Bound by Bliss

The story dragged a little and the ending left me wanting more. Did Bliss truly overcome her fear to love?

Good read! Funny at times. Had a bit of disconnect over the lead females wardrobe in one particularly intense section. It was a little weird for me. But overall I enjoyed it. Especially since it loosely intertwines with 2 other books by this author

The third title, yet second full novel in this series, I’ve not read the earlier books in this unique historic erotic romance series from Lavinia Kent.

In this title, Bliss is the daughter of the Earl of Mirth (Love those titles by the way) and she is an impetuous, somewhat unruly young woman. Her brother fears she is a scandal in waiting, and demands she end her flirtations and marry.

Stephan is the Earl of Duldon, and has carried a flame for Bliss for ages. While he’s more than willing to marry the recalcitrant young woman, he knows that a proposal will send her packing. Instead, he offers to help her find the perfect fiancé, while he hopes his constant attentions will turn her eyes in his direction.

Bliss is wholly reckless and I completely understood her brother’s desire to marry her off: until Stephan and her experimentation with him, she’d never wholly crossed the lines of propriety in terms of the time, but it was close. Very close. She’s determined not to marry, or more succinctly, marry anyone who can give her a challenge, I saw a bit of a ‘novice’ schemer in Bliss, even as I enjoyed her.

Stephan is a dominant, and desires his will be done in the bedroom and elsewhere. His attraction to Bliss starts with him subjugating his nature to not scare her: soon he sees in Bliss the ability and desire for more. She’s intrigued and quickly their pact to find her a husband move them into the bedroom. Still, Bliss is determined not to take their relationship further than dalliances and her sexual edification.

Here is where the book had moments of over-looking a clear push and pull tied to both emotional and sexual desires. Kent went to great lengths to build our understanding and belief in their emotional connection: those passages were unnecessarily wordy and only kept the fairly ridiculous stubborn behavior of Bliss in the forefront. She was submitting in every way possible in the bedroom, she was curious about Stephan’s every move and moment, and she spent long passages thinking over their time and her feelings, convincing herself, not this reader, that she was simply enjoying a dalliance.

Well-crafted and exceedingly hot, the sexual scenes were laden with BDSM and submission, although Stephan’s concern for and willingness to allow Bliss to explore her fantasies, all while gently reminding her that she has choices and he will comply added levels of depth to their interactions. While Stephan is hardly unselfish in his behavior, his careful crafting of a situation that is open and appearing to be under Bliss’ control give her choices not often afforded to women of the time, and opens the door for her to see that marriage to Stephan may NOT be exactly what she expected.

Aside from some over-wordy passages and some repetitive interior monologues, the story is unique, sensual and very sexual, all while holding a connection to the era. While social convention is flaunted, the characters feel real, honest and plausible and kept me interested as I waited for Stephan to get his wish.

I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.