The Varlet and the Voyeur (Rugby #4) by L.H. Cosway and Penny Reid → Review, Excerpt and Massive Giveaway

Posted June 25, 2018 by FMA in 4 Stars - It quenched my addiction!, Excerpt, Giveaways

The Varlet and the Voyeur (Rugby #4) by L.H. Cosway and Penny Reid → Review, Excerpt and Massive GiveawayThe Varlet and the Voyeur Series: Rugby #4
Also in this series: The Hooker and The Hermit, The Player and the Pixie, The Cad and the Co-Ed
Published by Cipher-Naught
on June 11, 2018
Pages: 393
Genres: Romance, Contemporary
Review Copy Provided By: Author
four-stars

Goodreads
AMZ US

He kept his salacious secret for years. But soon, everyone is going to be reading about it in their morning paper…

THE VARLET (and the VOYEUR)
William Moore is a long way from home. A farm boy from Oklahoma, he’s now the most well-respected member of the Irish rugby team. But appearances are often deceptive, and Will isn’t the clean-cut, all-American good-guy everyone imagines him to be. He’s got a secret, one that will tarnish his reputation forever.

THE VOYEUR (and the VARLET)
Josey Kavanagh is a self-proclaimed mess, but she’s finally getting her shi…uh, act together. She’s set her sights on becoming a veterinarian, but there’s one teeny tiny road bump. Her living arrangements are coming to an abrupt end, leaving Josey homeless and in need of a job to pay her way through college.

THE PLAN
What he needs is a companion to keep him on the right path.
What she needs is an apartment with free rent.
Will is convinced Josey will make the perfect companion, since she’s brutally honest and basically ‘just one of the guys.’ Josey is convinced she can ensure Will doesn’t succumb to his voyeuristic proclivities by keeping a scrupulous eye on him.
Except, what happens when the varlet is tempted by the voyeur, and vice-versa?!
Perchance something very, very volatile. And vexing.

The Varlet and the Voyeur is a full-length romantic comedy novel, can be read as a standalone, and is the 4th (and last) book in the USA TODAY bestselling Rugby Series


I was provided a review copy; this did not influence my opinion of the book.


 

The Varlet and the Voyeur, an all-new standalone in the USA Today bestselling Rugby Series from Penny Reid and L.H. Cosway is available NOW!

 

Excerpt:

*Will*

When I saw how spotless the shared living space was, I allowed my curiosity to get the better of me and peeked my head into her bathroom, Rocky dancing around my feet as I entered the space. The counters were covered in woman-products, but the marble surface and sink were free of water spots, and the glass of the shower had been wiped clean.

I glanced at Rocky. He glanced at me. Bemused, I chuckled to myself, about to turn back to the door, and that’s when I spotted it.

A dildo.

A big, Pyrex dildo.

With ridges.

In the shower.

I froze, blinked, and I stared at it, my brain sluggish. Oddly, I had to remind myself to breathe. Likely because I was . . .

I was—

I was shocked.

I shook myself, tearing my eyes from it and rubbing my chest where an odd kind of pang was spreading mild warmth up my neck.

But why was I shocked?

Why should I be surprised?

Despite my never seeing her that way, Josey was a woman and women have needs.

Don’t they?

I hadn’t grown up around women—any women. My mother died when she had my youngest brother. My grandmother died before I was born. I had no sisters. We lived on a farm, way out in BFN Oklahoma.

Girls—women—and their bodies were sacred lands of the unknown to us Moore boys.

Unbidden—completely unbidden—an image of Josey flashed through my mind’s eye. Her full lips parted, her big eyes closed, causing her thick black lashes to catch droplets of water before they dripped over her sharp cheekbones. Her head would be lolled back as shower spray melted bubbles of slippery soap, sliding down her bare skin as they dissolved. Her legs would be parted, and maybe one hand would be braced against the wall of the shower while the other moved in a steady rhythm.

Holding that huge, glass dildo.

I swallowed a sudden rush of salvia and, unable to help myself, I leaned closer to the sex toy, examining it and comparing its size against my own.

I was bigger.

But not by much.

And for some reason, this realization made me instantly hard.

Crap.

Of course I knew Josey was a woman, but until this moment, I’d never really thought of her that way. Not even the tampon-mountain drove the point home. Up until this point, she was someone I liked as a person, someone who made me laugh, who was smart and compassionate, someone around whom I felt completely comfortable. A good—no, a great companion.

She was still all of those things, except—

Except now I’ve pictured her naked.

 

❝Are you interested in ordinary sex?❞ ❝No, I’m interested in extraordinary sex. With you.❞

Warning! This is a long review because I had a lot to say! (Also, my views may be considered spoilery.)

With the Varlet and the Voyeur, Cosway and Reid write about a man who likes to watch others have sex and a woman who is socially awkward to the point it is embarrassing, if not painful, to watch.

Josey Kavanagh is the awkward friend of Eilish Cassidy (who we read about in the last book, The Cad and the Coed). Josey is sometimes clumsy, and usually speaks whatever is on her mind and then often regrets the words she speaks as soon as they are out of her mouth. She is the person people ignore with hopes she will go away. When her parents lose their home, she is forced to find a place to live and find a job so that she can continue with Veterinary school.

So clearly, Josey is intelligent or she would not be attending Veterinary school. But her behavior was at odds with her intelligence. Although common sense and tact do not go hand in hand with intelligence, I did feel like the authors tried too hard to make her odd, weird, different.

When William Moore’s private life becomes public, he and his team quickly move into damage control mode. Prostitutes and voyeurism, are not in line with his clean, good boy image. His teammates intervene and decide with him, that he needs to have someone keep an eye on him, to help him, should he be tempted to seek out these behaviors in the future. Like a sponsor. At the recommendation of Brian and Elish, Will agrees to meet with and ultimately hire Josey to live with and monitor him. It was her job to hold him accountable and make sure he didn’t fall back into his voyeuristic behaviors.

It was the need for a live-in monitor that confused me because I wasn’t sure why Will needed someone to watch him. He wasn’t hurting anyone and he hadn’t hurt himself. Also, he’d had two instances where he engaged in voyeuristic activities, and now he’s out of control and needed a babysitter? This didn’t make any sense to me. I was glad when later in the book, Josey challenged this notion of addiction.

I’ve been blogging for about four years. Since that time, I’ve met a lot of wonderful bloggers, whose opinions about books, I value. By this time, you know what they will like and vice versa. What I also love about being a blogger is that you also have the freedom of opinion.

I was raised in the ultra-conservative mid-west where sex wasn’t talked about. Sex with multiple partners and sex before marriage was wrong. You had sex in missionary position and you definitely didn’t watch pornography (or at least confess to it). So while I have read some reviews and opinions from others regarding their frustration with the way this book handled topics like sex, pornography, and prostitution etc, I feel like it was true to Will’s Oklahoma upbringing. He had strong views about sex and what was right and what was wrong and these influenced his guilt as he tried to reconcile his urges/desires with societal norms/ethics. He struggled with the fact that he wanted more than missionary position and while he liked watching others have sex, he also struggled morally with watching pornography. I totally understood where he was coming from.

Will was a good guy with rigid ideas of right and wrong. He valued rules and guidelines and couldn’t maneuver his life without them. He is so strict with his principles that when he deviates, and he does because they strictly confine him, he feels guilty and believes he’s done something wrong or bad. He and his brothers were raised by his grandfather and father. There wasn’t nurturing, there were rules and there was right and wrong.

The writing Duo of Penny Reid and L. H. Cosway is one of my favorites. This series has been so much fun! Each story is unique, filled with swoon-worthy moments, humor, sexual tension, and sexy times. The characters are funny, witty, and exchange sarcastic banter, all while falling in love with each other. I’m going to miss these characters!

Download your copy today or read FREE in Kindle Unlimited!

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four-stars

About L.H. Cosway

L.H. Cosway has a BA in English Literature and Greek and Roman Civilisation, and an MA in Postcolonial Literature. She lives in Dublin city. Her inspiration to write comes from music. Her favorite things in life include writing stories, vintage clothing, dark cabaret music, food, musical comedy, and of course, books.

She thinks that imperfect people are the most interesting kind. They tell the best stories.

About Penny Reid

Penny Reid is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and USA Today Best Selling Author of the Winston Brothers, Knitting in the City, Rugby, and Hypothesis series. She used to spend her days writing federal grant proposals as a biomedical researcher, but now she just writes books. She’s also a full time mom to three diminutive adults, wife, daughter, knitter, crocheter, sewer, general crafter, and thought ninja.

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