The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
Mondretta, Leeds
Mr. Cavendish, I Presume by Julia Quinn
Mondretta, Leeds
Crystal Cove by Lisa Kleypas
Mondretta, Leeds
The Constant Nymph by Margaret Kennedy
Samuel, Birmingham Public Library
Emma by Jane Austen (Audiobook)
Samuel, Birmingham Public Library
Persuasion by Jane Austen (Audiobook)
Samuel, Birmingham Public Library
One Night Stand by Ben Tyler
Samuel, Birmingham Public Library
Hunk House by Ben Tyler
Samuel, Birmingham Public Library
Tricks of the Trade by Ben Tyler
Samuel, Birmingham Public Library
Male Model by Dave Benbow
Samuel, Birmingham Public Library
Pride and Pleasure by Sylvia Day
Samuel, Birmingham Public Library
Fatal Strike by Shannon McKenna
Samuel, Birmingham Public Library
I Brake for Bad Boys by Lori Foster, Janelle Denison, and Shannon McKenna
Samuel, Birmingham Public Library
Swing by Opal Carew
Samuel, Birmingham Public Library
Twin Fantasies by Opal Carew
Samuel, Birmingham Public Library
His to Command by Opal Carew
Samuel, Birmingham Public Library
My Favorite Mistake by Chelsea M. Cameron
Samuel, Birmingham Public Library
Blackgentlemen.com / featuring Zane, J.D. Mason, Shonda Cheekes, Eileen M. Johnson
Samuel, Birmingham Public Library
Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded, Vols 1 and 2 by Samuel Richardson
Since our topic was romance/erotica, I decided to kick it old school with a novel published in 1740. The book is Pamela: Or Virtue Rewarded by Samuel Richardson, in two volumes, and set in a rural county in England in the middle of the 18th century.
The heroine is Pamela, a young girl from a poor, but honest family, who has been brought in as maid-servant to Lady B_____. She is renowned for her beauty and lovely disposition, and as Volume 1 opens, Lady B_______ is expiring and with her dying words begs her son, Mr. B__________ to “….take care of my Pamela”. Did I mention the girl was beautiful? Before too long, it becomes evident that Mr. B_______ has some ideas about taking care of Pamela that would not be approved by his mum. Luckily, this young innocent has been brought up to value her virtue and she leads Mr. B_______ through such a determined defense of it that he eventually gives up and marries her.
Her travails are horrible, but throughout them all, she is drawn to her “master” and when he finally gives up his cad card, she has fallen deeply in love, they marry, raise a flock of kinders, and she is accepted and rewarded for her perfect character. One of the interesting things is that this novel is written almost entirely in an exchange of letters, diary entries, and requested writings of the honorable Pamela, and this gives readers an unusual insight into the thoughts of 18th century gentry. History buffs will find the details surprising and fascinating (or at least, I did).
Pamela is a virtuous, laudable, entirely admirable heroine, beloved by all, and good in every way. In the real world, and certainly in our own time, she would be an unbearable goody-goody, but it’s nice to think that true goodness was truly esteemed at some point in history. On the other hand, Henry Fielding’s Shamela was published (1741) as a parody and was Fielding’s first widely known work. If the two volumes of Pamela don’t sate your appetite for the morals (and lack thereof) of the 1700’s, read Richardson’s Clarissa, about a young lady who is tricked and kidnapped by a hardened libertine to both their detriments.
Neither of these works is in the Fifty Shades of Grey genre, which is why they have remained continuously in print and enjoyable over the centuries. ‘Nuf said.
Kelly, Springville Road
Jaci Burton's Play by Play series
This steamy series has the potential to satisfy most of your secret (I'm hoping....) athlete-stalking-cravings while also being very romantic and very sexy. Erotica has the reputation of being unemotional and polyamorous but Burton's series are about ultra athletes meeting their one true loves and falling hard...and having plenty of sex while they're at it. So far, the books in the series have dealt with football, baseball, hockey, and auto racing.
Holley, Emmet O'Neal
