Review: The Harlot

Warning: This review is designed for adults 18 years or older. It contains mature subject matter and coarse language.

Jessie has got to be the horniest heroine I have ever encountered. She is working as a whore in 18th century Scotland when Gregor spies her in a fight with another whore over a potential customer. Jessie puts on quite a show, but it comes to an end when the other woman accuses her of witchcraft. Jessie is promptly arrested. But Gregor is taken by her and figures that if he helps her escape, he can use her in his scheme for revenge against the man who drove his father to suicide. He figures she can seduce his enemy and gain information to help take him down.

From the moment Gregor meets her in the jail cell, these two are going at it. Then they're doing it some more as Gregor teaches Jesse how to seduce his enemy with feigned innocence. Throughout the course of the book, we're also treated to Jessie spying on two guys having sex, behind a door that's not entirely closed... which brings us to watching Jessie spend some quality time with herself as she savors the memory. Later, Jessie gets down and dirty with a female maid for Gregor's viewing pleasure. So that when all is said and done, we've spanned the sexual horizon from m/f to m/m to f/f to lusty masturbation.

Yeah, yeah... there's a plot going on in the background. Gregor's trying to get revenge and get his family's land back.. yada, yada. But back to the sex. Jessie really loves sex. And we hear alot about her lady-bits and how they long for attention. Of course, the author's choice word in the matter is "cunny." And it made me cringe every one of the 44 times I read it. Every so often, she supplemented it with "puss." (I guess I'm not going to be able to share this review on Amazon.)

This book reminded me a lot of one of those period-style Showtime After Dark movies from years-ago. Everyone is randy and ribald. There's lots of dirty talk and sex that spans the spectrum. (OK, in all fairness, there was no m/m buttsecks on Showtime back then, but you get the idea.) I honestly am at a loss on how to rate it. If you're looking for a period story that is really lusty and you don't mind the word "cunny," this is 100% for you. And don't get me wrong, there were moments I was quite, er, enthralled in it myself... despite lines like:

"... it made Gregor wonder what it would be like to plow her furrow, to ease his cock into that alluring niche."

And...

"There will be many who are eager to split your virginal crack with their pricks."

I'm just going to assume that anyone who picks this up is looking for something dirty and spicy, not Jane Eyre... not even a Regency Romance (not by a longshot.) I'll have to rate it in the context for which it's intended. 4 stars.

*ARC Provided by NetGalley