Conceit And Consequence

The Rake Series #5

by Aishling Morgan

Conceit and Consequence follows Lucy Truscott and her three female cousins through a series of romantic entanglements- some more bizarre than others - with spankings and other assorted humiliations inflicted on the girls by the bossy Lucy on the way.

Smuggling, swashbuckling and sodomy mix in a plot that's tighter than Mr Darcy's breeches.

Part of Aishling Morgan's Truscott saga. Other titles include Purity, The Rake and Beastly Behaviour.

Genres: BDSM, Erotica

256 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 1, 2005

About the author

"You can have me for as long as your money burns."

This is a quote from notorious nineteenth century courtesan Cora Pearl, or so I am led to believe by the magazine article which inspired the story The Rake, originally published in the early 'nineties. It was one of many, the product of years of reading and writing, purely for private entertainment, but The Rake was expanded to become a novel, and when asked for a pen name I chose Aishling Morgan. More precisely, I had a few minutes to make my choice and quickly came up with something that sounded vaguely Celtic, vaguely romantic and might be male of female. As it turns out, Aishling is very rare indeed as a male name, but then at the time I had no idea that The Rake would be the first of many books, more than thirty in all.

Aishling Morgan is not my only pseudonym by any means, and I've now had over 100 books published, mainly novels, but also short story collections and a little non-fiction. Aishling Morgan is the name I use for my most imaginative work, done for the love of writing and of erotica, which has been my metier since long before I'd considered it as a profession. I've also been involved with the UK fetish scene since the early days, which has provided plenty of background knowledge and inspiration.

The Aishling Morgan books are diverse, with a wide variety of settings and characters, while I aim to provide sufficient plot to make each story worthwhile in its own right. Their erotic content is also highly diverse but tends to focus on power play and exotic sex, sometimes very exotic, and always an integral part of the story.

Reviews

[okyrhoe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some stock characters, and a handful of antiquated words, thrown in and there you have it, a historical setting. OK, I know this is merely erotica, I shouldn't have expectations. The author, though, has explicit intentions of aiming for authenticity, what with all the footnotes emphasising the historical accuracy of the plot's details!
Beyond the book's title, it doesn't qualify as a take/parody on Jane Austen. There's not much in terms of parlour-room machinations between the sexes. The plot doesn't develop, it merely alternates back and forth between the men's world and the women's world, but the contrast between the two sensibilities is so clearcut that at times it's like reading two different stories spliced together.
What goes on in the men's arena (Henry Truscott & de Cachaliere's conquests, also Fairbrother at the harlot's) isn't narrated with any particular interest, these segments are more often than not irrelevant, not to mention the subplot of the pirated contraband cognac and the pseudo-historical references redundant as well as an irritating distraction. The Lucy segments are light and playful, even if the precise descriptions of certain body parts may remind you of....Penny Birch.
The story develops through the standard upstairs/downstairs dichotomy - the contrast between the 'fun and games' thought up by Lucy's frivolous schemes & her father's air of entitlement versus the forthright animality of the underlings and the outlaws. Actually, it's this secondary plot - the goings on at the Coppinger hideout, at Molly the harlot's room, or the travails of Polly the scullery maid - which makes it worthwhile, despite the morbid aspect of these encounters. Or maybe because of it....

There are several elements which could have been expanded on, as a postmodern parody of fairy tale motifs: the crone at Coppinger's, Lucy the evil stepsister (Cinderella), Saul Mudge (the jester), the stinging nettles (the briars from Sleeping Beauty), Molly the samaritan girl, Addiscombe the Beast (in search of his Beauty), etc.

P.S.
On the back cover there are symbols identifying the explicit content of the book -> "This novel contains [uniforms:] [CP - traditional:] [spanking:] [CP - modern:]."
What's the difference - regarding the scenes contained in this book - between traditional and modern corporeal punishment, and why is spanking a category of its own?

[penelopewanders · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here as part of a spiral. Fascinating. This came as part of the Book-man-8 spiral, and although I had started to think I would never again enjoy one of these books, this one somehow worked for me. I found it rather reminiscent of Jamaica Inn by Daphne Du Maurier, with sex added, of course... and a rather particular brand of that, for what it's worth. But somehow the story worked and it was a fun read. I guess it's hard to predict what will work and what won't.

[Dark-Draco · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this is funny, it has a plot that makes sense and some great characters. I don't really understand why Lucy got away with as much as she did, but her comeuppance was brilliant. I did feel as if I was reading a novel instead of a bunch of sexual encounters stringed together in one binding. I'm now looking forward to reading the other books by this author.

[Jessica Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

As smutty books go, this is one if the best. None of that 'Shades of Grey' rubbish. The story line is not entirely stifled by the filth and this richly enhances it. It caters for a range if sexual penchants. Some stranger than others, but certainly interesting...