Carole Mortimer, $2.99, ISBN 978-1-910597-66-8
Historical Romance, 2018

Three years ago, Lord Alexander Stirling inherited a ward, the daughter of his army buddy. Well, there was only one solution to that: he had Amanda Fullerton shipped off to Miss Marchmont’s School for Young Ladies, put her out of his mind, and continued carousing around town with women, wine, and more women and wine.

Well, cut to present day. Amanda, now eighteen and impatient to experience life outside of her Boarding School, decides that enough is enough. She fibs to Miss Marchmont that she’d be spending the holidays with a friend’s family, and then takes a public coach to Alexander’s place.

Oh, look, she overhears him in energetic physical congress with his mistress. Ooh, hot. Still, she’s going in because she’s not going to let anything get in her way of being a new woman living a new life.

That’s how Alexander is flustered at this Miss Thing—and I quote—”finding him buried balls-deep inside another woman’s cunny.”

As her guardian, he has to discipline that harridan, so here’s some spanking. Smack, smack!

Well, it turns out that the whole experience only turn them both on.

Soon, she’s making him hot, he’s making her hot, and that’s what Carole Mortimer’s Obsession is all about.

“It did, yes.” It was easy for Amanda to discern Alexander’s irritation. His gaze avoided meeting hers, there was a slight flush to the skin along his cheekbones, and his mouth was set in a grim line. Which was surprising considering Amanda had not only seen him completely naked earlier today but also with his roused cock buried in the smooth and bare pussy of his mistress.

Did all ladies shave the hair from their mound?

Carole Mortimer’s graceful transition from a respectable Harlequin author that was once “recognized by Queen Elizabeth II for her outstanding service to literature” to peddler of cultured smut almost amuses me, and indeed, this one occasionally crosses over into erotica territory now and then to give readers that stay on safer, shallow waters of the lake a heart palpitation or two. The spanking, for example, and all the outright, unapologetic lusting on the heroine’s part.

That’s right, one big reason why I enjoy this one is the heroine being a refreshing antidote to the typical wilting lily that trembles in innocent terror in the shadow of the hero’s looming thirty-foot phallus. Amanda may not lack the experience or knowledge to be considered worldly in boudoir knowledge, but she’s more than happy to learn, especially if it’s hands-on lessons. There’s no shame, guilt, “I’m not good enough for him!”, and other nonsense from her.

In fact, at one point she’s furious that he tries to pull that “I’m ditching you for your own good” stunt on her. Oh no, she’s a woman of her own destiny and what not, and he’s not doing that to her, no matter how much she enjoys shagging him. Orgasms don’t turn her brain into putty, and thank goodness for that.

It can be considered reckless of Amanda to have all that happy, loud, screaming sex with Alexander considering that she’s not married and what not, but by that time, it’s obvious that she has him completely under her thumb and wrapped around her finger. Our heroine is a natural when it comes to getting her way with him, and while he knows it and spanks her for it, in the end he’s just hot air because he’s her very willing number one simp.

Obsession isn’t a deep story, but it is an amusing one, with raunch and a heroine’s entertaining turning of the hero’s world upside down in a most adorable manner.

If I have a complaint, it’s that this one isn’t more of an erotica. There are moments when I feel that these characters are talking way too much and too often. Just do naughty things to one another already! Also, just imagine if the author had delved more into that spanking thing. Maybe Amanda’s boarding school experience taught her to enjoy being spanked? Ooh, I’d be intrigued enough to read about Amanda’s naughty adventures in her boarding school.

Ahem. Anyway, I like this one. Hmm, considering that this one came out when Queen Elizabeth II was still alive, I wonder: did she read it, and did she like it? Ah well, I guess I’ll never know the answer.

The post Obsession by Carole Mortimer first appeared on HOT SAUCE REVIEWS.