Customer Reviews

Secrets Volume 1 (Red Sage - Secrets Volumes)

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A Lady's Quest by Bonnie Hamre*****
Historical Romance-London Society: Lady Antonia Blair-Sutworth is a widow enjoying her independence. Dougal MacDonald, seventh Duke of Sutherland returns to London to make her his mistress. The optimistic Duke laid his claim and very promptly got snubbed. Antonia is attracted to the Duke so she decides to get a new lover to distract her from the alluring Duke. With the help of her maid, Clarry she begins interviewing at a rooming house where she (in disguise) awaits the applicants. Applicants are required to pleasure her (forgoing their own), remain fully dressed and will be rewarded with a return visit only if the job is well done. Night after night the Duke pursues her, day after day Antonia accepts applicants but none can wash away her desire for the Duke. Now all applicants have left-except one and this "mysterious" applicant refuses to speak to her--but he's exactly what she's been waiting for. He returns for a second interview and a third for "their" unveiling.

The Spinner's Dream by Alice Gaines****
Magical Romance: Kareth sa-Damil is an outcast and is punishing herself for her wanton nature. Guided by Dendra, she lives deep in the forest in a one-room cabin seeking purification. Tired of whoredom, Thiele jumped out of his Lady Eria's window to escape. The sex slave storms into her solitude seeking a place to hide and she fakes sickness to prevent the churl captors from searching her wardrobe. Kareth is obligated to tend to his wounds-he thanks her the only way he can: he pleasures her. Now he refuses to leave until she uses her "magic" to remove his collar of ownership. How will her wanton nature ever resist such temptation?

The Gift by Jeanie LeGendre*****
An innocent French woman, niece of the Ambassador is sold into slavery and given to the Sultan Solimon as a harem "Gift". Solimon is instantly attracted to Alessandra de Got but she quickly makes it known that she's educated, was kidnapped and wants to go home! Solimon can't return her because it would insult his Sultan neighbor and start a war. What is a Sultan to do? He strikes a 3-day deal with the lady. She prepares to prove to him her diplomatic intelligence; he prepares a seduction.

The Proposal by Ivy Landon**
Contemporary Romance: Tracey Vennet is sleeping with the boss, Craig Logan. She loves him but the sex is not that great. Craig feels the same and stages a romantic evening to convince her to say yes by "spanking" up their sex life.

Bonnie Hamre's "A LADY'S QUEST" has great sexual tension but 'finishes' (& I use the term loosely) just when things get real interesting.....Dougal MacDonald, Duke of Sutherland rushed to London to make the lovely & newly-unattached widow Antonia his mistress. Determined to remain single, Antonia needs to find a completely satisfying lover in order to resist the Duke's charms.

Some scenes were kinda dragging & I also expected a lot more than was delivered in Alice Gaines's "A SPINNER'S DREAM".....Novice priestess of the goddess Dendra, Kareth sa-Damil was exiled to her forest cottage when the escaped churl Thiele burst in on her solitude. Grateful for her help in evading the slave hunters, Thiele thanks her his way--as the recipient of his considerable talents of a love slave.

My personal favorite, Jeanie LeGendre's "THE GIFT," is highly romantic yet positively scorching! Alessandra is the unwilling 'gift' bestowed upon Sultan Soliman. Determined to prove her unsuitability as an houri, she challenges him to 3 nights of erotic resistance.

Ivy Landon's "THE PROPOSAL" is rather shocking & kinky.....CEO Craig Logan is determined to bring his company president Tracey Vennet to a sexual climax! His plan includes a 'spanking' game of dominance/submission.

Don't miss the rest of the "Secrets" series: volumes 2, 3, 4, etc...You won't be disappointed!

Wow! I was tracking down Bonnie Hamre's works and fell in love with the Secrets anthologies. They are provocative, heat-provoking fantasies and I enjoyed them all, but I rooted for the duke of Sutherland who wants Antonia, and he wants her now. I laughed at the idea of meeting as antagonists by night and as masked lovers during the afternoon... hot hot hot! Or am I giving too much away?

I loved this erotic anthology. It awoke my senses from beginning to end. And the best part is that this wonderful series illustrates various sub-categories of romantic erotica -- contemporary, historical and fantasy. My favorite out of the four novellas is Bonnie Hamre's A Lady's Quest. This historical story centers on a young widow's tenacious need to find a lover that could replace her lust for Dougal MacDonald, the gorgeous seventh Duke of Sutherland and notorious womanizer. But she'd never envisaged Dougal's delectable intentions. I savored this story like fine wine. It was as sensual as it was erotic. The Gift is my second favorite novella. I loved the historical elements and delicious erotic scenes. The Spinner's Dream is the weakest one out of the four, but it entertained me nevertheless. And I loved The Proposal. The aforementioned novella reads like a toned down Black Lace novel.

This is a memorable erotic anthology. The novellas' descriptions are rich with sensuality -- guaranteed to satisfy the reader. They're lighter than Black Lace books, but not sugarcoated like the rather formulaic erotic romance novels in Kensington Brava. I cannot wait to pick up the other volumes. Highly recommended...

I won't bother recapping the stories because others have already done a wonderful job of that. There were a nice variety of stories in the book (historical to fantasy to contemporary). While the stories themselves weren't bad, they were (for me anyway) easily forgettable. I read the book only days ago and when I started to write the review I had to dig the book out and flip through it to jog my memory because I had already forgotten them. I was also disappointed with the 'erotica' level of the book. I just didn't find it all that...titillating. Still, it was published a decade ago, so maybe back then these stories really 'pushed the edge'.

This book was exactly what I was looking for. Sensual and imaginative, the author's characters had me 'there' with them, my heart beating and my breath coming fast, as I became enveloped in the story. Never tawdry or cheap, this hot romance left me craving more. The settings of different time periods and places, made it even more interesting. I can't wait to read Volume 2.

There are three stories included in this book but what makes it unique is that the main character in the second and third stories appeared in the first. Sexy characters with enough humor to make you laugh out loud. I couldn't put it down but was disappointed when I finished it. I hope there will be more books written like this one. I'm hooked!

This is the 1st of the secrets anthologies i've read & I have all of them up to number 9. Although short they are a very exciting read. Like most anthologies you are not going to enjoy all of the stories, but in this case I did. Though saying that the order in which I enjoyed the most is:

The proposal by Ivy Landon, The gift by Jeanie LeGendre & A lady's quest by Bonnie Hamre, the same & The spinner's dream by Alice Gaines.

A great book & i'm looking forward to reading the rest.