This HaBO is from Fran, who wants to find a historical romance:
Hero is Irish and is in Ireland fighting English rule in the 19th century. He is a rebel in love with an upper class lady, who also loves him but over many years of trying, they can’t seem to get together.
I remember that some reviewers didn’t like the fact that the heroine, while trying to sneak out to meet him, hears him making love to someone else. That was one of the first things that kept them apart. She marries someone else and he ends up going to New Orleans. I believe that she happens to get there too and is no longer married.
It might have been published within the last few years but I don’t know the author or the publisher.
Usually, if the main characters are involved with other people, it isn’t well received by readers. Anyone know this one? The settings seem unique!
I don’t know this one, but…. You guys, I secretly love the trope where the heroine sees/hears/catches/whatever the hero having sexytimes with someone else, before they are a couple. I’ve toyed with asking for recommendations but am too embarrassed by what seems to be universally regarded as The Worst. Haha! (I have found my romance shame. Here it is.)
Never be ashamed. And the only one I can think of to recommend is Notorious Pleasures by Elizabeth Hoyt (Book 2 of her Maiden Lane series). The book starts out with just such a scene. It’s definitely not the original HABO, but is definitely non-heroine sexytimes.
Agreed. Don’t be ashamed. When I first started reading ARCs, I didn’t know “cuckhold/cuckold erotica” was a thing. The demand, and therefore the availability, of the subgenere isn’t as big as others (and there is a stigma against it – I think mostly because people don’t like the idea of the OTP cheating), but it does exists.
I’m not sure if “cuckhold” is exactly the genre you want, as you are interested in novels with sexytimes “before they are a couple”; but, it might be a good place to start a Goodreads or Google search.
Sorry this doesn’t help the original HABO. Hope someone knows it because it sounds like a fun read!
Caught with another women includes. Lady Gallant by Suzanne Robinson and Not Quite a Husband by Sherry Thomas. I liked both of these even though some people hate the trope.
No reason to be too embarassed, Too Embarassed. Seven Nights to Sin by Sylvia Day. You’re welcome.
BTW, no idea on the HaBO. Sorry.
Dear Embarrassed — you can’t be the only person who loves those scenes, because so many authors wrote them. 🙂 Check out Brenda Joyce’s _After Innocence_ (or pretty much any other book she wrote. 😉 )
The synopsis sounds so familiar, but I’d be thinking of an older book not a recent one, I think…
Thank you, ladies! I feel so embraced in my weirdness, haha! Thanks for the recs, I’ll check them out. I don’t want to read about people being cruel, humiliating, or cheating on their partners (no judgment if that’s what anyone is into), etc, so I never know what to google to find books with this type of thing.
Apologies to the OP for hijacking your HABO comments! Hope you find what you’re looking for.
@Too embarrassed if you like contemporaries Roni Loren has two books with the H or h observing or overhearing the other’s excapades Not Until You and Nothing Between Us are the titles.
Not quite the same thing, but Jane O’Reilly’s Indecent Exposure is an erotic contemporary where the heroine is into voyeurism; she does erotic photography and the hero was originally one of her models.
Not the HaBO, but another where heroine observes hero have sex with someone else before they get together is Improper Relations by Juliana Ross. As I recall, it’s a novella length erotic romance.
Countess of Scandal by Laurel McKee features a early 19th C Irish revolutionary setting (as do the next two books in the series). In CoS, the heroine is the revolutionary and she and the hero are childhood sweethearts torn apart; they don’t get together for a long decades after declaring their love. In between, he has affairs. But sadly, I don’t think it’s what the original writer is looking for because there no overheard sexy times and none of it takes place in the US. If someone was intrigued by the Irishness, I thought I’d throw that out there, though!
I had no idea this trope was such a popular one. Now, is there a reverse where the hero hears the heroine getting it on with another guy?
Sorry, OP, I have no idea which book this might be, although I am curious.
@Gloriamarie Amalfitano: Cecilia Grant has that scenario in A Gentleman Undone! It’s not my favorite of hers, but she’s a really good writer and has some unusual and intriguing heroes and heroines.
The new Kresley Cole, sweet ruin, has this type of scene. Definitely not the requesters book though.
Sword of the Guardian by Merry Shannon has a scene where the heroine catches the other heroine with another woman before they get together(though she thinks the other gal is a guy at the time). f/f romance so YMMV.
@tooembarassed Shannon McKenna’s McCloud series has a scene from the Hero’s love life (the aftermath of a wild night) before he’s reunited with his heroine. I don’t remember the name of the book – but it’s Sean’s story. For me – even better than the sex scenes are McKenna’s dinner scenes. The food descriptions are amazing… And now you know my favourite embarrassing romance theme.
I think this might be Emerald Desire by Lynette Vinet. My google-fu worked for once.