Book Review – A Taste of Loving Discipline by Abigail Armani

Want to know more about the book review star rating system? Or find out what other books I've reviewed? Check out this page here.

Way back during the crazy time that was the June A-Z Spanking Blog Challenge, I featured Abigail Armani’s romance, A Taste of Loving Discipline as the blog post for the letter ‘T’.

I started reading the book at the time the blog post went up, but due to the pressures of work, life, the universe, me getting distracted by shiny objects and my not always remembering what I have downloaded onto my kindle, I have only just got round to completing it.

It’s a bit of a dangerous game, that. Promoting books when you don’t entirely know what’s inside them. What if the rest of the book had been full of material I couldn’t possibly endorse? I would have had to expunge T from the whole alphabet. Maybe I would have replaced the post with a stiffly worded apology stating that I could no longer support the author due to the revelation that she supported eugenics, illegal dog fights and putting the milk in the mug before the tea bag.

Not that she does any of those things, you understand. Or at least if she does then she’s keeping it pretty quiet in A Taste of Loving Discipline. I’m definitely sure she doesn’t though. She’s not a monster.

A book, it turns out, that I would be perfectly happy  for my wife or servants to read.

The story itself is a sweet, contemporary romance which tells the story of artist, June Jackson and her burgeoning romance with her father’s solicitor and godson, Alexander Stewart. June doesn’t think all that much of Alex at the beginning of the story, she finds him smug and irritating and is quick to rebuff any interest he shows in her. (The fact that her father clearly wants the two of them to get together must be more than a little off-putting as well.)

Happily,  June’s opinion of Alex starts to change pretty soon after he flips her over his lap and gives her a thorough spanking in order to curb her ‘rudeness and bad manners’ and provide a much needed attitude adjustment.

It’s a risky strategy but luckily for him it pays off and although June doesn’t capitulate immediately she certainly seems to make a lot more effort around Alex after her session over his knee.

Their relationship blossoms into fully-fledged romance when June moves to Norfolk to live permanently in her father’s holiday cottage only a few miles from Alex’s home. Meanwhile, in the books non-romancy storyline, there’s some dubious goings on involving the shifty nephew of June’s elderly neighbour, Hilda which provides a thrilling finale.

June and Alex’s relationship doesn’t always progress smoothly with June’s hot-headed nature and tendency to fly off the handle at the least provocation. Luckily Alex is on hand to set her straight and calm her down again. There are some great spankings and plenty of very erotic sex scenes between the two of them. June likes it pretty rough and Alex is pretty adept at giving her what she wants.

I love Abigail Armani’s writing style. It’s fresh and funny and hurtles along at several million miles per hour. She flips around the story’s points of views in quite unexpected ways, shifting the focus during the key hot spanking scene to June’s next-door  neighbour eavesdropping through the wall and enjoying the sounds of June getting ‘her naughty bottom smacked’. There’s a strong seam of physical comedy here as well - plates of food are thrown and sofas collapse under the weight of multiple visiting suitors.

The author’s quirky writing style does occasionally throw out the odd wtf moment, mind. During a passionate make out session, we are told that June “tasted of wild honey and lavender – which was the exact statement on the label of the shower gel she had used!” Wait, what? Surely the shower gel just smells of honey and lavender. All it will taste of is soap. And why does her mouth taste of it anyway? What on earth is she doing with the stuff? And – I think this is the most important point here - why are you making me think about this when I should just be enjoying the kissing?

Not food.

I also want to mention a line that made me laugh out loud with its incongruousness: “Alex raised his hand and carefully delivered a second resounding thwack of light to moderate force.”

I think I can safely say that the phrase ‘light to moderate force’ should never be used in a romance book. This isn’t the shipping forecast.

All nitpicking aside, this is a lovely story with a good cast of well-drawn characters and a well executed central storyline to keep everything moving along. The ‘taste’ part of the title, I presume comes from June’s enthusiasm for cooking – there are some mouth-watering descriptions of the meals she prepares. Don’t read this book if you’re hungry. There is also – as the covers suggests - a fun blindfolded sexy food session. Although probably not as much of that as I was expecting, sadly. More sexy food action, I say! Frequently. It gets me some very odd looks when I’m out and about I can tell you.

All this. All the time.

Not that you could accuse Abigail Armani of short-changing her readers. In every aspect whether it’s sexy Scottish heroes, bratty heroines, steamy sex or light-to-moderate spankings, A Taste of Loving Discipline totally delivers.

T is for Taste of Loving Discipline

This post is part of the Spanking A-Z Blog Challenge. What's that I hear you ask? Check out my page here for more information.

Abigail Armani, author of fantastic time-travel romance "The Castle" among several billion other spanking romances, has a new book out - A Taste Of Loving Discipline.* I am in the middle of reading it now and really enjoying it a lot. It's a great story with a feisty young artist and a devilishly good-looking solicitor and the sort of "Will They, Won't They?" which makes it so much more satisfying when they eventually do.

It also has a very saucy cover which made me reconsider my
don't-switch-adult-content-button-on policy for a bit.

He gave her a playful slap. “I'll tell you something – it's good not to be under constant attack.” 

“Well it's been kind of fun baiting you … winding you up.” 

“Agreed – but now you know that there will be consequences for such behaviour.” He grinned wolfishly at the thought. “Starting right now.” He appreciatively eyed the lovely bottom presented for his delight, savouring that precious moment before the spanking begins.
June held her breath for a moment as she felt his hand rest lightly on her back, then stroke down to the rounded curves of her bottom. Then his hand descended – five spanks to crown of her right cheek, followed by five to the left. 

“Oh!” she squealed, enjoying the contact of his hand on her bare flesh, but not yet quite sure about the sting that was building. “Yeow!” she yelled as his hand moved slightly lower down. 

Next door, Hilda was about to switch on the television to watch her favourite soap, but those strange noises from the other side of the wall distracted her. She paused, listening. Realisation dawned. “Well I say!” she declared. “He's spanking her naughty bottom – oh what fun!” 

She jumped up out of her chair and practically sprinted to the wall where she unashamedly stood with her left ear pressed against the wallpaper, chuckling to herself at the shenanigans. 

Oblivious to the fact that anyone was listening, Alex continued. He was measured and methodical, making sure he covered every inch of that wonderful bottom. June made a succession of yips and yelps and waggled her bottom from side to side. Encouraged, Alex continued to spank but with his free hand he probed her pussy. June almost purred in delight. And then the pattern changed and her eyes flew wide open. This time the smacks came hard and fast, a flurry of fast-paced spanks with no discernible pattern, peppering her bottom and upper thighs. 

June shrieked as his hand made contact with her thighs. That area was unbelievably tender. She twisted and squirmed, yelping as he found the most tender spots. And every time she felt the pain building to a level she didn't think she could deal with, he instinctively knew – tuning in to her psyche his wandering hand penetrated her depths, or flicked her clit, or massaged her breasts, teasing her rigid nipples until she thought she would go crazy with pure pleasure.
Then he started again, revisiting the burning spots, applying a second layer of wonderful sting. He delivered a fast-paced volley that left her mewling and breathless. 

“Ohhh! She shrieked. “Oh yes! I'm loving it!” 

“Oh my,” murmured Hilda on the other side of the wall. She pressed her ear even harder against the wallpaper. 

“You want more?” Alex whispered seductively. 

“Yes. Yes … don't stop, Alex. Please don't stop.” 

“Happy to oblige my lady.” He grinned and raised his hand again, bringing it down dead centre of her bottom. This was a much harder spank than those that had gone before it, and June jolted in surprise. Two more followed, then another two, eliciting more vocal noises from June and set her wriggling again; and as her bottom jerked and twitched and jiggled, Alex savoured the delightful sight, loving the way her buttocks bounced under his hand.

He spanked on until she was breathless and gasping, her bottom a wonderful bright pink hue. There was a pause and the unmistakable sound of a leather belt being pulled through loops, the metallic clang of the buckle as the length of leather was folded in half. The unique scent of leather assailed her senses. Then came a new sensation, the cool kiss of leather as he draped it sensually over her heated cheeks. 

“Trust me,” he said. “Ready for more?” 

“Yes.” There was no hesitation in her voice.

Synopsis:

Description:June is a feisty, funny and passionate artist who knows exactly what she wants out of life. What she doesn't want is Alexander Stewart. The intelligent, smooth-talking, infuriatingly handsome lawyer irritates her in so many ways. Alex is like no other man she has ever met. A naturally dominant man, he takes control as effortlessly as breathing. Any woman of his needs to submit to his authority - and his discipline ... he has no hesitation in spanking a naughty bottom, and is not averse to bedroom games involving blindfolds and restraints.

When June starts an exciting new phase of her life in a beautiful village in Northumberland, she is surprised to find that it is Alex who offers her his friendship and support. Life is good, but there are choices to be made. June could stick with Geoffrey, an amusing though fickle blond Adonis, or maybe she could forge a satisfying relationship with a new man she meets. She does neither. And just when things are going really well for her, something unexpectedly unpleasant happens, placing her in danger. This encourages the man who truly loves her to claim her on a permanent basis.

A substantial read, this book has enough hot sex and sensual delights to satisfy any reader curious about domination and submission, and it also has a strong story line and a happy ever after ending.

A Taste of Loving Discipline is available from Amazon. Further details from LSF publications.

* Not to be confused with Casey McKay's Taste of Discipline which is an entirely different book. Things can get weird when readers get books muddled up you know. Take Emily Schultz whose book got mistaken for Stephen King's one of the same name leading to a massive boost in both sales and confused, negative reviews.

Want more? Check out the other spanking bloggers participating in the blogging challenge. The Linky List is here.