Lady Sophie's Midnight Seduction by Dorothy McFalls

A quickie erotic encounter
4 stars

Lady Sophie is a self avowed spinster and happy with her lot in life. But ever since her father’s death she has had to deal with his heir - Lord Benton Black who is determined to make her his wife.

Lord Benton-Black confuses and confounds Sophie but when he begins to haunt her dreams she realises she must confront him - and her true feelings.


This was a short story that I counted at around 35 pages long so will only take you about 20 minutes from beginning to end.

Despite its short length I decided I liked the main characters and their relationship with each other. This was an erotic story and while it was steamy - it really didn’t sizzle or heat up the pages overly much.

Having said that, the writing was fun (any book that features the word ‘zounds!’ gets points from me!) and I liked the characters, their interactions and the conclusion.

For a short, historical story that’s not too expensive, you can’t go wrong with this one. 4 stars.

The Headmaster's Confession by Laurel Bennett

A short, fun and sexy story
4 stars

The headmaster of an all girl’s school in Regency England is tested to his limits when the lovely, wayward Miss Winters breaks the rules and is sent to his office for her punishment.


This is a very short and sexy, erotic tale and the first that I have read by Laurel Bennett. It’s the same story as The Headmaster’s Fall but this time seen through the eyes of the headmaster rather than Miss Winters.

At only 17 pages long the book is more of an encounter rather than a full story. Having said that, the writing was very good, the situations hot and I enjoyed it very much. The twist at the end is both welcome and handled well; it made me like the story much more.

Overall, if you’re looking for a hot, 10 minute read then I would recommend this to you. 4 stars.

Taste of Temptation by Cheryl Holt

Formulaic and dull

2 stars

At 25 years old, Helen Hamilton is firmly on the shelf of spinsterhood. With the death of her notorious father, Helen is destitute and must care for her two sisters with little money and no prospects. When she tries for a position of a governess at Captain Tristan Odell’s home she is turned away.

Desperate, she ends up in a brothel selling herself as mistress to the highest bidder. It’s a shock to both when Tristan ends up taking her home. An illegitimate rake, Tristan is excited by the prospect of having Helen in his home. But will he offer her a position as governess or something more?

I am usually a fan of Cheryl Holt although I’ll admit that she does like to stick to her formula of rich, arrogant man and down-on-her-luck lady mixed with plenty of evil relatives thrown in to keep the couple apart. However, in this novel it seemed far too formulaic which resulted in a dull story that I struggled to get into.

I can’t really say much about Helen as a character that’s positive. She was supposed to be a strong survivor while she actually came across as weak and pathetic. Tristan was your usual arrogant hero but without much depth. His actions didn’t seem to match his words and he was too quick to jump from one extreme to the other with his emotions for them to be believable. I’d like to say the pair had chemistry but to be honest they had so little interaction in the book that you practically forgot they were even there.

The reason for the lack of interaction was the secondary characters who seemed to take up all the pages. There was the “romance” between the immature, randy earl who was hard to like and Jane, the teenager who clearly knew what she was doing in trying to trap herself an aristocrat. That we were supposed to root for these two was beyond me.

Overall, as I said, I realty struggled with this story. It’s the second in the Spinster’s Cure series (after Promise of Pleasureand before Dreams of Desire) and I’ll read the next book but really can’t recommend this one. 2 stars and even then I feel I’m being generous!

Too Wicked to Wed by Cheryl Holt

Enjoyable erotic romance

4 stars

Helen Mansfield’s idiotic brother has done the unthinkable and gambled away her virginity in order to save the family estate. When Helen goes to find the man who has won her and beg for mercy, what she finds is Luke Westmoreland, illegitimate son of a duke and a lusty, wildly attractive pirate.

Luke is an infamous smuggler and thief but thanks to an act of bravery on the high seas he is now hailed by society as a hero. Despite his elevated status, he is still a low-born pirate and is intrigued by the pure and delightful Helen. As the pair spend more time together, Luke realises that their encounters are more adventurous and abandoned than all his previous high seas adventures and perhaps he has finally found the best treasure. But there is someone that is determined to own Helen and they’ll stop at nothing to have her.

This book features the common character of the Duke of Roswell as seen in Cheryl Holt’s previous books, My Only Love and My True Love, yet despite this connection there is no common storyline and this book is a stand alone novel.

Cheryl Holt brings another erotic romp as an uncouth pirate meets his match in the virginal yet feisty Helen. Helen was a likeable and believable character but it was Luke as the arrogant alpha male that really stole the show. The way he is so arrogant yet manages to be brought down by love is great to read. There is also a nice secondary romance between two people who are adept at keeping secrets!

My reasons for only giving the book 4 stars was that the villain was so disgustingly vile that, at times, it was quite creepy. I suppose it shows that it was well written but it freaked me out a little!

Overall, the book was interesting, erotic and involved enough to keep you reading from beginning to end. If you’re looking for a sexy historical novel then you should enjoy this one. 4 stars.

Total Surrender by Cheryl Holt

Not her best but still fairly entertaining

3 stars

With her dissolute brother having gambled away every possession she owns, Lady Sarah Compton knows that her life will soon be very difficult. Before she accepts her fate, she travels to a country party, determined to enjoy herself one last time. What she doesn't realise is that the country party is actually a trysting event for the decadent members of the aristocracy.

The bastard son of an earl, Michael Stevens loves his reputation as a debauched seducer yet he is drawn to the innocent Sarah for reasons he can't fathom. When she refuses to leave the party when he warns her of the dangers, the pair embark on a very exciting journey where Michael promises to teach Sarah everything he knows of seduction. And in turn, Sarah might teach him everything she knows of love.

I am a fan of Cheryl Holt but I have to admit that I didn't feel that this was one of her better books. Michael was a very deep and complicated character while Sarah was a typical feisty yet innocent lady. They did have good chemistry but surprisingly their sex scenes were almost overshadowed by the numerous other sex scenes within the book.

There was also an awful lot of introspection for both characters which really slowed the pace of the book for me. It wasn't a problem to finish the book but I was never overly eager to return to the story once I'd put the book down. There was also often the problem of overly flowery language within the book alongside the numerous Americanisms.

As I said, I personally don't think it was her best effort but it's still an okay read if you're a fan of Cheryl Holt or if you're looking for a little historical erotic escapism. This book is also the follow on from Love Lessons which featured Michael's brother, James. Unfortunately only 3 stars for this book.

Further Than Passion by Cheryl Holt

Engaging and erotic historical romance

4 stars

Despite being highborn, Kate Duncan has been practically forced to serve her aunt and spoiled cousin since she became an orphan when she was a child. While visiting London for the first time, her young charge is determined to win the delicious but notorious Marcus Pelham, Earl of Stamford and the way she intends to force his hand is by having him drink a love potion.

Determined not to let Marcus fall into her cousin’s trap, Kate drinks the potion herself and finds herself stumbling upon Marcus in the middle of a very erotic tryst. Luckily Marcus is too busy to notice her watching… or so she thinks.

Marcus is titillated by the lady watching from the shadows and subsequently smitten by the passionate woman he discovers when he seeks her out. But despite their increasingly sensual encounters, there are secrets and plots about that may just keep the pair from discovering a most unexpected love.

This was another enjoyable story from Cheryl Holt and sticks to her tried and tested style of the innocent miss, a very delicious alpha male and some uninhibited and deliciously erotic sex scenes.

The story itself does everything right – the main characters are worthy to be cheered on, the villains are devious enough to hate and get their comeuppance in the end and we have an engaging story on the way to a satisfyingly happy ending. As seems to be a regular occurrence for Cheryl Holt’s novels, this one is littered with an exasperating amount of Americanisms and modern language. While annoying, you do learn to ignore it as the story unfolds. If you’re looking for a delightfully erotic, fantasy historical romance to keep you occupied for a few hours then you should be pretty happy to choose this book. 4 stars.

Forbidden Fantasy by Cheryl Holt

Fairly standard erotic historical fiction

3 stars

Ever since she was a child, Lady Caroline Foster was betrothed to an esteemed Viscount. Now, 25 years later, her supposed fiancé has jilted her and in a rush to avoid any scandal, Caroline finds herself engaged to a man old enough to be her father. Needing someone to help her, she seeks advice from her ex-fiancé's illegitimate brother - the only man she's ever kissed.

Ian Clayton has been infatuated with Caroline for years and he can't quite believe that she is seeking him out and offering him all sorts of scandalous things. Things that he should refuse but that he just can't say no to. But as their relationship blossoms into something neither expected - there are more than a few obstacles to overcome and more than a few people who would gladly stop at nothing to make sure the pair are kept apart.

This was the follow on story from Complete Abandon and having been set up in that previous book, I was very much looking forward to reading about Caroline and Ian's romance. Unfortunately, it didn't really quite live up to my expectations.

Both Ian and Caroline were interesting characters and were well developed and people you could ultimately identify with and like. They had the necessary chemistry and the sex scenes were hot, although perhaps a little less emotionally involved and perfunctory than I would have liked.

The plot itself was well developed, quite dark at times and if anyone deserved a happy ending after what they were put through it was Caroline and Ian. We even had a very good secondary romance which I enjoyed very much.

My reasons for only giving the book three stars were as follows: The use of modern language and Americanisms was too numerous to count. The pages were littered with them and it really began to grate after a while. I can live with a few inaccuracies for the sake of a good story but this was too much. And probably more importantly - I just didn't understand why the characters were behaving the way they were. We are never really told why Caroline first seeks out Ian, or why Ian leaves her, etc etc. It was sometimes as if we weren't being told of their motivations or thoughts and feelings.

This is still an interesting book and one that is well written and engaging. It's really not Cheryl Holt's best book but if you're a fan and want to read the story of Ian and Caroline then you still will want to take a look. Unfortunately only 3 stars.

Complete Abandon by Cheryl Holt

Engrossing and titillating historic romance

4 stars

When Emma Fitzgerald, the local vicar’s daughter, storms into the home of John Clayton, the new Viscount Wakefield, she gets more than an eyeful when she witnesses him in the middle of a tryst with his mistress. Despite her curiosity, she is still outraged over his treatment of his tenants and she plans to be the one to take this infamous rake to task.

John has never been treated like a naughty schoolboy and certainly never been admonished by a woman – especially one as spirited and lovely as Emma. Despite her prim exterior, she manages to shock him further when she proposes a bargain: in return for his kindness to his tenants, she will offer herself to him. Completely.

John is determined to win back the upper hand in their battle yet as he introduces Emma to the art of sex, she might just be introducing him to the art of love.

I very much enjoyed this uncomplicated story about two people, so wrong for each other, yet who cannot stay away from each other. How they come together and ultimately fall in love is a delight and I could barely put the book down.

Emma was such a refreshing heroine. Real, spunky, with morals, yet not able to deny her attraction and desire for John. John was also a wonderfully written hero. He was unashamedly arrogant, handsome and virile yet underneath was lonely and looking for someone to love him. The way that Cheryl Holt managed to have him be so needy yet still completely alpha male made him a joy to read about.

The book is unashamedly erotic and the sex scenes, which are plentiful, fairly scorch the pages of this book. Personally, I didn’t feel that many of the characters would have behaved like they did had they truly been from Regency times – but this book really is more of a historical fantasy escape than a true to life read – so I was happy to forgive the inaccuracies.

There were a few Americanisms that crept in to the book which was jarring, but overall, this was a very engrossing erotic historical romance and one that I would happily recommend. The book also nicely sets up Ian Clayton’s story (Forbidden Fantasy) which I am now very keen to read. Fun, fresh and exciting – definitely worth 4 stars.

Bad Girl Bridesmaids: Three All-New Erotic Tales

A reasonably enjoyable anthology

3 Stars

This is a set of three erotic stories, all written by Susanna Carr, showing just how naughty bridesmaids can be.

Serial Bridesmaid on the Loose

Kelsey Morgan is sick and tired of being a bridesmaid – especially when she realises that she’s only being asked so she can be treated as a slave. To stop the demands of the current bride, Kelsey hooks up with gigolo Zack Cooper to keep her occupied. Only Zack’s actually a multi-millionaire – and he’s not used to giving up the power and control.

The Bridesmaid’s Diaries

Two years ago Tara Watkins, the wedding co-ordinator at her family’s vineyard, had the most amazing sex with the best man at a wedding. Ever since then she’s been writing a Bridesmaid Blog on the net about her experiences. Now Luke Sullivan is back and determined to use the information gained from her Internet diary to relive that wild night.

Wedding Wrecker

Amber Hughes left her small town home after she ruined the wedding of a close friend. Now she’s back to be a bridesmaid again but this time sexy Josh Griffin plans to make this wedding crazier than her last – this time for all the right reasons.

All three of the stories in this anthology are fun, well-written and enjoyable. Mostly the characters are people you identify with and can root for although I wasn’t too taken with a couple of the heroes – far too domineering and arrogant for my tastes (and I generally tend to like an alpha male). And they do all suffer from the short length of the stories, as there is no real character or plot development. This also means you have to suspend reality in order to believe in the happy endings as love happens very quickly in each case.

And while these are billed as erotic stories, I found myself being slightly disappointed. All the words and actions were there in spades, but the actual sex scenes lacked any real sparkle or sizzle that would set them apart from other romance books.

Overall – if you’re looking for something light, fun and romantic then you should give this book a try. While perhaps not being the best example of erotic short stories, the writing is good, the stories hold your interest and they will take your mind off things for a while.