Bound by Deception (Bound, #1) in Q&A with Erastes

Jun 05, 2009 Elisa Rolle added it

Bound by Deception was an unlucky book in my reading list, it slipped day by day till the day I almost forgot I had it, and now that I read it, thanks to the release of a sequel, I'd like to knock myself on the head for allowing so. I knew that I would have liked it, I loved another book by Ava March, an Erotic Regency as this one, so why I waited so much? Mystery of my strange mind...

Anyway, Ava March, in this second book, but really her first book, confirms my previous idea of her: she is a v Bound by Deception was an unlucky book in my reading list, it slipped day by day till the day I almost forgot I had it, and now that I read it, thanks to the release of a sequel, I'd like to knock myself on the head for allowing so. I knew that I would have liked it, I loved another book by Ava March, an Erotic Regency as this one, so why I waited so much? Mystery of my strange mind...

Anyway, Ava March, in this second book, but really her first book, confirms my previous idea of her: she is a very good erotic writer, but above all she is a very good Regency romance writer. Not Traditional Regency, it's obvious, but as many writers of the genre are saying, the Traditional Regency romance genre is languishing, and so welcome to a bit of fuzzy borders, with Mystery, Erotica and even Vampires! And yippie yippie yeah, the M/M Regency Romance! And don't worry, in Bound by Deception you will not find a damsel in distress disguised by in gentleman clothes, the men in it are both men, only that one happens to like to be a bottom, and the other one is a total top... but preferably on top of a man!

Oliver and Vincent had one thing in common, both second sons of the aristocracy, they met at boarding school. They became best friends, even if Oliver really never understood what Vincent found in him: even if second son, Vincent was from a wealthy family and he had chances that Oliver never had: a superior education, a small inheritance that he made thriving and above all a fine appearance and a bearing that Oliver total lacked. Despite this Vincent still considers Oliver one of his best friends, even if with the parameters of the time: a man he is comfortable with, with whom he likes to chat at the club, and a friendly ear that comprehends his striven to try to always please his father, a man that has never even acknowledged his presence in the room, since he has just the heir he needs. Actually I wondered how good the author was, creating a whole family environment for Vincent, without actually presenting any of the members of it, if not as names and outline shadows without cue, and at the same time rendering the desolation of Oliver's life, of whom we never once, neither in his youth memories, meet someone of his family. All Oliver's world turns around Vincent, since the day they met as children, and in the end, Oliver has to do something.

Other than being neglected second sons, Oliver and Vincent have something else in common, they prefer the company of men. But where Oliver admitted with himself who he is and what he likes, maybe since he likes to be on the bottom, and it's difficult from that perspective deny it, Vincent is still cheating himself with the lie that, since he is on the top, he is not really a sodomite; it's quite a weak excuse, but then, he has to use it only with himself, since never once Vincent shared his segret with Oliver. And Oliver happens to know it only since they frequent the same brothel and the same whore inside it. The deeply knowledge Oliver has of Vincent and his love for him, made the man able to recognize him in the words of the whore and now Oliver has a plan: for one night he will be in the place of the whore and he will finally have the night he wants with Vincent, without loosing their friendship... and here maybe is the only problem I had with the book, since I don't believe that a three days beard, long hair and the absence of the glass he usually wears, is enough to Oliver to not being recognize by Vincent. To excuse the author there is also to say that we are used to modern electric lights, and instead in that time there were candles and firelight, and plus Vincent is not absolutely expecting to find Oliver in the man he payed for sex.

This is only a novella, but it's a finely built novella, and I'm really happy to know that there is a sequel, even if, for once, I didn't find it lacking: all the pages and scenes were properly weighted and in the end, you had the feeling to read a longer book. A sequel will only add more and welcome details to a nice story.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002V1H2JS/?... ...more

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May 11, 2010 Erastes rated it really liked it

Shelves: gay-historical

Rather more a longish short story than a novella, despite it being about 80 pages long, this is definitely an erotic story, so those looking for a very VERY hot ride will like this a lot. It certainly made me warm in places that make me happy!

As the blurb suggests, Lord Oliver uses a ruse to get his friend Lord Vincent (more on the lords later) to shag him, and relies on the Lois Lane Blindspot™ which involves a dodgy accent, a dimly lit room and the removal of his spectacles to get Lord Vincent Rather more a longish short story than a novella, despite it being about 80 pages long, this is definitely an erotic story, so those looking for a very VERY hot ride will like this a lot. It certainly made me warm in places that make me happy!

As the blurb suggests, Lord Oliver uses a ruse to get his friend Lord Vincent (more on the lords later) to shag him, and relies on the Lois Lane Blindspot™ which involves a dodgy accent, a dimly lit room and the removal of his spectacles to get Lord Vincent not to recognise him. The sex that ensues is BDSM but not so much to make you squirm uncomfortably, (my threshold for BDSM is pretty low, and I enjoyed it) and is excellently written, if a little predictable, and hot as hell.

The remainder of the story deals with how Oliver and Vincent act immediately afterwards, how they feel about those feelings and what they do to resolve the situation.

I have to say that I would have liked something a bit more meaty, plot-wise. There was a lot of possibility, father issues, gambling addictions, one of the characters was living on his uppers, the other was rolling in money–there was plenty that could have made a full sized novel, or at the very least a 40 or 50K word novella, so I was a little disappointed with the substance of the thing which was little more than sex-a little characterisation-sex. That being said, however, I’ve read many books which are all sex and linked thinly by a balsa-light plot, and this–for some reason–seems heads and shoulders about that. I think it’s the power of the characterisation, the POVs are deep and convincing, both in the bedroom and out of it and I found myself liking both main characters for different reasons and wished them well.

There were a few anachronisms here and there, such as “drawers” “precum” and “fluffy towels” and other small things. I know that 90 percent of readers aren’t going to know or care about this sort of thing (what lunatic is going to know the history of towels after all, apart from another writer who has been there done that) but it’s likely to throw some readers off stride. The trouble is, of course, is that smaller publishers don’t have specialist editors–so there’s no real cure to this, but I would stress that American authors should move heaven and earth to get a Brit Picker. Meat is hung. A man is hanged!

But as I say, it’s a small nitpick, and I was impressed both by the writing, and the research that the writer had obviously done. It’s evident when an author has tried hard, as in this case, and when they’ve done the bare minimum or simply haven’t bothered at all.

Lovers of hot erotica will enjoy this a lot, and I’ll be watching eagerly for Ms March’s next work. ...more

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