The Pleasures of Autumn is the third Erotic Romance Novel in the Pleasures series by Evie Hunter (a pen name for the combined work of two authors). The problem with leading two lives is that no matter how hard you try to draw a line between the two worlds and how good you may become at lying, eventually the truth will come out, whether you want it to or not. Sinead O’Sullivan has this knowledge breathing down her neck when the Fire of Autumn, an astronomically expensive ruby, is stolen from her place of work and she is the only suspect. Niall Moore, an expert in protection and investigation, is hired to not only find the ruby but also keep Sinead under her bail conditions. On both sides, trust is hard to give, but the heat between them is ever-growing. Despite Niall using every trick in his bag, he knows Sinead is lying about something. All the evidence is stacked against her, and there is no way to prove her innocence except that she is adamant that she knows who took it, if only someone would believe her. But with a ruby so well known and only one suspect, the police are not the only ones with Sinead in their crosshairs.
To the world, Sinead O’Sullivan is smart, controlled, capable, ever-dependable, and an expert in her field, and of course she is all of those things but so much more than she gives herself credit for. Sinead has worked hard, and although she was raised by her grandmother and uncle and spent years almost reining her wild cousin Summer in, she was alone. Always alone. Lottie LeBlanc is a daring temptress to all that watch her and all that want her, but when the curtain is drawn, even Lottie goes home alone. Sinead tries desperately to create a line between two parts of herself. She has convinced herself that Lottie is not real, but she is entirely real. Everything Lottie does so effortlessly is through the tireless effort of Sinead. Sinead hides this huge part of herself not only from the world but also from herself, and it is really sad. I felt how lonely Sinead felt and how desperately she wanted to reveal every part of herself to someone without fear that it would be ruined or that her trust would be misplaced. The journey Sinead takes during this book is brilliant to see. You see her bring Lottie out piece by piece, blending the worlds she has created so naturally that it is a shame to see her shut the door on that part of herself again. Niall pushes her out of this uptight persona she has created for herself; he makes her want to lift the veil and experience that seductive side of herself, and that is what I enjoyed most about this book—getting to watch as Sinead became her full, whole self rather than the two half people she had created.
Like Sinead, Niall Moore is an expert in his field; dependable, capable, smart, and strong are all marks of his career. He is still reeling from a previous job that went bad—something that was completely out of his control and not at all his fault. Has it made it so that control is now something that Niall requires in every aspect of his life—food, job, physical regime, and sex. Niall is always in control; he is always calm, but Sinead rocks every aspect of Niall’s moorings. She is blurring the lines between personal and professional. She is shaking his rationality. He needs to protect her, but he needs the truth; he wants to trust her, but he can tell she is hiding something; he wants her, but he should not have her. Sinead is constantly fighting his control, weakening it. He never thought he wanted that from another person, but he likes the fight for it that they both have. He likes that Sinead is his equal, and wanting her despite everything makes it that much harder to do his job. Niall is just as alone as Sinead is. There is mention of his sister and his niece, and in that one phone call with his sister, you can see that they do not spend enough time together with their jobs, but there is still love despite the distance. Through this, you get a glimpse, though small, of Niall outside of his job. You get a small piece of understanding for the way he is, but there does not seem to be much time out of work because his whole life is centred around it, just as much as Sinead’s is.
I liked Niall’s control; I liked that they both fought for dominance; I liked how he pushed Sinead just as much as she pushed him. I loved seeing his humour with Sinead, and seeing her be able to joke and snark back was enjoyable. Niall’s shopping trip made me laugh, and I did not mind his desire to dominate everything; Sinead enjoyed pushing it, and it was enjoyable to read, but ultimately Niall had problems when it came to trust, and that was his major fault, and I am not saying Sinead is faultless because this was one of her faults as well. However, it was almost as if he saw things in black and white; he knew Sinead was hiding one thing, but he had already assumed that it was about the Fire of Autumn, and therefore everything she did or said must also be a lie. It became infuriating, and yes, she absolutely should have just told him the whole truth, but she was lying through omission, so he was connecting dots that did not exist rather than just asking her to tell the truth and stating why he needed it rather than just demanding it.
My one gripe about this book is Niall Moore. I can ignore Sinead’s rash stupidity because she was desperate; I can even understand the last-minute heartbreak because she held that secret out of fear, and Niall thought the air was clear. But there is one scene, though hot, that I just did not like after it happened. Niall is so insistent on getting the truth from Sinead (even though he is asking the wrong questions) that he uses pleasure as a weapon of sorts, and even though they both enjoyed it, it just left me feeling unsure of him. I liked him before that, and I grew to like him again towards the end. Still, I just did not like the way that situation was handled or the fact that if he just trusted her word, maybe she would not have acted so rashly and he would not have almost convinced himself that she was lying to him all of the time. Evie Hunter, the miscommunication will be the death of me with this series; therefore, I am rating this book Four out of Five Stars. I did struggle to rate this one but ultimately it was the growth of Sinead and the ending that allowed The Pleasures of Autumn to keep its fourth star.
As with every book in this series, I would recommend The Pleasures of Autumn to an adult audience, as this book takes you deeper into the world of BDSM. I would recommend it to those that love HEA’s, ever-increasing spice, a delicious fight for dominance, danger and/or tension everywhere you turn, funny quips, dares that push the envelope, and equally matched main characters. Sinead and Niall were equals in strength of mind, courage, and physical strength to different degrees, and it was a joy watching them both lose their precious control. I look forward to reading about the far too-charming Andy McTavish in the next installment.
Favourite Quotes
“She was obviously suffering from sexual depravation.”
page 26
“But she wasn’t going to let him tell her what she wanted. She wanted him. “I don’t care. Do it again.””
page 127
“She has never wanted anyone as much. Never known what it was to crave, to hunger for another’s touch, until him.”
page 324
“She gasped. “It is not ten inches.” “You never measured it.””
page 367
““I was going to say pain in the ass.” “I can be that too.” Niall agreed. “But only if you ask nicely.””
page 411
““Oh no darling, you’re mine now. Now and forever.””
page 426
Finer Details
Title: The Pleasures of Autumn
Author: Evie Hunter
Pages: 435
Publisher: Penguin Group
Publication: 2013
Language: English
Rating: 4/5