RELEASE DAY REVIEW: 'For Love & Country' by Samantha Kane
Title: For Love & Country
Series: Brothers in Arms Book 13
Author: Samantha Kane
Published: November 22, 2016
Publisher: Self-Published/SK Publishing, LLC
Genre: Erotic Romance; Contemporary Romance
Length: 239 Pages
Tags: M/M/F; Menage; Historical Fiction; HEA, Suspense, CW: Kidnapping
BLURB: Sir Barnabas James is secretive, manipulative, cold and alone. He abhors society and shuns personal attachments despite a long list of lovers. All the better to be the consummate spymaster in service to King and country. Until an old enemy asks a personal favor…
Lord Ambrose Wetherald has always taken pride in his status as an English gentleman. He obeys even the strictest of society’s rules, is unfailingly polite and deferential, and feels it is his responsibility to protect women and the underprivileged. He has also saved himself for marriage. Until one day he needs a favor…
Melinda de Vere was once the spoiled and willful toast of the London season, but she threw it all away on childish escapades and unfulfilling love affairs. Now she is married to a treasonous scoundrel who abuses and degrades her. Until one day she is rescued by two men she has never met.
When Barnabas demands Ambrose repay the favor in his bed and Mel goes undercover as Barnabas’s housekeeper to help trap her traitorous husband, the three embark on a sensuous affair. Barnabas will have to choose love over duty, Ambrose must surrender his reputation, and Mel will need to learn to trust again if the mismatched, unsuitable lovers hope to survive the devious plot against them.
4 HEART READ
REVIEW:
Ménage fans, do yourself a big favor; read Samantha Kane's For Love & Country. This is the thirteenth book in the Brothers in Arms series and although I haven’t found it necessary to read every one, those I have devoured have been ripe, juicy plums.
In For Love & Country, readers get adventure, psychological exploration, sexual delights, and a good old fashioned love story.
Conservative Lord Ambrose Wetherald asks Sir James Barnabas, the Home Office Secret Service Chief, to rescue Mrs. Melinda De Vere. Her husband has imprisoned her in a brothel to be pimped for his political advantage.
In the rescue, James sees a way to benefit. Ambrose, as a member of the House of Lords, can vote for needed appropriations. Besides, James finds Ambrose an attractive adversary.
Ambrose, a virgin, could easily justify his agreement to James’ request for “company,” as an exchange that will spare Mrs. De Vere. But he is no liar. Their interactions allow him to perceive himself anew. “I did not do those things out of fear, but out of desire and curiosity.” In turn, “Ambrose’s honesty made (James) feel he was fucking a human being for the first time in years.”
Soon Melinda, now freed, proves to be surprisingly enticing as well. "She had no tears left to cry. How similar they were..." But, "she was so delicate, yet so fierce and determined."
Through the men’s attraction to each other, Melinda is free to consider her two rescuers as sexual beings. "When she was younger she'd longed for forbidden passion and hedonistic, sensual delights, but she hadn't thought about a man in those terms for a very long while. Not since her marriage." And she finds herself envying them.
Can the three overcome de Vere and save the crown?
As always, Kane manages complex issues with concise language. In simple words she develops each ménage in this series into a unique and intuitive relationship. Her characters’ dynamics ring true, without silly embellishments. And her sex scenes pop off the page with their humanity.
The plot For Love & Country was exciting, but never overdrawn. It made ample room to examine moral dilemmas.
For those who desperately need a novel where women own their sexuality, their power, and their humanity, this book is a welcome treat!
Well done, Ms. Kane!
A copy of For Love & Country was provided to Kimmers’ Erotic Book Banter, by Samantha Kane, in exchange for our fair and honest opinion.
ARe; Smashwords; Kobo; iBooks; Amazon
Reviewers have called Samantha Kane “an absolute marvel to read,” and “one of historical romance’s most erotic and sensuous authors.” Her books have been called “sinful,” “sensuous,” and “sizzling.” She is published in several romance genres including historical, contemporary and science fiction. Her erotic Regency-set historical romances have won awards, including Best Historical from RWA's erotic romance chapter Passionate Ink, and the Historical CAPA (best book) award from The Romance Studio. She has a master's degree in American History, and taught high school social studies for ten years before becoming a full time writer. Samantha Kane lives in North Carolina with her husband and three children.
