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The Men and Women's Club #1
Scandalous Lovers
One of five books chosen by RUSQ (Reference & User Services Quarterly, a division of the American Library Association) to represent historical fiction in romance.
“If you could alter one moment in your life...what would it be?”
“On my wedding night,” she said slowly, “I laid in the dark with my nightgown folded around my waist and waited for my husband to come to me. I remember thinking how ugly the sex of a man and a woman must be, otherwise, why would they lie together in darkness, and hide their bodies from each other in the daytime?
“But most of all, James, I remember lying there. That was all that was expected of me. To lie still with my gown folded around my waist, and my legs spread apart. I wasn’t expected to enjoy what was going to be done to me; I wasn’t expected to not enjoy it. What I experienced was irrelevant. My submission, my mother told me, was my gift to my husband. And I never once questioned the wisdom of what she said.
“That night set the pattern of my entire adult life. But I wish it didn’t. I wish I could replace that image.”
“There’s a lot more than explicit sex—although there is plenty of that—to this frankly erotic romance, which takes a hard look at Victorian double standards and the penalties for women who ignore them and with feminist aplomb puts everything into perspective.”-Library Journal
“If you could alter one moment in your life...what would it be?”
“On my wedding night,” she said slowly, “I laid in the dark with my nightgown folded around my waist and waited for my husband to come to me. I remember thinking how ugly the sex of a man and a woman must be, otherwise, why would they lie together in darkness, and hide their bodies from each other in the daytime?
“But most of all, James, I remember lying there. That was all that was expected of me. To lie still with my gown folded around my waist, and my legs spread apart. I wasn’t expected to enjoy what was going to be done to me; I wasn’t expected to not enjoy it. What I experienced was irrelevant. My submission, my mother told me, was my gift to my husband. And I never once questioned the wisdom of what she said.
“That night set the pattern of my entire adult life. But I wish it didn’t. I wish I could replace that image.”
“There’s a lot more than explicit sex—although there is plenty of that—to this frankly erotic romance, which takes a hard look at Victorian double standards and the penalties for women who ignore them and with feminist aplomb puts everything into perspective.”-Library Journal
453 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2007
70 people are currently reading
495 people want to read
About the author
Robin Schone
48 books493 followersUSA Today and Amazon Bestselling Author Robin Schone writes British Victorian novels about love, the legal & social penalties of Women’s sexuality and the occasional dinosaur. She is translated in 15 languages. The Lady's Tutor is a Cosmopolitan "Must Read" erotic novel. RUSQ (Reference and User Services of the American Library Association) chose Scandalous Lovers to “represent the wide range of historical fiction in romance.” Claims RUSQ: "Robin Schone writes sensual, explicit stories...about characters who are frequently older and less beautiful than most romance protagonists. Her history is impeccable; the storytelling is straightforward but emotionally driven."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 79 reviews
September 20, 2017
Después de El tutor, este fue mi segundo libro de esta autora y me siguió sorprendiendo casi tanto como el primero, aunque me parece menos redondo.
A pesar de ello, me encanta que los protagonistas sean personas muy adultas, incluso viejas para la época en la que transcurre el libro, y que la trama gire en torno a la libertad de las mujeres para decidir sobre su vida y su sexualidad en una época en la que eso era casi impensable. La Schone, como siempre, a su aire, alejada de modas y tontunas, algo muy de agradecer.
A pesar de ello, me encanta que los protagonistas sean personas muy adultas, incluso viejas para la época en la que transcurre el libro, y que la trama gire en torno a la libertad de las mujeres para decidir sobre su vida y su sexualidad en una época en la que eso era casi impensable. La Schone, como siempre, a su aire, alejada de modas y tontunas, algo muy de agradecer.
July 23, 2019
Me ha gustado mucho. No como El tutor, pero es que esta mujer escribe maravillosamente y es casi imposible no disfrutar de sus historias.
Intentaré hacerle reseña para el Reto íntimo.
Intentaré hacerle reseña para el Reto íntimo.
October 25, 2008
What an arduous read this was :-/ More than once I just wanted to put it down and start something else. It’s very well-written and if you’re looking at that alone it’s a 5 star book, but it’s listed as an erotic romance and I didn’t feel much of the romance.
The book reads more like historical fiction with erotic elements at times than romance. It focuses a lot on how women were basically treated like chattel in Victorian England –very scary and interesting but the romance part just fell flat. The feminist message of how far women have come since those days is throughout the book.
The h/h barely had a normal conversation with each other. Lots of stilted dialogue and weird writing. You definitely get a feel for the surroundings and the parts in the courtroom were quite vivid without being boring but the relationship between James and Frances was stale and the sex was way too clinical and sometimes icky. There’s this recurrent scene with mussels that just made me keep going “ew ew ew” (!) They refer to having sex with each other as “going home” but it’s just "blech" the way it’s described at times, very "passionless" (the ring of her vagina was a home for them and it was supposed to represent a wedding band and how it binds two people) That “oh wow sigh sigh” was just not there. I didn't really care about the characters. The last page with the clincher ending was so rushed and just dumb. It's as if the author was allowed so many words and used them all up and you're stuck with this limp ending. They did love each other but the way they expressed it by talking and having sex was just “off”.
At the beginning I thought the book was written in an austere, formal manner for a reason but the whole book is like that and that got tedious fast. What a disappointing read from an otherwise excellent author :(
The book reads more like historical fiction with erotic elements at times than romance. It focuses a lot on how women were basically treated like chattel in Victorian England –very scary and interesting but the romance part just fell flat. The feminist message of how far women have come since those days is throughout the book.
The h/h barely had a normal conversation with each other. Lots of stilted dialogue and weird writing. You definitely get a feel for the surroundings and the parts in the courtroom were quite vivid without being boring but the relationship between James and Frances was stale and the sex was way too clinical and sometimes icky. There’s this recurrent scene with mussels that just made me keep going “ew ew ew” (!) They refer to having sex with each other as “going home” but it’s just "blech" the way it’s described at times, very "passionless" (the ring of her vagina was a home for them and it was supposed to represent a wedding band and how it binds two people) That “oh wow sigh sigh” was just not there. I didn't really care about the characters. The last page with the clincher ending was so rushed and just dumb. It's as if the author was allowed so many words and used them all up and you're stuck with this limp ending. They did love each other but the way they expressed it by talking and having sex was just “off”.
At the beginning I thought the book was written in an austere, formal manner for a reason but the whole book is like that and that got tedious fast. What a disappointing read from an otherwise excellent author :(
July 27, 2011
Love, love love love!! I am in deep love with Robin Schone and her books. I can't stop reading them, and I have to have more when I'm done.
James and Frances...beautiful. This is not your regular "gorgeous young woman falling in love with a dashing no good rake", oh, no, this was such a real story. Fourty-nine year old, mother of 5 and grandmother, Frances finding herself AND finding love with 47 year old James. It sucks when you can't find words to describe such an intense and deeply moving story. All I can think of is...WOW, this book is so wow. I want to read it all over again. I just hate when these books end. I would be happy to read Robin's books forever.
Some points to mention
*smex...this book has so much smex. I read some reviews where it was thought the smex was too clinical, and while it was very precise, to me it wasn't clinical. I felt the emotions all through the scenes.
*Older couple romance. This is sort of a warning if you like your heroines 20 and your heros 30. They are widow and widower and have gown children.
*Very intense, romantic, sensual, cute, funny, and interesting. Even the secondary characters were brilliant. I hope they all got their HEA.
*Educational. Boy, did I learn a lot reading this book. Now I feel like I have to read up on the case this book was based on, and all the interesting "machines" they had in the late 19th century.
whew...I need a cigarette.
James and Frances...beautiful. This is not your regular "gorgeous young woman falling in love with a dashing no good rake", oh, no, this was such a real story. Fourty-nine year old, mother of 5 and grandmother, Frances finding herself AND finding love with 47 year old James. It sucks when you can't find words to describe such an intense and deeply moving story. All I can think of is...WOW, this book is so wow. I want to read it all over again. I just hate when these books end. I would be happy to read Robin's books forever.
Some points to mention
*smex...this book has so much smex. I read some reviews where it was thought the smex was too clinical, and while it was very precise, to me it wasn't clinical. I felt the emotions all through the scenes.
*Older couple romance. This is sort of a warning if you like your heroines 20 and your heros 30. They are widow and widower and have gown children.
*Very intense, romantic, sensual, cute, funny, and interesting. Even the secondary characters were brilliant. I hope they all got their HEA.
*Educational. Boy, did I learn a lot reading this book. Now I feel like I have to read up on the case this book was based on, and all the interesting "machines" they had in the late 19th century.
whew...I need a cigarette.
November 20, 2017
Entre 2 y 3 estrellas porque no me ha disgustado del todo.La idea del libro es buena pero la ejecución le ha salido mal. Es un poco pretencioso. Trata de filosofar sobre los derechos de la mujer en época victoriana y no sé , se le queda grande.
April 30, 2009
It has been nearly six years since Ms. Schone's last novel 'Gabriel's Woman' and in that time the erotic romance genre has grown from a few paltry titles into one of today's hottest markets in women's fiction. E-books have popularized erotic romance, making them widely available as well as giving newer romance writers their first taste of publication. Even Harlequin, seeing the way of the wind, has gleefully jumped into this market with its Blaze and Spice lines.
With the popularity of this genre, it is to be expected that some books which purport to be erotic romances concentrate heavily upon the erotic and leave the romance somewhere out of the final edit. Far from being a prude or a purist (because I do enjoy plain old erotica as well), I've found that these books attempt to out-kink their competition by throwing in as many sex scenes as they can encompassing practically every form of loveplay imaginable. However it is not just the sex that makes an erotic romance erotic. It is a skillful blending of plot and characters who come to life and become more than words on a page as well as the sexuality that makes an erotic romance not only worth reading, but keeping.
I own every book Ms. Schone has written as well as the two anthologies, Fascinated and Captivated and it is her two novellas in each--A Lady's Pleasure and A Man and A Woman--that I find myself re-reading simply because they're so passionate and true.
Ms. Schone's books are easily some of the most character-driven in any genre. One thing is that she has never written the standard and boring romance trope of perfect people with perfect bodies who get together and have perfect sex. In Scandalous Lovers she continues that tradition with two of the most `realistic" people to date. Frances Hart and James Whitcox are so much like everyday people that it's almost impossible to believe that they never lived. By the time I finished the book, not only did I believe, but hoped they found happiness together.
Frances Hart is truly every woman some time in her life who yearns and seeks out something more than just what society says should fulfill her. Frances is 49 (certainly not the typical nubile twenty-something heroine), a mother, a grandmother and a widow who needs to know that there is more to her life than that. She comes to London three months after her husband's death to find that something.
What she finds is The Men's and Women's Club (which was the original title of the novel), a group of people from all walks of life who get together to discuss equality between the sexes. One member of this unusual gathering, a barrister named James Whitcox whose life outside of the club has also been regulated by what society deems acceptable for a man, seeks more than the dry, analytical discourses that to him completely skirt around what he truly wants to know. When Frances accidentally stumbles upon their meeting, James is quick to ask her what a woman desires.
From that moment on, James and Frances become what society has never allowed them to be--a man and a woman who feel deeply and passionately. Together they discover what they've never known possible both sexually and emotionally as the rest of the members of the club struggle to make sense of their own growing desires and fears. The sex scenes between James and Frances are powerful, pulling the reader into these tender, intimate moments and making the reader feel every quiver and whisper against their skin. It's almost like reading about two people who are virgins, and in a way, they are. Some readers may find James' discovery of passion unbelievable considering his past liaisons, but sex is no substitute for finding one's soul mate and learning to live.
It is Frances' eldest son David, seeing the changes London has wrought in his mother, is quick to castigate her for not accepting her lot as both a widow and a mother and decides that in order to "help" her, signs a lunacy order to have Frances put away in a sanitarium until she comes to her senses. Frances, hurt and betrayed refuses to submit meekly and decides to sue her own son for her emancipation. Sad to say this was an accepted practice in Victorian society for those women who didn't have the means to live their own lives.
One of the most memorable lines in Scandalous Lovers comes from Mrs. Jenkins, Frances' sixty-six year old housekeeper whom she catches in an intimate moment with the butler, Mr. Denton--"A woman's got one life: she's got to reach out and grab it with both hands or it'll pass her by and leave nothing but a smelly old fart in her face."
My only complaint with this book was that Frances' trial ended too soon and seemed to have been rushed. Though each of the members testified, it would have been fascinating to find out how their testimony changed them afterwards.
That being said, Robin Schone is the standard by which every novel that considers itself to be an erotic romance should be held to. Her books have always been of the highest caliber; beautiful, poetic and unashamedly sexual with characters anyone of us can relate to on some level. Her stories are complex and make the reader consider their own beliefs towards sexuality, especially sexuality that isn't about the young and beautiful. Ms. Schone writes as she lives--a champion of female sexuality and her characters, though from a bygone age, still have much to show us in that we may have come a long way from the repressive Victorian era, but it doesn't take much to slide us back. And in the end, we all have the right to love.
With the popularity of this genre, it is to be expected that some books which purport to be erotic romances concentrate heavily upon the erotic and leave the romance somewhere out of the final edit. Far from being a prude or a purist (because I do enjoy plain old erotica as well), I've found that these books attempt to out-kink their competition by throwing in as many sex scenes as they can encompassing practically every form of loveplay imaginable. However it is not just the sex that makes an erotic romance erotic. It is a skillful blending of plot and characters who come to life and become more than words on a page as well as the sexuality that makes an erotic romance not only worth reading, but keeping.
I own every book Ms. Schone has written as well as the two anthologies, Fascinated and Captivated and it is her two novellas in each--A Lady's Pleasure and A Man and A Woman--that I find myself re-reading simply because they're so passionate and true.
Ms. Schone's books are easily some of the most character-driven in any genre. One thing is that she has never written the standard and boring romance trope of perfect people with perfect bodies who get together and have perfect sex. In Scandalous Lovers she continues that tradition with two of the most `realistic" people to date. Frances Hart and James Whitcox are so much like everyday people that it's almost impossible to believe that they never lived. By the time I finished the book, not only did I believe, but hoped they found happiness together.
Frances Hart is truly every woman some time in her life who yearns and seeks out something more than just what society says should fulfill her. Frances is 49 (certainly not the typical nubile twenty-something heroine), a mother, a grandmother and a widow who needs to know that there is more to her life than that. She comes to London three months after her husband's death to find that something.
What she finds is The Men's and Women's Club (which was the original title of the novel), a group of people from all walks of life who get together to discuss equality between the sexes. One member of this unusual gathering, a barrister named James Whitcox whose life outside of the club has also been regulated by what society deems acceptable for a man, seeks more than the dry, analytical discourses that to him completely skirt around what he truly wants to know. When Frances accidentally stumbles upon their meeting, James is quick to ask her what a woman desires.
From that moment on, James and Frances become what society has never allowed them to be--a man and a woman who feel deeply and passionately. Together they discover what they've never known possible both sexually and emotionally as the rest of the members of the club struggle to make sense of their own growing desires and fears. The sex scenes between James and Frances are powerful, pulling the reader into these tender, intimate moments and making the reader feel every quiver and whisper against their skin. It's almost like reading about two people who are virgins, and in a way, they are. Some readers may find James' discovery of passion unbelievable considering his past liaisons, but sex is no substitute for finding one's soul mate and learning to live.
It is Frances' eldest son David, seeing the changes London has wrought in his mother, is quick to castigate her for not accepting her lot as both a widow and a mother and decides that in order to "help" her, signs a lunacy order to have Frances put away in a sanitarium until she comes to her senses. Frances, hurt and betrayed refuses to submit meekly and decides to sue her own son for her emancipation. Sad to say this was an accepted practice in Victorian society for those women who didn't have the means to live their own lives.
One of the most memorable lines in Scandalous Lovers comes from Mrs. Jenkins, Frances' sixty-six year old housekeeper whom she catches in an intimate moment with the butler, Mr. Denton--"A woman's got one life: she's got to reach out and grab it with both hands or it'll pass her by and leave nothing but a smelly old fart in her face."
My only complaint with this book was that Frances' trial ended too soon and seemed to have been rushed. Though each of the members testified, it would have been fascinating to find out how their testimony changed them afterwards.
That being said, Robin Schone is the standard by which every novel that considers itself to be an erotic romance should be held to. Her books have always been of the highest caliber; beautiful, poetic and unashamedly sexual with characters anyone of us can relate to on some level. Her stories are complex and make the reader consider their own beliefs towards sexuality, especially sexuality that isn't about the young and beautiful. Ms. Schone writes as she lives--a champion of female sexuality and her characters, though from a bygone age, still have much to show us in that we may have come a long way from the repressive Victorian era, but it doesn't take much to slide us back. And in the end, we all have the right to love.
April 23, 2022
Esta mujer es una artista en lo erotico, me quedo sin duda con El tutor, pero este ha acabado con mi emoción a flor de piel. Frances es la protagonista absoluta, la representante de la mujer, que ante todo ha sido madre y esposa y no ha sido mujer y el descubrimiento de esta última y de su sexualidad son el eje se está historia tan bien escrita.
James me ha conquistado, su comprensión, su empatia y su feminismo oculto tras la culpa de hechos del pasado.
Y a todo esto hay partes en que pensaba que era un tostón, así que hacemos media y 3 estrellas para Frances y su valentía
James me ha conquistado, su comprensión, su empatia y su feminismo oculto tras la culpa de hechos del pasado.
Y a todo esto hay partes en que pensaba que era un tostón, así que hacemos media y 3 estrellas para Frances y su valentía
June 28, 2019
I wish I had written this review soon after I read the novel because I had so many great things to say about it, and I fear that this won't be such a great review, nor cover everything I want to say.
I guess this took place during the regency period, so it's technically a regency romance, but it is so unlike the regency novels I read. For starters, it is far more realistic.
It was sad how none of them had passionate/fulfilling sex and they were both in their late 40s. The way they approached learning their bodies and how to please each other was very childlike in their discovery. I also found the plot fascinating. James's court case was very interesting. But it was unclear whether he believed that Mary (I think her name was) killed her husband. Frances asked him, and he was like I can't say, and I was like damn. Sometimes it was hard to follow. I'm quoting Brandi's review here because I felt this way too: "They constantly asked each other what the other felt when climaxing or how someone tasted or if they were thinking of them when they touched their self, etc. Those questions weren't so bad but there were others that made me wince when they kept being repeated. It wasn't erotic exactly but I'm not sure how to classify it. Sometimes it felt like a deep commitment and connection between two people where no topic is off limits."
I originally put down the book because I guess I got overwhelmed by all the names of the Men and Women's Club (???). A lot of the women there seemed horribly prude. The outings they went on were interesting, but I was just waiting for the romance to heat up and for Frances to finally act on her feelings and not restrain because she couldn't get wet anymore naturally (I think that's why she thought she would be undesirable to men). It was also interesting how at the end of the novel, the author wrote the beginning of romances for the other members of the club.
This book is similar to Robin Schone's "The Lady's Tutor" in that it is "forbidden" for women to find pleasure and society disapproves of them doing so. It is still crazy to me that her son tried to put her in a mental hospital for having a new man. Now that I think about it, it does seem unrealistic...hmmm....Kids have to accept if their parents have relationships with other people after their spouse dies. Also, thank god, they won the court case.
I think Robin Schone is an amazing writer, and during the course of reading this book, I followed her on Goodreads. Since I loved "The Lady's Tutor" and this book so much (though I did prefer the former), I'm planning on reading more of her books.
It was funny what Frances & James did in the park with the dinosaurs, lol.
I felt the ending was too rushed, and why all of a sudden, was her son hugging her and she totally forgave him?
I felt that this was a really deep, meaningful book and it stuck with me way after I finished reading it.
I guess this took place during the regency period, so it's technically a regency romance, but it is so unlike the regency novels I read. For starters, it is far more realistic.
It was sad how none of them had passionate/fulfilling sex and they were both in their late 40s. The way they approached learning their bodies and how to please each other was very childlike in their discovery. I also found the plot fascinating. James's court case was very interesting. But it was unclear whether he believed that Mary (I think her name was) killed her husband. Frances asked him, and he was like I can't say, and I was like damn. Sometimes it was hard to follow. I'm quoting Brandi's review here because I felt this way too: "They constantly asked each other what the other felt when climaxing or how someone tasted or if they were thinking of them when they touched their self, etc. Those questions weren't so bad but there were others that made me wince when they kept being repeated. It wasn't erotic exactly but I'm not sure how to classify it. Sometimes it felt like a deep commitment and connection between two people where no topic is off limits."
I originally put down the book because I guess I got overwhelmed by all the names of the Men and Women's Club (???). A lot of the women there seemed horribly prude. The outings they went on were interesting, but I was just waiting for the romance to heat up and for Frances to finally act on her feelings and not restrain because she couldn't get wet anymore naturally (I think that's why she thought she would be undesirable to men). It was also interesting how at the end of the novel, the author wrote the beginning of romances for the other members of the club.
This book is similar to Robin Schone's "The Lady's Tutor" in that it is "forbidden" for women to find pleasure and society disapproves of them doing so. It is still crazy to me that her son tried to put her in a mental hospital for having a new man. Now that I think about it, it does seem unrealistic...hmmm....Kids have to accept if their parents have relationships with other people after their spouse dies. Also, thank god, they won the court case.
I think Robin Schone is an amazing writer, and during the course of reading this book, I followed her on Goodreads. Since I loved "The Lady's Tutor" and this book so much (though I did prefer the former), I'm planning on reading more of her books.
It was funny what Frances & James did in the park with the dinosaurs, lol.
I felt the ending was too rushed, and why all of a sudden, was her son hugging her and she totally forgave him?
I felt that this was a really deep, meaningful book and it stuck with me way after I finished reading it.
August 16, 2017
La reseña en el blog http://alacamaconunlibro.blogspot.com...
January 22, 2011
Love this novel....Love this author.....And I wanted to get copy on my Kindle so I could reread on vacation, but the ebook price of $14.99 (as of 1/21/2011) is outrageous, imo.
November 1, 2016
A keeper and a favorite! This is my first read by Robin Schone and I loved it!
Forty-nine year old Frances Hart is a recent widow. This mother and grandmother has dedicated her life to caring for her home, her husband and family. Her life has been centered around details and she's never experience passion.
Now, a widow of three months, she's seeking more than what society says should be fulfilling. Her quest leads her on an erotic journey with unexpected but delightful results.
Barrister James Whitcox is tired of living a life of drudgery and duty. While having experienced many sexual liaisons, James seeks true passion. When Frances accidentally interrupts a meeting, James quickly and boldly asks what women desire. Her honesty and need inspire him and from that point on the pages are filled with sizzling chemistry as they tutor each other in discovering physical attraction and passion.
Schone has crafted one of the best erotic romance novels I've read. The historical aspects as well as the age of the MC's are a refreshing change. It's very well written, includes complex, lovable characters and a plot twist giving even greater period detail. The intimacy and tenderness surrounding this couple also make this a more pleasurable read.
There are some books that I greatly enjoy and cannot bring myself to stop reading until the last page is turned. When finished, I hate that it has ended. This was one of those books.
Forty-nine year old Frances Hart is a recent widow. This mother and grandmother has dedicated her life to caring for her home, her husband and family. Her life has been centered around details and she's never experience passion.
Now, a widow of three months, she's seeking more than what society says should be fulfilling. Her quest leads her on an erotic journey with unexpected but delightful results.
Barrister James Whitcox is tired of living a life of drudgery and duty. While having experienced many sexual liaisons, James seeks true passion. When Frances accidentally interrupts a meeting, James quickly and boldly asks what women desire. Her honesty and need inspire him and from that point on the pages are filled with sizzling chemistry as they tutor each other in discovering physical attraction and passion.
Schone has crafted one of the best erotic romance novels I've read. The historical aspects as well as the age of the MC's are a refreshing change. It's very well written, includes complex, lovable characters and a plot twist giving even greater period detail. The intimacy and tenderness surrounding this couple also make this a more pleasurable read.
There are some books that I greatly enjoy and cannot bring myself to stop reading until the last page is turned. When finished, I hate that it has ended. This was one of those books.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 17, 2022
Tenía buen recuerdo de El tutor, que cogí esta -años después- con optimismo. La viuda Frances deja el pueblo y se va a Londres, con la finalidad de distraerse un poco. Irrumpe en la reunión de un Club de Hombres y Mujeres, y entonces uno de sus miembros, el abogado James, le pregunta qué desean las mujeres. Frances acabará formando parte del club, en el que se habla con franqueza de cosas sexuales.
Me resultó muy confuso tanto personaje de ese club interviniendo, y, en medio, alguna que otra escena tórrida entre James y Frances. Había momentos en que me encantaba, Pero, en otras ocasiones, me perdía por completo en escenas inanes esa forma tan extraña de escribir de Schone. La leí en inglés y me resultaba muy repetitiva, Así que, francamente, me resultó demasiado irregular para recomendarla a nadie, ni siquiera como novela erótica.
Crítica más extensa, en mi blog.
Me resultó muy confuso tanto personaje de ese club interviniendo, y, en medio, alguna que otra escena tórrida entre James y Frances. Había momentos en que me encantaba, Pero, en otras ocasiones, me perdía por completo en escenas inanes esa forma tan extraña de escribir de Schone. La leí en inglés y me resultaba muy repetitiva, Así que, francamente, me resultó demasiado irregular para recomendarla a nadie, ni siquiera como novela erótica.
Crítica más extensa, en mi blog.
September 18, 2017
Me está gustando bastante, porque son personajes que no suelen ser protagonistas en las novelas románticas, personajes maduros. Había leído críticas sobre la crudeza del lenguaje que utiliza, pero creo que nos debemos poner en el contexto de la novela y la nula libertad sexual que había en esa época para las mujeres y el puritanismo hipócrita que dominaba la sociedad.
Los personajes secundarios también son interesantes y espero que conozcamos algo más de los miembros de este Club de hombres y mujeres.
Los personajes secundarios también son interesantes y espero que conozcamos algo más de los miembros de este Club de hombres y mujeres.
January 17, 2013
❤❤❤
One reviewer described this book as a "an arduous read" and for the first 30 chapters (200ish pages) I would agree. I found myself reading slowly to fully comprehend the complexities of each sentence. The book is very well written with very strong and effective details. When the H/h are finally physically intimate the degree of complexity is greatly lessened and it becomes a much less challenging read. The book offers a great deal of intrigue and eroticism with lengthy development for the H/h's relationship, as well as a broad array of details about minor characters. It's unlike any other book of this genre that I've read and was meaningful and successful in so many ways. It also had a few deficiencies that could be reader specific, but weighed heavily on my rating.
The cover is deceiving as it makes this book appear to be more contemporary than not. However, the story takes place in Victorian England around the late 1880s, and while it is historical and erotic I wouldn't necessarily classify it as romantic. At least not romantic enough. The story begins when the recently widowed, 49-year-old Frances Hart walks into a private meeting of the Men and Women's Club: a club that discusses human sexuality and related issues. Frances is uneducated and from the country but she knows what it is to be female and that's the only requirement she must meet to answer the question posed to her. James Witcox asks "What does a women desire?" then proceeds to question Frances more deeply and eventually she responds. In a time when women are still considered property and their wants, needs and desires are restricted and controlled by men, this Men and Women's Club lays the groundwork for a story that is enthralling, compelling, erotic, frightening and integral to what it means to be a man or women.
One of the downfalls of this novel resides in the dialogue between the H/h. It was stilted sometimes, bizarre and incomplete others. It made the parts when James and Frances were together feel very odd and sometimes foreboding. Nearly every time the couple is in the same room with one another they have their hands on each others genitals and refer to their intimacy as being or going or coming home. It was uncomfortable and abrupt when I think it was meant to be comforting. They constantly asked each other what the other felt when climaxing or how someone tasted or if they were thinking of them when they touched their self, etc. Those questions weren't so bad but there were others that made me wince when they kept being repeated. It wasn't erotic exactly but I'm not sure how to classify it. Sometimes it felt like a deep commitment and connection between two people where no topic is off limits. Other times it felt lewd and lecherous and like they mutually used each other. Ultimately what these moments created was a sometimes passionless, unromantic and clinical "romance." For as much as James vowed internally that he'd never leave Frances I was never sure if this was more than just two lonely people finding sexual compatibility and contentment (for the first time and) for the time being. Maybe, if that's all it was it was meant to be then it would have even been enough for them, but not for me as a reader. I think it was more, much more, but it I wasn't always convinced. And though I enjoyed this story and many of those moments the H/h shared, there was too much of the abruptness and awkwardness to overlook.
There are several episodes where something the couple has done in the past becomes an inside joke of sorts (dinosaurs, mussels, etc.) I thought those were very well done and effective. I absolutely loved the part on page 385 when Frances is drinking brandy and James tells her to taste it properly. Properly being from his mouth. Which is how they share brandy in one great scene earlier and it was so simple, clever, sensual, erotic and satisfying to read. It reinforced that connection between the couple that was sometimes sketchy and it spoke of the ease they felt in each others presence. Just a great little scene that made me very happy.
All in all I think this book accomplishes its goal. Some reviewers said it was smutty or trashy but I couldn't disagree more. There were moments when I wasn't sure where intentions lie but there was never a moment when I doubted that the author wanted me to see this relationship as one of the deepest and most fulfilling for these two characters. At times the relationship was enviable and was made up of an intimacy that most people will never know. It was beautiful and remarkable and animal at its best. It was detached and exhausting at worst.
One reviewer described this book as a "an arduous read" and for the first 30 chapters (200ish pages) I would agree. I found myself reading slowly to fully comprehend the complexities of each sentence. The book is very well written with very strong and effective details. When the H/h are finally physically intimate the degree of complexity is greatly lessened and it becomes a much less challenging read. The book offers a great deal of intrigue and eroticism with lengthy development for the H/h's relationship, as well as a broad array of details about minor characters. It's unlike any other book of this genre that I've read and was meaningful and successful in so many ways. It also had a few deficiencies that could be reader specific, but weighed heavily on my rating.
The cover is deceiving as it makes this book appear to be more contemporary than not. However, the story takes place in Victorian England around the late 1880s, and while it is historical and erotic I wouldn't necessarily classify it as romantic. At least not romantic enough. The story begins when the recently widowed, 49-year-old Frances Hart walks into a private meeting of the Men and Women's Club: a club that discusses human sexuality and related issues. Frances is uneducated and from the country but she knows what it is to be female and that's the only requirement she must meet to answer the question posed to her. James Witcox asks "What does a women desire?" then proceeds to question Frances more deeply and eventually she responds. In a time when women are still considered property and their wants, needs and desires are restricted and controlled by men, this Men and Women's Club lays the groundwork for a story that is enthralling, compelling, erotic, frightening and integral to what it means to be a man or women.
One of the downfalls of this novel resides in the dialogue between the H/h. It was stilted sometimes, bizarre and incomplete others. It made the parts when James and Frances were together feel very odd and sometimes foreboding. Nearly every time the couple is in the same room with one another they have their hands on each others genitals and refer to their intimacy as being or going or coming home. It was uncomfortable and abrupt when I think it was meant to be comforting. They constantly asked each other what the other felt when climaxing or how someone tasted or if they were thinking of them when they touched their self, etc. Those questions weren't so bad but there were others that made me wince when they kept being repeated. It wasn't erotic exactly but I'm not sure how to classify it. Sometimes it felt like a deep commitment and connection between two people where no topic is off limits. Other times it felt lewd and lecherous and like they mutually used each other. Ultimately what these moments created was a sometimes passionless, unromantic and clinical "romance." For as much as James vowed internally that he'd never leave Frances I was never sure if this was more than just two lonely people finding sexual compatibility and contentment (for the first time and) for the time being. Maybe, if that's all it was it was meant to be then it would have even been enough for them, but not for me as a reader. I think it was more, much more, but it I wasn't always convinced. And though I enjoyed this story and many of those moments the H/h shared, there was too much of the abruptness and awkwardness to overlook.
There are several episodes where something the couple has done in the past becomes an inside joke of sorts (dinosaurs, mussels, etc.) I thought those were very well done and effective. I absolutely loved the part on page 385 when Frances is drinking brandy and James tells her to taste it properly. Properly being from his mouth. Which is how they share brandy in one great scene earlier and it was so simple, clever, sensual, erotic and satisfying to read. It reinforced that connection between the couple that was sometimes sketchy and it spoke of the ease they felt in each others presence. Just a great little scene that made me very happy.
All in all I think this book accomplishes its goal. Some reviewers said it was smutty or trashy but I couldn't disagree more. There were moments when I wasn't sure where intentions lie but there was never a moment when I doubted that the author wanted me to see this relationship as one of the deepest and most fulfilling for these two characters. At times the relationship was enviable and was made up of an intimacy that most people will never know. It was beautiful and remarkable and animal at its best. It was detached and exhausting at worst.
July 15, 2012
Historical romance is NOT my thing. Too much bodice ripping for my tastes. So, why did this book tug, rip and pull at me? The 1880's women's movement is something I didn't quite appreciate until I read this. Schone poured these pages with historical details and emotional angst that made me angry, sympathetic and, in the end, very appreciative of the liberties I enjoy today. Even more, she brought very real problems related to couples over fifty. A nice change from the pert, naive twenty-somethings that populate today's romantic fiction.
April 12, 2009
Another keeper. I am amazed with the various character types that she is able to keep coming up with.
I think this was my favorite so far. I find it appropriate that they met a sex discussion group. I enjoyed the scenes with the group. It does seem like it easier to discuss things with strangers that it is with friends and family.
I think this was my favorite so far. I find it appropriate that they met a sex discussion group. I enjoyed the scenes with the group. It does seem like it easier to discuss things with strangers that it is with friends and family.
July 27, 2015
More than once I said to my friend that one or the other dialogue is really stupid and it is true, more than once I wanted to put it down and read something else.
Yes, it’s a typical Schone book because the story has LOTS of parallels with “A Lady’s Tutor”, too many in my opinion.
Frances walks into a meeting of the Men & Woman Club without knowing their goals and she answers a question asked by James Whitcox. She’s end 40s, mother and grandmother and a widow of several months – not long enough in her son’s opinion for not wearing mourning colors – and she moved to London to live her life. Her honesty makes the members of the club talk because they haven’t heard somebody’s opinion on things that clearly. Nobody ever talks about needs of a woman and what a woman wants but Frances does.
It’s a secret club and within the next couple of weeks/ meetings Frances is voted into the club and they start to talk more openly about erotica, they look at French cards, visit the secret parts of a book shop and Frances starts a relationship with James.
The erotic scenes are far away from being erotic or romantic, at least most of them. Most are bretty blunt and so not Schone’s style. In my opinion even Frances is a bad copy (at least her optical features) from Elizabeth Petre, or do all woman in her mid/end-40s look the same?
One day James buys a house for them and always speaks of “their house” but they aren’t a couple they only have a sexual relationship and aren’t about to get married. So why can they not spend time at her or his “old” place? He sleeps at his rooms at the court most of the time but he has to have a normal room somewhere anyway. That’s rather strange in my opinion.
Also the dialogues about sex toys and things like that seem to be abstruse, if it is forbidden you cannot go into a library and find those items that easily in a normal bookshop especially if it is forbidden, against the law, illegal.
I was quite disappointed in the end.
Yes, it’s a typical Schone book because the story has LOTS of parallels with “A Lady’s Tutor”, too many in my opinion.
Frances walks into a meeting of the Men & Woman Club without knowing their goals and she answers a question asked by James Whitcox. She’s end 40s, mother and grandmother and a widow of several months – not long enough in her son’s opinion for not wearing mourning colors – and she moved to London to live her life. Her honesty makes the members of the club talk because they haven’t heard somebody’s opinion on things that clearly. Nobody ever talks about needs of a woman and what a woman wants but Frances does.
It’s a secret club and within the next couple of weeks/ meetings Frances is voted into the club and they start to talk more openly about erotica, they look at French cards, visit the secret parts of a book shop and Frances starts a relationship with James.
The erotic scenes are far away from being erotic or romantic, at least most of them. Most are bretty blunt and so not Schone’s style. In my opinion even Frances is a bad copy (at least her optical features) from Elizabeth Petre, or do all woman in her mid/end-40s look the same?
One day James buys a house for them and always speaks of “their house” but they aren’t a couple they only have a sexual relationship and aren’t about to get married. So why can they not spend time at her or his “old” place? He sleeps at his rooms at the court most of the time but he has to have a normal room somewhere anyway. That’s rather strange in my opinion.
Also the dialogues about sex toys and things like that seem to be abstruse, if it is forbidden you cannot go into a library and find those items that easily in a normal bookshop especially if it is forbidden, against the law, illegal.
I was quite disappointed in the end.
February 16, 2017
Cuando empecé esta nueva propuesta de #Malditas me intrigó y quería seguir leyendo a ver qué sucedía... pero... se fue haciendo más lento por momentos y se me fue haciendo pesadísimo, no veía el momento de terminarlo, a punto estuve de dejarlo más de una vez. No tenía muy claro qué es lo que me quería contar la autora, se iba mucho por las ramas y no me convencía.. Para mi gusto podría haber ahondado más en la historia entre los dos personajes principales.
El tema de fondo que quiere, o pienso que quiere tocar la autora, los derechos de las mujeres a finales del siglo XIX, es un buen tema pero lo trata de forma lenta y aburrida para mi gusto. Hacia el final pareció que me enganchaba más pero luego me quedé plof con un final mñe...
Le doy un 2 siendo generosa. No me ha gustado nada.
El tema de fondo que quiere, o pienso que quiere tocar la autora, los derechos de las mujeres a finales del siglo XIX, es un buen tema pero lo trata de forma lenta y aburrida para mi gusto. Hacia el final pareció que me enganchaba más pero luego me quedé plof con un final mñe...
Le doy un 2 siendo generosa. No me ha gustado nada.
May 11, 2017
Esta novela me ha encantado y es especial para lectoras maduras... maduras de edad me refiero.
La protagonista, Frances, es una viuda y abuela de 49 años que no sabe lo que es el placer y quiere disfrutarlo antes de que sea tarde.
James, ha quedado apesadumbrado porque no supo brindar placer a su esposa, muerta recientemente en un accidente de tránsito. Juntos intentarán encontrar la respuesta a sus dudas.
He leído en varias páginas web que esta novela no es del gusto de muchas lectoras. Les parece tirado de los pelos este "club" de personajes extravagantes que intentan descubrir la sexualidad, de una manera muy tímida, sin tener nada claro. Pero estamos en la época victoriana, caracterizada por una excesiva represión sexual de la que esta gente quiere salir.
Quizá todo sea muy oscuro, pero es lo habitual en las novelas de Schone.
Creo que es una novela importante. Están las represiones sexuales, el miedo a gozar, la falta de comprensión del deseo sexual femenino en el siglo XIX... si el hijo intenta XD, el no derecho al placer de las mujeres maduras, la falta de derechos en general de las mujeres, etc. etc.
Tiene escenas explícitas.
La protagonista, Frances, es una viuda y abuela de 49 años que no sabe lo que es el placer y quiere disfrutarlo antes de que sea tarde.
James, ha quedado apesadumbrado porque no supo brindar placer a su esposa, muerta recientemente en un accidente de tránsito. Juntos intentarán encontrar la respuesta a sus dudas.
He leído en varias páginas web que esta novela no es del gusto de muchas lectoras. Les parece tirado de los pelos este "club" de personajes extravagantes que intentan descubrir la sexualidad, de una manera muy tímida, sin tener nada claro. Pero estamos en la época victoriana, caracterizada por una excesiva represión sexual de la que esta gente quiere salir.
Quizá todo sea muy oscuro, pero es lo habitual en las novelas de Schone.
Creo que es una novela importante. Están las represiones sexuales, el miedo a gozar, la falta de comprensión del deseo sexual femenino en el siglo XIX... si el hijo intenta XD, el no derecho al placer de las mujeres maduras, la falta de derechos en general de las mujeres, etc. etc.
Tiene escenas explícitas.
August 3, 2013
ETA 8/2013 - Rereading this sensual, erotic story for the umpteenth time - I think this is my favorite RS story to date.
My second Robin Schone book and not my last, by any means.
TheFountainPenDiva’s review is excellent and comprehensive so I can't really add anything to it.
This is a beautifully-written, very intimate love story of an older couple in Victorian times who are in the right place in the right frame of mind to find and recognize each other. Two people trying to find a loving connection and acceptance, a home with and for each other.
And ironically, these two people affected other Club members enough for them to make a stumbling start towards acceptance as well.
My second Robin Schone book and not my last, by any means.
TheFountainPenDiva’s review is excellent and comprehensive so I can't really add anything to it.
This is a beautifully-written, very intimate love story of an older couple in Victorian times who are in the right place in the right frame of mind to find and recognize each other. Two people trying to find a loving connection and acceptance, a home with and for each other.
And ironically, these two people affected other Club members enough for them to make a stumbling start towards acceptance as well.
August 7, 2010
This erotic story involves two widows, James age 47 and Frances age 49 who meet in a group that discusses sex. This was more than a very erotic novel. It deals with woman’s rights and the legal control men had over women in 19th century England. I stayed up until the wee hours of the night finishing this book.
January 20, 2015
As a woman whose life got more exciting rather than less when I entered my late 40's, I was thrilled to see a 49-year-old heroine in an erotic romance. Groundbreaking, and a welcome acknowledgement that our sexuality doesn't die unless we allow it to. Bravo, Robin Schone!
July 28, 2018
Uma mulher madura que nunca conheceu o prazer, um homem que nunca conheceu a paixão. Ambos decidem viver essa paixão tão logo se encontram. Mas seu filho pode tornar impossível esta paixão. E então eles terão que lutar para viver esse amor apaixonado. Um romance recheado de cenas de amor intensas.
December 5, 2024
A Brilliantly Well-Told Story!
This is a story about the unconditional love by a woman for life, for her lover, for her family and friends and for all women, especially those who were used or abused.
It tells of her beliefs of what was right and how she was willing to give up everything in order to uphold and fulfil this belief.
I loved her for this for she made me feel strong and good and worthwhile too.
This is a story about the unconditional love by a woman for life, for her lover, for her family and friends and for all women, especially those who were used or abused.
It tells of her beliefs of what was right and how she was willing to give up everything in order to uphold and fulfil this belief.
I loved her for this for she made me feel strong and good and worthwhile too.
November 6, 2014
Avrei potuto buttare il tutto sull’ironia spinta ma più andavo avanti con la lettura, più mi sono resa conto che la definizione di Romanzo Erotico era riduttiva ed ingannevole, quindi vi tocca subire una bella recensione a base di rivendicazioni di liberazione sessuale, che è altamente probabile troviate noiosamente patetiche, ma questo è quanto. Siete comunque liberi di skippare questa sbobba ed aspettare fiduciosamente la prossima.
Della Schone avevo letto “Il Grido del Desiderio” che mi era piaciuto alquanto perchè è un libro nel quale si affronta il tema della repressione sessuale, principalmente quella femminile. E non cominciate a dire che ora le donne sono libere di fare quello che vogliono perchè tutti sappiamo che non è poi così vero. In parte perchè socialmente la donna che fa sesso per godere e non per procreare/amare è considerata una zoccola ancora oggi, e secondo perchè anni ed anni di condizionamenti culturali ci spingono ancora oggi ad autolimitarci per il timore del giudizio degli altri e, ammettiamolo senza vergogna, persino di noi stesse. Alzi la mano chi non si sente un po’ zoccola/depravata quando fa qualcosa sessualmente lontano dalla morale comune.
Appunto.
E con zoccola/depravata intendo in senso negativo, non roba tipo “scopami sono la tua zoccola” che invece andrebbe benissimo
Gli Amanti dello Scandalo parla dell’affermazione di sé tramite la conoscenza della propria sessualità. Abbiamo a che fare con due cinquantenni che hanno vissuto l’esistenza seguendo fermamente i dettami sociali con l’unico risultato di trovarsi vedovi ed infelici. Un esempio?
continua ... http://laleggivora.wordpress.com/2014...
Della Schone avevo letto “Il Grido del Desiderio” che mi era piaciuto alquanto perchè è un libro nel quale si affronta il tema della repressione sessuale, principalmente quella femminile. E non cominciate a dire che ora le donne sono libere di fare quello che vogliono perchè tutti sappiamo che non è poi così vero. In parte perchè socialmente la donna che fa sesso per godere e non per procreare/amare è considerata una zoccola ancora oggi, e secondo perchè anni ed anni di condizionamenti culturali ci spingono ancora oggi ad autolimitarci per il timore del giudizio degli altri e, ammettiamolo senza vergogna, persino di noi stesse. Alzi la mano chi non si sente un po’ zoccola/depravata quando fa qualcosa sessualmente lontano dalla morale comune.
Appunto.
E con zoccola/depravata intendo in senso negativo, non roba tipo “scopami sono la tua zoccola” che invece andrebbe benissimo
Gli Amanti dello Scandalo parla dell’affermazione di sé tramite la conoscenza della propria sessualità. Abbiamo a che fare con due cinquantenni che hanno vissuto l’esistenza seguendo fermamente i dettami sociali con l’unico risultato di trovarsi vedovi ed infelici. Un esempio?
continua ... http://laleggivora.wordpress.com/2014...
Read
October 20, 2022It has been a number of years since I've read a book by Robin Schone, and although I remember greatly appreciating The Lady's Tutor, I think there were a few which I was less enthusiastic about. Initially here too I found it slow going and somehow almost stilted.
Gradually, however, I came to appreciate the story and especially Frances Hart more and more. As a romantic hero James didn't quite do it for me, even though I very much applaud the choice of an older couple.
Possible spoiler follows:
For me the middle and especially the last part of the book concerning the trial and the conflict with Frances' son won me over completely. So much that we have taken for granted was fought for bitterly, as here. I started to put that sentence in the simple past, but realized that much of what we have fought for is currently being lost in many countries, like the USA.
I found the last part of the book hard to put down. An intriguing read.
My copy is not a hardcover, but the cover image above is the one on mine.
Gradually, however, I came to appreciate the story and especially Frances Hart more and more. As a romantic hero James didn't quite do it for me, even though I very much applaud the choice of an older couple.
Possible spoiler follows:
For me the middle and especially the last part of the book concerning the trial and the conflict with Frances' son won me over completely. So much that we have taken for granted was fought for bitterly, as here. I started to put that sentence in the simple past, but realized that much of what we have fought for is currently being lost in many countries, like the USA.
I found the last part of the book hard to put down. An intriguing read.
My copy is not a hardcover, but the cover image above is the one on mine.
August 20, 2007
I bought and read this book because it said something like 'best selling erotic fiction' on the cover. I'm interested in what the general population considers erotic.
This, though, just made me wildly uncomfortable. I know it's stereotypical that women like to talk. About everything. I mean, I can even see how real discussion of feelings and sensations could bring lovers closer together. I'm not such a good "talker" myself, but I can see why it's attractive.
That's all fine and well, but I cannot, in good conscience, find eroticism in this book. I cannot imagine being in the midst of an orgasm and having my partner stop to talk about my engorged clitoris or quivering womb. I mean, really? That's the complete opposite of a turn on. For me, this is NOT what fantasies are made of. So much so, that I have a hard time believing that it is for any person.
I am putting far too much thought into a simple trash novel. I'm going to go ahead and stop now.
This, though, just made me wildly uncomfortable. I know it's stereotypical that women like to talk. About everything. I mean, I can even see how real discussion of feelings and sensations could bring lovers closer together. I'm not such a good "talker" myself, but I can see why it's attractive.
That's all fine and well, but I cannot, in good conscience, find eroticism in this book. I cannot imagine being in the midst of an orgasm and having my partner stop to talk about my engorged clitoris or quivering womb. I mean, really? That's the complete opposite of a turn on. For me, this is NOT what fantasies are made of. So much so, that I have a hard time believing that it is for any person.
I am putting far too much thought into a simple trash novel. I'm going to go ahead and stop now.
October 24, 2021
Every Woman Needs to Read
Wonderful story. Yes ladies this is a erotic love story. But it is also a mentally intimate story that most women going through or have gone through menopause can relate to. Our lives did not end just because we have gone through the change. We are still vibrant women no matter being 45 plus. And yes, sex is a vital part of our lives. If you give this story a chance I believe you will love it.
Wonderful story. Yes ladies this is a erotic love story. But it is also a mentally intimate story that most women going through or have gone through menopause can relate to. Our lives did not end just because we have gone through the change. We are still vibrant women no matter being 45 plus. And yes, sex is a vital part of our lives. If you give this story a chance I believe you will love it.
March 27, 2021
Beautiful honest love story
I have to say this book took my breath away. The raw emotion and honesty between Frances and James and their unfettered emotion is exquisite. One of the most amazing love stories I have read in a very long time. I laughed, cried and sighed my way through this fantastic book. I would give it 100 stars if I could.
I have to say this book took my breath away. The raw emotion and honesty between Frances and James and their unfettered emotion is exquisite. One of the most amazing love stories I have read in a very long time. I laughed, cried and sighed my way through this fantastic book. I would give it 100 stars if I could.
January 4, 2011
I didn't like this book at all, read about half and gave up. The writing to me was just too flat. I couldn't feel any emotion at all in this book. The story could have been great, but because of the 1 dimensional characters it couldn't interest me enough to stay with it.
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