrible I can't dislike him for it.

I sent a copy of the original 1979 Signet Regency paperback to the author to sign for me. I can't remember what year but it was probably around 2008. Here's a photo of the page she signed.

HIDING FROM REALITY by Taylor Armstrong

PUBLISHER: Gallery Books, February 2012
GENRE: Nonfiction/Autobiography
MY GRADE: A

SYNOPSIS: Reality hit Taylor Armstrong hard one tragic evening last August when she found the body of her estranged husband, Russell, hanging in his California home. Fans across the country were shocked at the horrific news of his death and even more shocked to discover that behind the glittering “reality” of Taylor’s life on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills lurked a painful story of emotional and physical abuse that she had been terrified to tell.

An estimated 80 percent of domestic abuse victims remain silent, suffocated by fear and relentless self-doubt. For Taylor, it was the threat of financial ruin and finding herself alone with her young daughter that kept her tethered to her volatile husband. But after a ferocious roundhouse punch from Russell fractured her face, resulting in reconstructive surgery, she finally made the brave decision to walk away from a man she loved and a legacy of physical abuse that she first encountered as a child and that haunted her throughout her adulthood.
To the outside world, the Armstrongs lived like royalty, throwing lavish parties—including a memorable tea party for their daughter’s fourth birthday—and mingling with their privileged Housewives co-stars. It was impossible to hide the cracks in their marriage from the cameras forever, though, and their darkest secrets slowly began to seep through the gilded façade.

With searing honesty, Taylor candidly examines her difficult journey from the abusive home in which she was born to the low self-esteem that kept her constantly on the run from herself, to the tumultuous marriage that ended in suicide, and ultimately to her realization that only by sharing her moving story could she help other women.

MY THOUGHTS: I know of Taylor from the reality show she’s on, The Real Housewives of Beverley Hills. I wanted to know more about her abusive deceased husband so that’s why I was interested in reading this. This is Taylor’s sad, emotional telling off all the abuse, both physical and verbal, that she suffered at the hands of her mentally ill husband, who later committed suicide.

Russell was a poor, pathetic excuse for a human being and it’s too bad Taylor couldn’t leave him years sooner. Only after he caused her to need surgery on her eye did she finally see the light and leave him and he hanged himself not long after. Taylor is a smart, educated woman and hopefully she’ll stay in therapy indefinitely.

I received this from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

SIMPLY CARNAL by Kate Pearce

PUBLISHER: Aphrodisia, January 2012
GENRE: Historical Erotic Romance
SETTING: England, 1826
SERIES: House of Pleasure, book 7
MY GRADE: C

SYNOPSIS: No passion is too decadent and no desire is too exotic at Madame Helene’s Pleasure House – an exclusive brothel in Regency England that offers the ultimate in erotic delights…

Christian Delornay has observed so many illicit s every need, yet she refuses to reveal her most intimate desires. But in the hands of a master it is impossible to deny her own wanton yearnings, and she soon succumbs to her secret longing for pure carnal pleasure…

MY THOUGHTS: I was very disappointed in every aspect of this book. The plotline involving the mysterious Elizabeth was only mildly interesting. The hero, Christian, meets his half-brother, Richard, for the first time and I thought it was an unbelievable coincidence that Richard was involved in the mystery surrounding Elizabeth. There were about seven sex scenes and, oddly enough, I was only interested in the first one.

We were introduced to a new sex club called Demon Club and I would like to read more about that in future books.

Despite my disappointment, this book is a keeper because it’s part of a great series that I hope will never end. The next installment, book 8, is called Simply Voracious and is about one of the employees we’ve read so much about in previous books, Paul.

I received this from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

BLUE VELVET by Anonymous

PUB. INFO: Grove Press, 1986
ISBN: 0394623185
REISSUED: Blue Moon Books, 1990 & 1999
ISBNs: 0929654528 & 156201031X
AUTHOR’S REAL NAME: James Jennings
SETTING: England, late 1800s
HEROINE: Clarissa Denbigh
GRADE: A

From Book: Trapped in a Victorian Story of O, Clarissa was trained at her father’s knee and her husband’s hand to endure everything. But when still others come to take her charge, Clarissa turns her power to please into a weapon.

MY THOUGHTS: I must say this book is filth at its finest. It’s extremely sexually graphic. It’s about a sixteen year old girl and her sexual exploits, spanning a couple of years. This book runs the gamut as far as sex goes. There’s more anal (between m/f and f/f) and lesbian sex than anything. There’s sex between Clarissa and servants, other women, and also incest, which I won’t get into, and orgies.

This book is too graphic for me to review any better than I have. I’ll just say if you like graphic sex, you should enjoy all 186 pages of this. All versions of this book are out of print and very pricey!

SIMPLY INSATIABLE by Kate Pearce

PUBLISHER: Aphrodisia May 2010
GENRE: Historical Erotic Romance
SETTING: England, 1800s
SERIES: House of Pleasure, book 5
MY GRADE: A

SYNOPSIS: No fantasy is too wild for Madame Helene's Pleasure House -- a brothel in Regency England where forbidden desires are more than welcome...

Lord Blaize Minshom is known throughout London for embracing every illicit longing -- the more scandalous, the better. When his estranged wife, Lady Jane, returns with an ultimatum to give her a baby, he flatly refuses -- even if it means she will turn to other men. Forced to watch Jane flirt shamelessly at the House of Pleasure, Minshom is enraged...and excited. The innocent girl he wed at seventeen has transformed into a voluptuous woman who still ignites a scorching hunger within him...

After seven years apart from her husband, Jane is now ready to settle their differences and start a family. But when she is reunited with Minshom, his attitude infuriates her -- and she is determined to teach him a lesson. Yet even as Jane accepts the attentions of other men, it is Minshom she truly wants. For she alone knows how to satisfy all of his wicked needs...

MY THOUGHTS: Well, this novel was certainly up my alley. I really enjoy m/m erotica and wasn't let down at all by this. Lord Blaize Minshom is a very dark, hard, angry and scarred man due to his terrible teen years and horrible father. He's a bit hard to like but I understand his anger and need to dominate his sex partners. I didn't really like or dislike the heroine, Jane. To be honest, I wish she hadn't been in the story. I have a hard time believing she could love her husband and not care that he's out having sex with lots of other people. I didn't think Blaize's feelings for her were believable at all. He says that he doesn't prefer men but I don't believe it.

My favorite characters are Robert Brown and Captain David Gray. Now there's a couple I could read about all day. Robert is very submissive and I feel sorry for him. To me, he seems really beatten down and I'd really like to know more about him. I would so love for them to be the stars of a spin-off series.

One of the best threesome sex scenes I'd ever read about took place in this novel and I won't soon forget it. Two thumbs up to you Kate Pearce! I do look forward to reading more from you. I'll be getting this entire series because I must know about all the characters in this novel who were introduced in the previous novels. I really want to know about Blaize Minshome and Lord Anthony Sokorvsky.

I don't like this cover at all because it looks contemporary.

Other books in this series are:

• Simply Sexual
• Simply Sinful
• Simply Shameless
• Simply Wicked
• Simply Insatiable
• Simply Forbidden
• Simply Carnal
• 
  

I won this in an online giveaway in exchange for an honest review.

SIMPLY FORBIDDEN by Kate Pearce

PUB INFO.: Brava, 1/25/2011
GENRE: Historical Erotic Romance
SETTING: England, 1822
SERIES: House of Pleasure, Book 6
MY GRADE: A

From Publisher:

Nothing’s More Satisfying Than. . .

With an unconventional upbringing and a reputation as a shameless flirt, Lisette Delornay-Ross is not your typical young lady of the ton. Unlike her peers, she is not afraid to follow her desires. And what she desires is Major Lord Gabriel Swanfield.

Fulfilling Forbidden Passions. . .

Returned to England after his harrowing ordeal as a war prisoner, Gabriel has shunned society. When Lisette brazenly confronts him, he feels an overwhelming stirring of lust. He’s sure she would never entertain the illicit desires he indulges at Madame Helene’s. But when he kisses her, he discovers her thirst for pleasure–and adventure–matches his. . .

MY THOUGHTS: This story takes place in England in 1822. The hero is thirty year old Gabriel Swanfield. He has dark hair and blue eyes and is bisexual. The heroine is twenty-one year old Lisette Delornay-Ross. She has light brown hair and hazel eyes. She’s got a twin brother named Christian.

I’m a big fan of this series, having read the two previous ones. I now consider Kate Pearce a favorite author. I enjoyed the sexual chemistry between hero and heroine and wasn’t let down by any of the intimate scenes. Gabriel is the kind of hero I like; slightly tortured. He has physical and emotional scars and was a war prisoner in Spain. He’s also the product of rape. He really has no family and is on bad terms with his two cousins.

The heroine is experienced sexually, which isn’t that common for historical romances. I like her personality but found her to be a bit childish at times. My favorite part of the whole novel is when she played a couple of sexual pranks on the hero. I thought that was genius of the author and original. It had me grinning from ear to ear. Lisette is a character I envy! You’ll have to read the book yourself to find out what I’m talking about. I doubt you’ll have any complaints.

I liked the secondary characters, especially the friends of Gabriel. The heroine’s brother Christian, I suspect he might get his own story and I wouldn’t mind if he did. At first I detected a bit of jealousy from him when it came to Lisette and Gabriel but I’m not sure if that’s true.

I enjoyed all the sex in the book, all nine or more scenes and was impressed by the explicitness of them. It’s just what I like and Kate knows how to deliver them. I did enjoy the first 2/3 of the story more than the last 1/3. It dragged a slight bit for me. Also, I didn’t find their love to be that believable. I was a bit uncomfortable with Lisette and her family being so open with one another with their sex lives. It made me cringe a little.

I couldn’t have been more pleased with this novel. I recommend it to any and all who like explicit romances. I rate it 4.5/5 stars.

Other books in this series are:

•Simply Sexual 2-2008
•Simply Sinful 11-2008
•Simply Shameless 4-2009
•Simply Wicked 9-2009
•Simply Insatiable 4-2010
•Simply Forbidden 1-2011

I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

CITY OF ASH by Megan Chance

PUBLISHER: Broadway, June 2011
GENRE: Historical Fiction
SETTING: Washington, America 1888
HEROINE: Geneva ‘Ginny’ Langley
NARRATION: First person
GRADE: B+

FROM PUBLISHER: When the great Seattle fire of 1889 leaves them with nothing to lose, two very different women discover a mutual passion for revenge.

Chicago socialite and art patron Geneva Langley has brought scandal to her family for the last time. Her latest and boldest act of immodesty is too much for her father to bear, and he banishes her to Seattle, along with her scheming, ambitious husband, Nathan. Seattle is a far cry from Chicago — the streets are muddy, the society backward, and Ginny feels stifled and alone.

Despite her considerable talent, Beatrice Wilkes is an actress whose dream of being a leading lady is fading rapidly. She can’t believe her luck when a new production gives her a chance at stardom, but Geneva Langley seizes the opportunity for her own and unwittingly crushes Bea’s last dream.

The two women engage in a fierce battle for center stage, but the great Seattle fire, which ravages the city, changes their fates and plans. In its aftermath, Ginny and Bea see an opportunity to change their lives: but it would mean banding together to enact a truly wicked plan. Their dark and perilous alliance will set them on the path to either redemption or damnation.

MY THOUGHTS: The heroine, 29, is in a dysfunctional marriage. She comes from wealth and her husband, Nathan, married her for it. He comes up with a plan to get his hands on even more of it. I think her father, not knowing of Nathan’s plan, helps him.

Geneva learns of the plan and devises a plan of her own. She asks Nathan’s mistress, Beatrice, to help her and help her she does. Plans change when she can’t get access to money. The new plan is silly and really farfetched, totally unbelievable and I was real disappointed in it. Despite that, I was interested in watching it all unfold.

My favorite character is the actress, Beatrice. She’s twenty-eight and has been an actress for thirteen years. Sadly, we didn’t learn anything of her background. She’s a jealous, self centered person and it was very surprising that she’d help Geneva out.

Geneva didn’t seem that interesting to me. I didn’t like that out of nowhere she wanted to become an actress. I also thought it strange that she didn’t seem too bothered by the fact her husband was cheating.

Overall, I was happy with this book but was disappointed by the plan and how it all played out during the last third of the story.

You can visit the author’s website. Her complete booklist can be found here.

I received this from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

ORDEAL by Linda Lovelace

PUBLISHER: Citadel, 2005
GENRE: Nonfiction/Memoir
ORIGINAL PUB: 1980, ISBN 0517427915
MY GRADE: B

FROM PUBLISHER: Linda Lovelace became a household name in 1972, when Deep Throat--a film made for only $25,000--became the first pornographic movie ever to cross over to mainstream audiences, to the tune of $600 million and counting. Despite being the face that launched the film's phenomenal success, behind the scenes Linda was suffering unspeakable torture and abuse at the hands of her husband, Chuck Traynor, and she never earned a dollar from the film's huge success. A harrowing tale of the pursuit of happiness and the will to survive amid years of horrific abuse, Ordeal reveals the dark reality behind Deep Throat, and its star's tragic, yet ultimately triumphant, life.

MY THOUGHTS: I can tell you that this is the darkest, most disturbing book, fiction or nonfiction, that I’ve ever read. It’s downright disgusting and sexually graphic from start to finish. Linda is brutally honest and graphic. There is no fluff to be found here. The tone of this memoir is very serious. No joking around here.

Linda Boreman was born in New York to an abusive mother and a disinterested father. When she was twenty-one she met her future husband, Chuck Traynor. That’s when her downward spiral began. He set her up to be raped in a hotel by five men. He told her they were going there on business. When they got there he took her into another room, showed her a gun and told her she was going to go out there and have sex with them. So she did. I believe that was the only time she was actually forced to do anything. She chose to stay with him and be beaten by him for a couple of years until she finally got away. Once she even ran away to her parents and told them of the abuse. They showed no interest whatsoever.

The most interesting part of the memoir is the updated forward. It tells us that Linda had both breasts removed because of problems caused by silicone injections she’d had when she was 21/22. Then we learn of her death after being taken off life support after she was in a car accident in 2002.

Before you start to feel sorry for her or have any sympathy for her at all, remember that this woman had sex with a dog on film…and attempted to twice more, according to her. I learned that Hugh Hefner had a like of beastiality films and had quite a collection of them at the Playboy mansion. He even discussed them with Linda’s husband, Chuck. Linda once had sex with Hugh and claims that Sammy Davis Jr. fell in love with her while having a sexual relationship with him. She also watched Sammy perform oral sex on Chuck.

The memoir concludes with her telling us she’s married, on welfare and has a three year old son.

I don’t have anything good to say about this woman. She’s homophobic (based on her ‘fag’ comment) and unable to accept responsibility for anything that she’s done. Everyone else is to blame for her actions.

This book is disgusting but it’s worth reading if you have any interest in the porn industry. You will not believe the perversions that men and women are into. I give this book 4 stars/B. I sort of wish I hadn’t read it.

Lots of information about her can be found at Wikipedia. There's a sequel to this, Out of Bondage, ISBN 0818403861.

I received this from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

PATIENCE by Lisa Valdez

PUBLISHER: Berkley, April 2010
SETTING: England, June 1851
HEROINE: Passion Dare, 22
HERO: Matthew Hawkemore, 26
VIRGIN HEROINE? Yes
PART OF SERIES? Yes, book 2 of 3
GRADE: A for sex, C for plot

SYNOPSIS: A woman called Patience.
A desire that would put her name -- and love -- to the test...

Known for her exceptional beauty, Patience Emmalina Dare has been pursued by admirers ever since coming of age. But as suitor after suitor fails to inspire her love, or her desire, she is certain she will never find a man who touches her deeply. Until a passionate kiss with an enigmatic man awakens a powerful need in her. But can she reconcile her desire for him with her desire for a life that's her own? And what will she do when he shows her a part of herself she never knew existed?

When the secret of his illegitimate birth pushes Matthew Morgan Hawkmore from his place in society, the darkly handsome half brother of the Earl of Langley plots his resurrection and his revenge. Betrayed and abandoned by the women he believed loved him, he swears never again to be controlled by love. But despite his vow, he is unable to resist Patience, whose strength and self-reliance mask a need that he is perfectly suited to fulfill...

The heroine is red haired, green eyed Patience Dare. She's 22 years old.
The hero is 26 year old Matthew Hawkemore.

The story begins in England on the same day as Patience's older sister, Passion, June 30, 1851. Patience and Matt were already aquainted with each other, having met because their siblings were engaged to each other. The story spans about six months.

Like the authors previous novel, this one too is centered around much sex. Hardcore sex, to be exact. They begin a dominant/submissive sexual relationship from the start of the story. Sex dominates the story and there isn't a whole lot going on plotwise.

Matt, in the previous novel, found out he was a 'bastard' and that his real father was a gardener and his brother Mark is really his half brother. Because of that, his fiancee Rosalind Benchley calls off their marriage right at the beginning of the novel. Her father is now out to ruin Matt financially. Matt was told by a teenage boy he knows that there is some sort of secret about Rosalind being a 'bastard' too. So Matt has the boy snoop around the Benchley household to try and find evidence of it. So, honestly, that's all that really goes on here, that and sex. Passion, Mark and Patience's aunt Matty make quite a few appearances throughout.

Near the end of the story, Rosalind's father is responsible for causing an explosion at the coal mine that Matt owns. Matt sells it to someone else and discovers that Rosalind is not the one who is the bastard...it's her father that is. Matt plans to make that knowledge public in an attempt to ruin Benchley in all ways but Patience talks him out of it. Patience accepts Matt's proposal and Matt really wants a Christmas time wedding.

We find out through a letter some lady writes to her friend that Matt and Patience did get married.

I give the sex scenes in this book an A+ because they're so graphic. I couldn't have been more. I give the plot line, with Matt trying to find out if Benchley really is a 'bastard' and the coal mine explosion a C. That whole plot seems to have fallen by the wayside. The author has a problem writing anything that isn't sexual, in my opinion. She should have and could have done so much more with the Matt-trying-to-ruin-Benchley thing but she just didn't know how or just didn't want to. Regardless, the graphic sex more than made up for the rest. Not every book needs to be a great masterpiece. Some are really nothing more than one sex scene after another and I see nothing wrong with that.

I'm assuming the next book will feature Patience's younger sister Primrose as the heroine. If the sex in this one, book 2, was much more graphic than the previous one, Passion, I can't imagine how she'll top it with book 3. Overall, I have to say that yes, I did enjoy this novel.