Title: Veronica
Author: Louisa Trent
Rating: 3 Stars
Publisher: Loose Id
Release Date: September 2010
Book 4 of Blooming Companions
Book Genre: BDSM, Erotic Romance, Historical Romance, Steampunk Romance
This novella is jam-packed with fetishes of the strange quality to those who are considered "normal". All in all, it will still send your pulse racing at certain times, and others, not so much.
First off, I just wanted to say that this novella was very well written and the romance that ensues within is very sweet near the end. That said, this novella was just not very enjoyable for me. Though I do hope that others give it a chance if it's something they would prefer.
Veronica Cooper is a blooming author. Already the spotlight of many tabloids, her debut novel, an erotic detailing of things she would love to do, is a hit. She is part of a free love movement and would do anything to live out some of the fantasies that she has created in her mind. In her haste to do these, she becomes the lover of an Irish longshoreman who is just out for a meal ticket. An attempt at blackmailing her father goes awry, so Veronica Cooper's lover gives up the details of their whereabouts to a local tabloid journalist on a day that Veronica intends to stoke her exhibitionist tendencies.
After becoming a ruined woman once the news hits the streets, Veronica finds that the only person there to help her back into her writing ways is Talbot Bowdoin. Talbot has a gnarled leg from the war and loves to tinker with mechanical things. He even has a basement in his estate where he has a plethora of self-made devices specifically for pleasure. Talbot has a few strange fetishes and once he proposes marriage to Veronica's father and he accepts, Talbot and Veronica's adventure begins.
Delighted that his new young wife is eager to please and adventuresome, Talbot finds that his detachment from the pleasures of the "real' flesh is slowly drifting away as his love for his new wife grows.
I really liked the setting of this novella. I love historical, so I chose to read this upon seeing that it took place in the late 1800s Boston. There were some strange goings on in this novella that turned me away for a day or so, but that is how it is when you read something that just may not be up your alley. I really thought that the lead man was very cold as the lead female describes on various occasions, but that is his trait and to change that would change the story, but the way he was cold was also a bit odd for me. I was taken by surprised and shocked numerous times, so if you like a novella that doesn't leave anything out and might very well scare you, this one is it. The dialogue in this novella had a hard time keeping my focus. I may have had my mind on other things, but I felt like the people speaking to one another weren't speaking to one another, but as if they were talking to walls. It was strange to put it that way, but the emotional bond just isn't there until very late in the story, and the reader is wondering for pages and pages when the connection will be made. In my opinion, this story would be wonderful if the reader is into the things that this book touches on. For me, it's not one of my to-read again novellas.
I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone who is sensitive to explicit sexual encounters of the BDSM/fetish type, as it wasn't for me. I usually enjoy BDSM reads, but this one just wasn't for me. If a reader is sensitive to harsh language and graphic scenes, pick up something else. Nevertheless, it was an enjoyable read and I will be looking forward to more stories by the author.
