Gemma Snow

Duchess Emmeline Westington Wright is a widower with certain expectations she must uphold. Captain Alexandre Pierron Simonnet is a second son of a second son and a seafarer at that. As much as they both want the other, they worry that a relationship between them could never work. When Alexandre returns from a long voyage to the Americas, can this couple find their way to one another? Can their forbidden love find a way?

Clocking in at 82 pages, Leather and Gold is a short and steamy read. The chemistry between Emmeline and Alexandre is hot, as in keep-a-fire-extinguisher-handy kind of hot. The strong connection between them is the real highlight of the book.

The book is set in Regency England and I felt that it did a relatively good job of integrating the dialogue and expectations of the time. However, I would have liked to have seen more backstory for both Emmeline and Alexandre. Emmeline's late husband, the social pressures Emmeline faces as a widower and Emmeline and Alexandre's relationship before he left on his voyage are all examples of storylines the author could have explored more. Because of the short length of the book, there isn't much time to develop the plot or characters to much depth

Nevertheless, this was an enjoyable read. I'd definitely be open to reading more books from this author in the future!

Do note that this book is very NSFW and is not appropriate for younger readers. BDSM also plays a significant role in the book, in case this is something that does not interest you.

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… (altro)

I liked this book. It was a pretty easy read - I finished it in two days of grabbing a few hours here and there to read. Basically, it's a regency romance about a woman who is not sure she wants to marry, who goes to a house party where she meets a friend of her brother's whom she has known since childhood. This time, however, sparks fly, and the rest is history. Pretty simple plot, really. Except, not really. There are sufficient ups and downs and will they/won't they moments to be interesting, unusual, and hold your interest.

First, the bad: there wasn't much character development going on. We meet our characters the way they are, and they pretty much stay that way throughout the entire tale. Not a lot of growth there, or chance to become invested in their lives. It's just like, "Here, here's a story about two people."

Now, the good: What I liked the most about this book was, quite frankly, the moments of intimacy. Man, can this author can write about the sexy times (fans self, lol!)!! And I'm not talking about The Act, necessarily, either - I feel like she has an excellent grasp of the notion that a woman's most erogenous zone is what's between her ears, i.e., her brain, and developed that portion of the story beautifully. But there was physical intimacy, too, written in a tastefully explicit manner. If we could've had that AND some character growth/development, this would have been an easy 5-star read for me.

My final breakdown:

Plot: 3 stars

World development/Scene-setting: 4 stars

Characters: 3 stars

Character development: 2 stars

Sexy times: 5 stars

HEA: yes

Swears: medium (no taking the Lord's name in vain, but a few vulgarisms, if that kind of stuff bothers you)

Would I read another book by this author? Yes

I received an early ARC for free, and am leaving this review voluntarily. Much thanks to the author, publisher, and BookSirens for allowing me the privilege.… (altro)