Welcome to this week’s edition of the MFRW Book Hooks blog hop. Today I have a quick snippet from The Pornographer’s Apprentice, Book 1 in my series The Toymakers Guild. It’s still on sale for only 99 cents at all outlets – but that special price is only valid for another week or so!
Blurb
She wants to build sex toys... if they'll let her.
In prudish, patriarchal Victorian England, nineteen year old prodigy Gillian Smith finds a secret society dedicated to the erotic arts. She’ll need both her intellect and her physical charms to earn the permanent position she craves.
If you like steam punk erotica with a kinky feminist bent, you'll love The Pornographer's Apprentice.
The Hook
“Hey! You! Where are you going? Come down here this instant!”
With a flash of guilt, Gillian whirled away from the filthy paintings. Two young men stood in the hallway appraising her. She straightened her spine, raised her head high, and descended with as much dignity as she could muster.
“I’m very sorry. I called out, but there didn’t seem to be anyone here.”
“How’d you get in?” asked the dark-haired chap, who didn’t have quite enough flesh on his bones to match his considerable height.
“I entered the passcode.” She couldn’t keep the pride out of her voice.
“What?” the fairer one exploded. “Who told you the code? Have you been spying?”
“I worked it out.” She flashed him a smug smile. “I mean, when I realised that the nautilus was a Fibonacci spiral, it was obvious.”
The two looked at one another, apparently struck dumb with amazement. Finally the lanky one spoke. “To our knowledge, no one has ever guessed the code before.”
“Especially not a girl,” added the other.
“I’m not a girl,” she snapped. “I’m an engineer. And it wasn’t a guess, it was a rational deduction.”
Another period of silence ensued, during which urgent, wordless communication passed between the two. Gillian used the time to examine her interrogators. They appeared to be a few years older than she. Both were casually dressed, in shirt sleeves without any sort of collar or cravat. The shorter, rounder one, in particular, looked rather dishevelled. Both were quite handsome, each in his own way. The skinnier one had jet black hair, intense eyes behind wire-framed spectacles, a prominent nose, and surprisingly sensual lips. His companion had a mop of reddish curls, plump cheeks, twinkling blue eyes and a mouth that reminded her of Lettie’s.
“What are you doing here, anyway?” The dark one pulled a chair from near the wall and straddled the seat, leaning on the back. “Randerley’s not on the tourist circuit.”
“I want to join the Toymakers Guild,” she answered simply.
His eyebrows shot up. “You hear that, Archie? She wants to join the Guild!”
“Indeed, Ian. I hear it but I don’t believe it.” The redhead donned an expression of mock concern. “Young lady, you’d best leave quickly, while your virtue is intact. You have no idea of the wickedness that goes on here.”
“Oh, but I do.” She stalked across over to the entrance, retrieved the catalogue from the table and let the volume fall open randomly. Drawings of naked men and women cavorted on the thick, creamy paper. The women wore extravagant phalluses strapped to their loins. The men had horsetails embedded in their arseholes and leather bits in their mouths. She flipped to the next page, which displayed an artefact resembling a loom, but with gears and dials, tubes and gauges, and a whole row of artificial dicks. On the next page, a life-sized automaton of jointed brass stood waiting to spring into motion. The figure had the face and breasts of a woman, but also sported a substantial leather-clad penis.
“Where’d you get that?” Ian tried to snatch the book away from her, but she managed to elude him. “Only our premier customers receive copies of the catalogue…”
“I presume my uncle must have been a customer at one time.” Indeed, Gillian had often wondered when and how George had acquired the forbidden volume. It must have been before he married her sanctimonious aunt. “In any case, I know about the Guild and what you produce. I want to enrol as an apprentice.”
“Hmm – we don’t have any girls as apprentices.” Ian stressed the inflammatory word, just to annoy her. She restrained herself, with difficulty, from slapping him. After all, she needed the good will of these gentlemen if she was to be accepted. “Girls need to stay pure for their husbands. Here in the Guild we tend to get pretty dirty.”
“I’m anything but pure.” Gillian chuckled. “I probably know more about sex than you do. For example, I’m an expert in tribadism.” As she’d expected, the two looked blank.
Rave Reviews for The Pornographer’s Apprentice
There are many more plot points, but I don't want to spoil your enjoyment of this book. It has varied and steamy sex scenes that will take your breath away, a plucky heroine who doesn't always come out on top (ahem), but who always prevails in her quest to be accepted as a Toymaker. ~ Fiona McGier, Goodreads
With thoughtfully written characters, hot sex scenes, and a well-paced and interesting plot, the Toymaker's Apprentice leaves you asking only one question....when is the next book in the series coming out? ~ The Phantom Tollbooth, Amazon
[A] fast paced, hilarious, and thoroughly entertaining story as Gillian gets intimate with the staff and technology, only to find that there is a plot against the Guild that she takes on to save the day. I can’t wait to read what happens in the next book! ~ Arthur Royo, Amazon
Kinky Literature – https://www.kinkyliterature.com/book/8424-the-pornographers-apprentice-the-toymakers-guild-book-1/
Amazon US – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08MWMZZGP
Amazon UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08MWMZZGP
Smashwords – https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1053072
Barnes and Noble – https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-pornographers-apprentice-lisabet-sarai/1138144978?ean=2940164724573
Kobo – https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-pornographer-s-apprentice-1
Add on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55857159-the-pornographer-s-apprentice
Get your copy of this full length novel, normally $4.99, while it is still on sale! And don’t forget to visit the other authors participating in today’s Book Hooks!
3 comments:
I love this line: “I’m not a girl,” she snapped. “I’m an engineer.
She totally rocks!
Enjoyed the excerpt. She's quite a great character
She wants to be an apprentice, but I think they're going to learn a lot from her. :-)
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