The Devil’s Masquerade by Nina Mason
Book 3 of the Royal Pains Series finds Maggie and Robert, Duke and Duchess of Dunwoody and their only child now live at royal court. Now five years where book 2 left off.
Maggie’s father has just been named king the coronation will be taking place shortly, but life hasn’t been happy for them and it won’t be happy down the road either.
During the five years we’re away from the couple, the Crown has passed from Maggie’s uncle to her father. It has gone from Protestant to Catholic, but not all of England is happy to have a Catholic King. Disputes and violence has been raging since we left the Duke and Duchess and it still rages now.
These are only part of the troubles they’ve had since we’ve been gone. They have suffered miscarriages and stillbirth. Their only surviving child wee Jamie is now 4 months old.
We can only hope this book of the series gives us a happy story, but it doesn’t. Not only is the above the climate of the times Maggie is in, there is a smallpox epidemic. Robert catches it and we’re left hoping that wee Jaime doesn’t.
As Robert fights for his life and Maggie fights to keep him alive the babe is left in the care of the court’s nursery maids. Luckily Robert survives, with Maggie’s loving care. There is a chance that wee Jamie may catch the pox. Robert’s doctor won’t try a controversial procedure to save the baby from the possible chance of catching it. Robert has to tell Maggie about the nurse now apothecary that cared for him (in book 2) and hope she will be willing to do the procedure.
Of course the Apothecary will if she is given what she wants since she met Robert, a night of passion with him.
Maggie and Robert and the Apothecary agree to a night of passion between the three. There is a surprise guest though.
In honesty, I feel this book of the series has a less sex in it than the other books, but the sex scenes in The Devil’s Masquerade are well worth each word.
I highly recommend this novella to anyone who likes historical romance or erotic.
About the author
Nina Mason is an incurable romantic who strives to write the same
kind of books she loves to read: those that entertain, edify, educate,
and enlighten.
The Devil’s Masquerade is the third book in her Royal Pains series and her sixth book overall. Her
seventh book, Dark and Stormy Knight, the second installment in her Knights of Avalon series, will
The Duke’s Bedeviled Bride is the second book in The Royal Pains series of novellas by Nina Mason. If you haven’t read the first novella of the series, The Devil in Dukes Clothing, I really really REALLY love this series, and recommend you get a copy for yourselves. You can get it here and read my review here
Go on I’ll wait for you to read the previous review so we’re all on the same page.
Reading and reviewing…
Lalalalalala
Scribble scribble, Oh you’re back great.
So Maggie and Robert are back from court. They’ve found out a few things about Maggie’s past like she’s the King of England’s niece. Their marriage has been blessed by the King and it should all be happy sailing from here on out. Nope, not for Maggie and Robert.
If you’ve read Devil in Duke’s Clothing you know that Robert had a bit of an affair, well he had an affair but he has reasons to not see it that way. I agree with Maggie, he needs to be punished. Maggie decides beating him would be best, not for Robert, he enjoys being beaten. They come to an agreement, of not agreeing but it looks like they’ll have a happy marriage.
Until….
Okay, so The Royal Pains takes place in England during the 17th century. The Catholics are being attacked by the Protestants, Robert is Catholic. He decides he needs to talk with the King. This need arrives at the worse time possible. Robert’s brother is coming home from being sent to France. Hugh has gotten married, blocking the feelings Maggie may have for him. When Robert arrives in London, he’s beaten brutally and left for dead. A doctor finds him and cares for his wounds, but he now has amnesia.
Meanwhile, at Balloch Castle, Hugh is taking the power of the Duke into his own hands. He’s made Maggie a house servant and beats her regularly.
Will Robert and Maggie be able to survive the trials that force them apart.
Warning: BDSM, and a Cliffhanger.
You can get a copy of The Duke’s Bedeviled Bride here
Today, we are featuring The Duke’s Bedeviled Bride, book two in the erotic historic Royal Pains series by Nina Mason. The series, set in Scotland and England during the Restoration period, is available in e-book or paperback.
The tawdry tale of the Duke and Duchess of Dunwoody continues? Maggie Armstrong, the long-lost illegitimate daughter of the heir
presumptive to the throne, is bedeviled by her husband’s limited
definition of fidelity. After observing him in a m?nage ? trois at the
court of King Charles II, she is determined to bring him around to her
way of thinking?by any means necessary.
Robert doesn?t mind being punished for his transgressions. Rather,
he enjoys being whipped, especially by his beloved bride. Unfortunately,
her heart might not belong to him alone. His younger brother, who he?d
sent abroad to clear the way for himself, is coming home sooner than
expected, and Maggie?s feelings for Hugh may not be as dead as her
husband had hoped.
Both duke and duchess soon learn, to their peril, Hugh Armstrong is
not the honorable man they?d been led to believe. Insanely jealous of
his brother?s situation, Hugh will stop at nothing to strip Robert of
all he holds dear?including his life.
But the real danger for Robert and Maggie is not the villainous
Marquess, but the growing friction betwixt Catholics and Protestants in
Restoration Era Great Britain.
Can their love survive the trials that await them?
Nina Mason is a hopeful romantic with strong affinities for history,
mythology, and the metaphysical. She strives to write the same kind of
books she loves to read: those that entertain, edify, educate, and
enlighten.
She is the author of The Queen of Swords, a darkly erotic Scottish paranormal
romance/urban fantasy; The Tin Man, a political thriller; Devil in
Duke’s Clothing, an erotic historical set in 1680 Scotland; The Duke’s
Bedeviled Bride, the follow-up to Devil in Duke’s Clothing; Starry
Knight, the first book in a new PNR/UF series; and Dark and Stormy
Knight, book two in The Knights of Avalon series.Born and raised in Orange County, California, Ms. Mason
currently lives in Woodstock, Georgia.
At the beginning of the year I read a novel titled “The Queen of Swords” it was erotica, and that’s not my genre. I really don’t like reading erotica, but I’ve read some of my writing friends’ erotica and continued reading Queen of Swords. I loved it! Witches, Vampires, Magic everything I love, and so different from the novels I’m writing.
I decided I would read more from Nina Mason but that was her debut novel. I’ve been watching her, and now she has a new novel coming out in January. “Devil in Duke’s Clothing”. It’s the first in a trilogy! Yay more to read from her! It will be very erotic so if that isn’t your thing you won’t like it.
Anyways….
Here’s the cover reveal, doesn’t it look awesome.
Here’s the blurb…..
Maggie York, a convent-raised foundling, knows the Duke of Dunwoody’s sexual tastes are a shade or two darker than normal, but marries him anyway—partly because she has no other prospects and partly because, try as she might, she can’t seem to exorcize her desire for the dashing devil. Five years ago, he lured her from the garden of innocence into the orchard of forbidden fruit and she’s been hungry for more ever since.
Robert Armstrong, the duke, is a Roman Catholic whose extreme devotions as a child warped his desires as a man. He’s also a slave to the times in which he lives–and to his king. Everything he is, everything he holds dear, depends on staying in Charles II’s good graces. Unfortunately, Maggie isn’t the bride the king selected for him. Now, to make amends, the duke must choose between the lesser of two evils: whore his wife or be reduced to a penniless commoner.
Whose interests will Robert choose to serve, his own, the king’s, or the woman he loves?
There’s a YouTube trailer for 18+ and I’m sure it’s NSFW https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=js6w5vPC0NE
Note… there are some very interesting picture, and it isn’t NSFW OR NSFF and definitely 18+
When Graham Logan, a Scottish earl turned vampire by a dark wizard’s curse, draws the Queen of Swords, he knows he’s about to meet the love of his life. For the third time. But surrendering his heart will mean risking her life…or making her what he is. Neither of which his morals will permit him to do. Graham, who believes he lost his soul to the curse, rages at God: Why give her back only to take her again?
Cat Fingal, the third incarnation of Graham’s twin flame, won’t let him escape so easily. As soon as they meet, she feels she knows him and begins having past-life flashbacks. A white witch, she casts a spell to summon him, wanting answers and to fill the void she’s felt all her life.
Graham has other problems, too. Like the seductress who wants him for herself and the dark wizard who cursed him and killed his beloved the first two times.
Will he find a way to save her this time around? Or will she save him?
How I picture Graham:
Trailer embed code:
Steamy excerpt:
When the night grew too cold for comfort, they moved indoors, stripped out of what remained of their clothes, and got into his bed. He spooned her, holding her close so close she could feel his erection in the small of her back, the warmth of his skin against hers, the moist heat of his breath near her ear.
“Roll over. Onto your back.”
She did as he asked, suddenly afraid, but some deep-down part of her wanted him to; wanted him to take part of her into his body just as she’d taken part of his into hers. As he came over her, she saw his eyes. They were yellow, like a wolf’s. Tense and brilliant, fierce, not loving. She wanted to look away, but her will was gone. She could feel those eyes pulling her in, down and down into their depths. She was drowning, but it was a peaceful, euphoric feeling. His woodsy scent filled her nostrils, making her lightheaded and strangely detached. It was as if she watched it happening to someone else.
She shivered, dimly aware of his knees pressing between hers and his hands on her breasts, squeezing gently, teasing her nipples, sending sweet tremors all the way down to her sex. She shivered as he came over her and touched her lips with his—petal-soft—before moving to her ear.
He nibbled her lobe. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
Returning to her mouth, he nipped her lower lip before moving to her throat. She clenched, bracing herself for the bite, but he only nuzzled and licked the thick cord of muscle. He then kissed her shoulder, her collarbone, and the indentation at the base of her throat. Finally, he proceeded to her left breast, where he circled the aureole with his tongue before closing his lips around the nipple. As he sucked it, thrills twitched deep in her abdomen.
When he bit down, she came back to herself with a jolt, cursing and bucking under him. Excruciating pain echoed through her body. As he sucked, the pain gave way to euphoria. Then began a pleasurable sensation, like electrical pulses surging to points of ecstatic brilliance, making her insides quiver and melt. It went on for what seemed a long while, and then he let go, rose over her, and came into her with a smooth, deep thrust. The feeling of their merger overwhelmed her, threatened to consume her. It was too much, too intense, too amazing. She clung to him, afraid of what was happening to her. He wasn’t just inside her, he was part of her, fused with her. For the first time in her life, she felt truly alive.
The orgasm broke over her like a tidal wave. She came around him in shuddering sequences, again and again, her body spent, but unable to refuse the pleasure. By the time he finished, she felt both ecstatic and utterly depleted.
About Nina Mason, author
Nina Mason is a hopeful romantic with strong affinities for history, mythology, and the metaphysical. She strives to write the same kind of books she loves to read: those that entertain, edify, educate, and enlighten. Her first novel, The Queen of Swords, an urban fantasy/paranormal romance, was published in March 2014 by Vamptasy Publishing. Her next book, The Tin Man, a political thriller, will be released on August 30 by Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly (CHBB). Next year, Lyrical/Kensington will introduce a new paranormal/fantasy series by Ms. Mason titled the Knights of Avalon. Each of the four books in the series will be named after one of the knights of the tarot (Wands, Cups, Pentacles, and Swords, in that order). The knights are the breeding drones of Morgan Le Fay, the legendary queen of Avalon.
When not writing, Nina works as a communications consultant, doll maker, and home stager. Born and raised in Southern California, she now lives in Woodstock, Georgia, with her husband, teenage daughter, two rescue cats, and a Westie named Robert.
I’ve also got a Pinterest account where I’ve got boards for each of my books (as well as one featuring hot men with long hair). Hot guys in kilts coming soon! Here’s the link: Pinterest
Thank you Nina, for coming by and being a part of Vampire Month. 😀
As the sun sets tonight, I’ve crawled from my coffin. Um, I mean, I’m sitting here after a long day of writing and researching….
We’re starting a little late, but I have some vampire fun for you this month. I’ve got a crypt full of writers chatting, goblets of Sangria in hand. Dylan J. Morgan is here talking about “Blood War”, he’s agreed to a giveaway! Nina Mason, is here to talk about “The Queen of Swords”. Brian Moreland is here to talk about “Dead of Winter” not vampires. . . cannibals!! He has a giveaway too. Caris Roane, is here to talk about “Embrace The Passion” the newest book in “The Blood Rose Series” she’s also got a giveaway for you. Jeanie Grey will be here with the last book in “The Lilly Frank Series” “Awakening 3” I’m so sad to see Lilly go, but I’m so excited for her. We also have Daven Anderson and his second book “Vampire Conspiracy”. I’ve also got Karen Soutar, I couldn’t do anything vampire (or witch for that matter) without her. Peter Davis-Parker is here, with an awesome poem!
I’ve asked some other authors, but these ladies and gents are being fashionably late.
So grab your crystal goblet and some red or O+ for those of you so inclined. Sit back and enjoy Vampire month.
***UPDATE*** Juliette Kings, aka Vampire Marman is here, she was lurking in the shadows. I think she was enjoying the calm atmosphere. She has teenage vampires at home, they can get noisy, believe me I know. I’ve sent my fledglings away for the month.
Mari Wells 