Veronica by Nattie Jones

Veronica (novella)

Nattie Jones
Historical Romance/Erotica (light BDSM)
Published in 2010

H/h - Jeffrey, the Duke of Durhamshire/Miss Veronica Bridges
Setting: Regency era.

Read in 2013.

My rating:

[spoiler alert]

Veronica by Nattie Jones was my first try of the author’s work, and I’m not really impressed. There are things about the story bothered me a lot even though I read a lot of erotica with light BDSM. I wasn’t fond of the author’s writing either.

This was the story of a lady’s companion, Veronica and her sudden marriage to a Duke based on a mutual desire... spanking.

Veronica, the orphaned and poor daughter of a baron, has been a lady’s companion for a while now. She’s not really fond of her position in life but has resigned to being a spinster and to working for living. But she has this irresistible desire to be spanked... on her bottom. Something she deems someone like her shouldn’t want because it’s probably not ‘normal’. But she can’t help wanting it so, she details her desire in her diary.

When the story begins, Veronica was staying with her employer at the estate of the Duke of Durhamshire. One day, when she goes in the library for some quiet time, Veronica loses her diary. This scene was pretty odd, and confusing. How she just leaves it there, as if to be found by the Duke. Her employer, one of her female friends and the Duke come in the library... and they find the diary together. One of them even starts reading aloud from it! Veronica tries to hide herself in the shadows of the library but the Duke sees her. He also takes the diary from that woman.

After the debacle, Veronica finds herself summarily dismissed because her employer recognized the diary. But the Duke pays a call afterwards, surprising her with a proposal of his own for a marriage based on whatever she wrote in the diary. After all, that was a narrative of THE DUKE spanking her. Oh yes, she’s been fantasizing over the Duke ever since she saw him. What she didn’t know that the Duke has also been attracted to her. Now that they’re given a chance to act on their mutual desire, the Duke will not hear a no. How can Veronica reject such an offer, especially when Jeffrey said that he’s alone?

The Duke, Jeffrey, is tired of mistresses and their demands. Also the fact that he hasn’t found a woman who loves to take spanking the way he wants give it. Veronica seems like a girl after his own heart! And so, soon enough they get married.

The story is told from Veronica’s POV. We find her self-doubting her abilities to act as a Duchess. I thought it was logical. She has acted as a lady’s companion all her life, so on her first day as a Duchess she makes some funny mistakes that only embarrass her at Jeffrey’s home. She’s confused about her new station, and her increased obsession over her husband’s spanking (love making comes second to that, at least that’s how I saw it!).

Veronica also meets Georgette, Jeffrey’s younger sister who is married to Lord Riverchurch. Georgette seems very happy with her life and welcomes Veronica with open arms, though Lord Riverchurch takes a dislike to her on spot. I never really knew why he disliked her. Was it because he knew of Jeffrey’s fetish, since he himself shared the same fetish (once even a mistress too) or was it because she was a lady’s companion?

Later, we find Veronica and Jeffrey acting on their desire. Veronica was to obey his wishes. She’d be spanked for everything; be it something good, or bad... even if its Jeffrey’s fault, she’ll be the one who’d be spanked! Jeffrey was just crazy about naked female ass, especially Veronica’s. Honestly, there were wayyyy too much spanking, peddling going on. I mean I’m not saying spanking is bad but it was just... weird. Veronica craved it, so much so that she’d feel bereaved if Jeffrey didn’t spank her at least once a day! I found that not only Jeffrey and Lord Riverchurch liked it but even Georgette did, though her husband never acted on it, rather preferring a mistress (the jerk!). Both Jeffrey and Lord Riverchurch liked spanking the wayward female servants, something that made me rather uncomfortable.

The servants in general would sometimes be horrified by the way Jeffrey would spank Veronica and make her cry. Of course, they were playing a game that the servants didn’t understand. Neither did I and so, I couldn’t connect with any of the characters. I sometimes found Jeffrey scary because he was too unpredictable. I didn’t know what was ‘game’ and what was ‘real punishment’. He even threatens to bloody her ass in one scene! It might’ve turned Veronica on but me? Nope. I didn’t think any of the scenes were hot. That certainly wasn’t my cuppa. For an erotica, there weren’t even enough hot sex scenes in it.

I found the author’s writing stilted, choppy. The scene sequences didn’t match. Many a times I had to read a paragraph twice or more to get what the hell was happening, ie., in one scene, Veronica was sitting down to read a book. When Georgette came to her for a chat, she ‘puts down her sewing’ to talk to her. Now, when did she pick up sewing instead of the book, I have NO idea. Sometimes I didn’t know if they were in Georgette’s house, or Jeffrey’s townhouse or whatever because nothing was mentioned specifically. Let’s not forget the fact that Veronica was ‘giggling’ constantly!

Another thing I thought rather strange was Veronica’s jealousy of Georgette. Over the course of the story, they spend a lot of time together and talk about spanking quite frankly. That is when Georgette lets Veronica know about her own wishes to be spanked. Then she mentions she has even asked Jeffrey to spank her, though he never did comply with her wishes, to Georgette’s utter disappointment! She asked her own brother to spank her? WTF??! Veronica gets jealous and remains jealous of Georgette and Jeffrey’s relationship most of the story. I understand she wanted Jeffrey all to herself and spank her to smithereens, which is good... for them personally. She doesn’t get jealous of the talks of his mistresses and yet, she’s jealous of Jeffrey’s sister and his affection for her?

I really didn’t know what to think of that.

But, there were times I thought Jeffrey could be sweet (when he wasn’t being a weirdo). The fact that he was totally set on Veronica and scared of losing her was something I liked. Those scenes gave me hopes that this might get better, but sadly, as a whole, it didn’t. And I couldn’t really connect with Veronica. 3 stars.

Here’s something that is stuck with me even now: