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#tristan of lyonesse
ruffles23 · 2 months
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Most men are unaware that what is in the power of magicians to accomplish, that the heart also can accomplish by dint of love and bravery.
from ‘The Romance of Tristan and Iseult’ as retold by Joseph Bédier
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joemerl · 1 year
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What is with characters in Le Morte D'Arthur (and maybe its sources, I'm not sure) refusing to tell people their names? Like, why did Lynette refuse to tell King Arthur? Why did Gareth? I've seen people come up with reasons, but the text just refuses.
The all-time time king of this, however, is Tristram. I'm not talking about his "Tramtrist" period, or the other times when he was in the presence of his victims' next of kin; in that context, hiding his identity makes sense. But there are so many times when he just refuses to give people his name. One time, he refuses even though Arthur threatens to kill him, and he has no reason not to hide it! And he's in a tournament, which he keeps doing to "gain worship" (his motive for most things, since he's a massive glory hound). How is he supposed to do that if nobody knows who he is?
But what's even weirder is, half the time, he will just answer when people ask for his name, even if refused the last time. There's no rhyme or reason for it. It's galling.
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deconsacro · 1 year
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❝ why are you freaking out ? ❞ to tr*stan
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What a question, he almost says. He's not sure how to describe his life but as a series of crises, each of which he has only barely come back from by clawing his way out. 'Freaking out'' is second nature to him by now, wretched thing that he is.
But Merlin isn't a fool; clearly, he can tell the difference between permanent malaise and the frantic, phrenetic energy Tristan has been emitting for hours, at least.
"My harp," he says, teeth close together, leaving the sound harsh and high. "One of her strings snapped, if you must know." And here he is, staring despondently at his instrument. At this hour, there's not a repairmen who'd still be in business to sell him a new one, and that harp is the only thing tethering him to mental stability.
"Leave me to rot, or something. I'll probably scatter like the dust before morning."
@avlon / anyway cant play wonderwall my fucking harp broke
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queer-ragnelle · 20 days
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La Tavola Ritonda PDF is now available to read! Enjoy!
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ID: When Isotta had returned to the pavilion, the tables were set out and food was prepared, and when water had been brought for their hands they sat down to eat. As they ate, Gariette looked out and saw Palamidesso going by looking for them, and pointed him out to Sir Tristano. Tristano got up and went to meet him, taking him by the hand and leading him into the pavilion, where he disarmed and sat at the table. They all passed that night in great joy.
Medieval Literature scans | Arthurian Retellings scans | Ko-fi ⤥Italian Name Guide Below Cut
Prose Tristan Gang
King Meliadus of Liones (Meliodas of Lyonesse)
Queen Eliabella (Elizabeth)
Tristano (Tristan)
King Marco of Cornovaglia/Tintoile (Mark of Cornwall/Tintagel)
King Amoroldo of Irlanda (Morholt of Ireland)
King Languis of Irlanda (Anguish of Ireland)
Queen Isotta the Blonde (Isolde 1)
Gouvernale (Governal)
Brandina (Brangaine)
Dinadano (Dinadan)
Daniello (Daniel)
Brunoro the Black/Ill-Cut Coat (Brunor le Noir/La Cote Male Taile)
Dinasso the Seneschal (Dinas)
King Scalabrino (Esclabor)
Palamidesso the Pagan (Palomides/Palamedes)
Isotta White Hands (Isolde 2)
Gheddino (Kahedrin)
Logres
King Artù of Camellotto/Longres (Arthur of Camelot/Logres)
Queen Ginevara (Guinevere)
Chieso the Seneschal (Kay)
Lucano (Lucan)
Fata Morgana (Morgan le Fay)
Pulzella Gais (Morgan's daughter)
Merlino the Prophet (Merlin)
Orcadians
King Lotto (Lot)
Queen Albagia of Organia (Morgause of Orkney)
Calvano the Lover (Gawain)
Agravano (Agravaine)
Gariens (Gaheris)
Gariette (Gareth)
Mordarette (Mordred)
Welsh
King Pellinoro of Gaules (Pellinore of Wales)
Prezzivale lo Galese (Percival of Wales)
Amorotto di Gaules (Lamorak of Wales)
Adriano (Drian)
Agravale (Aglovale)
French
King Bando of Benoich (Ban of Benwick)
Dama del Lago (Lady of the Lake)
Lancilotto of Gioisa Guardia (Lancelot of Joyous Guard)
Astore di Mare (Hector de Maris)
Lionello (Lionel)
Bordo (Bors)
Briobris (Biloberis)
Galasso (Galahad)
Others
Brunoro the Brown (Brunor father of Galehaut)
Bagotta (Fair Giantess)
Galeotto (Galehaut)
Sagramore (Sagramore lol)
Meliagans (Meleagant/Melwas)
King Brando of Magus (Bademagus)
Beast Glatisanti (Questing Beast/Glatisants)
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mermaidsirennikita · 3 months
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Contemporaries where dirty talk is especially hot? Both during sex and maybe also over text? Thank you!!
Sierra Simone, Sierra Simone, Sierra Simone. Her books are often set in a contemporary world, but they're not, as a heads up, "light" contemporaries. Personally, I wouldn't really go as far as to call them dark romance (well. Thornchapel, I would, but I also wouldn't recommend it as a contemporary as it has such strong supernatural elements lol) but they do have some elements of (light) mysticism as some of them are retellings of old myth set in a modern setting. I'd check out:
Priest, Sinner, Saint/"The Bell Brothers": These are three standalones (M/F, M/F, and M/M) that always have a bit of a religion kink. And a by a bit, I mean a lot. Priest is the book where a Catholic priest (who is actually very naturally carnal and only became a priest because of some deep guilt issues and religiosity) meets a woman who tells him ALL the shit she's done in confession. It's naturally dirty, and he naturally falls head over heels into an affair. Sinner is about a business whose best friend's little sister is about to become a nun, and she (on the advice of her convent, naturally) asks him to teach her about sex so she can experience what she'll miss before she really commits. Saint is about a guy who became a monk in a period of deep emotional crisis, whose ex-boyfriend (he left with zero notice) ends up on a tour of monasteries with him for an article he's writing. Temptation ensues.
The dirty talk in these is naturally very tinged with priest/nun kink stuff, it's SUPER dirty, and I love it. They're also just really good.
Her Christmas Notch books she does with Julie Murphy are a little tamer, both focus on this Hallmark-esque company where the leads film these Christmas movies and, of course, fall in love. I really, really love A Holly Jolly Ever After, because the hero is a former boybander (with a dad bod!) who fucks like a demon and also owns a chain of pizza shops, and his sex tape leaks, during which he's pictured absolutely RAILING a woman from behind, slapping her ass, and saying "and THAT'S how you toss the dough" which I personally think is some of the greatest dirty talk I've ever read.
New Camelot: One of my favorite trilogies of all time, MMF, "what if King Arthur was President, Guinevere was First Lady, and Lancelot was VP, and what if they were all in love with each other and entangled in an intense affair and IT WAS AMAZING". I reread scenes regularly. I love it so much. The dirty talk is obscene. You get the very cool "sit, stay, bark" dom dirty talk from one hero and the deranged "I'm going through it and you're going to go through it with me" passionate dirty talk from the other. Our heroine ain't half bad at it either.
Lyonesse Trilogy: The prequel novella and the first book are out now; it's a Tristan/Isolde/Mark MMF retelling. Mark is perhaps like... the dirtiest dirty talker Sierra has written. He's soooooo much. Like, if you want the condescending dom dirty talking hero, he's The One. The alternating between the "look how good you take it" stuff and "you're so desperate it's pathetic" shit. Why not both???
Act Your Age by Eve Dangerfield has a TON of dirty talk, usually in the DD/lg vein. The hero and heroine roleplay dirty stepdad fantasies a lot, and the way they talk to each other is OBSCENE lol. And I love it.
Minx by Sophie Lark has some amazing dirty talk in the pet play realm. The heroine is an escort paid by the hero, and he has her dress up in a catsuit, wear a caller, drink milk out of a bowl while he calls her Minxie and a good girl and shit lol. I was into it. Idk if you'll be into it. Iiiii was into it.
Sara Cate's Salacious Player Club books have good dirty talk. They're sex club books that kind of deconstruct a different kink in each book (pleasure dom/sub in the first one, voyeurism in the second, MMF/bi awakening in the third, and femdom in the fourth... I'd stop after the fourth) and naturally are filled with dirty talk. Eyes On Me (the second book) may especially work for you because the heroine is a cam girl.
Possession by Adriana Anders has a heroine in a PR marriage with her famous husband end up in a kink camp with him after a scandal, and they... explore a lot. Including consensual kidnapping, an MFM threesome, lots of dirty talk... It's a lot.
Preferential Treatment by Heather Guerre has a heroine who becomes her billionaire boss's domme, so naturally there is a LOT of femdom dirty talk. We LOVE to see it.
Heated Rivalry & The Long Game by Rachel Reid make up a duology of hockey romances about the same couple (m/m). What I like about this is that you follow the same couple over like, a decade, starting when they're like 18/19, and they build up...? Their dirty talk? Like in the beginning, their encounters are more awkward, and then by the end they're using sex toys and like mild bondage and really KNOW each other and what turns each other on. Including the talk.
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triviareads · 5 months
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I'm posting this one a little sooner than the end of the month because I'm off to the west coast for the holidays and most of these books are Christmas or New Year's-themed!
Mafia Virgin by Mila Finelli
The final installation of Mila's Kings of Italy series came out last week, and here is my review (and here are my excess notes). SPEAKING of Mila Finelli—
Fausto and Frankie Bonus Scene by Mila Finelli
If you would like some warm, mafia Christmas goodness with a side of chasing, Mila Finelli wrote a (free!) bonus scene set after Mafia Darling that I've linked above. It features gems such as Frankie fucking around with calling Fausto an old man repeatedly and finding out (which, to be clear, was her end goal), Fausto pondering on whether to tell the number of men he's killed with an axe when Frankie questions his ability to chop down a Christmas tree, and a visit from (then-failson mafioso, but forever a fave) Giulio.
Duke the Halls by Felicity Niven
The thing about Felicity Niven's historical romances is that they all start off relatively light, humorous even, but you inevitably find yourself swiping away tears as you read through the last few chapters. Duke the Halls is about a grumpy neurodivergent duke who finds himself enamored with a ladies companion he meets in a stagecoach. I adore Franny; she's earnest and upbeat and the very embodiment of holiday spirit without being naive (she's also a bit of a neologist). Kit, the duke, is more of an acquired taste but it's hilarious to read how gone he is for this woman right off the bat— to the point where he wishes he were a worse kisser so she could "practice" with him more, he admits he actually kinda does suck at sex, and nearly crashes a carriage when she agrees to sleep with him. God bless him. Felicity Niven doesn't shy away from going off the beaten path with her sex scenes; expressions of pleasure are never sanitized and they always feel real and honest.
My Present This Year by Sierra Simone
Sierra Simone unironically wrote a (step!) sibling romance some years ago (linked above— it's free!), inspired by that 2009 Folger's coffee commercial called "Coming Home". You know the one. Upon reread, Nick is is kind of giving "early version Tristan Thomas from Sierra's Lyonesse Trilogy" vibes. It also has all the hallmarks of a Sierra Simone romance: tragic pining-induced celibacy, there's a nickname with "little" in the beginning, someone is a biter, the lines "I want to be a good stepbrother" are uttered...
Her Virgin Duke by Nicola Davidson
If you're in the mood for a Christmas-themed romance ft. virgin dukes who learn to fuck shockingly fast (wow sex lessons seems to be the theme of these holiday romances), then this is the novella for you! The Duke of Tunbury aka Humdrum Tun is a virgin who doesn't even masturbate until he he meets brothel madam Delilah on a bet, and within days the man's basically an animal in the sack. His learning curve is only matched by that of Beck's from The Major's Welcome Home by Tessa Bailey and Nick Gentry's from Worth Any Price by Lisa Kleypas.
Size Doesn't Matter by Jennie Kew
Sophie is a famous plus-sized model who unwittingly hooks up with her ex(ish)'s younger brother Jack on New Year's Eve, and when she finds out, she's Not Happy. Jennie Kew is a solid erotic romance writer who writes a lot of books with kink, and I've loved nearly even book she's written in her Bennett's Bastards series. This is probably one of the softer books in her series, both tone and sex-wise, but I love how she wrote Sophie being both bigger and taller, and she's in her thirties, but she's still very much a brat sexually— I feel like a lot of authors equate this with dainty little girls— and Jack clocks this right off the bat and is very much here for it. This book also features one of my much-loved tropes often found in Harlequins.... :D
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gellavonhamster · 6 months
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Gareth is finally located, his identity is revealed and he returns to court where a dramatic and joyful reunion is effected. Both Arthur and Morgause swoon for joy; Arthur weeps ‘as he had bene a chylde’. Uncle and mother bless Gareth’s marriage to Lyonesse and the tale ends with multiple marriages of Gareth’s brothers to a sister and cousin of Lyonesse. The family reunion curiously reconstitutes the brother and sister as quasi-parents to Gareth, the lost son. Yet, as Archibald notes, this highly emotional scene represses the recollection of that other lost son, the one who is truly the issue of Arthur and Morgause, and for whom no recognition scene, for good or ill, is ever recorded. Arthur’s sister thus loses two sons; in the early tradition it is Gawain whom she abandons and who is restored as an outstanding hero; in the Vulgate and Post-Vulgate Mordred disappears. Yet the queen’s death comes about through a third son, Gaheris, who was never lost, who shadows Gawain in his vengefulness and touchiness where honour is concerned, yet whose reputation for knightliness, throughout the Post-Vulgate Cycle and the Tristan en Prose, is outstanding.
— King Arthur’s Enchantresses: Morgan and Her Sisters in Arthurian Tradition by Carolyne Larrington
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texaxwib · 6 months
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The lost city of Atlantis has never been found. El Dorado, the legendary city of gold, has also never been found. Lyonesse is the home country of Tristan, in Arthurian legend. Supposedly it's at the bottom of the sea. Some lost cities have actually been found. But they weren't really lost. It's just that they were forgotten. Learn more: cmoneyspinner1tf.substack.com/p/sharing-my-fascination-with-lost-20-02-03 #History
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COVER REVEAL
SALT KISS (Lyonesse Trilogy 1) by Sierra Simone
Release Date: September  12, 2023
Amazon paper: https://amzn.to/3N5UAmt
From TikTok sensation Sierra Simone comes the first in the Lyonesse series, a spin-off of her bestselling New Camelot books.
Tristan Thomas is lost. After leaving the army, the young former soldier is in limbo. Until, that is, he's hired by Mark Trevena, the owner of Lyonesse—DC's ultra-secret club—to be Mark's new bodyguard. He's drawn into Mark's dark, seductive world of power and desire, and slowly drawn to Mark himself, even though Mark is everything Tristan knows he shouldn't want: cruel and wicked and shamelessly amoral.
But protecting Mark isn't Tristan's only duty: soon, Mark asks him to guard his soon-to-be bride as she travels home from Ireland on Mark's yacht. Tristan is jealous—and hurt to learn that the object of his obsession is engaged—but the former soldier in him is made to obey orders, and he goes to fetch Mark's bride for him.
Isolde Laurence is nothing like Tristan expected, however. Young, quiet, and sharp, she's being pushed into this marriage by her family, and as the two travel back to America, Tristan finds himself fascinated with Isolde and the glimpses he gets of the lonely but determined woman behind her reserve. And the fascination is mutual: one night, while sailing under the cold stars, they share a searing kiss. From there, it's a fast fall into the forbidden for all three of them.
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rubiatinctorum · 2 years
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i love how malory keeps nonchalantly increasing Tristram's kill count. like "lol he killed another hundred plus knights again"
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ircnwrought · 3 years
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@shardfated​​​   ♥ ‘d  for  a  random  starter   (tristan)  !!
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__________☩      THOUGH      IT      IS      UNUSUAL      FOR      SOMEONE      TO      WANDER      IN      THIS      PART      OF      THE      GROUNDS,      the  knight  wears  a  friendly  smile  that  betrays  his  amicable  nature.      fearing  she  may  be  lost,      he  approaches  with  a  quick  glance  back  towards  the  castle.      ❛    could  i  be  of  some  assistance,      my  lady    ??    ❜
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noemiebevierre · 6 years
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I made one of my bb knights for a frand As the Japan Expo gets closer, I’m trying to think of ways to draw nice traditional commissions  Have Tristan for now The other knights will follow sooner or later
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deconsacro · 1 year
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❝ i don’t know, i thought maybe you were homesick ? ❞ bedivere at tr*stan also
Oh. Oh, Bedivere, you have no idea. "Am I that obvious?" He says. A shaky laugh works its way out of his lips.
"Do you want to hear something even more pathetic?" He doesn't wait for an answer. He's not sure his dignity would survive either a yes or a no. "I don't know if its Lyonesse, I miss, or Cornwall." Fucking Cornwall, that place was his undoing, and yet sometimes, in his dreams, he was still there.
@stellaruina / hey emo boy
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meliodas-world · 2 years
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So I'm watching an old movie called the "First Knight" a movie that is focused on King Arthur, Lancelot and Guinevere and in this movie Guinevere is the lady of Lyoness(that's how its spelled in the movie) but also it can be translated into Liones or Lyoness. Now we know Meliodas and Elizabeth were the ruler of Liones and also Tristan before going to Camelot to become a knight at the round table. Now here is where the two coincide to make a theory that I hope is true in The Four Knights of the Apocalypse. If Lady Guinevere is indeed the lady of Lioness and Meliodas and Elizabeth are King and Queen that must mean that Guinevere is Zeldris and Geldas daughter and she is going to be married to King Arthur only have Lancelot fall in love take her away and marry her meaning that Meliodas and Ban will be in-laws and the world will be beautiful!!!!
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Now tell me after reading that you don't see a resemblance to Zelris and Gelda! The Black Hair and why she is seen in the vision during the night because she is part demon/vampire!
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mermaidsirennikita · 4 months
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Any recs with reallly great dirty talk? Like pearl clutching water gushing dirty talk?
Yesss I love a dirty talking book.
Sierra Simone is, as with most things in erotic romance, one of the best in the business. The Thornchapel serise has some reeeeeally filthy dirty talk, especially from God's favorite idiot, Auden Guest. There's one scene in the third book where he's like... talking his partner through it... And another scene where there's a "hey let's talk through a ritualistic sacrifice but instead of killing we fuck and I talk you through what we'd do" scene, though this time someone's talking to Auden. The series is MMF and FF, and must be read in order.
Obviously, I'll always recommend New Camelot (MMF), which has excellent dirty talk. There's Ash's weird mindfuckery approach to domination, Embry's rough "MINE MINE MINE" shit. WHY NOT BOTH?
And then that'll lead you into Lyonesse, with Salt in the Wound and Salt Kiss. All around excellent dirty talk in those. (I've talked about this before, and I'll talk about it again lol--there's an extra Salt Kiss scene where Mark casually calls Tristan "puppy" and it is one of my favorite dialogue choices EVER.) Mark is like... really good at it. I just opened Salt in the Wound to refresh my memory, and he really went off towards the end there.
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….. yeah.
(FWIW, Tristan also dirty talks great. He calls Isolde “honey” a lot, which shouldn’t work for me but occurs in such dirty contexts that I’m like oh right yeah I get it now.)
Priest, naturally, has a lot of sacrilegious dirty talk which is excellent. With holy oil and everything. Sinner and Saint have it too, Sinner of the corruption variety and Saint of the "I'm a monk and you're making me break my vows" variety".
So yes. Sierra Simone. Do it.
I actually just read Kristen Callihan's The Friend Zone, which is a football college romance (well, college is really like over at that point) and the rare friends to lovers that works for me. In part because they have spontaneous phone sex while she's really horny and talking about what she'd want someone to do to her (at his encouragement). It's SO GOOD. (This is also one we can add to the "heroine fingers his ass" list, and he LOOOOOVES it.) Managed, her "uptight rock band manager meets wild girl" book has some good dirty talk too, from what I remember. Perhaps in the scene where he pushes his cum back in her after he comes inside? Always a lovely moment.
Act Your Age by Eve Dangerfield has EXCELLENT DD/lg role play dirty talk, if you are... into that. The heroine likes to call the hero daddy, and he likes to pretend (with her consent, it's all very discussed and planned) that he's a dirty stepfather type who's Corrupting Her. It's filthy but also a surprisingly emotional book with realistic issues to confront?
Kresley Cole's dirty talk is OTT for me but I LOOOOVE it. The heroes are always like "YOU'RE STEALING MY CUM!!!!" which again, not for everyone, but I DON'T GIVE A FUCK. They narrate everything that's happening. I really like the werewolf IAD books for this because the werewolves are always like, beasting out but also like "YOU ARE A GODDESS DIVINE, CAN'T BELIEVE THIS IS HAPPENING TO ME, WILL NEVER TAKE LIFE 4 GRANTED".
In regards to her Russian mafia books, I think The Master has some really good dirty talk. Like, deranged, but really good.
Kings of Italy has some of my favorite dirty talk ever, lol. There is some Italian, which Mila did use a translator for. There is always some stuff that's not going to translate perfectly, but (and take this with a grain of salt as I'm not a native speaker and am extremely rusty) but I enjoy it lol. But yeah, dude, those heroes are always talking super dirty throughout a sex scene. And tbh? The heroines often do too, especially Gia and Emma. We love reciprocation!
Sara Cate writes really good dirty talk. The hero in Eyes On Me is a voyeur, which means he talks the heroine through it a loooot. Give Me More has a lot of dirty talk, as again it's super focused on the watching element, which I think almost always contributes to a great dirty talk moment.
One Good Earl Deserves a Lover by Sarah MacLean is super famous for its dirty talk scene, where the hero talks the heroine through touching herself for the first time. It's great.
The Duke Gets Even by Joanna Shupe has his amazing moment where Nellie is like "you're so proper that you don't even use dirty words" and Lockwood is like so do you want me to touch your pussy, your quim, your cunt, whatever I can go on. And she's like *GASP*.
Grace Callaway writes a really good dirty talker in a historical romance. Olivia and The Masked Duke and Pippa and The Prince of Secrets are great choices on this front.
I love the way Mac talks to Isabella in Lady Isabella's Scandalous Marriage because it's both deeply dirty and deeply fond, because like. They're married lol. He knows her.
Any Duchess Will Do is good for this, particularly because of the "recite my courtesy titles while I fuck you" scene lol. When a Scot Ties the Knot has some hot dirty talk too.
I remember Joss and The Countess by S.M. LaVolette having some very intense "THAT'S HOW YOU LIKE IT HUH?" Dirty talk.
Oooh American Royalty by Tracey Livesay has some good dirty talk, annnnnd it's of the "British prince talking filth" variety.
Kennedy Ryan's The Kingmaker has some good dirty talk, AAAND one of my favorite romance scenes in which Maxim puts his head under Lennix's sweatshirt to suck on her nipples while all their friends and coworkers are on the other side of the door.
Deep by Kylie Scott has some good dirty talk, of the "I'm going to take care of this pussy and nobody else is allowed to do it" variety. Which is something I love lol. For context, the heroine is the hero's bandmate's sister in law, and the hero broke the bro code by fucking her in a one night stand, and then they sort of fall apart immediately after. But actions! Have consequences! And she ends up pregnant. And horny. And nobody can take care of it but him!!!!
Bound to the Battle God by Ruby Dixon has a great fantasy romance dirty talk scene, in which the hero is like, spanking her pussy and is all "WHOSE IS THIS?" (her: FOR SURE YOURS) before they actually make it Official, and immediately after she realizes that everyone in their little band of miscreants heard them talking. And also heard the smacks.
Ooooh Preferential Treatment by Heather Guerre has some amazing femdom dirty talk. The hero is a billionaire who asks the heroine to become his domme, and she certainly does make him crawl.
Minx by Sophie Lark has some dirty talk by way of pet play--the heroine is an escort hired by the hero, and he enjoys some pet play. And by some, I mean her wearing a catsuit and ears and gloves with claws and a collar and him being all "good girl, Minx" lmao.
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triviareads · 8 months
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Thank you.
Can you recommend for me a contemporary romance with kink?
I'm guessing in reference to this ask
Hi! This is a pretty broad ask but I can rec my favorites (some of them are erotic romances btw):
Can I start this list without beginning with Sierra Simone? Nope. Sierra writes erotic romances that have this amazing combination of kink, heart-wrenching emotion, queerness, and religion
Misadventures with a Professor: Might be a good place to start your Sierra journey; Oliver is someone you get the sense needs kink to have fulfilling sex, and possibly a fulfilling relationship. He is very into the professor/student thing (so D/s with a lot of "good student" praise, chastisement, and some teaching) and Zandy is 100% into it too (much to Oliver's shock... poor guy has been kinkshamed in the past and then proceeded to kinkshame himself to hell and back).
Priest: The start of my Sierra journey; D/s dynamic between a Catholic priest and his new congregant. It's almost entirely from Tyler's point of view but I loved Poppy as a character because she was so unabashed about her lifestyle and her desire to be dominated. I'd strongly recommend entire Priest whole series, though book 2, Sinner, is less kinky there are... undertones (that are fully realized in a bonus scene lolol), and book 3, Saint, plays around a lot with chastity..... and cock cages.
New Camelot series: A modern political romance between Ash (King Arthur; the president here), Embry (an unholy combination of Mordred and Lancelot; the VP), and Greer (Guinevere; the First Lady). Ash is a Dom and had a longstanding D/s relationship with Embry, who is a switch, and both men were involved with Greer in the past until they all intersect. This was one of the first books with kink I read and it made an impression, suffice to say.
Thornchapel series: Okay there's definitely a magical/fantasy element to this but it's set in the modern world and I really love the relationships depicted in the series. There's the main throuple which consists of a dom and two subs; Auden is actually taught by his friend how to be a good dom, and that friend, Rebecca, is in a D/s relationship with Delphine (one of the few well-written wlw romances with kink as far as I've seen). There's a looooot of denial in this one; celibacy, orgasm denial, teasing, etc. It makes for GREAT tension on top of the already gorgeous romances.
Try Sierra's Salt Kiss, which is the first in her Lyonesse Trilogy which is based on the story of Tristan and Isolde and Mark (and the only book out so far). For the most part, it's m/m; Mark is a sex club owner and Tristan's dom and boss. Tristan has a breeding kink which goes both ways, in that he wants to breed Isolde, and wants to be bred by Mark.
Sara Cate's Salacious Players Club is a good series to introduce you to kink. All five of the books are kinky to varying degrees. Praise has a D/s relationship with lots of praise kink stuff, Eyes On Me is exhibitionism/voyeurism-forward, Give Me More is about a couple falling for their best friend and vice-verse and has some exhibitionism/voyeurism/bondage, but I think the most interesting point, kink-wise, is that Hunter, the husband, initially thinks he wants to be cuckholded (watching his wife and best friend have sex) but it turns out he's working through internalized homophobia and actually just wants to be a part of a throuple with his best friend and wife. Mercy also has a D/s relationship with an older domme and her best friend's son who is a brat.
Jennie Kew is an Australian author whose Bennett's Bastards series I overall enjoyed. She writes very... earthy heroes and heroines and it makes for an interesting vibe. My favorites are Third Time Lucky, which has a D/s relationship between the main couple (and goes into how kink can be weaponized in abusive relationships). His Own Heaven also has a D/s relationship between the main couple, and it actually falls outside the bedroom too (ex: she sits at his feet and he feeds her).
Priceless by Miranda Silver: Christina initially agreed to sleep with Patrick for money which, for her, is inherently degrading, and then there's more degradation on his part. The kink feels very... natural, If that makes sense. Not a lot of bells and whistles; just two college students figuring it out in a frat house bedroom.
Katee Robert writes a fair amount of kinky romances but I do think her sweet spot might be writing daddy-dom types. Try her Your Dad Will Do and My Dad's Best Friend series if you're looking books with a daddy kink. Also—
Desperate Measures: A grown-up take on Jafar/Jasmine except he's a mobster and she's a mob princess. There's daddy dom stuff, plus some consensual non-consent.
Neon Gods: Hades/Persephone; Hades runs a sex club out of his house and there's a good amount of exhibitionism and voyeurism, also, Hades does have the daddy dom quality even if she's not outrightly calling him Daddy.
I've read a few books by Eve Dangerfield but plot-wise the one that stands out the most is Act Your Age; There's a lot of sleazy step-daddy roleplay so its a good amount of degradation, and some CNC.
Mila Finelli's Kings of Italy mafia series has kink; Mafia Mistress and Mafia Darling (both with the same couple; the heroine is initially engaged to marry the mafioso's son except he wants her for himself) has a lot of daddy (paparino) stuff and some generally rough sex and roleplay, and Mafia Madman (heroine is kidnapped and thrown in a cage on a yacht by the hero) I'd say has an M/s dynamic with both a degradation and praise kink and some CNC. Gia is also a Brat.
Heather Guerre is really good at getting the soft domme vibe right; in Preferential Treatment a billionaire pays his employee to domme him (there's some impact play from what I remember, and orgasm control). What Was Meant To Be is about basically an arranged marriage, and Rain just naturally likes to take charge in the bedroom and Wes is very down, just very much a Good Boy.
Sink or Swim by Tessa Bailey has a pretty unique sexual dynamic imo; Andrew a service top in that he's the more dominant one but he really gets off on Jiya telling him what to do (sexually and otherwise) and as it turns out, so does she. I really like how Tessa subverted the "submissive Asian woman" trope in this book.
Adriana Anders wrote Daddy Crush which is your classic daddy kink romance with an age gap, but it was just written really well. Would recommend.
Dana Isaly and Hannah Murray both write shorter, erotic romances with similar vibes. I liked Dana's Games We Play (mask kink, degradation, bondage, etc.) and Hannah's The Sadist and the Brat (I actually reviewed this one).
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