I am so excited to talk about my new release from Samhain, A KING UNDONE. It’s the first of my Noble Pleasures series, which I would describe as being a classic historical romance—with a huge male/male twist. Imagine….say, Lisa Kleypas or Julia Quinn or even Jane Austen. But in an alternative world where men can openly court and marry other men. Picture your favorite storybook historicals, turned on their heads!
The obvious question is, how did I arrive at such an alternative world? At an inversion of the classic romances so many of us cut our teeth on as romance readers. Honestly? My greatest passion has always been the classic romances of Loretta Chase, Laura Kinsale…and even the more recent authors like Sarah Maclean and Jennifer Ashley. So, I’ve kept asking myself: “Where would men fit into that world? If they could openly court one another?”
It was a question I could never let go. And thus I arrived at the Noble Pleasures, and set this world against a backdrop most clearly resembling early Victorian England. Don’t look to see if that fact echoes too precisely in A KING UNDONE. For instance, Julian, the love servant who becomes Arend’s concubine, is from a land called Agadir. Well, that would be a loose translation of France. But the “royal provinces” where this story is set? I would describe it as a morph of Cornwall and Monaco. That’s the beauty of writing an alternative world—you can make it whatever you want. So, picture Arend’s palace as having both dramatic, dangerous cliffs and also leafy palms and sand.
Why have I have created the world of the Noble Pleasures? Because as a reader of classic historical romance, I wanted to read about men with men—yet not have the strictures of legal action. I wanted—and did—imagine that men could court men in the haut world of the ton. I imagined this world, one where men could openly court one another, and the worst repercussions might be issues of lineage and heirs. Or…even worse? That a king, with rebellion afoot and forces seeking to dethrone him, might do the unthinkable: follow the path of his own heart.
I hope you’ll read A KING UNDONE, and dive into this world of mine, where men scramble for places on one another’s ivory dance cards—even as their papas maneuver to make lasting matches among men who love and prefer other men.
Blurb: Sometimes you have to risk everything, to follow your heart…
In a world where gentlemen openly court and marry fellow noblemen, the threat of scandal still lurks behind every velvet drape for kings and princes. Such has been the fate for King Arend Tollemach, forced to sacrifice his heart on the altar of regal duty.
Now that his wife is dead and his royal obligations are at an end, he’s ready to take an unthinkable risk. King Arend seeks a concubine from Temple Sapphor, a secretive, gated world where he will finally shed his virginity—as least as it pertains to making love to a man.
Julian never thought he’d spend ten years on the temple shelf, passed over again and again. Just when he despairs of ever finding placement in a nobleman’s bed, Arend walks into the temple. A lonely eyed, beautiful king who could easily steal his heart.
Arend discovers he has no problem opening his bed to the exquisite concubine. The problem lies in finding the key to his long-shuttered heart.
Warning: Contains a beautiful, virgin king desperate to bed another man, a concubine who fantasizes about being claimed and revered by a strong monarch, and a sea of scandal set against a sensual, palatial backdrop.
Buy Links: Samhain | Amazon
About the Author: Cooper Davis first discovered the allure of m/m storytelling when she watched My Beautiful Launderette with a college roommate. Later, her passion for stories about men falling in love and finding their HEA together was stoked by online slash fiction. After years as an avid fan of m/m and slash, Cooper finally decided to try her hand at penning her own stories about same-gender romance and love.
A voracious reader across all subgenres of m/m fiction, Cooper is particularly fond of courtships set against the breathless backdrop of scandal and intrigue found in period drawing rooms. She is thrilled that her first historically themed m/m romance series debuts this December with A KING UNDONE (Samhain).
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Count me in! I’d love to have the chance to read it. =)
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I already have it, but haven’t read it yet. It sounds wonderful, and I couldn’t resist the cover. :-)
The premise sounds unique and interesting. I’ve added it to my wishlist.
I would love to read this book. It looks very interesting!