A Man And A Woman

The Lady's Tutor #1.5

by Robin Schone

Widowed Megan Phillins longs to experience the intimacies shared with a man just once more. Playing the role of a harlot, she travels to the Land's End Inn, where she knocks upon the door of a mysterious stranger. After a night of forbidden passion Megan is shocked to discover the traveler is actually Connor Treffrey, an Englishman who was marooned and sold into slavery. But now Connor has returned to reunite with his well-bred family.And together, he and Megan will embark on a breathless journey of indescribable pleasure...

30,000 Words

Genres: Romance, Historical Romance, Erotica, Historical, Novella, Fiction, Erotic Romance

102 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

USA Today and Amazon Bestselling Author Robin Schone writes British Victorian novels about love, the legal & social penalties of Women’s sexuality and the occasional dinosaur. She is translated in 15 languages. The Lady's Tutor is a Cosmopolitan "Must Read" erotic novel. RUSQ (Reference and User Services of the American Library Association) chose Scandalous Lovers to “represent the wide range of historical fiction in romance.” Claims RUSQ: "Robin Schone writes sensual, explicit stories...about characters who are frequently older and less beautiful than most romance protagonists. Her history is impeccable; the storytelling is straightforward but emotionally driven."

Reviews

[Floripiquita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cuento corto erótico y con alguna que otra sorpresa, en el que sale un secundario de El Tutor al que tendremos ocasión de conocer un poco más. Le doy un 3,5.

[Betty · Rating 5 out of 5]

This gorgeous sensual little novella is a direct follow-on from 'The Lady's Tutor'. It is the story of Muhamed aka Connor, an Arab Muslim to all intents and purposes, he has spent most of his life in one way or another in 'service' after being captured, transported and terribly, physically and mentally abused by his captors. He becomes an Arab and does not return to his English family and home in Cornwall.

'Muhamed' is now 53 years old and has finally made the decision to return home to face the family who must think him dead after 40 years. He has never known a woman's touch or experienced sexual pleasure, so has decided that for one night he will attempt to do so and requests the Inn keeper to obtain a prostitute.

Megan a 48 year old widow is staying at the same Inn and overhears the conversation between 'Muhamed' and the Inn keeper, she intercepts the prostitute and presents herself as a whore for 'Muhamed's' pleasure. She is far from experienced herself, after 28 childless and unfulfilled years of marriage to a narrow minded vicar, she sees this as her last chance to experience physical love.

Robin Schone is the mistress of erotic love, somehow she weaves magic into erotica and something special is born. In this novella she has done it again. Two very broken and badly treated souls, far from the first flush of youth, find each other and the healing begins. Sensual, heartwarming and beautiful. As well as dealing with the fall-out from frustration and low self esteem Ms. Schone also highlights some dark and evil practices still in evidence and being debated today. There is always a moral somewhere in her stories, they are never just about sex, although are very definitely sensual. Plus I learnt a lot, but will leave you dear reader to find out for yourself as I don't want to spoil it for you!

[Sunny☼ · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Mistress of Erotica has done it again. I have missed Ms. Schone's books but she is back and is as good as ever, if not better.

A cram packed page turner from beginning to end and did I say HOT!

Megan and Connor will draw you to the edge of your seat and you will miss this book when the last page is turned. Yes a recommended read.

[Océano de libros · Rating 3 out of 5]

Robin Schone es una autora que me encanta porque llega con sus historias de pasión y sensualidad incluyendo temas como en este caso la diferencia de edad y las distintas religiones y costumbres. Si de algo se caracteriza es de sacarnos los colores con sus escenas íntimas y encima ponerle sentimientos.

A Muhamed /Connor Treffrey lo conocemos de la novela “El tutor”, un eunuco que trabajaba para Ramiel Devington. A sus cincuenta y tres años se siente solo y desesperanzado. Una noche solicita una prostituta y es ahí cuando Megan Barnwell (una viuda de cuarenta y ocho años que quiere volver a sentir) se presenta en los aposentos de Muhamed.

Los dos juntos se meten de lleno en un viaje de autodescubrimiento, de descubrir sus miedos, sus anhelos, y dar rienda por fin a sus sentimientos y nunca mejor que conociendo a otra persona que te ayude en ese camino...https://oceanodelibros.blogspot.com/2...

[Seon Ji (Dawn) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! Where to begin?

As true to most of the novellas I have read this one has left me wanting more. Even still I cannot begrudge this book a star over it.

The subject which is quite unique and interesting has left me feeling a great need to research the topic further. My curiosity has been peaked!

++Spoiler+++

A brief synopsis:

A now Arabic man (once an Englishman) became a eunich at age 13 when his family got captured a sea by slavers. Muhhamed/Conner rebeled against the slavers thus being punished by having his ballocks crushed. He lived for 40 years in Arabia only recently returning to England. Upon his return he summons an innkeeper to fetch him a whore with the hopes of discoving if he can pleasure a woman and or himself. The heroine who's name escapes me, is a vicars widow, who lived in her cold and virtually sexless marriage until his recent death. She overhears Muhhumed's conversation with the innkeeper and decides to intercept the whore and take her place in hopes to finding pleasure for the first time in 20 years.


I am amazed at the research the author has done pertaining to eunichs and of Arab culture. She weaves an intimate tale between these two tortured souls that left me feeeling so sorry for Muhummed it nearly broke my heart.

I love everything about this story except one small thing which I am internally debating as to whether it worked or not. I will have to think on it more. The item which I speak of is the sometimes very clinical way the two main characters discuss sex, pleasure, body parts (vulva is the one term I found really jarred the erotic feel)etc. Still I cannot lower the rating from 5 stars.

I applaud this author in her writing about such unconventional a subject she is truly a breath of fresh air.

I will certainly read more of her work in the future.



Update and a bit of a ramble for anyone interested:


I actually was up late last night (past my usual bed time), researching eunichs and the sexual effects of castration (both full and partial). It was not easy to find. Needless to say the author was dead on about all of the information. The book I found regarding the topic is dated, but not necessarily inaccurate. I have it on my "want to read" list but it is quite expensive. "Human Sexuality." This book is amazing! It discusses everything from betrothals to abortions, to divorce, to eunichs.. the history, the effects etc.. I mean everything. If I were an author I would have this by my side when writing. I plan to buy it in hardcover.. it is not available as an ebook. Fascinating....

[Isabel Luna · Rating 2 out of 5]

No puedo decir q me haya gustado demasiado y es una lástima xq siento q esta podía ser una gran historia. A Muhamed, lo conocimos en El Tutor; a Megan no la conocimos de nada pero es viuda. Ambos coinciden en una posada y él pide una prostituta. Cuestión q, como Megan atraviesa un laaargo periodo de abstinencia (creo q desde antes de quedar viuda), ella soborna a la prostituta para ocupar su lugar. Hasta bien, interesante.
El problema viene cuando la trama se desarrolla un poco más y saltan las inconsistencias; la primera, él es virgen, la segunda ella nunca en su vida tuvo un orgasmo y ambos se supone q quieren desquitar esa noche toda una vida de represión y negación. Y ahí es donde no compro el cuento de que una mujer puede llegar a tener 1000 orgasmos en una noche, únicamente por obra y gracia del pene de un hombre q pasada la cincuentena resulta ser virgen. Sí, existen mujeres multiorgásmicas y sí existen hombres de guapura sin igual. Pero también existen exageraciones que se hacen con un objetivo definido y malamente no lo cumplen xq simplemente no hay q insultar la inteligencia de la gente.
Lo único rescatable de la historia es lo q le toca a Muhamed que resulta ser inglés de nacimiento, su verdadero nombre es Connor Treffy, y era de familia de pescadores. Lo raptan a los 13 años y como no quiso ser el juguetito sexual de su captor, le machacaron los testituculos, lo q lo hace ténicamente eunuco, pero no realmente no xq no tuvo ningún problema en esa área, si vamos a creer la trama (cosa q no hacemos) Esa parte es la única creíble en toda la historia y q habría sido magnífica de explotar. Es mejor incluso que la historia de Megan; pero ninguna de las dos se desarrolla más allá de los diálogos entre ambos y de uno u otro pensamiento por parte de Megan.
En conclusión: Robin Schone tiene muy buenas historias. Pero ésta, no es una de ellas.

[namericanwordcat · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have waited a long time for Muhammad's/Connor's story. Trying to find home and himself with a widow who pretends to be prostitute to end her sexual loneliness.

Schone's writing as always is sharped edged, tender, and aching. This romance is erotic and so human.

The leads are both well over 45 with past that have brought them to this desperate moment in an inn and have made them brave enough to love.

It is only not a 5 star because I think it would be richer if a little more of Muhammad's life in England was explored and I would have liked it to be longer with the marriage and the meeting of the family and the After. Just a few chapters more.
I highly recommend this character driven novella.

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

There have been books that I have enjoyed but I have forgotten them quickly. There are books I have loved and still remember them fondly. Every so often I come upon a story that leaves a kiss on my heart. That touches something within my humanity. This story is one of those.

It is romantic, erotic, heartwarming and profoundly moving. While the situation occurs in a specific time with very specific people, there is a "knowing" in this book that transcends the specifics and reveals a base truth about about the human condition. It illuminates a fundamental yearning that is part of our genetic make up. To love and to be loved.

What a different world we would live in if we could all be as vulnerable as the H/H in this story. Not in brokenness, but in candor and in acceptance.

[Cerise · Rating 2 out of 5]

All the disparaging talk of Arabic/Islamic cultures (just “Arabia” in general, as though there’s no difference between countries in the Middle East) and discussions of genital mutilation really distracted from the erotica. What I’ve noticed in Robin Schone’s novellas is that they jump to marriage really abruptly, but there’s really no plot or development of a relationship so it’s very jarring. Schone can write a good sex scene but the other content in her work is usually really unpleasant in comparison.

[Katerina · Rating 4 out of 5]

A 53 year-old eunuch, an 48 year-old widow, and one night at the Land’s End Inn...

This was such a gut-wrenching read, it was like I could grasp the protagonists desperation with my hands!

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adored this book!

[begemot · Rating 3 out of 5]

This had recently been republished under a different title - “The Widow and the Eunuch”. Copied from my review on that novella:

I didn’t continue with “The Lady’s Tutor” after reading the sample chapter, but decided to give this novella/story a shot. It’s not bad per se, but has the same underlying problem that I was sure the novel would have - it’s written by an author, who is not part of the culture she is writing about and who also lacks the fundamental understanding, let alone knowledge, of the mindset of that culture’s people.

I am not an Arab and don’t claim more than cursory familiarity with their customs. However, the culture I grew up in had been heavily influenced by both Arabs and their main religion. And from my perspective, the way any and all references to them read in this story is “alluringly exotic, but alien and barbaric”. The whole culture is portrayed as cruel, without any self-awareness on the part of the author/characters - I’m sure European customs in general, and British ones in particular, are no less full of cruelty and barbarism if viewed from a non-European perspective. And castration isn’t specific to “Arabia”. Nor are ALL Arab women subjected to genital mutilation (Somalia, Djibouti, Egypt, Sudan, and Mauritania have a high to universal prevalence of it apparently, but they don’t constitute the whole - or even the majority (currently they make up less than 50% of the total) - of Arab population). I haven’t researched it yet, but I also highly question the whole concept of women in harems having unrestricted sex - with eunuchs or each other. Whether they were of Islamic faith or not, they would literally have been facing execution, if caught in those activities. But the most egregious cultural faux pas in this story was probably when the male protagonist invokes the Arabic name/term for God during sex. Whether he considers himself a Muslim or not, he has clearly had enough cultural indoctrination to balk at the mere idea of that. Also, the specific phrase that he uses (translated as “God is great”), as far as I know, has a similar function to “Amen” in Christianity - it would be used to start or end a prayer, a gathering, etc. So it sounded ridiculous in the given context even without the religious blasphemy aspect.

The one good thing I thought the story had going for it was an almost complete lack of racial/ethnic prejudice from Megan. I was pleasantly surprised (while finding it unrealistic) that an extremely sheltered white woman from essentially rural England in 19th century was being portrayed as having no reservations (other than insecurity about herself and her inexperience) not only about physical intimacy in general, but also physical intimacy with a man of a markedly different ethnicity. And then it turned out that (SPOILER) he had been English all along - so much for diversity, acceptance, and lack of prejudices.

[Dr. Sionainn]

I always feel torn about Robin Schone because, on one hand, she has a lot of weird orientalist takes that are very regressive to Arabs. On the other hand, I think she thinks (?) she's being progressive and she really emphasizes women feeling comfortable and confident in their bodies and their sexuality in the face of near-constant male criticism and shaming.

[Adrienne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this in 2009 when it was published in an anthology together with Beatrice Small.........I don't think I can link in to that review but it can be found via my shelves.

[Suzy Vero · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Lady’s Tutor by Robin Schone (1999) and the following novella, A Man and a Woman (2000), are tales of erotic historical romance … with explicit and detailed descriptive sex scenes.

Elizabeth has endured 16 years of selfless duty in a passionless marriage … her husband is the Chancellor of the Exchequer, her two sons are at Eton, and her father is the Prime Minister. She’s determined to seduce her coldly indifferent husband. She knows of only one man who can teach her the erotic secrets of love and she insists on verbal tutoring, no touching as she is a faithful wife.

Ramiel is the bastard son of an English countess and an Arab sheik. He’s challenged by Elizabeth’s request and undertakes her instruction in the art of sensual delight using The Perfumed Garden of the Cheikh Nefzaoui (first published in England in 1886). But the lessons become a temptation for both and the shocking mystery of why her husband has not been in her bed for 12 years unravels. The ending is deeply disturbing… thankfully there’s a great HEA.

In the novella, at a chance meeting at a Cornish inn, when she overhears a man ask the innkeeper for a whore, the widowed Megan, age 48 pretends to be one hoping to experience once again the intimacies with a man. He’s Mohamed, age 53, confidant of Ramiel, has never been with a woman … he’s a eunuch (in reality he’s English, was kidnapped at 13 and sold into slavery in Arabia). These are two badly broken souls, who find each other thru intimacy and then the emotional healing begins.

These are stories that include some dark and evil practices that are still in evidence today. Robin Schone writes sensual erotic love stories that are never just about the sex, there is a moral in each one too. Unique, different .. highly recommend!!Both ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[LOU71 · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Man and a Woman is #1.5 of The Lady’s Tutor series. It’s an explicit, character-driven, historical story. Themes of genital mutilation and harems within Arab culture. It is written tenderly, with aching undertones of desire and acceptance. Very thought-provoking.

The Lady’s Tutor: 3 stars
A Man and a Woman: 3 stars

Megan is a forty-eight year old widow. She orchestrates a night of intimacy with a strange man in her hotel in Land’s End Inn.

Muhamed is fifty-three years old, in Land’s End to reunite with his estranged well-bred English family after forty years. An Englishman by birth, and an Arab by upbringing. Known as Connor Treffery as a child, he was in a shipwreck at thirteen and sold into slavery when rescued.

It’s not only about a man and a woman finding sexual fulfilment with one another, but it also poses the question, how do we understand / define a man and a woman? The raw vulnerability of the two lead characters in this story is off-the-charts high.

I recommend this novella.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this story. It's such a pleasant change to read about older people (not elderly, just older...lol), falling in love. This was a very sweet, and very steamy romance, that completely took me by surprise. If anyone knows of other good romances that don't involve 20-30 year olds, I'd love the recommendations. I took one star off, because the ending seemed pretty rushed to me, and I'd have enjoyed a longer story.

[D.L. Howe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't know if I'd like this one considering how much older the characters were. But I didn't have any issues relating to the characters and I was totally intrigued by the whole eunuch thing and the fact that a Cornish man could pass for a middle easterner. As always Ms Schone did a good job writing an emotional sex filled story.

[Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is probably closer to a 2.5 for me. I actually found the bits about being a eunuch more interesting than the sex stuff. It was explicit but not particularly *sexy*. Seems pretty convenient that the Arab turned out to be an Englishman after all. The book treats it like a secret to be revealed at the end, but it's spoiled in the book blurb, so not sure what the thinking was there.

[Donald Shipman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Uplifting!

Good fantasy for an aged bachelor who has roamed most of the world and tasted it's varied pleasures. Jostling good memories is a good thing but not as good their creation. Book is a nice jostle.

[Lucimar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Leitura bastante diferente do que estou acostumada; embora tenha lido outros dela. Sempre tem erotismo e uma carga emocional, uma história por trás das cenas ardentes. Dei três estrelas porque achei que valia um epílogo: uma pitada do futuro deles juntos.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love anything by Robin Schone - this one is a quick lovely read that packs a sensual and emotional punch

[Jana Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Never too old

Never too old to fill your needs and desires. Wish there was more to the story. I want to know what happens next.

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely hot, exciting, and a fascinating romantic story...

[Flyaway2moon · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a lovely erotic novella which I re-read several times.

[Karen Darling · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just didn't like it.

[Sara · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bad writing and a flimsy plot. Stupid

[Tangela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love

The best sequel. It answers the Questions of The Lady's Tutor, without minimizing the serious emotional depths of intimate relationships.I wish she wrote more often.

[Bookwurm637 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this short but very touching story. And would definitely re-read.
All about finally finding love and self acceptance and loving each other for their authentic self. 💓 Brought me to tears.

[sef · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️ 2.8 stars.


this was a bit uncomfortable but