Knight of Pleasure

Smuggler's Cove #1

by Simone Anderson

Book one in the Smuggler's Cove Series. Wounded in Iraq, Dean Hudson is forced to give up his dream of a career in the Marine Corps. Nearly recovered from the physical wounds that left him scarred, he resigns himself to a life alone, and begins to deal with the emotional and mental scars the war left behind while he tries to rebuild a life. Having kept his homosexuality a secret for so long, he doesn't expect to find love or acceptance in the arms of a knight. On the weekends, successful brewery co-owner, Dom Ethan Moreland dons armour and a sword and fights other knights. The adrenaline rush and stress relief provided by the atmosphere of the renaissance faire also serve as a constant reminder of the love he still hasn't found and can't remember having. When Dean meets Ethan dressed as a knight, he never dreams that he will find happiness and love on his knees while submitting to Ethan. Reader Advisory: This book contains scenes of M/M intimacy and BDSM.

Genres: M M Romance, BDSM, Contemporary, Romance, Military Fiction, Disability, Gay

111 pages, Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Simone currently lives in west Michigan with their family and three cats. They have lived in and traveled to dozens of states and countries, including four years in Japan. They have been writing all of their life, seriously only after returning to Michigan. A lifelong learner, they still takes classes in a variety of subjects and an ever expanding list of hobbies and dreams of having their own library one day. When not writing they can be found sewing, quilting, reading, cooking, baking, trying their hand at gardening and canning, traveling, genealogy research, and photographing anything that looks interesting or inspiring.

Reviews

[Serena Yates · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked this story about Dean, a wounded ex-Marine, who meets Ethan, the owner of a brewerypub who spends his weekends as a knight at renaissance fairs. The coming together of these two men who are outwardly both warriors, yet Dean discovers he has a submissive streak, was interesting to follow.

A couple of things really bugged me about the underlying dynamic, which is why I couldn't totally enjoy the story. I think Dean put it best when he says at one point, about half way through the week of "testing" their D/s relationship: There were two more days before life could go back to normal. But did he want normal? Dean shook his head. He didn’t want normal. He wanted Ethan, but Ethan came with strings he couldn’t take.

Dean is wounded physically, emotionally and mentally. He is just beginning to heal, to take control of his life again - and Ethan is asking him to give up control and "be taken care of". This is bound to cause emotional conflict later on. The fact that Dean clearly sees that "Ethan is coming with strings attached that he can't accept" - and then he accepts them anyway clearly shows that Dean is not in a frame of mind to make such a decision. He is in need of love - and will accept anything to get it. That is the impression his final submission left with me.

Ethan, who is totally unwilling to compromise, insisting on being dominant "no matter what" despite the fact he loves Dean is the second thing that bugged me. It stopped me from really liking him.

I hope there will be a sequel, because there are too many issues these two have not dealt with. If this story is left as is, I think it is just one more 'pseudo D/s relationship' heading for trouble.

[JenMcJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Knight of Pleasure is leagues better than her first book but I was still not convinced of the D/s relationship between the men. I am not sure that Dean isn't just so physically and mentally exhausted that he is willing to try anything to help himself forget. In the state he is in - major life decisions like this - rarely turn out to be long lasting and healthy.

I don't think either hero is knowingly taking advantage of the other but I question the long term outlook for the relationship.

Addtionally it uses one of my pet peeve guilt plot devices. When grown men make their own decsions and get hurt while rescuing others, it is not any other grown mans fault. I think that a healthy, strong, knowledgable Dom would grieve the injury but to take the injury on as guilt that the sub wasn't "protected at all times" by the Dom is a weak reason to use to create tension in the relationship.

Some of the sex scenes are very hot and both characters are likeable men. It was interesting to read a book set in the Ren Faire atmosphere.

[Beck · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh what a mess this story was ... we had spelling mistakes, words missing, word substitution, story arcs that disappeared without resolution, choppy writing style, incorrect paragraph and chapter separation ... AND ... you then had to wade through a romantic time-line that was stupidly short; BDSM that was cliché and, in most cases, skewiff; super-sized willies and multiple orgasms *eye roll* ... AND ... to further complicate the whole mess, there was this weird Renaissance Fair that was taken way too seriously with a dash of PTSD that didn't stand up to close scrutiny ... as I had to pay more than $6 for this tripe, I was probably more critical than normal, but seriously, I expect much better than this when I purchase a book ... I've read better online, free or fan-fic than this drivel.

[Lit · Rating 1 out of 5]

No build up or getting to know each other - not at all beliewable.

[Lily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dean Hudson is a former Marine who was badly injured in Iraq. Back in the U.S. he's now staying with his sister and trying to recover from his physical wounds. He also has emotional and mental issues to deal with, such as PTSD. To please his sister he accompanies her to a weekend Renaissance Faire where he meets Ethan Moreland.

Ethan is a successful businessman who enjoys playing the role of a knight during his weekends. He's also a Dom and is attracted to Dean and feels he would make a good sub. In short order he installs Dean in his home and begins to train him to be his sub. Dean is very unsure of the situation having no previous experience with BDSM but at the same time is drawn to Ethan so he agrees to a one week trial period. As their days together pass Dean and Ethan have both good and bad times as they get to know each other and as Dean adjust to Ethan's domination. In the short span of time in which this story takes place they do fall for each other quickly and the sex scenes are quite hot.

There were several things I liked about this book. I liked the descriptions of the Renaissance Faire and the behind the scenes feel to it. I also enjoyed Dean and Ethan's interactions with the secondary characters including Dean's sister and Ethan's business associates and Faire friends. I also felt that Dean's emotional state was written well. After the horrors he experienced in Iraq it's to be expected that he would have more than just physical scars to deal with and I felt that part was well written.

For the most part I enjoyed reading Dean and Ethan's story. I felt both characters were interesting with Dean being the more likable and sympathetic one. Ethan for his part comes across as strong and sure of himself but also a bit inflexible at times. He's a Dom and only interested in a Master/slave relationship with Dean and not any kind of 'vanilla' relationship. However that raised concerns for me in regards to Dean's needs. Dean many times questions his decision to enter into the lifestyle and whether it's a good thing for him and it felt at times as if Ethan were pushing too much and taking advantage of Dean. For me the D/s power dynamic felt off with it being too much in Ethan's favor when Dean clearly needed to maintain some control over himself and his life.

Overall I was left with mixed feelings on this one. Parts of the story worked well for me but I did have reservations that left me a bit dissatisfied with the book. The ending does give a peek at Dean and Ethan's life together a bit down the road but it would have been nice to actually see their developing relationship and Dean dealing with his new life.

[Jo * Smut-Dickted * · Rating 3 out of 5]

For the most part I liked this one. I enjoyed the characters but I had a hard time with a few things. At times Dean's character is just so conflicted that you don't feel as if it is real. What I mean by that is you have a very hard time believing he would make the choice he did given what you are told/party to with his dialogue and his state of mental health. Ethan was supportive in some ways but then he continually went on with wanting Dean to do a 24/7 TPE. That dynamic just doesn't ring as true with these two as it does with other couples in books I've read.

For example when Ethan tells Dean to stay in place while he is playing the Knight thing (which, btw, I never felt really got explained well and this is something I found so confusing throughout the book) but Dean has to go to the bathroom. The guy is all sorts of messed up, can barely walk, and you are going to discipline him for going to the bathroom? Not cool IMHO. This is like in books where someone is handcuffed all night and there is no mention of the bathroom needs - this all has to be set with some level of realism.

I think, in the end, Dean was presented as just too damaged for me to believe he should be making 24/7 TPE decisions about his life. He felt too vulnerable to me and then it seemed, at times, Ethan was sort of taking advantage of that. Yet where Ethan had guilt towards the end after the incident I had it more in other places -- and that just made Dean feel victimish at times.

If there are more in the series I will move on and perhaps that will shift my viewpoint on Dean and Ethan's relationship.

[Trish Edmisten · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simone Anderson is a good storyteller and there's a lot to like about this book. We have an alpha male in Ethan who seems gruff but has a heart of gold. We have the wounded warrior in Dean who's still trying to find his place after his medical discharge. The characters feel like people you might know and if you don't, you want to know them.

Any book with a military theme will always attract my attention, making me more willing to give it a chance, but to be honest, I'm divided on how I feel about this story.

Setting aside the previously pointed out editing mistakes and focusing on the story, it moved awfully fast. These two met and were boyfriends after a day and deeply in love by the end of the week. It can happen, and can be believable in a story, but this story was so short that it didn't come together well here.

I also had issue with the use of words. Cheques versus checks immediately comes to mind. Yes, I understand some country's regional diaglogue allows for this as acceptable spelling. However, this was a book about a U.S. Marine that was set in the U.S. It would have been easier to believe using standard U.S. spelling.

As much as I liked the premise, the story and its characters need a litle more development. As to the pricing that others have mentioned, I too felt it was high for the lenght of the story, but this likely wasn't the fault of the author but the publisher.

[Dee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd give this 3.5 stars rounding down to 3. When I was looking through books for the bingo category this week, I choose Simone Anderson because I had previously read a book of hers and enjoyed it, and I knew that she was attending GLR12, so I could double use the book for another challenge (yeah, I'm that much of a reading challenge dork).

I liked the pairing of Ethan and Dean and how their relationship developed. I think one of the better things about the book was how Dean who had never been in a BDSM relationship before didn't just agree to be in one, like it seems to happen in so many other books - you could see his conflict in making his decision and his struggles between the Marine that he had been and the submissive that he was at heart. At the same time, I think Ethan tried to push him into the scenario too quickly and at times I thought he could actually damage their budding relationship rather than strengthen it

One of my only tiny pet peeves in general is the use of military terminology and inaccuracies - the Marine Corps symbol is the eagle, globe and anchor, not just the globe and anchor. A uniform hat is a cover, not a cap (this wasn't in this book, but another one I read around the same time)

[Don Bradshaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting play on the D/S relationship. Dean Hudson is a wounded war veteran both bodily and physically. Thinking himself ugly and unlovable, he avoids dating until he meets his sister's friend, Ethan Moreland. Ethan is a strong Dom and successful businessman who plays at being a knight on weekends. Both men carry some heavy baggage but the real issue is whether Dean can trust enough to become the sub Ethan needs. I didn't think that I'd enjoy this book as I purchased it thinking that it would be about real knights. I was pleasantly surprised. The author took the time to explain why each man was dom and sub and brought out the love/trust issues well. My biggest gripe was too much unnecessary sex which got boring.

[Pati · Rating 2 out of 5]

I debated long and hard at wether or not to give this a three star rating. Ultimately I could not do it. There were too many things that I didn't like about it. There are many errors that should have been caught during editing, sentences with missing words, sentences with the words out of order, simple spelling errors such as "to" instead of "too". Also time did not flow properly, very jerky, they'd just be beginning something and all of the sudden be finishing and on to something else. And finally the author failed to stick with the physical limitations of one of the MCs. This was in my opinion an unforgivable error. I want to give an example but I can't without adding a spoiler which I refuse to do.

[Tamela · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was NOT impressed. The blurb ended up being the most interesting part of this book.

The characters could have been interesting but instead were very bland and one dimensional.

Also I was kind of confused by the way the term "submissive" and "slave" were used almost interchangeably. From the reading I've done I always thought these were very different.

I also found several times where the editing didn't catch a name mix up and I would find that Ethan tucked Ethan into bed or some other confusing circumstance.

As I said I was not impressed so I can only say read at your own risk :)

[Suze · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really, really enjoyed this book. Its a story of trust. Dean, mentally and physically scarred from serving in Iraq, has to learn to trust that Ethan does care for him. Allso, Ethan is a Dominant and wants Dean to fully embrace a sub role but can Dean let go and trust Ethan to do this. This is a light BDSM story as befits the start of a new D/s relationship - I'd love to find out how they were doing a year or so later. A compelling, sexy read that moves fast from never met to involved but in a shortish story you cant spend chapters building up. A definite reread.

[Wendy❤Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book, but couldn’t quite get to loving it. I enjoyed the hurt/comfort storyline and liked the military tone to this one as well. The flow was just a bit too choppy to fully enjoy and there were a number of editing issues. I liked the premise of the story, but the relationship dynamic felt too contrived to be believable. I’d really enjoy reading more about Dean and Ethan in hopes that their relationship reaches more stable ground.

[blub]

Couldn't finish it and I didn't even get halfway before giving it up so I'm not going to rate it. I might come back to it later (a few years from now).

I found Ethan to be a bit too dominate for my taste. I didn't like that the first night he meets Dean (who's suffering from tireness and PTSD) he takes him home and introduces him to some light BDSM. It just turned me off in the biggest way from reading the book.

[~SexyBookWorm~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book was well written and interesting but I couldn't bring myself to give it a 5. Something was missing. I felt like the last portion of the book aka the couples reconciliation... was rushed. I wanted Ethan to explain why he said the things he did to Dean.
Im a huge fan of BDSM books! And this seemed to focus more on the relationship aspect opposed to purely the sexual part of BDSM. It was entertaining but was missing that little something that would have made it awesome.

[Rhianon · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the premise and characters are interesting enough to carry the book, the prose itself leaves a great deal to be desired. Many of the errors could've been caught and corrected in a single editing pass, and the lack of grammatical flaws would have gone a long way toward a pleasant experience of escapism.
Quality intention, sadly poor execution.

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars - I loved the characters, but somehow the book felt a little bit rushed after they finally got together.

Still, despite the fact that I don't actually read a lot of books with Dom/Sub relationships, this book was quite good. I definitely will be looking for more Simone Anderson titles in the future.

[Gwengwel · Rating 2 out of 5]

An ex-marine lithe, short and slender?
A Dom that chose his sub safe word?
And what was that, in HIS relation no need of safe word, because the relation's base on trust? Having a safe word IS having trust in your partner, you trust him to stop when you use your word.
The collar scene was not interesting.

[Lyndac · Rating 3 out of 5]

This could have been a great book. The story was there and the characters were almost there. It would've gained another 1.5 stars if it had just been edited. I think that this author has a lot of potential and I will read another book by her and hope for the best.

[Sue bowdley · Rating 5 out of 5]

An unusual book for me but surprisingly i enjoyed it....x