Beyond Shame is an erotic romance novel set in a dystopian time. When Noelle Cunningham is exhiled from rich, posh Eden by her parents she had no idea how much her life would change – for the better. She is rescued by Jasper, on of the met of the O’Kane clan and she quickly gets drawn into his world. For the first time in her life she knows what it is like to feel – and she has to find her own way in this new life.
This was a really good book, one of the better erotic romances I have read. Most of the erotic romances I have read so far have very little plot and a lot of sex scenes. And there is nothing wrong with that, I love to read a good sex-filled book. But I also love a good story and this book combined both. The characters are complex and well developed, especially Noelle. The romance between Jasper and Noelle is believable and built up with great tension so the end of the book feels like a well deserved conclusion.
Noelle is very naive and innocent in the beginning of the book, aware of her sexual desires but unable to reconcile her new sexual side with her very conservative upbringing. Throughout the book she grows into a self assured woman who knows what she wants – at least in the bedroom. Her transformation feels real and it is really sexy to see her discover her lust and desire. Her sexual transformation is not only a revelation to Noelle, but also to the reader.
There is a lot of violence in the book and the O’Kane women submit themselves to their men by being marked by tattoos. Submission like that is not my thing, but the way it is described in the book – and the reasons why Noelle wants to submit fully to Jasper – sort of makes sense to me. I guess that is the skill of the author: to make something unfamiliar understandable.
There are many more books in the series and I am not sure I will read them all, but I will read some more if they are all as well written as this one.