S.E.X. Review~ Hesitant Heart by Morticia Knight

Sam is a naïve young man who arrives in Hollywood to escape his brutal father. When the older, sophisticated Aaron rescues him, Sam discovers what it means to fully surrender himself to another.

Eighteen year-old Sam Cunningham is used to living with lots of secrets. He’s had to hide his true nature his entire life or else incur the wrath of his strict and abusive father. When he’s faced with a horrible ultimatum, he flees to Hollywood where he hopes he can escape the fate his father has planned for him.

Aaron Rubenstein is a wealthy and sophisticated man who loses himself in painting portraits of bound men to help stave off his loneliness and despair. Unable to find a lasting connection with anyone, he’s had to resort to paying lovers not only for their affections, but to be allowed to indulge in his darker passions. Aaron’s only respite is his nights at the Hampton Road sadomasochism club where he’s a respected Dominant.

Naïve and inexperienced in the ways men can please one another, Sam takes a job at a bathhouse where he first glimpses a beautiful older man. Aaron notices the sweet towel boy watching him with interest every time he patronizes the Temple of Eros bathhouse. A traumatic incident for the innocent towel boy triggers Aaron’s protective tendencies and he’s compelled to rescue the gentle Sam from the clutches of the Temple’s manager.

They embark on a journey together that teaches them both things about themselves that they never knew. As their bond deepens and Sam is trained for his first night at the Hampton Road Club, an unknown danger lurks. Will Sam’s father find him and destroy both men’s chance for true happiness together? Or will Aaron protect his boy and keep him for always?

Reader advisory: This book is best read in sequence as part of a series.

A beautiful mixture of sensuality and decadence, Hesitant Heart by Morticia Knight enthralled this reviewer. A spinoff from the Gin and Jazz series, The Hampton Road Club series is sure to be a winner.

Sam and Aaron were the perfect mix of fulfillment, as they complimented each other in and out of the bedroom. Sam’s naiveté gave substance to the story, as Ms. Knight’s exposé was sensual and masculine.

At eighteen, Sam began to make his way in the world, working at a bathhouse where he’d noticed the dominant Aaron. Secretly drawn to Aaron and the magnitude of power he wielded, Sam quickly became enamored.

Aaron, too, had noticed the boy, and recognized his desire to please and submit; the perfect qualities Aaron longed for in a partner.

Ms. Knight delivered a well written historical timepiece portraying the height of the 1920’s, where men of dominance and submissiveness hid their nature unless among friends. A time where homosexuality and BDSM were taboo and not spoken of in polite society.

Sam’s inner strength and sweet disposition captivated not only Aaron and all he encountered, but this reader as well. Sam was a beautiful soul, untainted, and well-guarded by his lover.

Ms. Knight wrote of the learning curve for those following the new world of BDSM with historical accuracy and fluidity. Her writing style weaves a web of intrigue and passion that captures the subtle nuances of the written era and the men in her stories.

Hesitant Heart is a must read. Enigmatic characters, sexy boudoir scenes, and the hidden desires of a domestically dominant relationship.

Definite S.E.X.

A five handcuff review

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S.E.X. Review~ Play Acting by Morticia Knight

Former screen idol, Roman Pasquale, struggles to survive in Hollywood as the silent film era comes to a close. But a fresh new playwright is in town and he wants Roman to be more than just his star.

The past few years haven’t been kind to fading film star, Roman Pasquale. But then again, he was never very kind to anyone else either. He’s had time to reminisce on his mistakes and to accept responsibility for how he hurt others. Now that Global Studios has turned their back on him, he’s had to sell his grand estate and start over in a modest apartment.

His former co-star, actress Maude Simons, suggests that he meet with new playwright, Max Vogel. Not only will he get the chance to be the star again, Roman can really use the money. What he doesn’t expect, is how strongly he’s attracted to the easy going, confident young man—and the very wicked thoughts he has about him.

Playwright and director, Max Vogel, is delighted that the great Roman Pasquale has agreed to star in his play. What he was unprepared for however, was the intense physical spark that ignited the moment they met. He’s been warned of Roman’s reputation for being difficult to work with, but he’s willing to take the risk—even though his career depends on the success of this one play.

Max needs to coax a heartfelt performance out of Roman and Roman needs to live up to his resolve to be a better man. But maybe the real issue is whether or not the director and actor can resist the passion they have for one another, a lust so strong that it catches them unaware. Is their lust really love? Or will the drive for success destroy any hope for a happily-ever-after?

Reader Advisory: This book contains scenes of fisting and references to childhood rape.

Publisher's Note: This book is best read in sequence as part of a series but can be read as a standalone.

Every now and then one comes across a writer of historical romance which tantalizes and captivates. And when the writer is also the deliverer of M/M genre, the icing on the cake is double chocolate. Morticia Knight is just that writer. She has captivated my curiosity and sense of history from the first book in the Gin & Jazz series, Hollywood Bound, to the latest release, Play Acting.

Through the decade of the Roaring Twenties Ms. Knight has introduced us to characters I have grown to love and those I have harbored ill feelings towards. Just as I though the great, egotistical Roman Pasquale should fall from grace, Ms. Knight, turned my world upside down and made me fall in love all over again.

Silent movie film star, Roman Pasquale’s career was coming to a close. Talking pictures will soon be the rage; as well as stage productions, both of which Roman had no experience. Additionally, Roman has alienated any and all potential friends, suitors, acquaintances, with his harsh personality and his past, tumultuous love affair with Jack.

Max Vogel, a playwright and friend to Will and Andre, was drawn to Hollywood, with the task of staging his play, utilizing big name film stars, to draw a crowd. Max wanted Roman, and in more ways than one.

Roman and Max are a chemical romance. The neurons immediately fired and their chemistry volcanized from the moment they were in the same room. Together, the two men make stage history, ending the Roaring Twenties, ushering a new form of media entertainment, as Hollywood and Broadway were taken by storm.

Ms. Knight came full circle with the series, beginning with Roman’s love affair and obsession with Jack (Hollywood Bound) to finding himself in Play Acting. Morticia Knight added depth to Roman’s soul as he embraced himself, tossed away the self-doubts and found love and happiness in the arms of Max.

The Gin and Jazz series was not a quick fix for a gay man of the 1920s. The series drew on the turmoil and complexities that men with certain proclivities must come to endure in order to guarantee self-acceptance in a world where star power was everything.

Thanks to the brilliant writing of Ms. Knight, Roman grew into his own skin, maturing as an actor and a man, with a timeless heart and a love for the decades. When I picked up the book, I was transformed into the Roaring Twenties, every nuance, every idiom was well-researched on the part of the author, lending to its authenticity of a time period novel.

Roman and Max were sensual and sexual in their explorations. Among the classic love story’s, Roman and Max have found a place in my top ten.

Do you allow any misgivings concerning historical romance to deter you from picking up this book- a classic, which should not be missed.

Play Acting- an extremely well written novel of hurt, forgiveness and love.

Definite S.E.X.

A five handcuff review

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S.E.X. Review~ Casting Call~ Morticia Knight

Will Carmichael, an impossibly handsome silent film star, longs for the broodingly intense director André Chenard. Can they find their way to one another despite the hidden perils of the prohibition era?

Will Carmichael lives a carefree and fun-filled life as one of Global Studio’s most popular motion picture stars. Young and stunningly attractive, he could have any man he wants. However, the only one he has any interest in is the only one who won’t have anything to do with him.

André Chenard is Global Studio’s newest director. A proponent of the newly introduced Russian method of acting, he aspires to create true art through the films he directs. Not interested in wasting his time on frivolous pursuits, he spurns Will’s constant attempts to catch his attention. Although André can’t stop thinking about the gorgeous man, his initial meeting with Will leads him to believe that he is too shallow for serious consideration.

Resigned to the fact that André will never be his, Will is determined to enjoy himself to the fullest at his favourite speakeasy and pansy club. When his carousing becomes out of control and he’s injured, André steps in to help. As a result, they each discover that there is much more to the other than they had originally assumed.

Right when it seems they have found their way to one another, an outside threat drives a wedge between them. As a result, they may have more to worry about than lost love—the threat could be to their very lives.

Reader Advisory: This book contains a scene of male ménage à trois.
Publisher's Note: This book is best read in sequence as part of a series but can be read as a standalone.

Oh, how sweet it is! Casting Call by Morticia Knight was sensual and erotic. Dashing movie director, Andre Chenard and up and coming film star Will Carmichael, set the celluloid aflame as they traverse roles of professional cohorts and lovers.

Andre, enigmatic and larger than life, smitten with the blond young man, casts him in his new film with the desire to also cast him in his life. Will, always the energizer bunny, always making a joke, finds the director mysterious and cryptic as an accidental happenstance tosses the two men together where their relationship soon soars to the heavens.

It’s no secret that I am a huge fan of Ms. Knight and her Gin & Jazz series and I find myself at a loss for words every time I read another tale, but….Nick and Jack move over. Will and Andre have stepped up to the plate and rocked my world. 

Ms. Knight continues to bombard me with the emotional roller coaster of forbidden love and her attention to historical detail. As a Social Studies teacher by day, history and psychology are my “thing” and I become annoyed when writers have not properly researched for their stories. Not Ms. Knight! I was transported to the gin joints of the Roaring Twenties, the underbelly behind closed doors where men of certain proclivities could entertain and the Hollywood limelight that held little compassion for those not on the fast track to success. Every nuance and idiom held true to the jazz era, captivating and intriguing.

Casting Call was a breathing novel of men of substance and synergy. Fluid in entertainment and sensuality, this reviewer lived the life of Andre and Will through the eyes of Ms. Knight.

Bravo!

Definite S.E.X.

A five handcuff review

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S.E.X. Review~ Studio Orders by Morticia Knight

The head of Global Pictures Studios, Vincent Franklin, promised Jack Stone that he would take care of Jack’s loyal driver, Juan. But for a dominant man like Vincent, Juan’s natural submissiveness causes him to long for much more from the shy young man. 

Juan is devastated when his only friend, film star Jack Stone, leaves Hollywood for good. Lonely most of his life, the shy young man has dreamt of love, only to have his heart broken repeatedly. Before he left, Jack made certain that Juan would be taken care of by asking his ex-boss, studio chief Vincent Franklin, to hire him on.

Vincent Franklin is an incredibly controlled and meticulous man. Not given to emotional outbursts and unnecessary flights of fancy, his temperament is ideal for the stressful and demanding job as head of Global Pictures Studio. He leads a carefully concealed private life, his only social outlet being the S&M club to which he belongs. When Jack introduces him to his handsome chauffeur Juan, he is struck by how naturally submissive Juan is. He wonders…

Soon, Juan is falling for the elegant, older man that is his new boss. He’s also thrilled when Vincent asks him to be his personal valet. But there are things that Vincent demands of a lover that Juan knows nothing about. Things that could make him run away from the man that would do anything to protect and care for him. 

Reader Advisory: This book contains strong elements of BDSM.

Publisher's Note: This book is best read as part of a series but can be read as a standalone.

Studio Orders, Gin & Jazz Series #5 was a treasure to read. Morticia Knight delivered a powerful expose on dominance and submission in a time of hidden desires. Vincent Franklin realized the gem given to him the day he agreed to look after Jack’s friend and ex-driver.

Juan, a natural submissive, loved Vincent and wanted to please him. The two formed a bond which transcended societal roles. Ms. Knight grabbed the topic of BDSM blended it with domestication and created Vincent and Juan’s story. Sadomasochism, secret topic and precursor to modern BDSM clubs gave life to Studio Orders.

Vincent, a Dominant in profession and home took his lifestyle very seriously, separating the two, but traveling in the same circles as those like-minded. He, along with his mentor, frequent a sadomasochist establishment where Vincent displays and hones his craft. Never realizing the missing piece of his life- a submissive of his own, until he met Juan.

Juan had always felt different, not only because he fancied men, but because of his need to serve. Vincent’s employment allowed him to fulfill his goal of servitude until complications of love surfaced.

Ms. Knight permitted Vincent and Juan to form a domesticated BDSM relationship, where Juan assumed the womanly roles (as told by Juan) with his fulfillment stemming from pleasing and serving Vincent. Never did the author treat Juan as less than Vincent as he assumed his new role. In fact, Ms. Knight kept true to the BDSM credence that the submissive holds all the power. 

Although submissive, Juan held Vincent in the palm of his hand as his service brought contentment to both men. Additionally, Ms. Knight’s characterization of Vincent, the strong Dom and studio head, was putty in Juan’s hands and love.

A mature venture from an exceptional writer. Morticia Knight, this reviewer salutes you!

Definite S.E.X.

A five handcuff review.

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