Squee
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Erotica/Erotic Romance, Gothic, Romance
Theme: BDSM, Forced Proximity (stranded, safehouse, etc), Workplace
Sweet Agony by Charlotte Stein is an erotic romance with a Gothic twist, and it is pure unadulterated Elyse-bait. Please prepare for Squee. We have Squee inbound, so take cover and bring snacks. We might be here awhile.
We have a recluse hero with an unbearably sexy voice and impressive lexicon, we have a Gothic mansion, and we have lots of sexy times that turn into something poignant. More than that, we have a Dom hero who feels nuanced and creates Scenes that are entirely about the heroine. I don’t think I’ve read much erotica where the sex scenes are infused with adoration and love, but this book does that and does it so well.
I don’t think Sweet Agony will be for everyone. Some people might not like the hero very much or will find the erotic content too intense, but it was absolutely perfect for me.
When Molly Parker arrives for her interview to be a housekeeper for the mysterious Cyrian Harcroft, she find herself facing a Gothic mansion and a reclusive boss. At first Cyrian doesn’t even want Molly to look at him, much less spend time in the same room with him. His interview is peevish, bordering on mean. Some people might be put off by his approach, but Molly fences with him verbally, earning his quiet respect. She also delights in the creepiness of his house:
There are other delights to uncover–like the pictures on the walls on the way up the narrow staircase, each one creepier than the one before it. I think they might even deserve the label gothic, which sounded so exciting to me when I first read about it that I secretly dyed a net curtain black and wore it as a headdress in the middle of the night. Now I get to live in the midst of it, in the form of faded photographs of old bearded men who could well be his ancestors.
He has ancestors.
I understand Molly’s thrill. I took was a super bookish, nerdy kid who was a little bit like Wednesday Adams. I am still those things. I’d lose my shit over getting to stay in a spooky mansion. The first thing I’d do is search for secret rooms and hidden wives.
Molly lives on site and keeps things spotless for Cyrian, who appears to not have a job other than being an aristocrat and grumbling at things. He’s clearly a sharply intelligent, socially awkward man who reverts to being scathing when he feels challenged or uncomfortable. Molly is his equal, however, and as she meets his every snide comment with a riposte, it’s clear that he develops an affection for her. He’s a lovable curmudgeon with a Sherlock-ian bent, and I got the impression that this novel was in no small way inspired by the BBC TV show.
Molly loves Cyrian’s weirdness (his clothing choices are…eclectic, for example), his fondness for literature, his extremely impressive lexicon, and his deeply sexy voice. As a girl, she used to books to escape an unhappy home life, and Cyrian is a living representation of the words she sought refuge in. They argue a bit about Cyrian’s reclusive nature, and the fact this his aforementioned weirdness intrigues Molly instead of putting her off. She guesses at his reasons for being a hermit, which he doesn’t take well:
“Then allow me to disillusion you immediately. Your technique is that of a sixteen -year-old boy fumbling at the underwear of my mind.” [Cyrian says]
“I could try harder. Probe more deeply.”
“You believe I wish to be probed? No, dear me, no, that won’t do at all. See, this is exactly as I predicted; you are in every way unsuitable for this position. I cannot possibly have some snooping reprobate rummaging through my life,” he says, at which point I know I should be insulted or annoyed. He called me clumsy. He thinks I am some criminal who snoops.
Yet somehow all I can think is:
He said ‘reprobate.’
He said ‘disillusion.’
He uses the sorts of words I’ve waited all my life to hear spoken aloud–words I barely know how to pronounce because the only time I’ve ever encountered them has been in books. I had no idea that ‘reprobate’ curled that way, or that ‘disillusion’ sounded so small to begin with and then so big at the end. Though, granted, part of that might be down to the way he talks. His tongue practically makes love to each syllable.
I feel like his sentence should smoke a cigarette, directly after the full stop.
I don’t read a lot of romances where there’s more appreciation for men with sexy voices, and I want more of it. I am a sucker for a good voice.
I’m not saying I had these bookmarked, but please enjoy the following:
Anyway.
So: we have a hero, one with an incredibly sexy voice, who is hiding in his Gothic mansion, reading books, and generally being a curmudgeon.
That’s so much Elyse-bait right there.
As Molly refuses to be intimidated by Cyrian, and his respect and affection for her grudgingly emerge, they enter into an erotic relationship. Cyrian cannot stand to be touched and so the Dominant/submissive roles they slip into are focused very intensely on him telling her filthy things, beautifully said in a beautiful voice, and her either touching herself or him touching her through something like a sheet.
At first this is just sex, and after every erotic encounter Cyrian hides away for awhile, apparently horrified at his own behavior and needs. Then, within the context of the boundaries they both set and carefully navigate, it becomes an emotional affair as well. Cyrian was physically abused as a child and struggles with touch and intimacy. The way that he and Molly navigate that trauma while still engaging in a super white-hot affair is both creatively superb and compassionate.
One thing that I found incredibly engaging is that Cyrian comes across as someone who has built every scenario he and Molly engage in around the things that he thinks will please and delight her. He’s not a Dom looking for someone to stick his penis in because he has needs and his dick thinks for him. He is not a boner-led hero. His observes her in a way that could be a little creepy, or adoring, or both, and everything he does is designed to meet her specific needs.
He listens. He pays attention.
I’ve never thought of the D/s relationships I’ve read about in that context because I’ve never noticed it before, and it’s a powerful thing. Molly and Cyrian might be fucking in the library, but it’s somehow also the equivalent of him buying her her favorite type of coffee because he noticed how much she likes it and that she seems cold that day. It’s erotic, tinged with a quiet sort of love, affection, and observation.
Molly reflects:
I like the fact that he randomly asks me about the books I’m reading. It means three things: that he is different from everyone I’ve ever known, that he thinks I’m worth having a discussion with, and, more importantly, that he notices.
He never enquires what I might be looking at. He sees the open books sitting on one of the tables in the library, or left over the arm of the chair. Details about me are so important to that he pays attention, even if only off-handedly. When I answer his question about Nabokov with “beautiful but off putting,” he says, “Yes, I felt he was a tremendous pervert too.”
He knows what I mean before I do.
As the novel progresses Cyrian slowly melts into a gentler character (but no less curmudgeonly to the outside world, even if softer with Molly), and he and Molly struggle a bit to define their relationship. There’s a lot of sex, but surprisingly little conflict or angst, and I was okay with that. Sweet Agony is mostly about two people finding the person they were meant to love, the person who could understand them, and I love that theme.
I acknowledge that Sweet Agony won’t be for everyone. Some readers may just think Cyrian’s an asshole and that’s fine. For me, for my individual reading experience, it was perfect and I’m so happy I found it.
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I’m very intrigued by this, even though it’s a wee bit out of my comfort zone. And yes, more heroes with sexy voices, please. I love scenes where the hero reads out loud.
Charlotte Stein is one of my favorite writers—as far as I’m aware, all of her books are written from the heroine’s POV and are just as much about her perceptions and emotions as they are about the (very hot) sex. Stein can take situations that in the plot synopsis seem porny (as in DOUBLED, where the heroine has a relationship with identical twin brothers) and, because the focus is on what the heroine is thinking and feeling, it becomes something far more complex and nuanced. If you haven’t already read it, Stein’s THE PROFESSOR is absolutely beautiful—the writing is swoon-worthy and, if it wasn’t for passages of intensely erotic activity, you’d almost think you’d found an unpublished Bronte or Mrs. Gaskill. It has some similarities with SWEET AGONY (a heroine who feels she has never truly been “seen,” a hero with physical and emotional trauma in his past, two people who love words and language and books). Talk about an “all the feels” book!
(I do feel I have to warn readers away from Stein’s NEVER SWEETER, about a woman who reconnects with the guy who bullied her in high school. Although, like all Stein books, it’s beautifully written, it’s in the service of a story where a woman allows into her life the man whose bullying was do bad, it resulted in a situation where she had to be hospitalized! I suppose every writer has a failure now and again, but no, just no on NEVER SWEETER; Stein has so many other really great books to read.)
I’ve read most of Charlotte stein’s books and loved every one, even Never Sweeter. The situation where the woman ends up in the hospital turns out to be much different than her original perception of it. After I read Sweet Agony I hoped Stein would take on an historical, as I don’t think there have been that many erotic historicals that have been done well. But it seems like she is no longer writing. Does anyone know if that is the case?
@DiscoDollyDeb- Thanks for the red of Doubled! I’m going to read it after I finish rereading Telling Tales (one of my favorite Stein books) and reading Sweet Agony!
One clicked this right away! I LOVE Charlotte Stein’s writing, but hadn’t bought this one bc boss/employee dynamics stress me out So Much in romance. I’ve noticed it isn’t as bad when I read books set in places with universal health care and there’s a safety net for the non-boss, so there’s never a chance that the employee might be doing things bc they feel like they have to or else they face financial/healthcare consequences. Reading a review and knowing 100% for sure that there’s a happy ending helps too.
I’m also doing Roni Loren’s read wide challenge and reading a gothic romance is one of my boxes, so I’m happy this will let me check off that square!
@jen she posted something about being stuck in the middle of a book for about a year on Twitter the other day, and had a story in the Reindeer Games anthology that came out around Christmas, so she’s definitely still writing!
That’s interesting to note listening as such an important part of their relationship. I’ve always figured that had to be big part of the pleasure of the sub in a BDMS scene, that all the attention is focused on you. I know it’s not my thing, but a deep-voiced man paying close attention . . . Um, yes, please.
Charlotte Stein is a freaking goddess! I can’t tell you how excited I was to see a review of Sweet Agony posted, even though I’d already read it.
This book checked all my boxes,too, and I adored their relationship.
Seriously, I feel like she’s one of the smartest authors I’ve read in recent years.
I loooove that video of BC reading John Keats. And Richard Armitage does the voice of Trevor Belmont in Castlevania (on Netflix). I also like the idea of a sexy male voice being appreciated. I wish more romance novels featured a woman’s voice being appreciated.
@SBElyse, since you were kind enough to share, please take this in return. I have the whole album and like to listen to it in the bathtub after long stressful days.
After reading Amanda’s squee I just had to d/l this from my library. I’m about a third of the way through & loving it! It is hilarious & clever & pretty hot too! I will most definitely have to check out more of Stein’s books; good thing my library has a plethora of them on offer.
@Jen: Stein had a short story titled WAITING IN VAIN in the Reindeer Games anthology that was published this past December. I must admit, I found the consent element of the story to be very problematic because the hero shows up unannounced and uninvited in the heroine’s bedroom during a big family Christmas get-together. (Hero is the brother of the heroine’s sister-in-law.) Yes, she is attracted to him, but there was no overt invitation and I found that troubling.
Speaking of writers who may no longer be publishing: Does anyone know if either Anne Calhoun or Jill Sorenson are still writing? Calhoun hasn’t published anything in almost two years. I don’t think Sorenson published anything in 2018 either. She mentioned something on her site about rumors of an illness are false. Meanwhile, Calhoun’s site hasn’t been updated since 2017. I’d love to read new work for them—they’re two of my favorite writers.
OMG this sounds like my catnip. Sexy voice? Sherlock-ian prickly intensity? TAKE MAH MONEY!
This is one of my favorite Stein stories and I often re-read it. I cannot however read her books in a continuous stream as she writes in the first person and inside the head of her main character. This is great for the “feels” but it might take 16 paragraphs to get through 4 lines of dialogue while the heroine (usually) dives inside her own head. This one is superlative.
Loved Sweet Agony and Doubled, hated Never Sweeter. I just didn’t buy the explanation for the hero’s actions.
@DiscoDollyDeb I was wondering about Anne Calhoun today, randomly enough! She hasn’t published or tweeted in forever, and when I went to look for her Twitter page, it was gone. I know Cara McKenna is still around but waiting until she finds writing joyful again before publishing, but I hope that day comes sooner rather than later. I’ve noticed a number of authors I loved years ago seem to have faded away. I hope they’re just regrouping and ready to come back and take on the world soon. 🙂
I DNF Never Sweeter… For the same reasons @DiscoDollyDeb mentiones.
But I am curious about Sweet Agony and Double. Maybe I will give Ms. Stein another chance…?
hng23: I am impressed that your library has this book and others by Charlotte Stein. Unfortunately for my library card, the libraries in my community have a dearth of erotic romance.
If anyone still subscribes to Scribd, there are 14 Charlotte Stein titles in their library, plus a few anthologies.
On the strength of your review, I bought it. I read it in one sitting. So when I’m overtired today at work, I may be cursing the book and my lack of willpower, but Cyrian is all my catnip. I thought his particular issues and needs were dealt with sensitively and that the heroine always had agency and consent. Cyrian was gruff and misanthropic and tender and i love him.