Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

One Night in Hartswood by Emma Denny

23 reviews

camillatd's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful

3.5

Fun, indulgent, and adventurous queer historical romance for fans of BBC Merlin and Cat Sebastian. Heavy on the tropes (hurt/comfort, angst, mistaken identity, forbidden love, huddling for warmth, "who did this to you?", etc.), which I found largely enjoyable. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Sexual content, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Homophobia, and Physical abuse

lexi_air's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, and Sexual content

Moderate: Physical abuse and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death of parent

bookboxbabe's review against another edition

emotional hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

*thank you netgalley and the publisher for providing me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

WOWW!! okay so just take everyone one of my heart strings and yank them why don’t you.

this author has an AMAZING prose and the writing in the book was so beautiful. i was sold just from that. it’s rare that a book takes my breath away just from the writing alone, but this one did. 

i also LOVED these characters. raff and penn are so complex and just troubled guys trying to find themselves in a world determined to rip them apart. their love felt raw and real. these two men found each other and fell in love in such an organic way and i believed these two were real men in love, not just words on a page.

the spicy scenes in here were written so tasteful and beautiful. i loved the exploration of each others bodies and the insecurity such a thing comes with. i thought all of the self hate was dealt wonderfully.

all in all, i loved reading this and i think this is a book that will stick with me for a while

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Homophobia, Physical abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child abuse

ezwolf's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

Okay, so, by all rights I should have loved this book. It's queer, it's historical fiction, it's got angsty backstories. But I could not get in to this for the life of me. 

This is one of those cases where I think it's just not for me. I cannot exactly explain why this didn't grab me, the best I can say is that I found it boring. I wasn't drawn to either Penn or Raff and so it made it hard to be interested in either point of view. By the time the story got to plot points I would have been interested in (like Penn's scars) I was 50% of the way through and I was already just reading for the sake of finishing the story. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper 360 for making this available in exchange for an honest review!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Homophobia, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Grief

Minor: Death, Suicidal thoughts, and Xenophobia

pitsikakku's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Sexual content

Moderate: Animal death and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Homophobia

thaliareads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

 Thanks to NetGalley and Harper 360 for the opportunity to read this as an ARC! 

A queer historical romance, set in the late 1300s, this book follows the tale of two men whose fates are woven together closer than they would have ever imagined. Penn, William to his father, can’t imagine being married to a woman he doesn’t know and that he knows he’ll never love in the way that his family claims he eventually will. Raff is suspicious about letting his sister marry a man they know nothing about, especially when the rumors of the family are not kind. In an attempt to escape his abusive father and his unwanted engagement, Penn flees into the woods – not considering how ill equipped he is to take care of himself. Raff, unsuccessful in his search for his sister’s missing fiancé, is drawn to this man who’s trying so hard to survive his escape from an unforgiving lord. Raff invites Penn to join him in his journey back home in the north – expecting him to find a good place to settle along the journey. Little do the two men know how much the journey would draw them together. With both of their true identities hidden, what will happen when these secrets are forced into the light? Is their new and fragile love worth risking their lives and the lives of those they love? 

All I can say is I’m in love. This was such a heartwarming romance, and I couldn’t get enough of it. I adored how considerate both men were of the power imbalance between their real life position and the mistaken identity of the opposing man. They put the idea of a romantic relationship on the backburner to protecting each other. I also thought it was incredibly nice that while they obviously acknowledged the stigma and dangers of being in a queer relationship in the 1300s, ultimately that wasn’t the main barrier to a happily ever after. The real villain and obstacle was an innately abusive father who can’t stand his son being anything other than an exact replication of his expectations. This book had tons of twists and turns that I didn’t see coming and was overall an absolute delight to read (I read this book in two sittings). My only complaint was that I’m not used to seeing both characters’ perspectives in one chapter, and I was a bit confused at first as I got my bearings for the story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death, Homophobia, Death of parent, and War

cateemma's review against another edition

adventurous emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Confinement, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Death of parent, and War

chantelbecky's review against another edition

The book was a little too slow for me, and the characters fell a little flat. They all seemed a bit to casual about the conflicts in the story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Sexual content

Moderate: Child abuse

clairew97's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

wilybooklover's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful slow-paced

4.0

Most of this, I adored. How tender and caring the romance was; how charming the two leads and their siblings were. The characters were well fleshed out with distinct personalities and I loved the delicious pining in the first half of the book. I thought the author dealt with the topic of abuse thoughtfully, especially in regards to the intimate scenes. Raff's family dynamics were great; I'd love to read more about Ash or Cecily in a sequel or two.
 
However, the pacing felt a bit off. There was virtually no plot for the first three quarters of the book (which I actually loved, as a big fan of 'no plot just vibes' books) and then a lot of action and drama crammed into a final act that was drawn out far too long. At times the dialogue felt a bit clunky and there were some jarring POV switches, which I'm attributing to this being a debut.

I also wish the early mediaeval setting had been explored a little more in depth. It was really just scenery for the most part and could have been set at any time pre-18th century given how little detail there is. There wasn't even a mention of the plague! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty, Homophobia, Xenophobia, and Death of parent