Blurb: Rosa Collins was only sixteen when she received a vision telling
her of her future husband. Knowing that her husband would be Lucas, the
Bishop's son, and future Bishop of Green Valley, both thrilled and terrified
her. They were a match made in heaven, she knew, perfect for each other.But becoming the Bishop's Wife is harder than Rosa anticipated. She struggles to transform herself into the perfect Bishop's Wife that her husband needs.
Lucas misses the real Rosa. Somewhere between getting married, and becoming the future Bishop's wife, his beloved wife has lost part of herself. Lucas knows that a good, old fashioned spanking is exactly what Rosa needs to help her find balance in her unrealistic expectations of what the perfect wife should be. But, try as he might, that balance doesn't come easily for Rosa, and it certainly didn't help that her high school nemesis kept popping up and making trouble.
Will Lucas help her realize that all he wants is for his wife to be happy? Can Rosa pull herself together enough to become the Bishop's First Wife?
1. As I said in my review of this book for Spanking Romance Reviews, Rayanna
Jamison has a knack for writing sweet, non-erotic spanking romance with
likeable characters and enough hints of passion that you can use your
imagination to fill in the details. In fact, I found the references to modesty
in dress and behavior to be refreshing and sort of sexy. How about you? Did you miss the explicit sex?
2. In the polygamist community where this story is set, a girl will have a dream or be lead to know the name of her future husband. She then prays about it and eventually goes to the Bishop to tell him who she believes is to be her husband. In this story, Rosa has a dream and realizes the name of her future husband when she's sixteen. But girls cannot court or make their future husband announcements until they are eighteen. For two years, she keeps this secret. Would you be able to keep a secret that long? How about when you were sixteen? Is there a difference between keeping a secret that is about you vs. sharing a juicy tidbit about someone else?
3. There were religious references in this book: the herione studied the Bible, the hero went to seminary, and there was prayer. For you, did this add to or detract from the story?
4. My only exposure to polygamy has been the TV show Sister Wives. It became such a disaster that I stopped watching a couple years ago. What about your? Do you watch any reality shows about plural marriage? How did this book compare?
5. It's difficult for a writer to come up with infractions which deserve discipline but are not so egregious as to make the heroine unlikeable. In this book, Rosa gets her first spanking for eavesdropping. Do you think that is significant enough to warrant punishment?
1) Thank you! Hmmm. This is a hard question for me to answer. I don't miss explicit sex, in my own books or others, and it seemed appropriate NOT to have it in these books because they are in a religious community, and when you deal with multiple women, and it's not menage, it just seemed safer to keep it out. There is a sex scene in this one, because it's just the two of them, not other wives yet, but it's not explicit.
ReplyDelete2)OMG- I would not be able to keep a secret like that for so long! I'm horrible at secrets, especially my own, and especially happy ones that have to do with weddings or babies or happy things!
3)I really hope people answer this, because I am curious to know what they say. For me, I don't mind religious references in a book, especially if it's in a religious community that practices DD as a whole. I think it's realistic to expect that there will be some. There was prayer or reference to it in each of the books in this series. For me, though, I get squeamish when actual scripture is brought into play. That's a whole other thing IMO.
4)Before I moved to Utah, I watched a half season of sister wives. Then i quit. Then I moved to Utah and learned about many different polygamous sects in my area. I watched Breaking the Faith, and Polygamy USA which both showcase different sects in my area. The idea of the women "choosing" their husband is actually a true belief of the sect featured in Polygmay USA. As is everything else in my books. They dress modestly, they do drink alcohol, but not coffee. And they do keep it a secret if they receive a vision before they are 16. I found that show and sect fascinating, and I do recommend it.
5) I'm not sure how to answer this. She didn't get punished for eavesdropping. She got warned about it, which served as a segway to their own DD discussion. Although he did warn about it, i don't think he would actually punish over eavesdropping, at least not in that case. As he pointed out, they were speaking unnecessarily loudly.
I agree since there are mutlipe women but not a menage, then showing sex between the husband and more than one wife could be problematic.
DeleteInteresting about actual scripture being used, but yes, I agree, It could smack of people like Warren Jeffs who misquote the Bible for their own perversions.
I like the fact that the women have a vision of who their husband is to be vs. the men choosing. I wonder if anyone is tempted to lie about who they think their husband is supposed to be?
I might have a plan to cover that question in my next book, Celeste ;)
DeleteSo, thanks Ms. Jones and Ms. Jamison for the Q & A. Straight off I'll admit to not having read the Bishop's book. However, I did read a Perfect Partnership. I'm male; I'm led to believe most DD readers are female so I know you are writing for them for the most part. From my perspective:
ReplyDelete1) I don't want to read 37 pages of relentless detail of every lick of every lip, no matter how intimate the lip.
2) No opinion.
3) I get a lot of enjoyment in reading about people who live their faith (E.g. Amish theme books) but very little - actually, less than zero - enjoyment reading about men who use the scriptural texts of any religion to justify men ruling women.
While I'm 100% certain that - on average - men and women are genetically, emotionally and behaviorally different -- no one person should be subjected to domination / protection based on averages. "Consent" is the key. If my fantasy world were the real world, some women are and should be Dommes or HoH.
Whether getting the TiH to accept DD at first requires some non-consensual CP ... is part of the creative process.
All of which is to say that I liked the amount of religion in a Perfect Partnership while detesting other books that promote Christian DD. Religion is a tough self and ... my views on what is and isn't acceptable may easily not represent the market you are aiming at.
4) Polgamy and what is the reverse - polyandry? - are theoretically fine with me; the problem is finding a way to make the choice of who to marry a power exchange, rather than a way for men to have multiple child bride slaves.
5) I'll pass. I'm not creative. This is why I appreciate writers of all genres who write about characters that I can grow to care about. Where the book is on the spectrum of mild to harsh punishments is much less important for me than the concept that ultimately there is a level of fairness, understanding and justice ... and a learning curve. Heroines TDTL are awful, as are men who punish by mistake and then don't grow / learn / repent / perhaps suffer as a result.
Thank you both for being creative writers.
Hi Jon! Thanks for stopping by! We don't often get a man's perspective so I hope you'll come back often. We're here every Friday.
DeleteThanks for stopping by Jon!
DeleteI see trouble ahead. The First wife is happy. Now there appears to be a second wife and not a nice one. It will be interesting to see where this goes. Hopefully I'll find out soon
ReplyDeleteWhen you read the book, feel free to come back and let us know what you think. Thanks for stopping by Laurel!
DeleteI really enjoyed this book when I read it.
ReplyDeleteI liked the sweetness, and it did not detract from the story at all. :)
LOL, about secrets. I don't think I could keep something that huge- for two years. No way! :)
The biblical and religious stuff was fine for me. It fit in perfectly with the story, and I enjoyed it.
I don't watch very much tv, and I do not watch any polygamy or reality shows.
I used to watch Survivor and Dancing With the Stars :)
Great book club today, ladies
:)
I watch way too much TV. Maybe that's why my productivity as a writer is down. :)
DeleteThank you Katherine!, Thanks for coming by!
DeleteI should answer my own questions!
ReplyDelete1. No, I didn't miss it. It seemed to suit the story just the way it was.
2. I'm a horrible gossip and love juicy tid bits (I am working on it, really) so I'd have a very hard time not running off to tell someone a secret about someone else. I might, maybe, be able to keep one that is about me. Nah...I'd have to at least tell someone. :)
3. I agree with others...it fit with the story. It wasn't heavy handed and was consistent with the nature of the story.
4. As I said, I used to watch Sister Wives but it sort of makes me wretch, not the polygamy but the "husband" who is selfish and mean.
5. I got this wrong in the question...but I thought that eavesdropping was an interesting topic for them to discuss, especially since she was going to be married to the bishop.