[MPOV] Leather and Gold (The Masters of Mayfair #1)

My rating: 3/5
Goodreads rating: 4.43/5
Published: August 2020
Author: Gemma Snow
Genre: Historical romance, erotica, BDSM

Forbidden.

If there was a single word to describe the desire Emmeline Westington Wright, widowed duchess of South Framley, felt for Captain Alexandre Pierron Simonnet, that would be it. Forbidden. Captivating. Tempting. Dangerous.

She sent him away eighteen months ago, ostensibly in search of her errant brother, the Marquis of Fulton. But when Captain Simonnet returns to South Framley and the duchess's estate, she must admit to herself that the errand was nothing more than a way to keep the devilishly handsome captain on the other side of the world…and her own wicked desires at bay.

Now he’s returned home. And it could destroy them both.

Because despite herself and her raging need, Emmeline’s want goes deeper than a salacious affair. And if she’s willing to share her secret room and most intimate needs with the man who knows and understands them and her better than anyone, she might just share something even more essential—and even more scandalous: her heart.

But not even a duchess can hold an explorer’s attention for too long. Can she?

Thanks to BookSirens for this e-ARC in return for my honest review.

A breeze to read this but definitely not for the faint hearted, LOL! This is a historical romance, true to it's root, but with elements of BDSM that made this novella more of an erotica. It was unusual for me as it's premise being a regency romance and all as such I did not expect this. Mind you, I have read EL James and the likes but theirs were modern day romance and not historical. Hence it took awhile for the story to set in for me. I guess I'm a little old fashion here :-)

Once settled, the overall storyline was kinda enjoyable with Emmeline and Alexandre "pushing and pulling" drama, teasing each other at the start and slowly gave in to the relationship. Since this is a novella, it did feel like their courtship was briefed and ended in marriage very fast LOL! All in all, it's a sexy happy ever after albeit a very devilishly desirable one!