Menage | Nerdy Book Reviews

Title: Eliza’s Awakening

Author: Zaide Bishop

Genre: Erotica, Romance, Historical, Ménage

Expected Publication: July 23rd 2012 by Carina Press

Plot:

It is the eve of the Longest Night. Eliza Baker and the rest of Lord Jayden’s servants excitedly prepare for the lavish festival as their masters enjoy a head start on the debauchery that awaits. Eliza’s madly in love with Kell, a sweet, deliciously sexy guard. Kell returns her feelings, but is striving to make himself a worthy man before he asks Eliza’s father for permission to court her.

To keep the Demon of Winter at bay, an offering must be made during the festival. As the event begins, Lord Kempsly informs Kell that he’s offering a special sacrifice this year, and Kell must escort the girl who will offer up her maidenhood for the enjoyment of the crowd. Another guest will select the maiden, and Kell realizes to his dismay the guest is Lord Rakin, a rich and handsome rogue who has his eye on Eliza. But little do any of the men suspect the burgeoning desire the ceremony is awakening in Eliza…

Review:

Very mixed opinions on this one. I felt at times we were bordering on something epic and then at other moments I had to cringe at the use of language. I understand that this is a piece of erotica, but profanities are not required to make something sexy, nor is the word “arse” in my opinion. It makes me cringe. However that is my own pet hate and not something that should discolour the view of this tale.

I felt this was much more descriptive than previous Carina Press short stories I’ve read and it was rather good at setting the scene. I certainly felt transported to the time with all the dresses and masquerade outfits, along with the whole setting. It worked much more for me as a piece of erotica set in a historical setting. In my opinion just because you’re going to write erotica does not mean you have to take away the foundations of writing and Bishop really applied the foundations for me and that made me happy!

The sex scenes in large were well written and I could appreciate them as not being too overdone, although they bordered on being at times. We did witness a few profanities, but I could overlook them because they were in the minority.

However the problems came with the whole aspect that it could be conceded as “forced sex” and I say this to warn the reader because although the girl never screams for it to stop, it walks a very fine line and if you do not appreciate this, then I’d warn you to skip by this book for your own benefit. Another issue some people may find with this book is the touch of lesbianism we almost border on, I won’t say anything more than that, but there is a ménage scene that people may find uncomfortable and I should urge you not to read this short novel if you don’t appreciate that kind of thing. Although I’d say go into reading this short story with an open mind because it’s not as bad as you may think.

The length of the story isn’t long, but I don’t think we should penalise the author on this, but rather appreciate the story as a whole rather than how many words the writer can type. It makes an interesting read that’s quick, enjoyable and certainly saucy.

For me, this is one of the better short pieces of erotica I’ve read because we got some very touching moments of emotion. I guess it’s not something you always expect from pieces of erotica because although some authors label their work in “romance” they tend to bypass the emotional aspect and just add the “erotica” and leave it at that. Despite this being erotica, we got the emotional romance connection and I felt even a little bit of background to Kell and an inner, tormented struggle. I appreciated this aspect of the story greatly and it gave the story a little bit of edge compared to the last piece of erotica from Carina Press I read.

Certainly a refreshing piece of erotica for me. I give the story the rating for the foundations, the emotional connections and the alright sex scenes, and it gets no penalisation from me from any of the on the border aspects! Look out for this e-book in July 2012 and give it a read if you like a piece of erotica for the beach!

*This was provided to me from the publisher via NetGalley*

My Rating:

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Title: Lord Atwood’s Lovers

Author: Eva Clancy

Genre: Erotica, Romance, Ménage, Historical-fiction

Published: June 1st 2012 by Harlequin Spice Briefs

Plot:

To the rest of the ton, Lord and Lady Atwood seem to have the perfect marriage. They wed for love and their marriage bed doesn’t lack for passion—but Imogen is haunted by the memory of her first marriage…while Charles harbors secret thoughts and desires he’s been unable to confess to his wife.
Then Charles’s ex-lover, Alexander Lambert, arrives in town, throwing Charles into a tailspin—and awakening a surprising attraction in Imogen. Now, both have to face the possibility that they may need more than just each other to be truly complete…

Review:

This e-book was rather short so it was hard to full get into the storyline. I found that by the time things had just got rolling, the story was over. Overall it was well written and a quick way to pass the time.

This book is a ménage though with male/male action, so if that isn’t your thing then I’d warn you to avoid it like the plague. To be truthful, I didn’t really think about that until I was reading and realised the direction it was heading in. I’m very open-minded and I enjoyed reading, but my problem came with the vulgarities that were unnecessary to describe the sexual acts. It was the first thing I noticed when I started reading and turned this book labelled “erotica” from something meant to excite to rather repulsive. I didn’t feel the need for the explicit language used.

We got the elements of romance strongly and emotional connections were formed (slightly) with the characters with a little background history on both of them. It was enjoyable that the author managed to encompass this within such a short novel and gave the characters a realistic sense.

The romance element also took us away from the whole piece being full of smut and actually allowed a plot because otherwise it’s just pornography on a written page.

Historically we probably didn’t get a lot from the novel, other than the fact that the couple attended a ball and were dressed very formally. I felt a little more background with a few more pages could have benefitted the novel to really create the realistic setting that the novel was being placed in. I don’t actually know the time setting of the story, but I’m assuming it’s more of the Victorian period although that would only be an assumption from the balls and the dress.

The ménage is managed delicately and it doesn’t feel like it’s forced or that somebody is jealous. The cut-off point of the story helps the ménage, but it certainly works well enough for it’s purpose.

I liked the characters enough. Lady Atwood was smart, emotional and she felt realistic. Lord Atwood was suave, commanding and sexy. Whilst Alex Lambert brought a twist and spice to the story. In their own right, all three were supposed ‘swoon worthy’ and I thought they worked well as a trio. The characters did lack the attachment I like to get to characters, but I suppose that was something to do with the length of the story.

It was a quick read that passed the time enjoyably, but I certainly wouldn’t read it again. If you have a spare half an hour to read it, I’d pick this up, but otherwise it’s not the most thrilling read of my life. There are far better pieces of erotica out there.

*This e-book was provided to me by the publisher via NetGalley*

My Rating: