What is this book and who wrote it?
This is an adult romance by Sierra Simone, published by Bloom Books (2025). It follows Mark Trevena, his wife Isolde, and his bodyguard Tristan as desire, loyalty, and danger collide inside an elite kink-club world threaded with espionage, influence, and high-stakes power games.
Is this book part of a series?
Yes. The manuscript includes an epilogue that gestures toward a wider connected reading experience and features a teaser that links to Sierra Simone’s Thornchapel world, offering an extra layer of context and intrigue for readers who enjoy interconnected stories.
What genre is this book?
It’s an adult erotic romance with BDSM and dark romance elements, fused with thriller energy—think political intrigue, intelligence-world tension, and escalating consequences that keep the pages turning while the relationships burn hotter and deeper.
What is the premise (no spoilers)?
A powerful club owner with an intelligence past is pulled back into a dangerous web of secrets that refuses to stay buried. As external threats tighten and old loyalties are tested, his marriage—and his charged bond with his bodyguard—becomes the emotional fault line where devotion, desire, and survival collide.
Is this book told in first person or third person?
It’s told in first person, with clearly labeled sections by character (for example, MARK and ISOLDE). That structure creates an intimate, inside-the-skin reading experience while letting you feel the tension from multiple angles as the stakes rise.
Where does the story take place?
The story spans multiple locations, including Washington, DC (Lyonesse), Cornwall (Morois House), and international settings such as Rome and Morocco. The shifting geography gives the romance-thriller blend a cinematic scope—glamour, danger, and secrecy moving in lockstep.
Is Lyonesse a real place in the book?
Lyonesse is the name of an elite kink club and power hub in the story—part sanctuary, part battlefield. It’s where influence is negotiated, boundaries are tested, and the characters’ personal stakes become inseparable from the larger ones.
What kind of romance dynamic does this book explore?
It explores a three-person romantic dynamic involving a husband, his wife, and his bodyguard—layered with power exchange, fierce loyalty, and emotional intensity. The relationship tension isn’t just about attraction; it’s about trust, control, and what devotion costs when the world is watching.
Does this book include BDSM and kink club scenes?
Yes. The manuscript includes explicit BDSM and kink-club culture, including dominance/submission dynamics and both public and private play settings. These scenes are written as integral to character, intimacy, and power—not as background decoration.
What are the main themes in this Sierra Simone book?
The book leans into themes of power and surrender, devotion and jealousy, control and vulnerability—alongside faith, doubt, and the weight of secrets. It also explores how institutions shape people, how violence echoes through choices, and how love can be both refuge and risk.
Is religion a major element in the story?
Yes. Religion is a prominent thread, with Catholic imagery and language woven throughout—saints, confession, ritual, and moral conflict—set against a world where desire and violence exist uncomfortably close to reverence and guilt.
Is there an espionage or intelligence angle?
Yes. The protagonist has a CIA background, and the story incorporates intelligence tradecraft, covert operations, and conspiracy-driven pressure. The result is a romance that doesn’t stay contained to the bedroom or the club—danger and strategy press in from every side.
Does the book have a strong “revenge” motivation?
Yes. A major driver is the aftermath of a past loss and a long-running pursuit of accountability. That emotional engine adds heat and urgency to the plot while sharpening the characters’ choices—especially when love and vengeance start pulling in different directions.
Is this book more romance-forward or plot-forward?
It’s deliberately both. The romance is explicit, emotionally charged, and relationship-centered, while the plot moves with thriller momentum—international settings, shifting alliances, and high-level power struggles that keep the tension taut.
What makes this book stand out from other adult romances?
It blends an elite kink-club setting with espionage-level stakes, a marriage-plus-bodyguard dynamic, and a striking undercurrent of religious imagery and moral tension. The result feels lush and dangerous at once—intimate scenes with real consequences, and high-stakes plotting that never loses sight of the heart.
Does the book include explicit sex scenes?
Yes. The manuscript contains explicit on-page sexual content, including BDSM and detailed intimacy. Expect high heat, clear power dynamics, and scenes that emphasize both physical intensity and emotional impact.
Is there a content note or content warnings section?
Yes. The manuscript includes a Content Note that flags brief, nonspecific references to historical clerical abuse (not depicted and not involving central characters), references to self-harm in a religious context and a mention (not depiction) of self-harm in a nonreligious context, metaphors of stabbing and being buried used to describe jealousy and consequences, an attempted assault and attempted kidnapping of a secondary character by a stalker (stopped by a central character) including a verbal threat of facial disfigurement, and ongoing themes of religion and violence.
If I like Sierra Simone’s darker, kinkier books, will I like this one?
If you’re drawn to Sierra Simone’s signature blend of explicit intimacy, power exchange, and emotionally fearless relationships, this book is very much in that lane—while adding a sleek, high-stakes thriller edge that amplifies the tension and raises the consequences.
If I want romance with a strong plot and international intrigue, is this a good fit?
Yes. The story moves across multiple countries and balances relationship intensity with intelligence-world danger, conspiracies, and escalating threats. It’s built for readers who want both emotional immersion and plot momentum.
Does the book end with a cliffhanger?
The manuscript includes an epilogue set two years later and also features a teaser connected to the Thornchapel world. Readers can expect a sense of continuation and a wider universe beyond the final chapter, though the specific ending shape isn’t fully detailed in the provided excerpt.
Does this book include bonus content or an excerpt of another book?
Yes. It includes bonus material in the form of a sneak peek tied to Sierra Simone’s Thornchapel series, specifically A Lesson in Thorns.
