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The Harlot by Saskia Walker
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The Harlot (edition 2011)

by Saskia Walker

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626420,509 (3.05)4
Fiction. Romance. Historical Fiction. HTML:

It is a dark era, and a lusty lass will do what she must to survive. Even if it means bartering flesh for a palmful of coins...

Forced to watch her mother burn at the stake as a witch, Jessie Taskill was separated from her siblings in the aftermath. Jessie is similarly gifted, ripe with a powerful magic that must stay hidden. When she's accused by a rival of witchcraft, Jessie finds herself behind prison walls, awaiting certain death with a roguish priest unlike any man of the cloth she has known.

In reality, Gregor Ramsay is as far from holy as the devil himself, but his promise of freedom in return for her services may be her salvation. Locked into a dubious agreement, Jessie resents his plan to have her seduce and ruin his lifelong enemy. Especially when Gregor's lust for her is so compelling. She may agree to be his pawn...even as she plots to use him just as he is using her.

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Member:reading.romances
Title:The Harlot
Authors:Saskia Walker
Info:Spice (2011), Edition: Original, Paperback, 336 pages
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The Harlot by Saskia Walker

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» See also 4 mentions

Showing 1-5 of 6 (next | show all)
Huge struggle with this book, I didn't care for the characters and it took me a long time to get through this book as I kept putting it down and didn't want to pick it back up. Although the last couple chapters did make me want to find out what this couple would do going forward.
( )
  wyldheartreads | Jun 20, 2019 |
Saskia Walker, as always, continues to surprise and astound me at her ability to adapt and form a story true to an era, a time, or a character as opposed to writing each of her stories in her own singular voice. I love the old world erotic novel feel of this book, it fits and makes you feel more into the story. I would have loved more information about the witch hunts, I know it's sort of a downer for an erotic novel but I would have loved to learn more about this time in history

I love Jessie in this story. She is a firecracker and she has no qualms about making dark sure everyone knows it. She does was she wants, when it suits her, and she makes no apologies for it. I like Ramsay but I had a hard time connecting to him, he seemed to distant for me to really get a good connection to him but he is still a good character. I love that he is able to accept his love for Jessie for what it is and not try to run far far away from it. Ms. Walker has an ability to turn characters into treasured and loved friends and I found a new and kindred friend in Jessie. She is a women after my own heart.

The plot twists here and there and the sensuality is, as always, top notch but I didn't feel a real love for the plot, I just wanted more the characters. I found myself wanting to see what Jessie would do next as opposed to knowing Mr. Ramsay's nefarious plans. This book will be added to my collection to be read over and over. ( )
  rosetyper9 | Nov 12, 2015 |
Una fantasia erotica diferente , especial para aquellos a quienes les gusta la erotica que juega con los limites .

Me gusto sobre todo porque no cae en dialogos ridiculos ni en una trama demasiado predecible . Y mas que nada , porsupollo porque las escenas hot estan espectaculares . ( )
  LaMala | Jun 7, 2015 |
This review is also published at http://thebookaholiccat.com

Gregor Ramsay is having a drink at the Dundee inn when a fight starts; two prostitutes are cat fighting for a customer. One of them attracted his attention; she is feisty and beautiful. He learns her name is Jessie Taskill and is known as The Harlot of Dundee. She is perfect for what he needs and decides to talk to her after the fight.
Jessie is winning the fight but her opponent declares Jessie is having the advantage because she is using witchcraft on her. Jessie is immediately arrested and taken into custody. Gregor knows the laws against witch are severe and Jessie would be dead within a week. He decides the best thing to do is to help her escape, like that she will be in his debt and he could use her for his revenge.
Jessie is considering using witchcraft to escape when Gregory arrives to her cell dress as a clergyman. He tells her he would help her escape in exchange of a favor. Jessie misinterpreted his meaning and “pays” him right away, but that was not what Gregory intended so after he is more specific and explains his plan for revenge to Jessie.
Gregory wants revenge from the man who destroyed his father. He wants Jessie to infiltrated his house, seduce him and acquire important information in regards to some lands.
After Jessie’s escape, Gregor takes her to his lodgings where he starts to train her in the acts of innocence and submission, just the way his enemy prefers the girls. But with this “training” Gregory and Jessie start to get closer and their priorities begin to change.

It was difficult for me to get into the first third of the book; I attribute this to Jessie’s character. She is a prostitute who enjoys too much her job. The book’s blurb describes her as a “lusty lass” and I think the description falls short. Usually when books are written about prostitutes the women are forced or with no other option and they don’t enjoy their job. So seeing this character who loves and enjoys what she does was a little bit of turn off for me. But after some pages I started to learn more about her and started to like “lusty” Jessie a little more.

Jessie has a troubled past, her mother was accused of being a witch, later she was stoned and burned, while Jessie, her twin sister Maisie and brother Lennox were forced to watch. After that Jessie was taken away from her siblings to never see them again. And from then on she has lived a tough life where she has been rejected and pointed at for her mother’s sins. Also Jessie has power as her mother had, but she needs to hide it. Getting caught would mean her death. All these factors make her more likable and real at the end.

Gregor is another troubled soul. But he is caring and fun. Even though he just wanted Jessie as an instrument to obtain his revenge he cared about her from the beginning.

Jessie and Gregor relationship was a steamy one; things started superficially between them, just sex and maybe company but things were developed well in the story, making a believable change for the characters.

The Harlot is set in Scotland in the XVIII century, in a time where the conflicts between England and Scotland were at its peak, making it interesting and historically accurate. It shows the people moods in regards with this situation. Also shows us how easily it was to accuse somebody of witchcraft and how these persons were hunted down and burn in the stake without clemency.

The plot was an interesting one and it had a good pace, especially the last half of the book. I also liked the paranormal aspect of the book, it was a nice complement to the story.

I felt the end of the book was left without resolution in certain aspects. I think an epilogue would have been necessary to learn if Jessie “search” had fruits and also with certain things in regards to Gregor, I won’t say what to keep this review as spoiler free as possible.

The language of this book was another thing that turn me off a little bit, I don’t mind at all the “dirty talk”, I might say I enjoy it (a lot) if it’s well done, but in this book I don’t know how many times the words cunny, puss, cock, length, blunt and dripping were used, but they were many times. So many times that the language felt repetitive and unoriginal.

The Harlot was my first book by Saskia Walker and it won’t be my last. If you want a book with “lots” of sexy time, in an historical setting, with a wanton heroine and a touch of paranormal, this book is for you. ( )
  BookaholicCat | Mar 4, 2015 |
Note: Do not bother reading either this review or the novel itself if you are likely to be offended by graphic sexual content, including but not limited to: light bdsm, m/m couplings and f/f couplings. If your tastes are somewhat more vanilla, this book is perhaps not for you.

Now, I'd just like to say I am so glad I've had the opportunity to read this! I have never ever given 5 stars to an erotic novel, I reserve such ratings for books that I deem to have more 'substance'. This usually means that there are at least two well-developed and interesting characters, that the plot is good and rounded off well (if it is a stand-alone novel), that it exceeds my expectations and gives me something that I never saw coming... well, erotica or not, this is exactly what this book gave me. It must be noted that this is so very much more than just sex (though there's plenty of that), the best comparison I can make is to Pretty Woman - you know, the movie with Julia Roberts and Richard Gere - this is basically a 19th century version of that story in many ways. Which is not even slightly a complaint, I love that film.



The two are very similar, this is the story about a 'harlot' (Jessie - which, incidentally, is one of my favourite songs) who is charged with witchcraft and sentenced to death. She is then rescued by a wealthy man (Gregor) who wishes to use her to seduce his enemy and infiltrate his enemy's estate. Gregor's attempts to tutor Jessie in the art of seducing his enemy become more than just your ordinary lessons; desire quickly flares between the two of them and this leads to more serious emotions arising. The two begin to have a mutual understanding of one another and note the strange similarities to be found between this wealthy man and this prostitute. To mention Pretty Woman once more, that film has the line that best describes how the relationship flourishes and how the two leading characters discover how alike they are: "You and I are such similar creatures, Vivian, we both screw people for money". It's a highly appropriate line for this novel also, she's a prostitute and he admits to being a thief and what some might call a blackguard.

I simply adored both characters too. Gregor is a wealthy man-of-the-world who seeks revenge on the man who tore his family apart. Jessie is a harlot and a witch (yes, it wasn't a false accusation) who is hindered rather than helped by her powers in a world where numerous innocent women were burned at the stake. He's dark and very sexy, I was surprised just how much I liked him after hearing his critical assessment of Jessie upon meeting her and her "delectable arse". And Jessie was a fantastically fiery heroine who knew what she wanted without apologies; the two of them were practically combustible together. This book works as a fantastic love story (from someone who doesn't much care for love stories) as well as an erotic novel. The book transcends so many genres: erotica, romance, historical fiction and fantasy. And each one of those is created well. I loved the historical setting, I seem to be developing an obsession with books set in 18th/19th century Scotland and England thanks to the large amount of historical fiction I've been wading through lately.

This novel is an amazing accomplishment. I read erotica because it's hot and I generally ignore the story as a rule, but the incredible way the author wove the characters' backstories into the central plot had me on the edge of my seat wanting to know the truth about what happened before and where the plot will take us next. So, so very highly recommended!

( )
  emleemay | Mar 30, 2013 |
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Fiction. Romance. Historical Fiction. HTML:

It is a dark era, and a lusty lass will do what she must to survive. Even if it means bartering flesh for a palmful of coins...

Forced to watch her mother burn at the stake as a witch, Jessie Taskill was separated from her siblings in the aftermath. Jessie is similarly gifted, ripe with a powerful magic that must stay hidden. When she's accused by a rival of witchcraft, Jessie finds herself behind prison walls, awaiting certain death with a roguish priest unlike any man of the cloth she has known.

In reality, Gregor Ramsay is as far from holy as the devil himself, but his promise of freedom in return for her services may be her salvation. Locked into a dubious agreement, Jessie resents his plan to have her seduce and ruin his lifelong enemy. Especially when Gregor's lust for her is so compelling. She may agree to be his pawn...even as she plots to use him just as he is using her.

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