Overview

THIS IS BOOK 1 IN THE VICTORIAN DECADENCE SERIES **What’s the most ruinous mistake a harlot can make? Falling in love with her client … Edward Fanshawe is everything Nora Hudson wants in the bedroom—and everything she should avoid out of it. He gives her the pain, humiliation, and domination she craves from a sexual partner, but his search for the perfect, blue-blooded wife means the last thing Nora should do is fall for him. Except…it’s too late. She already has.

When Edward offers to make Nora his mistress, the idea of being utterly under his dominion is as terrifying as it is titillating. As much as she wants to stay with Edward forever, she worries that living with the man she loves—the man who takes everything her body has to give and wants nothing to do with her heart—will eventually destroy her. But then Nora meets the woman Edward intends to marry and her situation becomes considerably more complicated. And erotic…

* His Harlot is an angsty, dark, standalone historical erotic romance novel featuring consensual S&M, BDSM and both M/F, F/F, menage, voyeurism, exhibitionism, explicit love scenes, and YES, a happily ever after!

This is NOT erotica. That means this has a real story and lots of it.

TRIGGER WARNING: marital infidelity, sexual abuse, miscarriage, & lots of kink. @110,000 words **

Review

Equal parts salacious and profound, the erotic romance that launches the Victorian Decadence series from LaViolette (The Footman) sees a sex worker fall in love with her client in Victorian England. Wealthy, dominant businessman Edward Fanshaw has beeninfatuated with stoic beauty Nora Hudson for months, becoming a regular client of hers at Madame Tosca's gentleman's establishment. He offers her a yearlong contract as his mistress, hoping to get her out of his system and break her hold over him. Though wary of her growing feelings for Edward, Nora agrees, moving into his house as his "ward." Neither are particularly forthcoming about their feelings--Nora especially hides her inner life from Edward--but both enjoy their escalating dominant/submissive relationship. Things are further complicated when Edward marries young Lady Catherine to secure his social standing and get an heir. Catherine despises Edward but becomes smitten with Nora and the women embark on a secret sexual relationship of their own. When Edward finds out, he banishes Nora--but can the star-crossed lovers really forget each other? LaViolette keeps the tension high, delivering dark eroticism and emotional depth in equal measure. Readers will be hooked. -PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

Wow. This book was nothing like I expected, and that's a GOOD thing. Let me be clear up front. This book is NOT for everyone--not even your average lover of erotic romance. It might possibly contain every trigger that could exist in a book like this, yet is dealt with in such a way that none of it felt gratuitous. Everything the characters endure is a result of bad decisions, ill-timing, misunderstandings ... you know, the forces working against humans in every day life.

This is the story of Nora and Edward. Nora is a high-priced prostitute who has a favorite client. This client happens to be the wealthy businessman Edward, who also happens to be a dominant who can't get enough of Nora's submission. The problems come in while Edward can't seem to let go of his 'plan's for his grand life (a titled wife to go with all his hard-earned money, an heir, and all the things and possessions that will make him stand head and shoulders with the nobility. For Nora's part, she seems content in occupying a small part of Edward's life because she loves him, and some of him is better than none.

Or, is it?I cannot really express much more without giving the story away, except to say that everything changes when Edward takes Nora on as his exclusive mistress. A high-stakes, passionate, and at times toxic, relationship forms between the two, and ... let's just say by the end all parties involve are made to face the error of the ways and suffer for wrongdoing.

Make no mistake, these characters aren't always likable. They are often awful to one another and others as well. Yet, some how S.M. Laviolette makes us root for them and like them. I think, in making them almost entirely unlikable (but still sympathetic), they become like mirror images of our true selves. Yes, this is an erotic novel, but there are such deep themes running through it. I could see myself going back to read it time and time again to delve deeper.

The character development is on point and masterfully done. There is real growth here, and not just lip service. By the end of the book the characters become likable people who have grown and changed, and now deserve their happily ever after.

This was my first read by this author, but definitely not my last. Even when it pushed me out of my comfort zone, I was riveted and unable to look away. It was sordid and dirty, and somehow still beautiful and poignant. It takes a rare talent indeed to pull off a work like this, and LaViolette has that in spades.

On to book 2!Victoria Vale

From the Back Cover

What's the most ruinous mistake a harlot can make?

Falling in love with her client ...

Edward Fanshawe is everything Nora Hudson wants in the bedroom--and everything she should avoid out of it. He gives her the pain, humiliation, and domination she craves from a sexual partner, but his search for the perfect, blue-blooded wife means the last thing Nora should do is fall for him. Except...it's too late. She already has.

When Edward offers to make Nora his mistress, the idea of being utterly under his dominion is as terrifying as it is titillating. As much as she wants to stay with Edward forever, she worries that living with the man she loves--the man who takes everything her body has to give and wants nothing to do with her heart--will eventually destroy her.

But then Nora meets the woman Edward intends to marry and her situation becomes considerably more complicated. And erotic...

His Harlot is an angsty, dark, standalone historical erotic romance novel featuring consensual S&M, BDSM and both M/F, F/F, menage, voyeurism, exhibitionism, explicit love scenes, and YES, a happily ever after!

This is EROTIC ROMANCE, not erotica. That means this has a real story and lots of it.

About the Author

S.M. LaViolette is the pen name of Minerva Spencer. The books S.M. writes are steamy, smart, and edgy--if you are looking for heroes and heroines who shatter society's expectations, look no further!S.M. started writing in 2014 and published her first book in 2018. Before becoming a writer S.M. ran the gamut of careers: bartender, college history teacher, dock worker, criminal prosecutor, and bed & breakfast owner/operator. When not writing you can find S.M. playing with her chickens, crafting, or DIYing on her old, rambling, adobe house.