Though the book was first published in 2015, this review is for the Audiobook from NetGalley which was released in Feb. 2024.

The two main characters, Ivy and Julian, are brought together by the tragic passing of Ivy’s cousin who is also Julian’s wife.
The two have an intense attraction to one another and the story plays out from there.
It gives Bridgerton meets Beauty and the Beast vibes. Overall it was spicy, suspenseful and entertaining.

<i>I received an ALC of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.</i>

You know, I’m not typically one for historical romances. I’ve tried many times to read them and it just doesn’t do it for me I guess. However, I guess Sierra Simone can write absolutely in whatever genre and I’ll probably read it.

Ivy and Julian have some delicious, naughty, and hot chemistry. I am very smitten with these two and I can’t wait to see where things go between them and how the rest of the series unfolds.

I very much enjoyed this hot and steamy historical romance and I seriously can’t wait to read/listen to the next book.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I loved loved loved the narration. The narrator has a FANTASTIC voice and I loved her accent too.

I don’t have much to say about the plot. It is a good listen for when you are working and just want to listen to an audiobook. Pretty spicy and the plot twist was good although it was quite predictable. Would recommend if you’re into that kinda books!

ps: no pregnancies in the end <3

Thank you to NetGalley for an ALC of this book.

This audiobook had everything. Sierra Simone is my go to for stories that draw you in and hold on until the end. Amazing conflict. Interesting, well developed characters. Lots of spice. Mystery. Great writing. A wonderful narrator. I loved everything about this audiobook. I was glued to listening to this book. I can't wait to jump into the next one to hear the rest of the story. Huge thanks to Netgalley and the audiobook publisher for allowing me to listen and review this book.

Ivy is taken in by her cousin’s widower, Julian Markham, following her brother’s death. She’s young and innocent and Julian is dark and possessive.

This is a spicy historical romance with a bit of a suspense plot. There’s a total of 5 novellas in this series with Ivy’s story concluding by the 3rd novella. The last 2 are about characters you meet in this one. I really enjoyed Zara Hampton-Brown as the narrator. If you are looking for a quick and easy listen, check this out. All of the audios are available on Hoopla.

Thank you to NetGalley, Dreamscape Select and No Bird Press LLC for the free audiobook.

This was a very fast moving story and easy read. Our main characters wasted no time getting physical, and the angst between them was definitely felt through the pages. The virginal maiden and the forbidden, older, jaded estate owner? You don’t get a more perfect match in my opinion! I think Ivy was a very strong and spirited character and Julia was definitely dark and broody which is usually my kryptonite, but for some reason I just didn’t feel a strong connection with them or between them. I definitely plan on reading the second book because I did enjoy all the mystery surrounding Julian’s late wives, and I’m hoping it will help me feel a deeper pull toward and between these characters!

Historical romances are not typically my bag, but this...THIS. Sierra Simone is a staple in my corner when it comes to erotica and since she writes across mutliple settings and character types, the fun is nearly endless.

19 year old Ivy Leavold is virginal, oprhaned, and homeless and has been sent to live with 30-something year old Mr. Markham. He's a little rough around the edges but he's so sexy that Ivy is almost able to overlook his dark side. Almost. Because he does have secrets and one of those secrets seems dangerous enough to erase her from the planet.

The spicy scenes in this one are, like all of Sierra's spicy scenes, ridiculously sensual and beautifully rendered. The emotions wrapped up in this relationship are complex and angsty and riddled with sex. Definitely NSFW but still very beautiful.

The Awakening of Ivy Leavold is a fascinating historical romance with dark undertones, an air of mystery, and a heroine who is exploring attraction and passion for the first time. It feels a bit like a sexy Jane Eyre situation.

Ivy, after the unexpected death of her brother, is forced to depend on the kindness of her late cousin's widower. Turns out he's a smoke-show with some very specific predilections in the bedroom, and she is all too happy to join him in those specific explorations, despite the rumors circulating that he killed both her cousin and the wife he had before her as well.

If you like dark-ish romances, with morally-grey characters, definitely pick this one up. Zara Hampton-Brown is one of my favorite narrators, and she brings Ivy and the other characters to life beautifully. Thank you to Dreamscape Audio for my ALC.

I thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook. Some of the character were unlikable but I found them to be more mischievous and devious, rather than evil. This is the first book in a series and I look forward to the volumes that come next.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The book was first published in 2015, but this review is for the Audiobook which was released in Feb. 2024.

Hot! Whew. Someone get me a spray bottle.

This short novella is as steamy as it gets. yes, I was looking for something like Jane Eyre with a lot of spice, and boy did this deliver. Admittedly, I don't think I realized it was erotica when I requested it, or when I started listening to it on my commute into work. But a lot of stuff happens in the first hour and by the time I got to work, I realized what I was listening to (and needed a cold shower).

I will say that while the book is entertaining, and completely silly at times, I totally enjoyed it. I liked Ivy and Julian both separately and together. Usually there's one character you gravitate towards more, but I think both contained multiple layers and motivations. I especially like how brave Ivy is. She is no wallflower.

The narrator is very very good. Her voice is smooth and even, full of passion and emotion. She really made the book for me, like a girlfriend was telling me her secrets.

There are some things that happen between the characters that I feel are a little too far fetched, but overall, it was a lot of fun and very sexy.

I loved this book I love how the characters were built and the unpredictable twists and turns the story took. I liked that I wasn’t able to predict some of the twists this story took all the while being a page turner. I finished this book in one day and it was well worth it. I can’t wait to read the next book

I typically enjoy a historical adult romance, I've also previously read a Sierra Simone book and enjoyed it. I don't know even where to begin with how I feel about this book. I understand this was a short book so everything was going to be rushed, but the absolute jump of trying to protect Ivy's virtue and keep her innocent to literally allowing 13 people to finger, lick, and touch her while also never asking for her consent before hand or even asking what she was comfortable with strangers doing was just WILD to me. Absolutely no discussion of consent for what he allowed to happen during the blind mans bluff game, and also how do you say you want to keep some one innocent then invite a bunch of sex crazed fanatics over to the house in hopes they will somehow keep you from tarnishing her virtue. How does that make a lick of sense. The that CLIFF HANGER just an absolute abrupt ending I was flabbergasted. There was a good story in here if you took out the blind mans bluff game and maybe not such an abrupt ending, but this book had me astonished at how they tried to use historical society standards but modern day sexuality all at once and at the pace of the speed of light.

This novella was a surprise, I really enjoyed the palate cleanser if you will, between books. I didn't realize this was part of an installment of series for Ivy Leavold. I'm curious where they lead, since underneath the seduction in these books there is a plot line that dabbles into crime. I haven't read many time period pieces of romance so that was an interesting take and quite a scandalous look into it. I did find the main heroine fun to follow, as she stands out, and I would look forward to seeing where the journey leads her into solving the crime of her cousins murder.

The narrator did a thorough job committing to character voices, including Ivy's but it fell a little short for me for Julian, it was gruff and harsh and sometimes had me rolling my eyes when it was combined with the dialogue he sometimes spewed.

Thank you to Dreamscape Select, No Bird Press LLC, and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

One POV but let me tell you the narrator is amazing in both MMC and Female in both Spicy and regular scenes. Overall I needed more from the plot and the story! I need the second book in the series like now! This was so good if you like Bridgerton, Julia Quinn, Beverly Jenkins stuff along those lines you will love this book. 5 stars! The plot was "plotting" and the twists and turns this was the best kind of slow burn and then hot and heavy. This narrator did so good her voice is like silk it's so smooth.

Not a bad start

As someone who has read many of this authors other work, this is the first time I've dipped my toes into the historical times of her work. This has a classic SS feel, spicy in a way that only she delivers and with a couple you can see are going to have many twists and turns to come. As someone who isn't obsessed with historical romances I dunno when I'm gonna pick up the next book, but I will be for sure.

I enjoyed this audiobook quite a bit. The narrator was good in the different roles, which is always nice but especially for erotica, which can come off uncomfortable if the narration isn't on point. The story does feel like it ends quite abruptly, but I understand it's setting up for the next installment. Overall very fun, spicy read - looking forward to the next book.

“𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐟*𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠,” 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐲. 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐚𝐰 𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐥 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝.

“𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮,” 𝐈 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝.

This review is for the Audio version of this book that I received from NetGalley for this review.

First of all, this book is hot. It's exactly what I've come to expect from Sierra Simone's books.

Ivy Leavold is orphaned and penniless and goes to live with her dead cousin's husband, Julian Markham. Julian is dark and intense and the tension between them builds and builds until it snaps.

And Ivy is quite happy to just give herself over body and mind without a second thought. (Perhaps she needed a third and fourth before she jumped in headfirst)

I quite liked that we meet some of his horny friends, and there is a pseudo orgy scene, though we get the particulars from Markham as he tells Ivy who is blindfolded.

This book is short and maybe that's why I felt like I needed MORE. More depth, more character development, more substance. However, I do believe the series as a whole is going to feel like a complete book, and I'll get more of that later. It felt very erotic Jane Eyre with the moody english setting and grieving MMC.

For the audio book itself, I thought the narrator did a fine job. Though because it's told from Ivy's POV, we only have the one narrator and her "man voice" made me cringe every time Markham had a speaking line. It was really bad. But the overall story telling was fine.

3.25 Stars

Thank you Dreamscape Select for sending an early copy of this audiobook for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

This is a novella, seemingly one third a story. It cut off suddenly at the end without resolving anything. It would be more accurately be described as Markham Hall part one not book one. So I’m reviewing it as part of a book. For the first third of a historical fiction erotica mystery romance story, it’s quite good. The mystery is well set up. The reader is shown suspects. The spicy scenes were part of the plot. This feel like Simone was going for erotica meets Wuthering Heights.

I listened to the audio narration. I think the narrator did quite well. Her voice is perfect for Ivy, and I liked her voices for all of the other characters except the MMC, Julian Markham.

I went into this without any idea what the book was about. I really like the author and the narrator so went in blind.
Wow. What a great decision that was. A dark gothic historic romance with strong murder mystery subplot. I was hooked from the first couple chapters and it only gripped me more from there.
I’m going to keep this review spoiler free but I enjoyed the main character and her development and growth, I can’t wait to see more of this in the next instalments.
The spice was surprising, which doesn’t happen often to me anymore - haha. I am a fairly seasoned spice reader at this point and to have it twist into something unexpected was great.
Zara Hampton-Brown did a super job voicing this book.
I didn’t know it was a series going in but am immediately going to go pick up the rest as I need to know more!!!!

This audio was amazing! The posh British accent was delightful (especially in reference to some of the steamier scenes) and kept me engaged the entire time. The slow seduction of Ivy was well done. I felt Rebecca / Jane Eyre vibes just more erotic and I am here for it!