Promotional Post~ The Innocent Auction & The Innocent Betrayal by Victoria Sue~ #Review #Excerpt #Giveaway

Author: Victoria Sue
Book: The Innocent Auction
Self-Published
Publication date: December 27, 2015
Length: 183 pages


Reviewed by Meredith




Synopsis

London 1810.

Their love was a death sentence.

Deacon, Viscount Carlisle, was aware of the slums and gin-lanes of London. Just as he was aware of the underground traffic that furnished the brothels and bath houses with human innocents. He was also aware that the so-called justice system would hang the accused without much of an attempt at a defense, unless the unfortunate had deep pockets to pay for it.

He just hadn’t expected to be directly involved in any of it.

It started with a plea for help and ended with forbidden love, the love between a Viscount and a stable-boy. An impossible love and a guarantee of the hangman's noose.

Will Deacon fight for Tom? Will he risk the death sentence and take that fight from the stately halls of his English mansion to the horrors of Newgate Prison and the slums of London?

Or will he realize that if he doesn't, death will be a welcome end to the loneliness of the sentence he is already living?

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REVIEW

Well Well I did not know what I was getting into with this book. It’s the very first Victoria Sue book I’ve ever read. I am very careful with the historicals I read because too many times I’m severely disappointed. But this one looked far too intriguing to pass up and figured I would try.  In the end WOW was the only word I could get out of my mouth.

Historical novels are always tough because of the fact homosexuality was a death sentence in many of them… Okay pretty much all of them. Innocent Auction takes place in the 1800’s and yeah very much a death sentence then. Now, I don’t know what people know about the 1800’s and what it was like living then but Victoria Sue gives you perfect understanding of the harshness, of what lurks in the shadows of that time.

Viscount Carlisle (Deacon) is the MC here and all around hero in my opinion. He is forced to save his best friend Beau at an underground auction and when he does that he ends up saving this boy…yes boy… named Tom. He ends up sending Tom away to his parents and he is out of his hair for 5 years.

The death of Deacon’s father brings him home where he sees Tom again and so begins one heck of a love affair!

This closeted love story is so emotional. You’re constantly reminded of the time this takes place with their simplistic secrecy. We see just how much life has changed. Tom and Deacon are equals to each other. Money, class, gender, have no room in their hearts. They just love each other.

It’s not a happy ending for all the characters in this story and I’ll say Victoria had me ugly crying at one point.

Tom and Deacon are in an unforgiving, unknowledgeable time. Ignorance runs rampant. These two are amazing though and they will make to stress out, freak out, cry. All the things. But you’ll stay strong for them and the HEA for them is worth it… For this time period.

I really was surprised with this book and will absolutely read more Victoria Sue books. I’ll be sure to buy tissues first though.

EXCERPT

Heaving lungfuls of air, Deacon rested his head on Tom’s shirt front. Tom stood back, dropped the towel, and without another word, picked up the cloth to carefully wash his lordship. Deacon lazily stretched as Tom handled his flaccid cock. Tom flushed, then finally stood back.

“Have you done?” Deacon said in a low voice. He’d caught the slight wince when Tom stood back, and he could see the obvious bulge against the front of his trousers.

Walking to the door, Deacon turned the key in the lock while meeting Tom’s surprised gaze. “Drop your trousers and lay on the bed.” Tom’s lips parted in surprise, but Deacon calmly waited until he hurriedly complied. Deacon smiled lazily. “That’s twice you’ve taken care of me. Don’t think I don’t know.”

Tom swallowed. His eyes widened as Deacon took a step closer, grabbing him by the waist. “Must I strip you myself?” Deacon bent his head and caught Tom’s lips with his own. He slapped away Tom’s suddenly clumsy fingers, then unbuttoned his trousers himself. When Tom kicked his shoes off, Deacon broke away and bent to yank them down until Tom stepped out of them. Tom’s cock jutted up, red and weeping. Deacon pushed him back on the bed and climbed on after him. He lay half on his side, trapping Tom beneath him, but so he could reach Tom’s cock. “What I really want is to have all day,” Deacon said, wrapping his fist around Tom’s prick. Tom’s head banged back against the bed as if his neck could no longer support it.

“I want us to have the house to ourselves. I want us to bathe each other slowly, and then I would kiss every inch of your skin,” Deacon continued. Tom whined in his throat, and Deacon felt more spend dribble from his cock. He slicked his thumb and rubbed it around the tip, pushing the foreskin back gently. He could feel Tom’s shuddering breaths underneath him.

“I would keep you on the edge all day, drive you insane until my very touch inflamed you and you begged me for release. Then I would make you get on your hands and knees while I knelt up behind you.”

“Please. God, please,” Tom pleaded as his body tried to thrust beneath Deacon’s hands.

“I would coat my thumbs with oil and trace your crease as my fingers found your entrance.” Deacon let go of Tom’s cock as he trailed his fingers underneath his ballocks, making Tom gasp and shudder. Wrapping his hand firmly around Tom’s cock again, he whispered against his ear. “Then I would coat my prick with oil and tease your arsehole until you cried and begged for me.” Tom jerked into Deacon’s fist. “Then I would thrust my cock into that arse until you were filled. I’d rut against you, fill you up, make you mine.” Tom arched and cried, and Deacon felt the heat flow into his hand. He gentled his fingers, but reached over and captured Tom’s lips, swallowing the second cry. He teased Tom’s cock until he heard the whine that spoke of a little pain, then opened his fingers and rested his palm, gentling the onslaught of his mouth.

He felt the shudder underneath him and opened his eyes. There—that look on Tom’s face. The dazed breathless look of satisfaction and wonder. Deacon smiled. He’d been wrong before. Tom wasn’t beautiful then, and he wasn’t beautiful now. He was magnificent.

 

Author: Victoria Sue
Book: The Innocent Betrayal
Self-Published
Publication date: June 20, 2016
Length: 157 pages










Reviewed by Meredith



Synopsis

London 1811

Can love withstand the ultimate betrayal?

William was running. Running from his father, running from his arranged marriage, and running from himself. He’d never wanted to manage his father’s vast empire. He would have been quite happy to find some small corner of England where he can read and paint. He knew it would be too much to ask for the company of a man to go with that. Too dangerous. His only hope for escape is to hide who and what he is and pretend to be a servant.

Alex was barely surviving after the fight with Napoleon’s armies. Riddled with guilt, he buried the knowledge of his wife’s death, and his crippled body, at the bottom of whatever brandy bottle he could find.

Two broken souls. One so damaged he thinks he doesn’t deserve love, and one so convinced he would never find it he has stopped looking.

Danger, lies, and espionage. The fate of hundreds of English soldier’s lives depending on them to trust each other, to work together.

Unable to swallow his pride and forced to make a choice, Alex rejects Will and their chance of happiness. Will is heartbroken, and Alex is destroyed. Will Alex realize his mistake in time? Can he learn to trust Will, but more importantly, himself, and would Will ever forgive him if he did? And finally, would love ever survive a betrayal – even if it is an innocent one?

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REVIEW

Okay, Victoria, I see how it is. You want to kill my heart.

So, Innocent Betrayal is book two and we are meeting Alexander and we see Will again. You may remember Will from Book one, Innocent Auction. You’ll remember his lover was Beau? If you haven’t read book one you really sort of should before you read this. You’ll understand the weight Will carries- the guilt, fear, depression, and utter defeat.

Alex isn’t too different in the defeat and depression category. When Will runs from an arranged marriage to the bedside is a dying, sore ridden Alex he doesn’t realize how much life has given him a second chance.

Alex is at death’s door. Everyone has turned their backs on his. I really felt that when Will decided to help Alex he wasn’t just healing Alex, but himself as well. All the cleaning, bandaging… It’s sort of a metaphor. Physically Alex is getting better and mentally Will is.

Of course their hearts mend and they fall in love. This isn’t as dark as book one but it’s still pretty heavy. It’s a great historical for those who love them and even for those who don’t typically. It’s also a tender love story that will take your breath away.

EXCERPT

Relief flooded through Will even though the guilt in his heart still tore him apart. That’s what had been wrong with Alex since the music room? He thought he was taking advantage of Will. He pulled at his bottom lip with his teeth. It wasn’t Alex who was taking advantage, but Will. He had lied. He was responsible for a death.

Alex thumbed a tear away from Will’s cheek. “I would as soon cut off my arm as to see you cry. What is it?”

“I-I killed someone,” Will whispered, the horror and finality shaking every word.

Alex blew a small breath out. Will felt the warmth ghost his cheek. He desperately wanted to lean a little closer, to take the chill out of his words, out of his bones.

“I have killed many people,” Alex stated simply.

Will shook his head. “But that was in war. This man died because I was a coward.” Will’s shoulders trembled, and his chest tightened.

“You are one of the bravest men I know,” Alex said defiantly. “Michael told me what you went through the first few days with me.”

Will forced whispered words past a dry throat. “You feel as I do, don’t you?” Hesitant, daring to acknowledge something as incredible as it was frightening.

Alex tipped his head on one side. “I’m not exactly sure what you mean, but I suspect you are saying that you enjoyed our interrupted kiss and wish it hadn’t been stopped so abruptly.”

Will pressed his lips together tighter, not trusting the sob that was trying to work itself free. He didn’t deserve this. He didn’t deserve any of it.

“Did something happen to…a friend?” Alex asked cautiously. But Will knew the word lover hovered on his lips.

“He died at Tyburn.” The words dragged themselves from Will. There his shame, laid out for all to see.

Alex frowned. “There have been no hangings at Tyburn Tree for many years,” he protested.

Will’s shoulders dipped. “He was made to stand at pillory. He didn’t survive. My–”

Will just managed to cut off the word father before it escaped. He closed his eyes again and dipped his head.

Gentle fingers raised it upright. “You were lovers?” Alex asked.

Will opened his eyes, tears trickling out of them unheeded. “Not even that, but it was my fault,” he whispered. “I didn’t fight for him.” In actual fact, his brother and father had all but imprisoned him. His brief escape to tell Beau’s cousin he was in Newgate was the only time he managed escape. He had been whisked to Leighton Manor later that day, and only found out what had happened some ten days later when he had been able to bribe a footman to get the information.

“Are you a barrister?” Alex asked quietly. Will shook his head in confusion. “Then was there anything you could have done that wouldn’t have resulted in your own death?”

“No,” admitted Will. “But…”

“Were you more than friends?” Alex asked hesitantly.

Will went to say yes but hesitated. Alex noticed immediately. “And that I think is the source of your guilt, that not only did your friend die when you did not, but that perhaps you feel ready to move on, and you don’t think you should give yourself that permission?”

“Vile. Unnatural, perverse…I have had those words rammed down my throat so often.”

Alex smiled a gentle smile. “We cannot help how we feel, Will. There is also the fact that it is hard to trust people over so vital a secret. Sometimes it is convenience that brings people together, a mutual trust and affection. Love has often little to do with it. Did your friend ever confess his love to you?”

“I—” Will stopped. Had he? Beau had shown affection, trust, but in the last few months, as he had grown ill, they had stopped touching and shared merely affection and a wish to just be in company where they didn’t have to hide. “I would have been content to spend the rest of my days with him,” Will said.

Alex tipped his head to one side as if considering Will’s words. “Content?” Alex covered Will’s hand with his own. “I never want to be content. I want a love so fierce and so strong it grips me in its jaws and forces me still until I cannot take a breath. I want heartbreak when I cannot be by his side and ecstasy in his arms. I want my heart to beat only when his does and know that when it finally stops, mine will at the very same second because one cannot last without the other.”

Alex placed a firm hand at the back of Will’s head and drew him close. “Content? You might as well kill me now.”

Will closed his eyes on a sigh that Alex swallowed as his lips closed over Will’s. Will’s head was spinning. Alex had a firm hand on the back of his head, but it was completely unnecessary. Will had sunk into Alex as if he belonged as if he was safe. For a few minutes, he let go of hurt, of worry, of anything except the kiss that demanded his body’s attention, and the lips that gave his mind permission to simply let go.

Author Bio

Victoria Sue

Has loved books for as long as she can remember. Books were always what pocket money went on and what usually Father Christmas brought. When she ran out of her kids' adventure stories, she would go raid her mom's. By the age of eight she was devouring classics like Little Women, and fell in love with love stories.
She's still in love with them. Any size, any shape, any creature - love is love, no matter what it says on the box.
In fact if they don't fit very neatly into any box she loves them even more!
She has a very patient husband and three wonderful children. In 2010 in search of adventure they all moved from the UK to the US and are happily settled in Florida. Finally, after reading love stories for so long, she decided to write her own.

www.victoriasue.com

@vickysuewrites

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