You did it! We figured this one out! It is a truth universally acknowledged (by me for certain) that the Bitchery pretty much knows everything, and really, it's true. Scroll down to see the solution for this HaBO - and many thanks!
This HaBO comes from Christa, who is searching for a historical romance:
So here’s the rub: I never read this book, but I did read a fantastic review of it on the SBTB site sometime in the last three years or so. The review has stayed with me, and I’d love to read the actual novel. Here’s what I remember:
Historical set in Regency or Victorian England. Heroine has a dark and torturous past from an abusive marriage. I’m guessing the husband is dead, though I can’t remember for sure. Through some kind of plot setup, she is seduced by a duke or baron or some such title during a long stay at his place. And from what I remember in the review, said seduction is chock full of very, very consensual and tender sexual healing. Like, detailed descriptions of all the ways he pleases her only with her express permission, treading carefully particularly due to her history with abuse.
I’ll be honest–even if it’s not the book I remember being reviewed, any novel with this set up would be total and utter catnip to me. Thanks in advance!
You’d think that if we reviewed it, we’d remember it. But alas, no. Sarah thinks it’s a Balogh book. What do you think?
Douglas: Lord of Heartache
by Grace Burrowes
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Could it be one of the Survivors series? The first thought was “The Proposal”, but I don’t remember the early love scenes being quite as she described… heroine was recovering at the duke’s place and had had a rough earlier marriage though.
That sounds a LOT like Courtney Milan’s “The Governess Affair” to me! Some of the details are different (the LI isn’t titled, and it isn’t at an estate, and the heroine was abused but not previously married) but the gist and consent elements are there.
A Lady Awakened by Cecilia Grant has some of these elements…
The Countess Conspiracy by Courtney Milan has a similar setup. The heroine’s husband was physically abusive, and she (spoilery spoiler) lost a pregnancy when he pushed her down the stairs. The hero has been in love with her for years but didn’t pursue a relationship due to the trauma she endured. He supports her emotionally and is the figurehead for her scientific papers (since they wouldn’t be taken seriously is a woman wrote them). Even if it’s not what you’re looking for it’s a great book!
It’s definitely not “The Governess Affair.” In that case, the heroine was a governess who was raped by her employer, a duke. She is trying to make the duke promise to provide for her unborn child that was a product of the rape. The hero is the duke’s right hand man who is charged to get her to stop harassing the duke. He winds up siding with her and brilliantly undermines him.
But this does have one of the best scenes involving consent I’ve ever read, which involves hairpins as tokens.
I’ll throw a hat in the ring: Her Ladyship’s Companion by Evangeline Collins, which I liked quite a bit and kind of recall reading because of a review, although it may have been the gorgeous cover. I don’t think her husband was dead. But he did become dead…
I enjoyed all two of her books. Anyone know why she stopped?
The description makes this sound steamier than Balogh.
I second the suggestion of Milan’s Countess Conspiracy.
I immediately thought of Mary Balogh’s The Proposal as the heroine was recovering/hiding with her sister.
Another story with a similar plot is David: Lord of Honor by Grace Burrowes. The heroine is a madam hired by the hero to run his brothel, gently born. David, the hero, has infinite patience with Letty.
Or, it could be The Countess Conspiracy or A Lady Awakened as the ladies all ended up with tender lovers.
Indeed, it might be The Countess Conspiracy. The review that Christa refers is probably this one: https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/reviews/rita-reader-challenge-the-countess-conspiracy-by-courtney-milan2/
Note: there are 4 reviews of this book in SBTB. o_O
Holy catnip, Batman! I’m just going to casually buy every title mentioned.
I actually think I might be able to solve this one! Christa, does this description ring any bells:
“Every single time they fool around at all, he says: “I will not importune you for favors you are unwilling to give. I will stop if you ask it of me, and I will not cause you pain.” EVERY TIME. Because he knows that she needs to hear it. He knows that she’s been hurt before and he wants to do everything he possibly can to fix that hurt for her. IT IS SO DAMN PRECIOUS.”
That’s from a RITA Reader Challenge Review (which would explain why the Smart Bitches don’t remember), and the novel in question is Douglas: Lord of Heartache, by Grace Burrowes. Here’s the link to the review: https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/reviews/douglas-lord-of-heartache-by-grace-burrowes/
Of course, I could be way off, because the heroine in this novel has never been married, IIRC, but the glowing description of how explicitly the hero always asks for the heroine’s consent stuck with me, so I think it might have, with you, as well.
Maya Rodale’s What a Wallflower Wants.
She was assaulted by some lord or something and “ruined” – not because anyone knows, but because she can’t stand the idea of being touched. He befriends and helps her. There is a lot of him telling her that she can enjoy touch, even just from herself.
There’s a really hot scene in an inn where he stays across the room from her the whole time.
I bought it because of something said on this site, but I can’t find the original review – I’m thinking it was in a podcast?
Probably not the HABO but there is a reader review of The Study of Scandal by Sabrina Jeffries. The heroine is a rape survivor and her hubby is very loving and supportive.
smartbitchestrashybooks.com/reviews/study-seduction-sabrina-jeffries-2/
This most likely isn’t the HABO because it’s a much older book, but Madeline Hunter’s The Romantic has a similar theme and I really loved the hero.
I NEED THE ANSWER, TEAM!!!!!
(But hey, buncha new titles for the TBR list, regardless, so, win.)
I dunno if it qualifies as having been reviewed here but consent catnip seekers may enjoy Elizabeth Hoyt’s Sweetest Scoundrel, where Eve is horribly emotionally scarred by her horrific childhood and Asa has to gain her trust on her terms at her speed. It is fantastic! The whole series is great and rereadable.
Very interested to discover the mystery book, and have added a few mentioned in the comics to by tbr! <3
!!! This is a catnip trope for me too, and there are a couple of Harlequin Historicals that might fit this prompt; neither are regencies/victorians but I’ll link them up anyway, the one that popped into my mind:
Lord of Shadowhawk by Lindsay McKenna (Revolutionary War era, hero rescues heroine from his abusive brother): https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3031397-lord-of-shadowhawk
Laura Lee Guhrke’s How To lose A Duke In 10 Days was a marriage of convenience trope where she’s an American heiress that trades her dowry for him saving her ruined reputation and him leaving for Africa to explore.The husband returns after a near death experience and thinks maybe the marriage can work. I won’t spoil the whole story so I don’t spoil it, but it fits the theme of your question and he has to tread slowly and carefully as well as with her consent. Maya Rodale’s “What a Wallflower Wants” she’s described as “being compromised against her will” and gets engaged for her reputation as well. Both are excellent books and series.
The Countess by Lyndsay Sands has been reviewed here and it was a HABO a while ago, but I’m only putting it out there to add to people’s TBR piles. It doesn’t quite fit.
Granted, I couldn’t finish A Lady Awakened and it’s possible the sex did a complete 180 after I quit, but the several sexual encounters I did read (there are a lot because her mission is to get pregnant ASAP) were gross. She *agrees* to the sex, but she hates it. He complains that she’s no fun, she fakes sexing it up for him, he gets a clue mid-act that she still hates it, and he plows right ahead anyway. One time, he wakes up with a stiffy and tells her to just sleep through it. He didn’t care that she hated sex, only that her lack of interest was spoiling his fun.
So I’m gonna go out on a limb and say this one is NOT the sexy, tender consent book you’re looking for.
I haven’t read this for a while, so I don’t know if the consent part fits, but Forbidden by Jo Beverley has an abused heroine on the run and a slightly Beta hero?
If explicit consent is your cat nip you may try Rock Hard by Nalini Singh. It is a contemporary by the way.
@Ren Benton – That is not how I remember that book at all! Yes, she certainly didn’t enjoy herself but neither did he. He also just *agrees* (for money!) and at one point tells her it’s difficult for him to continue and she’s like “just finish already”. They are both just suffering through it and I guess my point here is that just because sex is bad or even painful doesn’t automatically mean it’s non-consensual. Because if that’s the case then a lot of couples struggling to conceive would be… raping each other?!
But yeah, it’s not a sexy tender consent book – so I’m sorry for going off topic!
This isn’t the answer and they’re not historical, but my all time favorite consent heavy books are Never Sweeter by Charlotte Stein and Undecided by Julianna Keyes. Beta heroes with strong consent needs are my catnip!
I don’t think this is the book because I don’t remember a review, but Never Less Than a Lady by Mary Jo Putney fits the catnip! The heroine was in a very abusive marriage when she was very young and faked her own death to leave Society and become a midwife. The hero was a war hero and potential heir to an Earldom. It was a marriage of convenience and as much as the hero desired the heroine, he promised he’d never do more than she wanted, even if it was nothing at all. It’s been awhile since I read it, but when they finally did become physical, I remember him being very sweet and accommodating and checking with her to make sure she felt comfortable.
A Promise of Love by Karen Ranney fits this description to a tee. It wasn’t reviewed here, but it was recommended in a couple of past threads, according to my Google search.
@Frida: I quit after Chapter 7 specifically because, after multiple sexual encounters (which, as I mentioned previously, she agreed to), she still hated it and his only concern was “Can’t you make it any better for meeeeeeee?” I didn’t say a thing about rape. I’m simply expressing disbelief that this book with multiple scenes focused on unpleasant sex and the hero’s selfishness is going to be the one that turns into “detailed descriptions of all the ways he pleases her only with her express permission” (per the OP’s request) somewhere past 40%, given that zero of those things happened in the first 40% and there were no indications of a trend in that direction.
HOT DOG, I love the Bitchery. This is the trope I didn’t even know I wanted and needed until this HaBO. Thank you to the original requestor and to all the commenters for getting a great first set of books to read.
A Lady Awakened is definitely not the book in question, but it was a fantastic book and the hero was hardly selfish, and he is quite clear about consent. It’s one of my all time favorites.
As for the OP, this thread lead me to checking out Grace Burrowes’ Lord of Heartache. So far it seems like a potential match.
Night Fire by Catherine Coulter has a similar plot line
@Ren Benton – Oh I see, yeah then I misunderstood, I thought you meant the consent part was somehow lacking. Then my point is only that they were BOTH selfish. No wonder the sex was so awful.
I would *not* recommend Forbidden by Jo Beverly to someone looking for a book that uses consent well. IIRC, the main characters’ first sexual encounter was basically non-consensual for both parties, since he is asleep and she is under the impression that she has to have sex with him or be thrown in the snow to freeze to death. It was definitely some Old Skool crazy.
Seduced by a Stranger by Eve Silver has some scenes where consent is explicit for both parties. Trigger warning because both H and h have a history of surviving abuse. Its a modern gothic (set in the 1800s, but modern in terms of written recently and has updated the tropes)so there is some great twists to this book but it is not a light read.
Not the HaBO but Once Upon a Tartan by Grace Burrowes has a similar consent theme and is in my top 5 romance novels.
You all are INCREDIBLE. I am 99% sure the review I remember was of Douglas: Lord of Heartache. (That title! Bahahaha!) Katty, you are a gem of a human. But also? I am SO excited to dive into all these other fabulous recommendations. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Hurray, Christa!! I just picked up that book as well thanks to this thread.
Ooooh, I solved my first HaBO! So happy I could help! Christa, I hope you enjoy reading Douglas: Lord of Heartache (terrible title, you’re absolutely right!) as well as some of the other excellent recommendations in this thread.
And thanks for posting your question, this comment section has been a delight to read!
I’ve been thinking about this HABO and if you’re after a slow burn romance because of consent issues, the Peter Wimsey novels by Dorothy L Sayers might be your catnip. In Strong Poison he first meets his lady, but she’s been so badly burned by her previous relationship that it takes him two more novels before she gets to a place where she can consider marrying him.
@BellaInAus Oh my gosh, yes! I’ve read the Lord Peter Wimsey books so many times, but never thought of it in quite this way.