Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of A Night For Her Pleasure by Terri Brisbin
Historical romance short story ebook released by Harlequin Historical Undone 1 Jun 09
Sooner or later, it happens to every reader. The ol’ “It’s Not You, It’s Me” affliction that sometimes happens when we pick up a new story. There’s nothing particularly wrong with it, it just isn’t for you. That’s exactly what happened to me with A Night For Her Pleasure.
Simon, Count of Rennes has just married his fair, innocent bride, Elise. The wedding feast is well underway, but instead of celebrating his marriage, he’s fretting about the wedding night. While noble, Simon sees himself as brutish and rough. He fears he will frighten, scare off, and scar his virginal wife, who he is already hopelessly captivated with. In turn, Elise is fretting about pleasing her husband. Her mother’s advice on the marriage bed essentially consisted of lie back and take it. Then her cousin shares with her a very enlightening conversation she had with Simon’s former mistress. Needless to say, Elise is a bundle of nerves because she has absolutely no idea what to do or what to expect. All she knows is that she loves her husband.
Enjoyment of this story pretty much hinges on how tolerant the reader is of virginal heroines. Certainly Elise isn’t all bad. At least she doesn’t get wide-eyed, point at Simon’s naughty bits and exclaim, “You’re going to be that there?!?!” Still, I found myself getting annoyed by her reticence and her constant referral to Simon’s naughty bits as his “privy parts.” 🙄
A Night For Her Pleasure also serves as a prequel to the author’s new series for Harlequin Historical, The Knights of Brittany. Certainly, almost all of these Undone stories are parts of series, but in this instance I felt it was a bit heavy-handed. The inclusion of those Knights dangerously bordered on info-dumping and they didn’t serve any purpose in this story other than to be series-bait.
All that said, I think this story will be more enjoyable for readers looking for a hot, historical read but who don’t necessarily enjoy the recent trend towards franker language. In other words, if you want hot without reading the F-bomb or the C-bomb, this story will most definitely scratch your itch. It reminded me of the older, sexier historicals from back in the day, before the erotic romance boom as we know it firmly took hold. For this reader though, I think I probably would have preferred it if Simon had married his mistress.
Grade: C+
Summary:
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Brittany, 1066
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Elise saved her family from ruin by marrying Simon, Count of Rennes. Yet this is no mere marriage of convenience–Elise has already fallen in love with her new husband. Intending to please him, Elise sets out to be the bold and seductive woman she thinks Simon desires–even though she’s an inexperienced, innocent virgin.
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On this their wedding day, Simon is determined to skillfully arouse his new wife and initiate her into the pleasures of the bedchamber, although he fears a woman so feminine and delicate could never love a nobleman as rough as he.
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Once their wedding night arrives, Simon and Elise will both discover ecstasy beyond their wildest imaginings….
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Read an excerpt here.
Other books in this series:
