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Forbidden Loves #2
Pure Folly
Running scared has never felt so good.
The prospect of a night in a haunted folly terrifies Alastair de Vere almost as much as admitting the depth of his feelings for his cousin's dashing fiancé. Love between men is utterly forbidden, but Jude captivates him in a way no woman ever has. Confessing the attraction could gain or lose him everything.
When a spirit seeking to end a century of torment takes possession of Jude, Alastair must face his deepest fears, for only by surrendering to fate can he hope to win freedom for them both.
The prospect of a night in a haunted folly terrifies Alastair de Vere almost as much as admitting the depth of his feelings for his cousin's dashing fiancé. Love between men is utterly forbidden, but Jude captivates him in a way no woman ever has. Confessing the attraction could gain or lose him everything.
When a spirit seeking to end a century of torment takes possession of Jude, Alastair must face his deepest fears, for only by surrendering to fate can he hope to win freedom for them both.
110 pages, ebook
First published May 25, 2009
13 people are currently reading
113 people want to read
About the author
Madelynne Ellis
79 books403 followersMadelynne Ellis is a New York Times & USA Today bestselling author of over 50 erotic romance novels.
Madelynne lives in the UK, not far from the Welsh border with her partner, family, & assorted pets. She is currently sipping rapidly cooling decaf coffee, listening to loud music, & indulging her obsession for tattooed bad boys.
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Madelynne lives in the UK, not far from the Welsh border with her partner, family, & assorted pets. She is currently sipping rapidly cooling decaf coffee, listening to loud music, & indulging her obsession for tattooed bad boys.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
October 27, 2009
Pure Folly by Madelynne Ellis has me with my fingers crossed that this author writes more m/m romance. Two men stuck in a tower, secretly wanting to jump each others bones with some spectral smex thrown in for good measure. This was such a naughty, grubby little book and I loved it. Not sure if it was the authors voice, which felt very British at times, or the confined space that the book was set. Whatever it was made my glasses need de fogging. Excellent historical romance, more please!
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June 6, 2009
"Pure Folly" is pure hot m/m lurving with a ghostly gothic twist to it.
Poor Alastair has been pining over Jude for a long time but sees no hope of ever fulfilling his desire as Jude is engaged to his cousin and it’s, well, a love that’s punishable by society and law. Unfortunately for him, his cousin has made a bet that he and Jude cannot spend the whole night together in the very haunted Folly on his family’s property.
Alistair has already had a run in with the spirit haunting the folly when he was a child and is not too happy about this, but fears he will be called a coward by his cousin and Jude if he reneges. Along with this fear though, is his bigger fear that he will not be able to control his sexual desire being in such close proximity to Jude all night.
Jude doesn’t believe that there is anything haunting the folly and makes light it, actually pushing Alistair’s fear. He has some plans of his own for Alistair though. Jude has been aware of Alistair’s attraction and wants him back, but needs to find a way to initiate sex. When they find a secret room full of drawings of naked men in all kinds of sexual acts together, the door opens for them to get it on.
I’ve read just about everything that Madelynne Ellis has published and while not as dark and intense as her usual, this story was unique and hot none the less. Jude and Alistair burn together as they finally unleash their lust for each other. Both have secretly wanted each other for so long and it’s a juicy first time sexual encounter. Although Jude has had some experience with men before, Alistair is a virgin on that level but figures things out quickly in his excitement.
I love ghost stories and that element in this story was a unique and trippy take on it. The ghost is the spirit of a man was in love with Alistair’s ancestor and since Alistair looks just like him, the ghost takes over Jude’s body to finally fulfill his eternal desire to have sex with him, which was denied him when they were alive. While this could have gotten hokey, it doesn’t, but makes things even more passionate between Jude and Alistair.
This being a historical set in an old, decrepit folly, plus: a haunting, secret rooms, pent up forbidden love, juicy sex, and an HEA, all made "Pure Folly" a delicious read.
Poor Alastair has been pining over Jude for a long time but sees no hope of ever fulfilling his desire as Jude is engaged to his cousin and it’s, well, a love that’s punishable by society and law. Unfortunately for him, his cousin has made a bet that he and Jude cannot spend the whole night together in the very haunted Folly on his family’s property.
Alistair has already had a run in with the spirit haunting the folly when he was a child and is not too happy about this, but fears he will be called a coward by his cousin and Jude if he reneges. Along with this fear though, is his bigger fear that he will not be able to control his sexual desire being in such close proximity to Jude all night.
Jude doesn’t believe that there is anything haunting the folly and makes light it, actually pushing Alistair’s fear. He has some plans of his own for Alistair though. Jude has been aware of Alistair’s attraction and wants him back, but needs to find a way to initiate sex. When they find a secret room full of drawings of naked men in all kinds of sexual acts together, the door opens for them to get it on.
I’ve read just about everything that Madelynne Ellis has published and while not as dark and intense as her usual, this story was unique and hot none the less. Jude and Alistair burn together as they finally unleash their lust for each other. Both have secretly wanted each other for so long and it’s a juicy first time sexual encounter. Although Jude has had some experience with men before, Alistair is a virgin on that level but figures things out quickly in his excitement.
I love ghost stories and that element in this story was a unique and trippy take on it. The ghost is the spirit of a man was in love with Alistair’s ancestor and since Alistair looks just like him, the ghost takes over Jude’s body to finally fulfill his eternal desire to have sex with him, which was denied him when they were alive. While this could have gotten hokey, it doesn’t, but makes things even more passionate between Jude and Alistair.
This being a historical set in an old, decrepit folly, plus: a haunting, secret rooms, pent up forbidden love, juicy sex, and an HEA, all made "Pure Folly" a delicious read.
May 19, 2012
I enjoyed this gothic paranormal historical novella.
The characters and settings seemed authentic enough to me. The folly the men spend the night locked into is spooky and wonderfully portrayed, a great setting for the story.
Ms. Ellis makes the difficulty of being homosexual in the 18th-19th century (not quite sure which) appropriately dangerous, so kudos there.
The paranormal part was very well done, I felt the other-worldly presence quite strongly.
The sex I found a little too intrusive, which is a shame. Perhaps the story would have been too short without as much, but at times it felt a little repetitive.
On the whole it's a solid, short historical story with a paranormal twist, and well worth a read.
3.25 stars, I think.
The characters and settings seemed authentic enough to me. The folly the men spend the night locked into is spooky and wonderfully portrayed, a great setting for the story.
Ms. Ellis makes the difficulty of being homosexual in the 18th-19th century (not quite sure which) appropriately dangerous, so kudos there.
The paranormal part was very well done, I felt the other-worldly presence quite strongly.
The sex I found a little too intrusive, which is a shame. Perhaps the story would have been too short without as much, but at times it felt a little repetitive.
On the whole it's a solid, short historical story with a paranormal twist, and well worth a read.
3.25 stars, I think.
September 13, 2015
Running scared has never felt so good.
The prospect of a night in a haunted folly terrifies Alastair de Vere almost as much as admitting the depth of his feelings for his cousin’s dashing fiancé. Love between men is utterly forbidden, but Jude captivates him in a way no woman ever has. Confessing the attraction could gain or lose him everything.
When a spirit seeking to end a century of torment takes possession of Jude, Alastair must face his deepest fears, for only by surrendering to fate can he hope to win freedom for them both.
I found the story well mapped out with a nice collection of characters.
An enjoyable story.
ARC via Netgalley
The prospect of a night in a haunted folly terrifies Alastair de Vere almost as much as admitting the depth of his feelings for his cousin’s dashing fiancé. Love between men is utterly forbidden, but Jude captivates him in a way no woman ever has. Confessing the attraction could gain or lose him everything.
When a spirit seeking to end a century of torment takes possession of Jude, Alastair must face his deepest fears, for only by surrendering to fate can he hope to win freedom for them both.
I found the story well mapped out with a nice collection of characters.
An enjoyable story.
ARC via Netgalley
July 27, 2015
Alastair is finally facing his fear, he has taken a dare to spend the night in the folly that he was once locked in as a child a fears it is haunted. His best friend and fiancé to his cousin is joining him, the only problem is that the attraction he shares for Jude is haunting him as much as the folly. This is a short M/M romance. I really liked the story, it didn’t feel rushed and the attraction between Alastair and Jude is steamy.
March 11, 2016
*a copy provided through Netgalley*
Pure Folly is a sweet and fun romance story to read. It has an enjoyable plot that is not too obvious to read. A night in a haunted tower is just about as scary as the feelings Alastair has for Jude. Enter in a possession and things get even scarier.
Well written with a flowing narrative, this story was surprisingly good. There is a balance between the (ghost) story and the hot man loving going on. Definitely recommended.
Pure Folly is a sweet and fun romance story to read. It has an enjoyable plot that is not too obvious to read. A night in a haunted tower is just about as scary as the feelings Alastair has for Jude. Enter in a possession and things get even scarier.
Well written with a flowing narrative, this story was surprisingly good. There is a balance between the (ghost) story and the hot man loving going on. Definitely recommended.
September 1, 2015
This was the first of this author and at first I wasn't sure I'd like the book but the more I read the more I enjoyed it ... Who would guess two friends that have both wanted each other finally get there chance when there locked in a tower for the night . Forbidden love and ghost to go along with it ... Can they make it out before the ghost gets to them ?
October 1, 2017
Pure Folly is a victoriana romance about a young nobelman who is dared to spent the night in a haunted folly with the man he desires.
I found this book very hard to rate. On the one had, it was a really good little book. I enjoyed it a lot. The writing was decent. The characters were well developed and there was an actual plot in there as well as a lot of hot sex. There were an appropriate number of plot threads for the length of the book and all of them were adressed and wrapped up satisfactorily.
On the other hand, and there will be spoilers, this is a book about the ghost of a rapist posessing someone and forcing him to have sex with another person. The ghost makes it very clear that the only reason he didn't just rape the person he lusted for in life was that his war injury meant he physically couldn't. He then takes the body of one of the lovers and forces him to have sex with the other one. The person being had sex with knows their lover is confessed and kind of lets it happen to get his lover back but that isn't free and enthusiastic consent. The fact that this is rape isn't really dealt with. Also, there's a lot of penetrative anal sex without proper lube which, no.
Also, picky I know, but a folly is a kind of small mock-ruin built as a garden decoration. It's not a functioning house all on its own. That was one of a few little things that made me think the author maybe didn't know as much about the timr period at hand as I'd like them to.
So, on balance I think I'm going to have to give this a 3, which is a shame as there was a glimmer is a story with a much higher rating in here. Still definitely worth a read if you enjoy the gothic.
I found this book very hard to rate. On the one had, it was a really good little book. I enjoyed it a lot. The writing was decent. The characters were well developed and there was an actual plot in there as well as a lot of hot sex. There were an appropriate number of plot threads for the length of the book and all of them were adressed and wrapped up satisfactorily.
On the other hand, and there will be spoilers, this is a book about the ghost of a rapist posessing someone and forcing him to have sex with another person. The ghost makes it very clear that the only reason he didn't just rape the person he lusted for in life was that his war injury meant he physically couldn't. He then takes the body of one of the lovers and forces him to have sex with the other one. The person being had sex with knows their lover is confessed and kind of lets it happen to get his lover back but that isn't free and enthusiastic consent. The fact that this is rape isn't really dealt with. Also, there's a lot of penetrative anal sex without proper lube which, no.
Also, picky I know, but a folly is a kind of small mock-ruin built as a garden decoration. It's not a functioning house all on its own. That was one of a few little things that made me think the author maybe didn't know as much about the timr period at hand as I'd like them to.
So, on balance I think I'm going to have to give this a 3, which is a shame as there was a glimmer is a story with a much higher rating in here. Still definitely worth a read if you enjoy the gothic.
May 14, 2018
This wasn't all that well written on a technical level, and it demonizes a female character in a way I find irritating. I read it looking for hot ghost possession sex. I never felt like it fully delivered on that trope. Not terrible, but not great either.
March 26, 2020
The story was decent, and the shivery ghost story part was excellent, but the ending was somewhat abrupt. I appreciated the resolution, but still rather quicker than I had anticipated. I'll be looking for the first in the series, but I doubt this will be a go-to author for me in general.
February 4, 2010
When Alastair Romilly de Vere accepts a dare to spend a night in a haunted folly, it's not the prospect of a ghostly presence that he finds daunting. Alastair is desperately in love with his cousin's fiancé, Jude, the man who is to be his companion for the night; an attraction that he dare not confess.
When a spirit trapped within the folly takes possession of Jude seeking to end a century of torment, can Alastair face his fears, in order to save the man he loves? For only by surrendering his body, will he win freedom for them all.
THE REVIEW
A folly is a small ornamental building with no practical purpose; in Pure Folly, the structure is on the de Vere estate, abandoned and supposedly haunted. It is described as a Greek Temple but it has three towers with a magnificent view. I am not familiar with temples with towers but…whatever. The premise of Pure Folly is that Alastair de Vere and Jude Levenson have, on a dare, agreed to spend a night in the building. Alastair is terrified of the place and has been since he had a bad experience there when he was seven. However, he has the hots for Jude and that passion is forcing him to overcome his fear of ghosts. It turns out that, unknown to Alastair, Jude has the hots for him and sees this as the ideal opportunity—and potentially last chance—to make his move before he becomes engaged to Alastair’s cousin Charlotte.
And thus begins the story. The men settle in with their picnic basket and many bottles of wine. Alastair is in mental agony—wanting to confess his love for Jude but afraid that in doing so, he will lose Jude’s friendship. Jude, for his part, seems sort of oblivious and doesn’t pick up on any of Alastair’s hints, although it seems he is telegraphing his feelings rather blatantly.
They decide to explore the building. Apparently it was built by Alastair’s great grandfather and used as his private retreat—and of course, it hides his secrets. Down in the basement they find great-grandpa’s man cave and guess what! He liked men! He liked looking at them, he liked drawing them, and presumably he liked fucking them, although the great love of his life, Linley, seems to have been a cock tease extraordinaire.
Now, this is the part where the story took a wrong turn for me, and never really recovered. See, Alastair is worried that if he confesses his feelings for Jude, Jude will think he’s a disgusting pervert and will have nothing further to do with him. However, in the man cave, Jude is very interested in great-grandpa’s sketch books and the art on the walls. Don’t you think that Alastair might have taken that as a hint that, um, perhaps Jude is open to the idea of a little man-on-man action? Instead, Alastair, who, in one of his ruminations has revealed to us, the readers, that he knows he has homosexual inclinations, is the one who runs from the room, horrified at what he is seeing. Huh? It just doesn’t make sense.
Back upstairs, Jude makes a very bold move and gives Alastair a neck rub. That’s all that is needed to open the floodgates (neck rub vs. a man cave full of sex toys…I won’t even go there) and before you know it, true love has bloomed. Of course, we can't get to happy ever after right away, so cue scary music…suddenly a ghost story happens. I think the ghosts had something to do with great-grandpa and Linley and exorcising their evil spirits from the building but it wasn't nearly as entertaining as what came before so I didn't pay much attention.
Once we got past the ghosts, the story wrapped up with a very quick and pat ending which was decidedly anti-climactic.
Now, if this review makes it sound like I hated the book—I didn’t. The writing was quite good and there was lots of very erotic sex, nicely described. I buzzed through it two hours or so (it’s a novella, about 30K words) and did go back and re-read the initial seduction scene a few times—yes, it was hot. I was just disappointed that the author had set herself up with the golden opportunity for some really fun action in the man cave (and hey, it could have been really kinky, if that’s the route she wanted to take) and instead, wasted it on a silly ghost story that seemed shoehorned in and not nearly as interesting as the living, breathing men she had created.
Would I recommend? If you are in the mood for some hot, steamy mansex and have a spare $4.15 (₤2.49) for the ebook, then sure. If you like your sex tamer and not too explicit, then you should probably give it a pass.
NB: Despite my use of modern terminology in this review, the story takes place circa 1840 and the author is careful and faithful to the time in terms of language, dialog, and descriptions.
(review originally posted on Speak Its Name, May 2009)
When a spirit trapped within the folly takes possession of Jude seeking to end a century of torment, can Alastair face his fears, in order to save the man he loves? For only by surrendering his body, will he win freedom for them all.
THE REVIEW
A folly is a small ornamental building with no practical purpose; in Pure Folly, the structure is on the de Vere estate, abandoned and supposedly haunted. It is described as a Greek Temple but it has three towers with a magnificent view. I am not familiar with temples with towers but…whatever. The premise of Pure Folly is that Alastair de Vere and Jude Levenson have, on a dare, agreed to spend a night in the building. Alastair is terrified of the place and has been since he had a bad experience there when he was seven. However, he has the hots for Jude and that passion is forcing him to overcome his fear of ghosts. It turns out that, unknown to Alastair, Jude has the hots for him and sees this as the ideal opportunity—and potentially last chance—to make his move before he becomes engaged to Alastair’s cousin Charlotte.
And thus begins the story. The men settle in with their picnic basket and many bottles of wine. Alastair is in mental agony—wanting to confess his love for Jude but afraid that in doing so, he will lose Jude’s friendship. Jude, for his part, seems sort of oblivious and doesn’t pick up on any of Alastair’s hints, although it seems he is telegraphing his feelings rather blatantly.
They decide to explore the building. Apparently it was built by Alastair’s great grandfather and used as his private retreat—and of course, it hides his secrets. Down in the basement they find great-grandpa’s man cave and guess what! He liked men! He liked looking at them, he liked drawing them, and presumably he liked fucking them, although the great love of his life, Linley, seems to have been a cock tease extraordinaire.
Now, this is the part where the story took a wrong turn for me, and never really recovered. See, Alastair is worried that if he confesses his feelings for Jude, Jude will think he’s a disgusting pervert and will have nothing further to do with him. However, in the man cave, Jude is very interested in great-grandpa’s sketch books and the art on the walls. Don’t you think that Alastair might have taken that as a hint that, um, perhaps Jude is open to the idea of a little man-on-man action? Instead, Alastair, who, in one of his ruminations has revealed to us, the readers, that he knows he has homosexual inclinations, is the one who runs from the room, horrified at what he is seeing. Huh? It just doesn’t make sense.
Back upstairs, Jude makes a very bold move and gives Alastair a neck rub. That’s all that is needed to open the floodgates (neck rub vs. a man cave full of sex toys…I won’t even go there) and before you know it, true love has bloomed. Of course, we can't get to happy ever after right away, so cue scary music…suddenly a ghost story happens. I think the ghosts had something to do with great-grandpa and Linley and exorcising their evil spirits from the building but it wasn't nearly as entertaining as what came before so I didn't pay much attention.
Once we got past the ghosts, the story wrapped up with a very quick and pat ending which was decidedly anti-climactic.
Now, if this review makes it sound like I hated the book—I didn’t. The writing was quite good and there was lots of very erotic sex, nicely described. I buzzed through it two hours or so (it’s a novella, about 30K words) and did go back and re-read the initial seduction scene a few times—yes, it was hot. I was just disappointed that the author had set herself up with the golden opportunity for some really fun action in the man cave (and hey, it could have been really kinky, if that’s the route she wanted to take) and instead, wasted it on a silly ghost story that seemed shoehorned in and not nearly as interesting as the living, breathing men she had created.
Would I recommend? If you are in the mood for some hot, steamy mansex and have a spare $4.15 (₤2.49) for the ebook, then sure. If you like your sex tamer and not too explicit, then you should probably give it a pass.
NB: Despite my use of modern terminology in this review, the story takes place circa 1840 and the author is careful and faithful to the time in terms of language, dialog, and descriptions.
(review originally posted on Speak Its Name, May 2009)
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June 5, 2009Pure Fully is an historical romance with a bit of gothic and eroticism thrown in the middle to spice the things. Alastair is the second son of a noble and wealthy family and even if it's not exactly said in the book, I have the feeling that he both regrets than enjoys the freedom he has from being a second son; no one is expecting something from him, his mother is not pressuring him to marry, his father is not insisting he does something worthy in his life, he probably has an allowance that let him live in a comfortable way, he can do whatever he likes inside the boundaries of good society, and he doesn't know what to do! Better something he knows, he is in love with Jude, the soon-to-be fiance of his cousin Charlotte, but loving Jude is not something he is allowed to do, neither if he is a second son and so it's not asked from him to produce an heir.
Truth be told, Alastair doesn't exactly know what loving a man means; he has sexual fantasies on Jude, but for him it's a first experience, and he is deeply convinced that it's a sin, and so he tries to shun the idea from his mind and body. Probably due to his tentative denial, Alastair doesn't realize that the attraction is mutual and that Jude is not at all the unaware object of his desire. Jude knows and actually he is waiting for Alastair to loose his battle with his conscience. But when that battle lasts too long, Jude looses his patience and forces a bit the hand; when a bet with Charlotte and Viola (Alastair's sister) dare both men to spend a night in a gothic temple in the garden (a pure folly of the time, both the temple than the bet), Jude plans to seduce Alastair if the man will not willingly surrender to his inner desires.
Most of the story is a pure historical romance, without any paranormal event; but almost to the end, a secret in the closet of Alastair's family comes out in the most unexpected way, a ghost who claims his toll after years of denial, and Alastair is the man who has to fulfill that request. I like that the paranormal event arrives so late in the story, since this novel is a very good historical novel and I prefer for it to be defined more from the historical genre than the paranormal one. Alastair's struggle with his inner demons, the fear for something unknown that prevents him to see that the interest his mutual, is dealt with a good hand for a novella; probably Alastair would never allow to his desire to become clear, not realizing that what he felt was not some sinful deviation of his mind, but something that could be common among his peers: Alastair has never had the chance to be in contact with that reality.
On the other hand, Jude had time to digest and analyze the matter; when he was still young he was "molested" by an older man, but even if he didn't particularly like the man, he liked the act. He had then another chance to "taste", and this only reinforce his belief that he actually prefers men over women. But unlike Alistair, Jude has to marry and produce an heir, and so he is planning to do it as soon as possible to then spend the rest of his life as he prefers. Here probably is the big difference between Alastair and Jude, in the way they "feel", Alastair so strong and impulsive, Jude more daring but at the same time more calculator; they are both probably an example of how a man in that period would face the matter, someone like Alastair would flight abroad or live in denial for all his life, someone like Jude would build a safe nest around him, far from society, but maintaining the privileges from being a member of it. The author chooses to not tell us who is wrong or who is right, probably since there is nor wrong or right, and so both men, Alastair and Jude, come out as likable characters (even if, if I'm to be true, I prefer the impulsive Alastair, who, in a way, would have preferred to not compromise for their love) and the final solution is a real and possible one.
http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/65...
Truth be told, Alastair doesn't exactly know what loving a man means; he has sexual fantasies on Jude, but for him it's a first experience, and he is deeply convinced that it's a sin, and so he tries to shun the idea from his mind and body. Probably due to his tentative denial, Alastair doesn't realize that the attraction is mutual and that Jude is not at all the unaware object of his desire. Jude knows and actually he is waiting for Alastair to loose his battle with his conscience. But when that battle lasts too long, Jude looses his patience and forces a bit the hand; when a bet with Charlotte and Viola (Alastair's sister) dare both men to spend a night in a gothic temple in the garden (a pure folly of the time, both the temple than the bet), Jude plans to seduce Alastair if the man will not willingly surrender to his inner desires.
Most of the story is a pure historical romance, without any paranormal event; but almost to the end, a secret in the closet of Alastair's family comes out in the most unexpected way, a ghost who claims his toll after years of denial, and Alastair is the man who has to fulfill that request. I like that the paranormal event arrives so late in the story, since this novel is a very good historical novel and I prefer for it to be defined more from the historical genre than the paranormal one. Alastair's struggle with his inner demons, the fear for something unknown that prevents him to see that the interest his mutual, is dealt with a good hand for a novella; probably Alastair would never allow to his desire to become clear, not realizing that what he felt was not some sinful deviation of his mind, but something that could be common among his peers: Alastair has never had the chance to be in contact with that reality.
On the other hand, Jude had time to digest and analyze the matter; when he was still young he was "molested" by an older man, but even if he didn't particularly like the man, he liked the act. He had then another chance to "taste", and this only reinforce his belief that he actually prefers men over women. But unlike Alistair, Jude has to marry and produce an heir, and so he is planning to do it as soon as possible to then spend the rest of his life as he prefers. Here probably is the big difference between Alastair and Jude, in the way they "feel", Alastair so strong and impulsive, Jude more daring but at the same time more calculator; they are both probably an example of how a man in that period would face the matter, someone like Alastair would flight abroad or live in denial for all his life, someone like Jude would build a safe nest around him, far from society, but maintaining the privileges from being a member of it. The author chooses to not tell us who is wrong or who is right, probably since there is nor wrong or right, and so both men, Alastair and Jude, come out as likable characters (even if, if I'm to be true, I prefer the impulsive Alastair, who, in a way, would have preferred to not compromise for their love) and the final solution is a real and possible one.
http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/65...
November 13, 2015
This is a quick tale about two men that have been circling each other for months but because of circumstance of the era, men weren’t allowed to have those feelings. So one has come to the conclusion that the other couldn’t possibly return the affections while the other feels the only way is to marry a mutual friend. So when a dare is brought forward that they both spend the night in a haunted folly, one is glad of it, while the other is fearful.
This is my second book by this other, both of which are marvelous tales of the human condition, how the react to certain situations both good and bad. And when feelings are made clear, we are given a sensual exploration of those feelings. But what I just loved about this one was the fact that we got to expand to the past and live the lives of the Great Grandfather and his lover, which tied the ending up perfectly.
I was given this in exchange for an honest review by Crystal Many reviews
This is my second book by this other, both of which are marvelous tales of the human condition, how the react to certain situations both good and bad. And when feelings are made clear, we are given a sensual exploration of those feelings. But what I just loved about this one was the fact that we got to expand to the past and live the lives of the Great Grandfather and his lover, which tied the ending up perfectly.
I was given this in exchange for an honest review by Crystal Many reviews
December 23, 2015
***eBook provided by Netgalley to review***
But he wanted Jude for himself. All to himself...
I know I'm gonna like this book when I read the blurb for the first time.
But I must admit, I'm kinda confused when it come to fast switch between the now and past memories of Lord Romilly’s ghost and his lover, Linley.
I like Alastair and Jude and their forbidden love. First I see there's "hope" in their future relationship, but then I lost hope when Charlotte found the truth, until Viola over the win-win solutions. *grins*
October 20, 2016
4-1/2 Stars
Pure Folly is a delicious blend of paranormal, historical, love, and extremely hot sexy time. Not always easy to pack so much punch into a novella but Madelynne Ellis has done just that. Alistair and Jude are best friends that would probably have an easier time if they were both completely honest about their feelings for the other but then where would the fun be in that? A great steamy one for my paranormal shelf.
Pure Folly is a delicious blend of paranormal, historical, love, and extremely hot sexy time. Not always easy to pack so much punch into a novella but Madelynne Ellis has done just that. Alistair and Jude are best friends that would probably have an easier time if they were both completely honest about their feelings for the other but then where would the fun be in that? A great steamy one for my paranormal shelf.
July 24, 2015
Very quick and easy read. Not very often one reads an mm story where they get caught in flagrante -literally, and by none other than the fiancée of one of them.
The outcome of this one was sort of interesting though. I, however, just couldn't accept the 'ghost inhabitation' bit.
The outcome of this one was sort of interesting though. I, however, just couldn't accept the 'ghost inhabitation' bit.
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