Seducing Stephen

By: Bonnie Dee, Summer Devon

Narrated by: Cornell Collins

Visiting a wealthy friend during university holiday, Stephen wakes to find his bed invaded by a late arriving, drunken houseguest stumbling into the wrong room. From this dubious beginning, a romance slowly develops.

At first Lord Peter Northrup is only interested in the young man as a lusty diversion. He tutors him in secret pleasures shared by men like them, intending to keep their special liaison brief, light, and temporary. But after Northrup leaves, he can't forget the young man who managed to touch his jaded heart.

During their time apart, Peter and Stephen change, and when they meet again, their affair flames hotter than ever. Can a peer of the realm and a middle-class young man bearing heavy responsibilities maintain a lasting relationship? Will Peter accept the possibility of true love in his shallow life, and will Stephen risk everything and trust a man who's already hurt him once?

©2014 Bonnie Dee & Summer Devon (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

Just as great as the written word.

I loved this story when I read it forever ago.
And seeing that they are now available on audio is thrilling.

To have these two characters come to life not just with the brilliant story telling but fabulous narration was amazing.
The trails that Stephen had to through. To understand and endure. The every lasting love they found at the end.
Just wonderful

Charming

While the illegality of the relationship is never far away, it doesn’t overshadow the charming relationship of a Stephen, young man coming into his own, and Peter, an aging roue who had been bored with life, trying to navigate the tricky waters of love. It’s a favorite trope of mine, casual lovers to friends to romance. They are attracted from the start but take a while to realize they would like more, then need to figure out how. While it was mostly low angst, it did bring tears to my eyes now and again.

Steam: Medium. M/M love on page. There’s a lot of unguent involved. Really rather a lot of unguent.

Narration: I really liked Cornell Collins’s reading. This is my second attempt to listen to a book by Dee & Devon as I’d felt disconnected from the characters in the previous book somehow, and think it might have been the narration. Connection and feeling was not a problem for me with this book & narrator. Audio quality was good.

light story with HEA, some odd narration choices

Light read/listen with a satisfying HEA. Nothing particularly special or engaging about it, but good nonetheless.

I felt a bit uncomfortable with some of the early scenes because although they were thrilling, Stephen's youthfulness was exaggerated to such a degree that Peter did indeed feel like a creepy old lecher harming a younger man at times. This was made worse by the narration. The narrator voices Peter like a man nearly twice his age, as if he's a stern, snobby man in his late 50s rather than a playful, progressive man in his 30s.

I was irked that Stephen's life made a rapid turnaround in the span of only 6 months, so intense that his stutter somehow disappeared. The narrative reasons that this is because, over the course of 6 months, Stephen gained so much experience and confidence that he's cured of his never-acknowledged anxiety. Jeez. This seems a disrespectful way to rid the story of one of its most interesting elements, which was Stephen's anxiety-induced stutter. Confidence and experience only go so far in treatment for most adults like Stephen in reality. This might actually be a misunderstanding caused by narration as well, though. The text may have intended it as the simple unsure speech of a shy young man, while the narrator voiced the stutter in a manner that was most similar to a mild speech disorder (which is an impressive skill on the part of the narrator). I found it interesting when I first heard it and was disappointed to see it dropped by the story almost immediately.

The story pans out in a predictable but enjoyable manner despite these gripes. The narration is skillful but perhaps not perfectly suited to this story.

enjoyable

A Very enjoyable story of two men courageous enough to pursue love in the 1800s. The main characters were sexy and had such wonderful chemistry which mAde the sexy times hot.
Charo

A very steamy and charming historical romance

This story takes us to early 19th century England, where the aristocracy and the middle working class don't socialize and are expected to maintain their fixed roles and position in society; an Earl and a working class Architect/Engineer meet and fall in lust .

Architect Stephen might be in love with Peter , Earl of Stanfford . He wants something more than random hook ups ; but these men are trapped in the expectations of class and gender of the era. Being together as a couple, even a discrete and secret one , might be more than what the Earl can give to Stephen.

With enough steamy to make your Kindle a Sauna 😜😍 these two authors give us an erotic, low angst, emotional and sweet romance, that I enjoyed listening .

Cornell Collins as the narrator did a good job with all the voices. My only complaint is Peter voice , it sounded very nasal.