An F/F/M erotic historical romance with forbidden love, exploration and desire. What will happen when a young virgin is set to marry a stranger, will her lessons from her ward help her in the marital chamber?

Lady Janet Fraser craves pleasure and when she finds two willing partners to keep her satiated it will be a challenge to not get caught.

Road trips and pining and swordfights—oh my! Nicola Davidson's novellas are always so delightful and the first book in the Highland Ménage duology is no different.

Scandalous Passions follows Lady Janet Fraser, who is being sent away by her lover, the king. She's accompanied by Sir Lachlan Ross and her new ward, Lady Marjorie Hepburn. Janet soon learns that these two require a firm and commanding hand, and she's more than willing to give it to them. Sex education, a hero with a heart of gold, and a dominant heroine afraid of letting her heart open to love—so many things I adore!

I started reading poly romances last year, and loved seeing the way Davidson balanced three characters' journeys and romance. Scottish heroes are often depicted as gruff and grunting, so Lachlan's soft heart and desire to be loved and cared for, made him feel like a breath of fresh air. Meanwhile through Janet, Davidson explores both widowhood and infertility, and through Marjorie the injustice in the ways that women are often made to face punishments based on men's behaviors.

Davidson nicely blends in characters and events from history into this story, which sent me off to research more about King James once I finished reading. Plus Davidson packs in so much about autonomy, consent, and vulnerability in an incredibly steamy story about queer people finding love and joy together. I can't wait to read the next one!

A very well written historical romance. (Please note that the romance is a menage a trois - FFM - and may not be to everyone's taste). I rarely read FFM and this was certainly a different type of romance for me to review.

Set in 1504 Scotland, first at Stirling Castle, the seat of King James IV and then St Andrews, where our trio travel to live. Because the king has recently married, Janet, a widow - his former lover and dearest friend - must leave the castle on the Queen's orders. The King's ward Marjorie has to leave as well, while she waits for a husband to be chosen for her. James selects his favourite knight and good friend Sir Laughlan to act as their protector.

Marjorie has been living in a convent since she was six and Janet decides to instruct her in the art of pleasuring a man, so she knows what to do when her husband is finally chosen for her. Former warrior Laughlin is roped in to help, which he has no problem with. There are lots of steamy romance scenes throughout, involving all sorts of settings and situations and all three start to fall for each other in various degrees. The character development is good.

Historical details are excellent and it's clear the author has done very detailed research on the era re clothing, daily life, speech and has woven in actual historical events. I was really transported back to what I imagine 1504 Scotland might be like and I enjoyed the back story and the court intrigue. The romance between the three is erotic with a hint of BDSM (Domme/Sub), and is very well handled and does not overshadow the very interesting back-story. I really enjoyed this book and my thanks go to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in return for my opinion.

Ahhhhhhh this was just such a wonderful book and I just thoroughly enjoyed myself. I didn’t want to put this book down. I just fell in love with this wonderful story and it’s wonderful characters. I will most definitely be reading more stories from this wonderful author.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this novel!

Rating: 3.5 stars
Rep: x2 bi MCs, polyam romance
Trigger warnings: infertility, violence, sexism, sexual harassment, forced/arranged marriages.

I adore queer historical romance, so when I saw the author talk about "Scandalous Passions" I instantly went over to NetGalley and requested!

This was a super fun, entertaining, steamy and kinky queer romance that I couldn't put down. The relationship development between Lachlan, Janet and Marjorie was really well done on the whole. It helped that this novel was dual perspective, I loved reading from the viewpoint of each character as we could see their personal thoughts and feelings. The romance was a tad rushed but well done, with little misunderstandings between these three as they were very open with each other.

I have absolutely no knowledge of the time in history this novel is set in, but the author highlights the research she did in the acknowledgements!

Overall, a bit overdramatic and unbelievable at times and the characters weren't perfect, but this was a pretty solid romance book and I highly recommend to people that love queer historical novels which are heavy on the steam and romance! I'll definitely be reading more by this author in the future.

Phew--this book! You might want to have a fan and icy cold drink nearby while reading...just sayin' ;)

I haven't really read much about this time period and place (Scotland in the early 1500s, the court of King James IV) but OMG, from this intro to them I'm absolutely going to have to do some research. To describe his court as "wild and bawdy" (as the author does in this interview almost seems an understatement. I mean, OMG.

Lady Janet had been one of James's favorite mistresses, but now that he has a young English wife and needs to keep her family happy (happy wife = positive relations with England) he's sending her away to live on one of his lesser properties. But he's not sending her alone--oh, no. He's sending her with his famed protector, Lachlan AKA the Highland Beast. And that's not all--he's also sending his lovely young virgin ward, Lady Marjorie (who has spent most of her life in a convent--of course! ;)--paying for the sins of her father). He needs Marjorie to be kept safe (and virginal, naturally) until he can figure out who he can marry her to that will benefit him best politically.

Ah, medieval politics. You gotta love 'em.

Honestly, though, he should have known going in that this probably wasn't his best move politically. I mean, he knew Janet. In every sense. And he thought his virgin ward would be safe there...?

I'll say this for Janet, Lachlan, and Marjorie. They tried to keep her technically a virgin. Sort of. Honestly, it was James himself who pushed them over the line--so it's his fault, right? ;)

What I really liked about this book:
- Janet's strength never depended on making others feel less-than
- The focus on consent (not purely a modern construct, surely! With a dominant female, it's especially believable IMHO)
- I loved that the two F's didn't exist in this relationship merely to make the M feel good
- Lachlan's extreme cinnamon roll-ness was delicious
- Yes, there's a lot of sex. But there's a story here too, with characters with complicated pasts who actually talk to each other (eventually, at least--there is a bit of just talk to them already! here but it lasts a reasonable amount of time before the talking happens. And then there's more sex)
- All problems weren't solved by a magic wang in the end

I'd make a list of what didn't work for me, but honestly I can't think what I'd put on it other than having to wait until August for the next one, and that hardly seems fair...

Overall, this was exactly the luxuriously smutty read I really needed this weekend. Scandalous Passions is the first book in Ms Davidson's Highland Menage series--and if the other books are anything like this one, I am so here for them!

Rating: 4 stars / A

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

I enjoyed this super steamy menage romance that is set in the reign of King James IV (late 15th century). Janet was once the mistress of the King but he's married now and she's been tasked with taking care of the King's ward, a virginal young woman, as James figures out whom she should marry. Accompanying them to their new home is a Highland warrior, Lachlan. There is a three way attraction going on between them, such that they eventually end up in bed together. But if the King finds out, it could be danger for them all. The story is enjoyable for many reasons - obviously super sexy but I also really liked the time period which is clearly well researched and the characters themselves. I've enjoyed previous stories by this author, and intend to read more!

Review has been uploaded to Amazon.

I was not as into this book as much as I had hoped. I was not really able to get into the story because I found the characters to unbelievable.

I was so excited for this book! Nicola Davidson knows how to write steamy scenes that don't seem weird or forced. Characters are wonderful and seriously all three together I would for sure watch their reality T.V show!

This is a polyamorous historical romance about Lady Janet, who was mistress to the king, being forced to leave the castle when the King finally marries for politics. He has awarded her a grand estate and she will be accompanied by a ward of the crown, Lady Marjorie, and the most fearsome warrior in Scotland, Lachlan.

I'm quite sad to say that I simply was not a fan of this romance the characters and their relationship did not grip me and some of the sexual euphemisms made me cringe more than they made me swoon which is decidedly not good in an erotic romance. there was alot of "feasting" going on, and much mention of the "pleasure pearl".

Also i disliked the character dynamics in this if I'm being honest. There's a kinky element to this story and Lady Janet is the dominate, but it felt like she would constantly make rules and then break them herself with no regard for how these things would make her partners feel and I just didn't enjoy that. Also the constant discussion of Marjorie's innocence did not work for me, it wasn't sexy I'm sorry. I was really looking forward to this because I've enjoyed works from the author in the past but this simply wasn't for me, not horrible but not great.

I kinda liked this book. It was smutty, which was to be expected. I don't know where I fall with the plot though. It was interesting, but I was not captivated by it. I did like the historical setting of the book. I love historical fiction, and this one did not disappoint on that front.

I really enjoy Nicola Davidson’s work, and she writes very sexy romance, and this one is no exception. A MFF ménage that is beautifully done, in a historical setting.

Janet Fraser is an ex mistress of James IV, a widowed Woman, who is happy to explore her sexuality openly. She is bisexual, and a natural dominant who has had a happy marriage and is cross at being sent away from court because of the foibles of King James new child bride.

The King, who is still. Wary fond of Janet, sends her to St Andrews with his right hand man, the fierce and taciturn Sir Lachlan Ross, also know as The Highland Beast, he has loved Janet for years, but feels unworthy because of his birth and his stammer. When she is aLSo given the wardship of Lady Marjorie Hepburn, traitor’s daughter, who has been locked up in a convent since she was a child, and treated appallingly there and at court, the three of them set off to StAndrews. When the Queen interferes and tries to marry Marjorie off, it threatens their life and intimacy so they come up with a very risky plan to thwart the Queen. Can they succeed and be happy in their unconventional 3 way relationship?

This was a hot a spicy novella, which also developed the characters and their feelings, I enjoyed it a lot. The historical detail was also interesting and accurate and blended fact and fiction very nicely.

I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy of this book and all opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this book. I have never read a 2 female and 1 male romance but I really enjoy it and would definitely continue reading the series and other books like this one.
One thing I enjoyed is that one of the females Lady Janet was the Alpha in the trio. Also I liked that all the characters focused on consent for anything they did.
Each of the characters had their own personal issues that they had and the way the book went to resolving the issues between the characters was great and when you love someone you love all aspects of them no matter what issues they might have.

This was a fun little novella that walked that line between steamy and sweet. Janet Frasier was easily my favorite character of the trio, I love a woman that is unafraid to speak her mind and embrace her sexuality. She also had a fairly complex backstory and characterization, which was impressive considering this is a novella and there are three POVs. However this does leave Lachlan and Marjorie's characters feeling less developed and overall the plot was pretty simplistic. It left me wishing this fleshed out into a full novel rather than a novella, which I suppose in general is a good sign?

When it comes to the triad and femdom aspects I loved it - between the beefy strong man who just wants to submit and the hot for teacher vibes there is some real steam! The development felt fairly natural and there was clear consent established which is really important to me when reading romance in general and especially BDSM (which is fairly light in this book tbh)

I was given an advanced readers copy in exchange for a fair review.

The king has summoned his ward, Marjorie, from the abbey where she was raised, he feels that it is almost time for her to marry, and plans to select a husband for her. At the same time, the king himself has recently married, and his new bride objects to the idea of sharing the castle with the king's mistress. The king decides to send the mistress away, and grants her guardianship of Marjorie. The king also decides to send his best soldier with them to protect them on the long journey. Now, for a convent raised girl, Marjorie has a very fertile imagination, few inhibitions, and insatiable curiosity.
Mayhem and intrigue ensues, as well as a lot of gratuitous scenes of Marjorie being "educated",. Sometimes the scenes felt more like, well x amount of pages have past there should be some action, than a reflection of developing feelings and attraction. Eventually the three of them learn about themselves and each other.I felt Marjorie was the most one dimensional of all the characters. Janet was smart and feisty, yet vulnerable too, as was Lachlan.

Absolutely LOVE LOVE this book !
Told everyone to leave me alone whilst reading it .
Could not put it down.
One of my favourite books :)

Lady Janet Fraser, the former mistress for King James IV, is considered Scotland's most notorious sinner. This is because she often gave in to pleasure, and currently, that would include Sir Lachlan Ross, an intimidating man that has ties to the king. It also winds up including the convent raised Lady Marjorie Hepburn, who wants to be taught everything about the marriage bed. But all three have to answer to the king, so indulging themselves might be politically dangerous as well as emotionally.

I don't often see historical romance threesome novels, so I jumped at the chance to read this one. Janet is confident in herself and her desires, and always stresses consent and mutual pleasures in the bedroom. Her first love was a woman before the king and her marriage, and she has the same "oh no s/he's hot" reaction to both Lachlan and Marjorie. Marjorie is described as her ward, but it's not an official or binding parental relationship between the two. The age gap between them isn't that huge and is something not seriously discussed in the text. This doesn't give off any creepy vibes in the least, not to worry. Even for being convent raised, Marjorie is far too curious about both male and female anatomy, which is what makes the dynamics of this relationship work.

Each of the three has their own insecurities, and become protective of each other in their own way. While Janet is their domme of sorts in the bedroom, it doesn't blind them to the fact that all three of them have to do what the king says or face imprisonment. Even so, they hold fast to their relationship despite the veiled threats lawyers send their way - and the threesome aspect isn't even known! We, of course, get our happily ever after, and I really enjoyed seeing them settle into their triad relationship and work through their individual insecurities.

This new to me author has rise to the ranks of autobuy - and I really do not "do" historical romance anymore. I kinda gave up on menage about a decade ago, but this is menage done right. There are sexy scenes to be sure - it is erotica - but it is erotica done right. The sexy is integral to the story and our understanding of the characters. I can't wait to dive into her backlist.

one thing you can count on nicola davidson for is her kinky historicals. and scandalous passions fits right in with that. the power dynamics in this renaissance menage romance are especially fun to see in play, because most of the stuff that i've read with characters set in this era tend to be very alpha male/borderline misogynistic.

so to have a hero who is both strong and wholly male also be the submissive partner in the bedroom was quite a change-up. as is the case with most erotic romance, this feels a bit light on plot at times, but the chemistry between the leads and the emotional beats the manuscript manages to land make this well worth the read.

**scandalous passions will publish on may 11, 2020. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/entangled publishing in exchange for my honest review.

Nicola Davidson can always be trusted to create extremely sexy stories, and this one—in particular, the dynamic among this trio—does not disappoint. While being steamy, Scandalous Passions also manages to deliver a number of effective emotional beats as well that really make these relationships work. A good combination of fun, sexy, tragic, and sweet.