Private Members

by Jess Whitecroft

Aspiring political journalist Toby Green has always felt like an outsider. While his dominatrix friend Cerys has spanked, flogged and tied up half of the British ruling class, Toby’s career has reached the point where he’s supplementing his income by writing tentacle erotica. The author of his misfortune – or so he thinks – is Derek Waterhouse MP, aka Derek the Red, shadow cabinet member and sexy young darling of the New Left.

When the kinky, charismatic Derek offers to make amends in the shape of drinks, dinner and rough sex under his desk, Toby finds himself not only in love but moving in the kind of exalted social and political circles he has previously only dreamed about. The two dive into an absorbing and inventive affair, but when an accident brings all of Toby's protective instincts to the fore, Toby begins to worry that maybe he is – as Derek often says – a bit too nice for the backstabbing, rumour-mongering and quid pro quos that make up the daily grind of Westminster.


An alternative cover edition for ASIN B077QHY9GP can be found here.

Genres: M M Romance, BDSM, Romance, Contemporary, Fiction, Queer, British Literature

389 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 23, 2017

About the author

Jess Whitecroft was born and educated in the UK, where she was once voted 'Most Likely To Think That Writing A Romantic Comedy About Bigfoot Is A Good Idea'.

After serving an apprenticeship with the late, great Black Lace books, and after many genres and many pseudonyms, she returned to romance, with a fondness for telling unconventional stories about unconventional lovers.

Reviews

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

8/23/18 Currently FREE via Amazon US: http://a.co/d/45Rc7Vc

5 Stars

Each time I read a Jess Whitecroft story, I am in awe of the author’s talent and flair for creating a riveting read. This is my third Whitecroft story; after reading and loving Reckless, I have been going through the author’s backlist (I only wish it were longer!). I am reading the backlist through Kindle Unlimited, but I end up buying each story after reading it because I want to keep these treasures in my book hoard.

As I mentioned in a previous review, this author is a pro at taking familiar tropes and giving them fresh new perspectives. In "Reckless," the author tossed aside the familiar “virgin and the pirate” trope. In that story the pirate is the virgin.

“Private Members” has elements of BDSM, but the MC isn’t a brooding, masterful Dom using BDSM to slake his inner demons. This MC has love handles, writes tentacle porn (to supplement his income), and goes to his friend for kinky sex tips.

Where Whitecroft truly shines in my eyes is in character development. The author writes unconventional MCs who are by turns fragile, funny, passionate, and introspective. They cry. They are vulnerable. The characters make bad decisions. The MCs are not cookie cutter perfect heroes, and I love them for their imperfections.

I also enjoy how the author interweaves current social commentary into the plotline. The politics of this past year have been disheartening and demoralizing, and it felt cathartic reading about (albeit fictional) people who share my outlook.

Due to the ugliness in the current political realm, I would normally avoid any politics themed book; reading is my escape from all that. However, I had no qualms with this story. Reading it was like sitting down with a good friend, complaining about our current situation, and then gossiping about the love lives of our other friends.

While this story does have its humorous moments, it also has some sad and melancholy elements. This story deals with the devastating effects of Alzheimer’s disease, and those moments were especially difficult for me to read. I have watched this monstrous disease rob my grandfather of his memory and his joyful spirit. Thus, this story element hit a little too close to home for me.

Once again, I highly recommend this story (and every other story that this author has written).

[Kazza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Currently free on Amazon - April 13th, 2018

This is a fun read, complete with pop culture references and politicians in the mix. The usual snark, observation and humour of Jess Whitecroft is definitely on display. This time the setting is England with Brexit and Tory politicians copping some slapping about. Ms Whitecroft’s ability to make the central romance feel personal and emotional but not heavy-handed is also part of the immense appeal. Underneath the romcom is the sadder subject of dementia – the familial early onset kind – which gave the book extra depth. The sex is pretty much on the mark – neither too much or too little – which I think is very important for a contemporary romance. The characters were interesting, three dimensional, and I really liked them. I thought Cerys was a fabulous, if not underutilised, character. That Toby writes tentacle erotica is a source of humour throughout. Derek intrigued and Toby not giving up his pseudonym easily.

My first thought was that the BBC were really splurging on their aftercare packages, if that was even a thing, but then I spotted a miniature envelope nestling among the flowers. I opened it.

Show me your tentacle porn.

xxx
D.

I took the flowers indoors and texted him.

–thank you for the flowers. just because you bought me dinner does not mean i’m going to have tentacle sex with you.

Yet another solid romance by Jess Whitecroft. A different setting and different characters to her others so far. The author is well and truly cemented as an auto-buy author for me now. 4 Stars all the way.

Review on blog

[X · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun! Your standard Jess Whitecroft - and perfect airport reading. Lol that I originally DNFed this - I think I hadn’t read anything else by her and just wasn’t at a place where I could trust she was going to be able to pull it together.


Sep. 2022: DNF @ 22%. I actually enjoyed the political side of the story, but the personal/relationship stuff didn’t work for me - there was a sort of “mistaken assumption” thing which I didn’t love.

[Kirsten · Rating 4 out of 5]

Navigating kink.
Navigating politics.
Brilliant Brit romance.

reread--possibly my favorite Whitecroft, despite the flaws

[~nikki the recovering book addict · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable!

This is a new-to-me author and I’m so happy I found her! I always love British authors because they have a very different writing style and witty dialogues. It’s just lovely to read!

I enjoyed this - even with the blurb with Cerys in it which confused me to no end - and I will read more from this author!

I don’t really know what to say about this other than it was witty, it had just the right amount of sane drama, and it was political! I mean, the number of real life politicians mentioned here was hilarious.

Oh.. and it has spanking and flogging! But no, it wasn’t all that hard core. It was brief and not overly descriptive. Rather vanilla if I can say so ;)

I think I love this for its witty banter. I’m always in awe of people who are quick and smart and funny enough to pull it off in real life. I think I’m too stick in the mud to ever participate in witty banters. Sigh...

But alas, this isn’t about me. It’s about a really well written and enjoyable story. Read. It!!

[Keri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Both characters have emotions and dimensions. This isn't the old "clueless virgin meets the alpha male" story. It's a little funny, a little sad, a little sexy and very sweet.

[Antonella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well written, at times funny, at times sad (reference to early dementia in a family, or I should also add reference to the actual political situation ;-)), good and believable character development. I loved both MCs. Maybe a tad too many references to British politics and stuff, but I suppose it would be possible to ignore them. Thanks to Rachel for making me discover this author. I'm going to check her backlist.

[Aղցela W. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty good read. Toby who is a Aspiring political journalist who writes erotica to make ends meat. His friend Cerys is a dominatrix. This book had some funny scenes in it. This book had some mild BDSM in it that I wish was more but the sex scenes were hot. I really liked Derek he was charming and kinky. This was a well written book with no errors in grammar or spelling. I did feel at times that this book was too long. This was my first time reading this author. I am looking forward to reading more from this author.

[Ed Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very good book. The BDSM was very light, but I loved the main characters. I like the way Jess Whitecroft writes and that influenced my rating.

There were some things I thought were sorta mundane. This wasn’t instant love, but it was close. Also it was kind of enemies to lovers, but again it happened so fast that it was hardly noticeable. I hate it when just before the end of the book something causes the main characters to break up. It’s just that it seems like it happens in so many romances that it’s cliche.

All in all it’s a good love story and I would definitely recommend it.

[CJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lord, this author. I think she could write a book on just about any topic and make it interesting. Politics and love? I seriously left this in my to read pile for a while because I just wasn't sure about it and then I started reading and I couldn't stop. It was clever and fun and sexy and sweet, even a little heavy, and I enjoyed it so much. I've thoroughly enjoyed each one of her books and I've only got one left to go.

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. The writing is great and the characters were excellent and lovely and human. This book is all about current politics in the UK (it was published in late 2017) and I loved the political side of this story because it was a really unique setting for a romance, plus it was really interesting. Down-on-his-luck political journalist Toby and rising-star MP Derek have some bad history, but they hit it off when they actually spend some time together and their relationship is lovely. I don't care for BDSM stories usually, but that aspect of the story was pretty light and avoided the usual heavy-handed tropes that I dislike. There was a bit too much sex in this book for my tastes, but I know I'm definitely in the minority there. The dialogue is excellent and often very funny. This story is amusing and smart and fast-paced. I loved the political drama and backstage party machinations. I'm looking forward to reading more by this author. Thanks to Rachel for recommending Jess Whitecroft.

[Maureen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not quite sure how to express my thoughts on this story. If you'd ask me during the first quarter did I hate it? No. Did I love it? No. Did I enjoy it? Yes. But then something happened and I fell in love with it.
Politics overwhelm me and I delayed reading this for a while because it sounded political, well it is but not as bad as I feared. I've read a couple of others by this author and that's what made me read it, she's flipping good. Mix politics with a good heaping of sex and bdsm, plus some rather angsty angst, and you've got this story, along with one gorgeous, gay politician and one handsome journalist/author, these two blow up the pages with their affair, and kept me chuckling with their banter. It's a great read, I just had a slightly judgmental start to it.

[Laks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another witty novel from Jess Whitecroft. This one is fully based in Britain, with plenty of politicians abound. The country politics mostly went over my head as I just know about Brexit, not the minute details. Still, the story is enjoyable with snarky characters and an easy HEA.
I liked Toby and Derek, but I think they got together too fast. They were exchanging ILUs very early and I wasn't expecting it also. It's only a minor issue and I had a good time otherwise.

[Maygirl7 · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Stars
What a refreshing read this was. I really enjoyed this atypical m/m story with its real-life-feeling characters with their weaknesses and flaws as well as their strength and well-intentioned aspects. I will definitely be searching out more stories by this author.

[Lori¸¸¸.•*❀Ɍɛɑɗs̱LɪƙɛIʈs̱H̱ɛɍJɔɓ 유❤유 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story had a lot of depth, but it also had a lot of humor too. The relationship between the two main characters was sweet but a little flawed. The side characters were also interesting. Great book by a new-to-me author.

[Suzy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved it

I loved this book a ridiculous amount. As someone who worked in Westminster for several years i generally hate British political romances because they're either twee nonsense, weirdly Americanised, or so far from reality that they're absurd and I can't get in to it. This one is different. The Westminster feel is there, the research on parliamentary process and history is great, and while there's lots of poetic licence (it's still a romance!) and more then a whiff of 'The Thick of It', the background was so strong i really got in to it. These characters aren't cardboard cutouts either, they're intelligent and well read - and the issues that derail them a bit as they go along are genuinely believable. The author doesn't shy away from some fairly high brow moments around all the sex and politics, which I also appreciated. I laughed and cried along with Toby & Derek and I very much hope Jess will write another story with these two MCs because I loved them both. I'm so glad I gave this a go and I even forgive Jess completely for slightly mixing up the traditional party conference schedule 😉

[Bonnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one made me uncomfortable. I'm not super into first person point of view and one-sided pov in romances isn't my cuppa. But that's me and I'm not knocking the book because of that.

My main beef with the book is that Derek has a ton of red flags and I didn't understand why Toby liked him so much. I thought for sure that Derek was the "Hans" character and I was waiting for "Kristoff" to show up for a decent part of the beginning of this book. Derek displayed a lot of controlling behavior that made me nervous: rushing the relationship, grand displays of affection, pushing sex boundaries.

I'll admit, this hit a bit close to home to what I've experienced in the past and I didn't feel anything redeeming about Derek. Oddly enough, I think this could have been amazing through Derek's POV because of the type of character Toby is: doting and seemingly perfect but super insecure and Derek falling headlong into him but trying to hold back his inner desires so Toby won't be scared off. I probably would have eaten that up.

I also thought the big fight was completely justified on Toby's side and Derek handled it abominably.

Anyway, I didn't hate it. I still liked it even. I'm still going to read Whitecroft while salivating. This one just didn't do it for me.

[Toni · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was enjoyable, it was okay. I liked the writing and most of the dialogue between the MC's. I had a couple of issues - It is a very contemporary story so there is some Brexit humor and some jokes about Trump, which I have to admit bothered me a little, not because of the politics but because I felt like the real world had invaded my escape zone. I read romance and paranormal and fiction and sci-fi as an escape, a break. I was surprised at myself that the small bit of political talk put me off - so this may not impact another reader at all.

The more important or larger issue was I felt like we skipped a couple of chapters where the MC's went from dating to "hopelessly madly in love". I don't feel like we got to see them fall in love on the pages. We were just suddenly there. And as soon as we adjusted to that there was the angsty rift, which didn't make much sense. Then it was all tied up in a bow. I felt like the story and characters went from developing at a nice pace to "Let's wrap it up fellas" real quick.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was fun! Fast-paced, quite witty and overall cute. I liked that Toby didn't have a perfect body and was a bit insecure about it.

A couple of points:

- Not into the BDSM and I think there are certain unresolved issues there (does Derek continue to go to Cerys, for example?)
- There was a lot of sex. A lot. To the point where most of the relationship seemed based on sex and I missed a little bit of non-sexual relationship building
- A couple of plot holes: for instance, Derek has flowers delivered to Toby's apartment but immediately after doesn't know his address?
- I wish either the dementia or BDSM or betrayal of trust were developed further, maybe to the detriment of another. As it stands, they were superficial issues that were resolved very quickly.
- I wish we'd seen more of what it meant to be a spouse to a politically-prominent figure

[W · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jess Whitecroft is so talented that she even makes politicians hot and adorkable 😜

Every book , I read by this author is uniquely different from the other ; I believe it's a reflection of her creative talent, originality, intelligence and sense of humor .

In Private Members she delves and put snark, kink , romance and smarts into the British political parties , their PM's and laws with her unconventional , bold, colorful and sexy writing style.

Even I, a non British reader , easily understood and enjoyed this tongue in cheek, fun and steamy sort of version of British House of Cards.

[Claudia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love how Jess's characters are all three-dimensional. I wish I could dip into their creative process not only because there's so much deepness in their characters but also in their stories. This was about politics, others are about wine, kinks or drags... It seems Jess can paint a picture perfect of any topic. This was a little insta-lovey but still it was warm and insightful with real struggles and a little kink just to make it a little bit more spicy. There's just softcore BDSM, super sexy so don't be afraid if it's usually not your cup of tea.

[Sakuko · Rating 4 out of 5]

This wasn't quite what I expected after reading the blurb. A bit more serious and more angsty too, but very good. Not as shallow as I feared.
The characters where well developed with plenty depth to them and I really enjoyed the intro to BDSM stuff. The plot was a bit crazy, but not over the top. The politics got slightly annoying after some time, considering I have about zero idea how the British parliament works. But all in all it was very enjoyable.

[Ellie Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Glorious! I adored this delicious political pastiche that was scathingly funny about Westminster shenanigans (the references were spot on!) At the same time, our romantic pair were real, vulnerable and very likeable. It takes a very clever author indeed to marry a sensitive HEA romance together with broad political satire. Yet another fabulous book from Jess Whitecroft.

[Jennie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazingly funny and romantic

What a lovely story! I want sure what to expect from a romantic comedy with politicians, but I really enjoyed reading about Toby and Derrick falling in love.

[Eleftheria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Utterly charming and lavishingly romantic. Very British. Loved it. Banter is top notch and characters felt real and lovable. You need some rudimentary understanding of British politics to really appreciate some of the humour, and they are really really good humour.

[K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's funny, sweet, emotional (without drowning you in angst) and kinky. I loved the humor. I thought that the writing was really smooth and easy to read. I had trouble putting this book down while reading, because I really wanted to finish it :D

[Gustaf]

Well, think it's time to give this one the chop. Time of death 47%. It's me not the book.

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the characters, the details she grounds them in, the centrality of their work lives. Her touch is light even when things are hard.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.8