Cecilia Grant

July 2023 update: I stand by my statement that this is a kinky book. Like, Grant GETS D/s at such a fundamental level I was knocked over rereading it. Of course, the book is not marketed as kinky but imo this is one of the most swoony, romantic D/s books I've ever read. Just look at this passage:

If she were his wife—Heaven above, where had that thought come from?—but if she were his wife, they would go to his house together and she would attend him in his bath. On the tile or marble floor she would kneel, taking the soap from his unresisting hand, and she would scrub him while he bent his head forward, all the burdens of the day floating off. With her thumbs she would knead away every knot that care had worked into the muscles of his back. His breaths would grow looser, telling her without words what comfort she brought. And her hands would tell him how proud she was, how very proud, of all he’d done and been today.

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March 2023 update: this is a book that has stayed in my mind since first reading it. I originally rated 3 stars because how the conflict was wrapped up, which I still believe wasn't great for me but I am not so upset with now, all these months later . . . and now that 3 star "I feel betrayed (lolz)" rating doesn't feel right. When I say this book has stayed with me, I mean I am obsessed with it and think about it daily. Many folks find the bad sex unbearable, but to me, it read extremely kinky. Was I a little disappointed when the very bad, no good sex suddenly became not bad and Martha surrendered? Yes, but I am in a place where I can appreciate the surrender now. Anwyay, turns out this is one of my favorite books and I, too, submitted.


November 2022 review: Everyone is topping from the bottom in this sex deal.

Widow in need of a quick pregnancy offers coin to the rakish neighbor. But instead of sex being sensual it's bad. Like really bad bc Martha only wants the seed and Theo is confused why pleasure cannot be part of the deal. To be honest, the terrible, bad, awkward sex worked for me 100%. In my mind, I read it as an interesting take on kinky denied orgasm scenes. Every time Martha said, "no" to Theo asking to give her pleasure, every time Theo begged Martha to indulge him in fantasy and she denied him . . . ooof, it just hit me in all the right spots. With that said . . .

There are some exquisite passages that are some of the best, most sublime writing I've ever encountered; but, ultimately, they do not hold the rest of this book together. Also, I just hated how the main issue was "wrapped up":

The brother of Martha's late husband is a rapist and looks to inherit the estate Martha lives on. To prevent other estate workers from having to work under such a terrible human, she decides to attempt to get pregnant so it will seem like she is having the rightful heir (I fucking hate aristocracy my god lol). Anyway, the rapist and his wife - and two boys - arrive on the estate then Martha decides she feels bad about conning the sons out of the estate . . . ok so this is all very ridiculous because 1. she didn't know about the sons (wtf) and 2. how convenient this big fucking plan that is essentially the entirety of book just falls apart ahhh at this point I feel I had wasted so much time reading this. So Martha gives up the farm and fucks off to her brother's house where she didn't really want to be - and makes the rapist brother live elsewhere but his wife and sons can live on the estate? I don't know this was all very tiring. I will say the final lines of the book were so very good and touching - but I am not sure the journey was worth it? Or maybe the journey and the ending are different books entirely?… (lisätietoja)

I really liked and appreciated how very forthcoming Kate was about wanting to better her situation I'm glad that it seemed like there were real repercussions both from her parents' and from Nick's brother's "unsuitable" marriages (see [b: A Gentleman Undone|12769479|A Gentleman Undone (Blackshear Family, #2)|Cecilia Grant|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1321933178s/12769479.jpg|17913980] for the latter). I liked that the secondary and tertiary characters were so varied, never all judgmental or forgiving. I liked how Grant touched on how unfair it can be when children are paying for their parents mistakes, even in happy and loving families. I liked that Kate wasn't just about social aspirations, but also about healing the breach in her family. I loved how she was totally realistic about her looks and not falsely humble (I didn't love how uneven the text is about the way beauty is treated. Kate gets a little aggro about people not looking beyond her face, but her dad decided to marry her mom after seeing her on stage).

What I didn't like so much, and the reason it gets 3 stars, is the actual romance. It takes a long time for Kate to realize she digs Nick and I didn't think that it was adequately shown prior to her realization. Nick's feelings seemed more mature (after he got over his initial infatuation) but I didn't totally buy it from him either. Also, the sex parts were not convincing.

It's a bit of a shame because the story is so nuanced, but I felt the romance really lacked.… (lisätietoja)