Reread Review from January 2022

When I first read this a couple of months ago, I was not aware of the two novellas bookending Simply Sexual (#1) and Simply Sinful (#2). Since the ending of #2 did not give me the closure I’d expected or wanted, specifically for Val & Peter’s relationship, I set out to read all 4 books together in the hopes that their arc would feel more complete.

Ignorant as I was (and still am) about polyamorous relationships, I started Simply Sexual assuming, quite wrongly, that the HEA would entail everyone in love with and equally committed to each other. So, I kept waiting for Val and Peter to reach some kind of permanent understanding. Or at the very least acknowledge each other as more than "friends" or "lovers." (Both monikers seem woefully inadequate at capturing the depth of their relationship.) Instead, throughout the first 3 books, Val and Peter’s relationship is ambiguous and precarious and their bond is frequently minimized. The M/F romances are given significantly more weight within the narrative. Since my investment in this series was mostly due to Val/Peter, I found myself constantly confused or frustrated.

This irritation led me to do some online reading about the different types of polyamorous relationships, which thankfully resulted in an aha! moment. I am by no means an expert on polyships, and my conclusion could definitely be wrong, but I think their quad polyship (Sara/Val/Peter/Abigail) is likely meant to be hierarchical. Within the context of a hierarchical polyship, the character dynamics start to make more sense. Val/Sara and Peter/Abigail are primary partners, while Val/Peter are secondary. It’s a relief to finally understand, to some extent, the structure of these relationships. Although I’m glad all four of them are very happy with their arrangement, I do wonder why Val/Peter aren’t the primary partners, considering they have substantial history, are the longest standing relationship, and have the deepest connection.

Overall, I’m honestly still not completely satisfied with the way Val/Peter were portrayed in Simply Sexual (or in the following books) and there are aspects that make even less sense after reading the prequel novella. At the end of the prequel, they are in a good, stable place as business partners, lovers, and best friends. Peter tells Val, “I want to be your partner in all things” and Val says, albeit with some hesitancy, he understands and thinks he “can do that.” It’s not a grand declaration or lifelong commitment, but it’s a satisfying enough ending for a prequel—if one assumes their relationship will continue to develop in the following books. However, in Simply Sexual Peter and Val have inexplicably backtracked. They’re still business partners and friends, but no longer lovers. Val seems to be in even deeper denial about his feelings for Peter than he was in the prequel. By the end of Simply Sexual, Val admits “he had never imagined he would be content with one woman and maybe even the occasional presence of another man in his bed.” What Val fails to acknowledge is that there’s one specific man he wants in his bed: Peter.

Lastly, I want to address some points from my original review…I’ve read several of Pearce's books now and I’m still not keen on her prose or writing style. Though I think that’s mostly a personal preference thing, and not meant to be an objective criticism. I want to feel the atmosphere and mood of a book and that’s most often achieved, for me, through a more elaborate writing style. Pearce’s prose is so succinct that I never quite feel immersed in the story. This applies to the sex scenes as well, which are explicit, but not descriptive or lengthy. They sometimes feel too mechanical for me to truly enjoy them. I think this writing style may also be why the characters read as flat to me.

Original Review from November 2021

I was not impressed by the prose or writing style at all and the general story construct was pretty weak. There's a subplot involving someone trying to sabotage Valentin and Peter's shipping business, but it's pretty boring and I actually skimmed some of those parts. I also found Sarah and Valentin to be pretty flat characters (Sarah in particular lacked any depth whatsoever). However, I became quite attached to Peter, Valentin's best friend and business partner, and was disappointed that he wasn't as actively involved in Val & Sara’s sexual escapades earlier on. Especially since I thought Valentin had more chemistry with Peter than Sarah. Their backstory and connection is quite intriguing and I would have liked to see more of that dynamic. Valentin has a bit of a revelation at the end regarding Peter's role in his life, but sadly it's not explored much.

I mostly picked this up out of curiosity since I haven't delved into much erotic romance, and wasn't expecting to enjoy it enough to continue the series. But, book 2 is about Peter, so I will try it!

Endnotes: M/F, erotic historical romance, book 1 in the House of Pleasure series*, Regency era (1815), taming the rake, tortured hero, pleasure/sex club, novel (83k words), ebook borrowed from Libby
Heat Index: 5/5

(9 full, strongly explicit sex scenes. Mostly M/F, an extended M/M/F scene, and a brief F/F/F scene. Sex acts/kink includes anal play, spanking, orgasm delay/denial, exhibitionism, voyeurism, roleplay (sex slave/master), toys & accessories (dildos, jewelry), and double penetration (2Ps in 1V)

*The first four books of the series are connected as follows:

Simply Pleasure (#0.5), Val/Peter, prequel novella
Simply Sexual (#1), Val/Sara, full-length novel
Simply Sinful (#2), Peter/Abigail, full-length novel
Simply Irresistible (#2.5), Peter/Abigail (with appearances from Val/Sara), epilogue novella

Content Warnings

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Reviews tagging 'Trafficking'

Simply Sexual by Kate Pearce

bethiebennett's review against another edition

nikki_silk's review

meggiemine's review against another edition

Reread Review from January 2022

Original Review from November 2021