Historical
Antonia's Bargain
By Scarlet
Dec 6, 2007 - 7:47:46 AM

Lord Gideon Harcourt is an expert at all things sexual; he knows what is available and will try anything once, but not with women.   After his young wife’s suicide, Gideon is fearful of forming an attachment to a woman so limits his sexual encounters to males.   When he is introduced to a shy young man new to town, he sets out to show him the way of things.   All too soon he discovers “Anthony” Maxwell is actually Antonia in disguise, and the intrigue begins.

Antonia Maxwell has lived a life watching the indignities her mother suffered in the marriage bed.   She vows she will not suffer the same, so sets out to discover the true nature of men when they are not vying for a fortune.   A fortune Antonia has and is willing to share as long as she need not share a marriage bed with her husband.   She meets the handsome and charming Gideon Harcourt and strikes a bargain with him: show her the life of a young gentleman about town and she will let him try to seduce her, as long as she retains her virginity.

ANTONIA’S BARGAIN is not for the faint of heart; it is filled with frequent and varied sexual practices, explicit in word and deed.   Gideon is an arrogant and confident expert on the sexual proclivities of men and women of Regency England.   He is also a very vulnerable man beneath the public façade.   What goes on behind closed doors is richly presented by author Kate Pearce through the eyes of an innocent woman who strains at the rules of conduct for women in her social set.   Her introduction to the highly non-traditional sexual antics is further enhanced by the effect it has on our hero.   He is growing more and more intrigued with this brave young woman and is falling deeper and deeper under her spell.   The building of the relationship between two so equally matched characters is a grand journey as Gideon discovers Antonia’s fears of intimacy and she, in turn, heals the wounded parts of his soul.   ANTONIA’S BARGAIN is a love story all about acceptance between two complex characters.   The secondary cast “fleshes out” the story in a positive way, never detracting from the main storyline.   Kate Pearce brings the Regency period to vivid life and makes readers privy to young men’s and women’s secret exploits.  Make no mistake, this is not your tame Regency romance, ANTONIA’S BARGAIN is explicit in content and is not for those who like “one foot on the floor” so to speak.