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Secret Pleasures
Marrying a much older man against her will, innocent Lady Genelle Tisne has little knowledge of true passion or few escapes from her unfulfilling life, until she becomes the prime suspect in her husband's murder and is swept into the arms of seductive private detective Rulan Roak. Original.
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
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About the author
Thea Devine
59 books69 followersThea Devine is the author of eighteen historical romances and four novellas, including her contributions to the Brava anthologies Captivated, Fascinated, and, most recently, All Through the Night. Devine lives with her husband of 35 years in Ridgefield, Connecticut.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 20, 2015
Back in the day, before explicitly sexual novels for women were commonplace, I'd read this author by default. It didn't take long to tire of her typical pattern of Boy-Meets-Girl, Boy-Hates-Girl, Boy-Can't-Resist-Her-Nipples etc etc. The sex scenes tended to be as repetitive as the couples were unlikable, the women petulant and annoying, the men judgemental and childish. This book is an exception, with a plot and sexual chemistry driven by an emotional connection. A young widow and the detective who is investigating her husband's murder share an exploration of Victorian London's illicit sex dens. As much fun as that is (lots) it's the complexity of their relationship that makes the sex scenes powerful, rather than blow-by-blow descriptions of how part A fits into part B. Recommended.
April 8, 2021
Damn. The first half is a predictable plot for our Victorian heroine to explore different sex dens with her private investigator. The sex dens weren't particularly vivid or memorable and the erotica wasn't so much what kept my interest. If you took away the erotic scenes, Thea Devine's Secret Pleasures is a great suspense thriller.
Lady Genelle Tisne is in a loveless marriage and decides to have one night of carnal pleasure with a man she has flirted with for a few months. That night, she finds her husband dead from a stab wound. Genelle becomes a suspect in her husband's death and she decides to hire Rulan Roak, a private investigator, to help her case.
What's also interesting about this story by Devine is that Roak is a bit of a cipher. We rarely get into his POV and we only learn about his backstory as we ramp up to the climax of the story. I don't know what Roak feels for Genelle, to be honest. I didn't get a "hate" vibe from him because his poker face meant he was hard for Genelle to read.
The suspense and the mystery were powerfully done in this story. From the very beginning, you get into Genelle's POV, and here Devine's penchant for italicized stream-of-consciousness works really well. There is this paranoia, fear, and trying to figure out the pieces of the puzzle that you feel in all her conversations with Inspector Giles from Scotland Yard.
At about the 200 page-mark, things start to pick up as Genelle digs around for the truth. One of my favourite moments of the story is the series of unfortunate events that occur when Genelle runs away from home. She embarks upon a treacherous odyssey of returning to pivotal places of the past and discovers key pieces of information. I don't want to give away too much but the plot was constant action and revelation.
I was NOT expecting the final plot twist. To be honest, I don't come across this trope a lot. When I do, it is often something that happens to secondary characters, usually reserved for evil siblings. I was stunned about the reveal so the 5-stars is for the last 150 or so pages that were just breathtaking. I could not stop reading it even though I was so tired, I had to finish it.
However, this book perpetuates the gay husband villain which needs to be stopped. The gay husband was given every stereotype - predilection for nubile boys, and expressing his gender as a woman. STOP THIS VILLAIN TROPE!!!
Lady Genelle Tisne is in a loveless marriage and decides to have one night of carnal pleasure with a man she has flirted with for a few months. That night, she finds her husband dead from a stab wound. Genelle becomes a suspect in her husband's death and she decides to hire Rulan Roak, a private investigator, to help her case.
What's also interesting about this story by Devine is that Roak is a bit of a cipher. We rarely get into his POV and we only learn about his backstory as we ramp up to the climax of the story. I don't know what Roak feels for Genelle, to be honest. I didn't get a "hate" vibe from him because his poker face meant he was hard for Genelle to read.
The suspense and the mystery were powerfully done in this story. From the very beginning, you get into Genelle's POV, and here Devine's penchant for italicized stream-of-consciousness works really well. There is this paranoia, fear, and trying to figure out the pieces of the puzzle that you feel in all her conversations with Inspector Giles from Scotland Yard.
At about the 200 page-mark, things start to pick up as Genelle digs around for the truth. One of my favourite moments of the story is the series of unfortunate events that occur when Genelle runs away from home. She embarks upon a treacherous odyssey of returning to pivotal places of the past and discovers key pieces of information. I don't want to give away too much but the plot was constant action and revelation.
I was NOT expecting the final plot twist. To be honest, I don't come across this trope a lot. When I do, it is often something that happens to secondary characters, usually reserved for evil siblings. I was stunned about the reveal so the 5-stars is for the last 150 or so pages that were just breathtaking. I could not stop reading it even though I was so tired, I had to finish it.
However, this book perpetuates the gay husband villain which needs to be stopped. The gay husband was given every stereotype - predilection for nubile boys, and expressing his gender as a woman. STOP THIS VILLAIN TROPE!!!
April 22, 2024
meio bom meio assustador, linguagem bue antiga mas fofa i guess
July 1, 2013
Hot hot, steamy! awesome read!!
This covers, mystery, murder, sex, lots of sex, BSDM, and a tiny bit of Romance.
Had to put the book down a few times to cool off
Lady Genelle is out to uncover who killed her husband and framed her. In the progress she uncovers her husband's secret life and uncovers her desire for sex
This covers, mystery, murder, sex, lots of sex, BSDM, and a tiny bit of Romance.
Had to put the book down a few times to cool off
Lady Genelle is out to uncover who killed her husband and framed her. In the progress she uncovers her husband's secret life and uncovers her desire for sex
November 29, 2011
I read this when i was VERY young, just before I hit the teen years, and i loved it. it was very vivid, it was captivating and surgically attached to my hand (not literally) i regret losing my copy and hope i can purchase a new one soon ^_^
October 28, 2010
I wish romance novels were all as sensuous as this read. Where did the romance go?
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews