Customer Reviews

Parlor Games

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Parlor Games is a highly entertaining trilogy of well-written historical erotica. In Fallen Angel, a Regency era historical, the handsome, dashing, fallen from grace, Bow Street Runner John Valentine is to protect the beautiful Arabella, madam of a house of pleasure, from a mysterious stalker that wants her dead. In the Victorian era historical, Parlor Games, the innocent and sweet Sarah chooses working in a coffee house that offers "parlor games" over starving in the streets. There she meets the handsome rake, Tom Wilde, who at first lusts for her body and pays for a month of her time, only to discover that a month is not a enough. In the Scottish, time-travel historical, Border Lord, Brochan Douglas spirits away with the daughter of his enemy Laird Angus MacLellan. But it is not the beautiful Annabelle MacLellan Brochan steals away, but Terri Campbell from present day Scottish Borderlands, who visits the priory to escape a cheating finance, only to find herself in medieval Scotland a hostage to sex and evenutually love with the manly, gorgeous Brochan. All three stories have well-written sensual scenes, but unlike some romantica, the sensuality does not override the story. Nicely done.

"Fallen Angel" by Jess Michaels. After falling from grace, Arabella opens up London's most popular brothel with vow that men will service her not the other way around. However, she needs protection from someone who wants her dead. She turns to equally disgraced Bow Street Runner John to keep her safe from her stalker, but soon desires his services 24/7 in and out of bed.

"Parlor Games" by Leda Swann. Sarah entered the coffeehouse brothel so that she can eat, but though her job is to entice men into spending their money, she plans to leave a virgin. Undercover investigator Tom seeks information on a client when he sees Sarah. He buys exclusivity for a month of her while continuing his discrete inquiries.

"Border Lord" by Julia Templeton. Terri went on her Scottish tour for two reasons. To escape a cheating no longer fiancé and because being a romantic she walk where legends speak of lost loves. However, when she enters a room, Terri realizes quickly everything is wrong especially when she becomes prisoner of a highland laird who demands honesty, loyalty and equal lust in his woman. She wants the same in her man, but worries whether a twenty-first century independent female find love and happiness in the arms of a macho medieval Highlander?

These three well written historical heated red romances are fiery fervent fun starring super protagonists in strong storylines in which the erotica is deftly blended into the passionate plots.

Harriet Klausner

This is a hard review for me. While all three stories provide some romance to varying degrees and plenty of explicit love scenes, something was just not right. Anthologies are a tricky business. Making the romance believable and having multiple love scenes between the H/H in a little over 100 pages is nearly impossible IMHO. Therein lies the problem. You don't really feel the characters falling in love with each other. Its really just lust and kind of a shallow sexual love that's portrayed in these three.

Swann's story is by far the worst. It made me feel like I was watching a cheap porno. It was gross the way her characters behaved. The way they got turned on by watching others do their business. And -EWWW!- they get sprayed by someone else's...uh..love juices? It was just like a really disgusting orgy. There is some really disturbing female abuse too. And the H/H fall in love with each other amidst all of this? Ha! I don't think so!

I did like Templeton's & Michaels stories though. They were more believable. The romance was not bad and the love scenes were very hot.

Just three stories with LOTS of loves scenes and characters obsessed with sex and not much else (character/romance development). A little snickers bar for your libido if that's what your looking for.

Three short stories that lack a story. Ok unless you consider an extremely loose storyline with lots of sex that does not tickle your toes, cause you to sweat or exclaim 'phew!', worth paying for and reading.

Story 1: Arabella is an extremely attractive woman running a 'pleasure establishment'( a polite way of putting it , I think). Her life is threatened so she hires the services of a body guard who does little else but service her; in the bedroom, in the open , under tables and wherever their fancy takes them. He is a well endowed male with amazing stamina who does not mind mixing business with pleasure.

Story two: I vaguely recall this one but it went something like so. Poor desperate damsel resorts to working in a brothel. Hero fancies her and buys her exclusivity. They indulge in all sorts of carnal games but heroine remains a virgin, right until hero professes love, blah, blah.

Story three: Modern heroine is visiting a historical sight. She is told how 500 years ago a young girl hid in that very cloister, to avoid being abducted and ravished by a Scottish Lord. Lo and behold, our heroine inexplicably finds herself back in time, locked in that very same cloister with the brutish lord breaking down the door. She does not escape ravishment, as you may have guessed.

Conclusion: Don't bother. There are far better stories out there.

I don't think I have ever bought an anthology book where I enjoyed all the stories equally well. Usually, there is one story that stands out as the one that "carried the book." However, all three of these stories were equally well-written, fun, creative and erotic. All the main characters were empathetic, strong and well written. I am a new fan of all three authors and have now read more Leda Swann, and Julia Templeton. Now I just have to buy some Jess Michaels. I highly recommend this book (5 stars).

Fallen Angel by Jess Michaels

Someone is out to get Arabella Nichols, the notorious London madam known as the Fallen Angel and so Arabella hires a disgraced Bow Street Runner named John Valentine to protect her. She wants Valentine's protection and she wouldn't say no to his services in bed either, but she's only willing to play by her terms. Valentine is willing to take another chance at love but if he is to protect her, he needs her to trust him so he can find her stalker.

I'm sorry. Does Arabella need a protector or a lover? Because to me the only thing she seemed interested in was Valentine's great big c*ck. It was also extremely annoying to read about her refusals to let Valentine do his job. He needed information that she was refusing to give him and so he was left in the dark trying to figure out why she was being stalked. This was an okay read but the sex in this story didn't really interest me and since there really wasn't much else going on in this novella besides the TSTL heroine's shenanigans I didn't really enjoy this one.

Parlor Games by Leda Swann

Sarah Chesham has been let go from her milliner's position and she's desperate to find work. Faint with hunger she walks into the Madame Erskine's coffeehouse looking for work. She's willing to do whatever she can to get by and when she realizes this coffeehouse serves as an intimate playground for wealthy men she sadly joins the millions of women before her in selling her body.

Tom Wilde spotted Sarah when she arrived at the coffeehouse and he wants her for himself. He's willing to pay for a month of her time and though she refuses to give him her virginity they definitely play a lot of games. Like strip poker and Blindman's Buff. There's definitely a lot of naughty exhibitionism going on in this story and it's not for the shy. It's all just one long tease and at the end of the month Tom has to decide whether or not he's going to stand aside and let the next man have her or if he's going to make an honest women out of her.

Border Lord by Julia Templeton

After witnessing her fiance cheating on her, Terri Campbell drives off in shock and finds herself at a priory that is just finishing it's last tour. It seems this priory in the late 1200s was the scene of Annabelle MacLellan's abduction by Laird Brochan Douglas. Terri goes poking around the priory and is whisked into the past. She wakes up as Annabelle just as Brochan comes for her. With literally no choice but to follow him, Terri doesn't know what else to do so she decides to try and continue her role in this debacle and hope that when history is played out the portal to the future will return her.

I didn't care for this one. Terri was just too stupid for me. She didn't seem to care that she had traveled back into time and was stuck in the year 1294. She was far too interested in what was underneath Brochan's plaid. Brochan was too easily charmed by a smile and a flash of cleavage for me tp take seriously. The ending was also incredibly stupid and made no sense. This was my first Julia Templeton book and I'm frankly disappointed. The sex was alright. Nothing special.

Very very bad, especially the 2nd story "Parlor Games", it wasn't sexy or erotic- the couple didn't even like each other - then they loved each other -huh? The other 2 stories were okay, the 3rd being the best because I like highlanders, but it was rushed because it was a short story. This wasn't worth my time.

Fallen Angel by Jess Michaels
Arabella Nichols - a stunning beauty and a notorious madam
John Valentine - handsome, sexy and a disgraced Bow Street Runner.
Someone is stalking her: she hires him for protection. But they both have something to hide and will need to trust each other with the truth before the would-be killer can be unmasked.
Jess Michaels brings us a romantic tale of intrigue with some highly erotic love scenes.

Parlor Games by Leda Swan
Sarah Chesham - a curate's daughter, an innocent virgin, jobless, almost destitute and trying to avoid a life on the streets.
Tom Wilde - a rake and a gossip merchant who makes his living producing salacious pamphlets about prominent members of society.
Tom encounters Sarah on her first day at Mrs Erskine's coffee house (brothel), where parlor games to tempt the clientele are the order of the day. He is so taken by her that he pays for a month of her time. Sarah spends her time in his company indulging in these parlor games, at the same time, trying not to become a whore, thus frustrating Tom at every turn.
Leda Swan brings us a very erotic romance with some rather graphic descriptions of explicit sexual encounters. Not all sweetness and light.

Border Lord by Julia Templeton
Terri Campbell discovers her fiancé in the act of being unfaithful and escapes to Scotland to lick her wounds. She tours a priory where she enters a sealed chamber and somehow ends up in the 13th century as Annabelle MacLellan, the daughter of a Scottish Laird.
Brochan Douglas is a Scottish Laird who is intent on revenge against Angus MacLellan for the murder of his brother. This revenge takes shape as the kidnapping of MacLellan's beloved daughter Annabelle.
Terri suddenly finds herself the captive of a handsome, sexy, green-eyed border lord who is intent on having his way with her.
Julia Templeton brings us a truly sensuous romance. Throw in a bit of time-travel, and this becomes a delightful erotic tale. Easily the best of the three.

I enjoyed reading the Jess Michaels story of the madam and Bow Street Runner. I feel the second story was just okay, but not a necessary addition to the anthology. I enjoyed the final story by Julia Templeton. At first I was skeptical about the time travel storyline, but she made it work well in the story. I would like to read more from both authors. Any suggestions?