Anna Maria, Ia to her family and friends, is twenty-five and still lives with the brother who raised her after their parents’ tragic death. Daniel is married now, and Ia wants nothing more than to be on her own and out from under his thumb. Resigned to being single, she is surprised when her brother’s business associate from across the pond comes to visit.Douglas is quite taken with the lovely Ia … the lovely Ia and falls head over heels in love with her at first sight. But can he convince her to give him a chance? And what will she do when she learns that he intends to run his household the same way her brother does, with him as the head?
Publisher Notes: This sweet, 1957 romance contains a strong theme of power exchange.
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Although this not the typical story I read I did enjoy the story. Written in the 1950’s era where thoughts and beliefs were different.
La is young and lives with her strict brother who feels love should be done with a strong hand. When Douglas shows up his beliefs run along the same lines as Daniel’s and falls for La. Will this be a match.
The story is well written and character are amazing.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Undercover Sir is buried in this story
Undercover Sir by Carolyn Faulkner turned out not to quite be the story that I was expecting. I was thinking something a bit more on the kinky side of the line but this was very mild, even give the era it is based in. Well the kink was somewhat there but from a character that it should not have been.
I thought the story was well written but it was not for me as things pushed towards more abuse than domestic punishment. I also did not feel any connection between Ia (h) and Douglas (H) as he really did not save her from her situation but instead she went from one situation to the same but with him.
I received a copy of this book for my honest review. My opinions are all my own.
It could have been a bit longer. Felt a bit rushed at the end…otherwise a good book.
Douglas came to America to visit his friend because he was intrigued by the way he talked about his younger sister. After meeting Ia, Douglas was in love. He and her brother both were stern and believed in spankings. Is desperately wanted her independence but didn’t know how because her brother raised and spoiled her. She was smitten with Douglas but he had a lot of convincing to do for them to reach their HEA. Fun and exciting
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Loved the storyline if you like this gender then this is a story that sill keep you reading until the end, I loved the interaction between the characters and watching them grow in their relationship. La needed to believe in herself and appreciate herself. Douglas, who is her brothers business associate, comes to visit. He falls hard for Anna Maria, la, but can he convince her to give him a chance. This has a strong dominate alpha male who believes in discipline and spankings. My favorite story. Another great by from this author. I received a copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
This book pulled me in and kept me entranced till the end. The feelings of love, hate, and pain coming out in waves making you want to cry while you read. This was such a beautiful book! I loved the characters wholesomeness!
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This romance is a veeeery slow burn, very sweet, very loving story of 4 people in the 1950’s.
Daniel, his wife Taffy, his younger sister Ia & Douglas, a visiting business friend of Daniel’s staying in Daniel’s home for 2 weeks while in the States.
Daniel is firmly & STERNLY the HOH & has inflexible rules by which both Taffy & Ia must abide. While he views things as HIS as he provides shelter, food, etc for his wife & sister, has rules he expects to be obeyed, delivers physical punishments (spankings/beltings) if his rules are broken, he is in no way cruel. In fact he ADORES both his wife & the little sister he’s raised since she was ten years old.
Douglas is very interested in & intrigued by Daniel’s sister Ia. To the point he wants to date her, envisions the erotic lusts to which he’ll expose her, wants her under HIS care & subject to HIS punishments. Because, he is like minded as Daniel when it comes to caring for a loved one. Because, like Daniel, Douglas also has a younger sister under his care.
Douglas & Ia’s romance is very slow burn & there is only one erotic scene between them & it is only a brief ‘hands on’ exchange of pleasure. This one is much more, IMO, focused on the relationships between Ia & Daniel & Ia & Douglas. And beautifully written & detailed. The overriding theme of this story was the total & complete love an older brother & younger sister had for each other. It also expressed the growing pains Ia was feeling about Daniel’s continued control & expectations & while her rebellion wasn’t disrespectful her continued emotional distancing from Daniel deeply hurt him. But Douglas sees the iciness as well as the hurt inflicted & as Daniel’s friend & intention to be Ia’s ‘forever’ he feels compelled to address the issue.
This is IMO, a beautifully written story, there is a wonderfully placid pace, no insta anything. Some may feel it is ‘too slow’ with not enough ‘action’ but I really enjoyed it. The reader is given time to learn about Daniel, Ia & Douglas (Taffy isn’t really a big part in the plot), their feeling & motivations. There are a few punishments sprinkled throughout & Douglas gently but firmly gives Ia a perspective on her situation & attitude towards Daniel that hadn’t occurred to her.
A story to savor, to settle down & read, to enjoy. There is power exchange, physical punishment of women by the men in their lives, but most of all there is deep love.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I’m always disappointed when a reader chooses to review a sub-genre they don’t like; giving a middling to low rating because of this personal preference, rather than the story, writing or editing. If you know you don’t like/ won’t like a book due to the subject matter, why are you opting to the author and book for it?
That being said, I did enjoy this book. The text and writing is inline with the historical context, allowing the reader to be that much more IN the story. I enjoyed watching the characters interact and seeing Ia learn to appreciate herself. The characters had depth and were genuine.
As a non-writer, and an avid reader, it’s alllll about the characters. No matter how good the storyline, plot, mystery if the characters fall flat and read as one dimensional, to me the story does as well.
Well done!
I received an ARC from the author for an honest review.
I enjoyed reading Anna Maria, Ia to her family and friends, and Douglas the Duke of Hereford’s story. It has some spankings in it. I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I enjoyed this book. The characters are well developed and engaging with undeniable chemistry between the couple which made for a great storyline that kept me turning the pages. Will Douglas convince Anna to give him a chance?
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
A delightful romance set in the late 1950’s. Ia, at age 25, has never been kissed which seemed s little odd, meets her brother’s business associate Douglas who is quite smitten with her. An interesting story that is a good read.
Ava Maria, or just Ia, is a young lady living in her brother’s home. He took guardianship of her when their parents died when she was 10. He is strict brother and he only had to spank Ia once for her to learn how not to get caught. When he spanked her after she graduated from college, she was shocked. And because of that, she became distant with him as she worked to become independent in her own apartment. When he comes home with a friend that also believes in spanking women, she wants nothing to do with him. But Douglas wears her down and persuades her to date him. You definitely have to view this book in the attitudes of the 50’s. I enjoyed the story and would like to hear more about Ia and Douglas once they marry. I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Up front I have to say domestic discipline isn’t my favorite genre but I still find things to enjoy in it, otherwise I would not read it at all. I have read several books by this author that I thought were really great, and that is one of the reasons I chose to read this one. I like her crisp writing style and her dominant male characters, and I did enjoy this book up to a point, but I couldn’t completely overcome my distaste for the way the men in the story treat the women like children. For goodness sake, Ia was twenty-five, a college graduate, and worked a full time job but she had an eleven o’clock curfew! She couldn’t have an alcoholic beverage unless her brother Daniel okayed it and neither could Daniel’s wife Taffy – they weren’t even allowed to touch the stereo because he paid for it, so it was his! That’s just a sampling of what could earn them a severe spanking. I had to keep reminding myself that this story was set in 1957 when attitudes towards women were a lot more restrictive.
There is one particular scene I found especially distasteful: a male character got aroused and seemed to take great delight in a scene where the women were being disciplined (out of sight) and hearing their noises of distress seemed to turn him on even more. I can’t remember another DD story that I have read where the character took such enjoyment in punishment the way this one did.
I like Ia who is unhappy with having her life ruled by her brother. She’s insecure about her looks and lacking in self-confidence. Douglas, her brother’s friend and business associate from London, wants her to see herself through his eyes and realize how attractive he finds her. They have some really good chemistry going on. Douglas practices DD in his own household with his younger sister but he’s sweet with Ia and their romantic scenes are pretty hot.
This story was a mixed bag for me so in all honesty, I can’t give it more than 3.5 stars.
I received a free copy of this book from Booksprout. This review was posted voluntarily.
I enjoyed reading this story. It is one of her sweeter stories with little to no heat. The title did not really make sense with the story. It was a little different as a lot of the DD was between a brother and sister but overall it was a good story.