Reading a book that is in the middle of a series always comes with some issues. Back-story isn’t always included and in this case you probably miss out on Anthony growing up and spiraling out of control in the previous three books. I would guess it’s a delicate balancing act in writing a series to know how much back-story to include for an on going character and what to leave out. If you include too much, you risk boring the readers who have already read the previous books. If you leave too much out new readers don’t have a good access to the character. I’m sure this theme has been discussed to death on another thread here.

Yay Jane and Mali! Robin Schone is one of my writing heroes. I’ve heard myself compared to her several times over the years and when I finally went and read ‘The Lover’ and ‘Gabriel’s Woman’ I could see why.

Also, there are overtones to the book (from the review) that made me think of Robin Schone's books.

Yes. Some elements mentioned in the review does make me think of Robin Schone’s Gabriel’s Woman.

@Debra

Having read all her books, I do not think you can go into this series without starting at the beginning and still be able to follow along.

That is a shame, but thank you for that note because I was thinking of picking this one up.

the m/m scenes felt a little hotter to me

They always feel hotter. That’s why so many of us love ‘em. ;-)

He licked his lips, tasting dried blood, brandy and the acrid tang of another man's cum.

That is one fabulously descriptive, evocative line. I’m envious.

Fair enough. Would you consider writing (or have you written?) a book with a heroine like Anthony? That would pique my interest!

You mean a romance heroine who isn’t a 0 or a 6 on the Kinsey Scale? But…but they don’t exist! LOL

I, for one, would looooove to see more sexually fluid heroines out there (and please don’t tell me to write some, because I have and I am). I’d guess true sexual fluidity is probably as common (if not more) in women as in men, so I find it odd that it isn’t as common in romance as male bisexuality seems to be.

First off, I don’t think Anthony’s mother knew ‘exactly’ what he was up to sexually, just that he wasn’t doing the normal social stuff she would expect. She’s his mother and she worries about him :)

And secondly, for a more liberated sexually confident female you should check out ‘Simply Shameless’, the previous book about Helene Delornay, Marguerite’s mother.

I'm afraid I don't see the “turned gay” aspect as much as Anthony endured humiliating sexual abuse because he wouldn't deal with his experience. In fact, I don't think Anthony was turned “gay” at all but a bisexual submissive who went to extremes.
But those are psychological aspects that were subtly played out throughout the series, so perhaps it wasn't easy to catch as a “cold” read.

I really felt that it wasn’t. That was one of my complaints; I really thought Anthony’s character could’ve been better developed within the book itself. I would’ve perhaps understood him better, and it would’ve made for a richer reading experience.

As for Anthony being bisexual, it’s my understanding that he hadn’t had sex with a woman before this book. I’m not sure if that’s an extreme example of the romance trope where the hero is promiscuous but the heroine is “different”. I didn’t get the sense that Anthony was particularly interested in women other than Marguerite.

And as far as entering an “alternate Regency”, people often feel that way about contemporary BDSM. (It IS another world).

I think on reflection it was the romance aspect of the book that didn’t really mesh with everyone and anyone knowing what Anthony was into (his mother! I still can’t get over that…), and talking about it pretty freely. If romances are fantasy to a degree, I think they are less so than erotica and/or porn where everyone is just getting it on indiscriminately (and not all erotica I’ve read is like that, either; it really varies). So I think the setting and to some degree the realism of the romance made the “other world” aspects of the story feel dissonant.

I'm not big on sexual labels, so I never try and paint any of my characters as definitely gay, straight or bi, they just are who they are, and hopefully, they'll be loved for who they are regardless of their sexual orientation.

Fair enough. Would you consider writing (or have you written?) a book with a heroine like Anthony? That would pique my interest!

It's the dried blood that gets me. I think to myself, is this a paranormal?

You know, I don’t recall that there was much (if any) detail after that about Anthony being like, actually hurt during sex. Which was fine with me.

For all that it was a love story between Anthony and Marguerite, the m/m scenes felt a little hotter to me. Though in general the sex scenes were all well done.

Having read all her books, I do not think you can go into this series without starting at the beginning and still be able to follow along.

I stopped reading historicals a long time ago but was sucked into her books and have been hooked ever since. But she is the only writer of historicals I will read.

Also, there are overtones to the book (from the review) that made me think of Robin Schone’s books.

Anthony is not a man who ‘turns gay’ because of abuse. He is a young man who, because of rape, does not know what he does or does not like. The rape was his first sexual experience. Violence and pain at the hands of a man was all he knew of sex. Margurite shows him another side of sexuality and he must figure out what is pleasure, what he enjoys and what he doesn’t. In the end, he turns his back on the extreme sexuality in favor of a gentler hand.

I also disagree with the implication he becomes dominant and therefor whole. I fail to see how tying him up is the act of a submissive woman, or how being tied is a dominant man. There is a certain give and take to Anthony and Margurite’s relationship, however it’s clear Anthony still prefers the role of a sub.

Anthony’s journey is one of self-discovery. He has to set aside what he’d learned of pleasure and decide what truly satisfies him.

This is a wonderful book. It contains some extreme sexual acts, including BDSM and M/M. Contrary to most erotica on the market, it is elegantly written without the vulgar crudeness which dominates the genre. Simply Wicked won’t be to everyone’s taste, but I quite enjoyed it.

I felt rather at sea in the early chapters of Simply Wicked – though it is ostensibly set in 1819 London, at times it almost seems like an alternate history or alternate universe London, one where the daughter of a notorious madam can marry a lord and circulate in society with relative ease, and where the sexual pecadilloes of the hero – whose inclinations before meeting the heroine consist of playing the submissive in rough sexual encounters with other men – are openly known and discussed amongst his family, including his mother.

I read another Kate Pearce book a while back (I think it was Simply Sexual), and I felt somewhat simiarly about the setting of that book — as though I’d entered an alternate Regency.

Perhaps I will have forgotten this by dinner tonight. My stomach hopes so. Eh, what a patsy I am.