Note: I know the author of this book socially.
This is yet another m/m regency romance that I've owned for years but somehow never got around to actually reading. The story revolves around Isaac, who has come for his first Season before attending Cambridge. He is staying with his patron Lord Edmund Bancroft, whose dearest friend Gideon is a fairly indiscreet molly boy. Edmund has promised Isaac's father that he will help Isaac find a bride, but that isn't the life Isaac envisions for himself.
One of the more unusual aspects of this book is that I genuinely had no idea what the final pairing (or pairings) would be most of the way through the book. At the beginning of the story, Gideon has been holding a torch for his old friend Edmund for many years, but he's also quite taken with Isaac from their first meeting. Isaac idolizes Edmund while finding Gideon rather intriguing. And Edmund is a bit of a mess, emotionally, and seeks out other male partners while avoiding anything close to real intimacy for as long as he can.
Eventually that resistance has to break, and when it does (and how) results in a fairly madcap final act that includes kidnappings and false marriages and even a Lady Catherine de Bourgh-esque appearance. I would have liked the emotional arcs for the main characters to be a bit clearer, and I wasn't sure exactly how much of a fantasy version of the regency the setting was intended to be, but in the end I felt that the right couple got their happy ending.
Grade: B
This is yet another m/m regency romance that I've owned for years but somehow never got around to actually reading. The story revolves around Isaac, who has come for his first Season before attending Cambridge. He is staying with his patron Lord Edmund Bancroft, whose dearest friend Gideon is a fairly indiscreet molly boy. Edmund has promised Isaac's father that he will help Isaac find a bride, but that isn't the life Isaac envisions for himself.
One of the more unusual aspects of this book is that I genuinely had no idea what the final pairing (or pairings) would be most of the way through the book. At the beginning of the story, Gideon has been holding a torch for his old friend Edmund for many years, but he's also quite taken with Isaac from their first meeting. Isaac idolizes Edmund while finding Gideon rather intriguing. And Edmund is a bit of a mess, emotionally, and seeks out other male partners while avoiding anything close to real intimacy for as long as he can.
Eventually that resistance has to break, and when it does (and how) results in a fairly madcap final act that includes kidnappings and false marriages and even a Lady Catherine de Bourgh-esque appearance. I would have liked the emotional arcs for the main characters to be a bit clearer, and I wasn't sure exactly how much of a fantasy version of the regency the setting was intended to be, but in the end I felt that the right couple got their happy ending.
Grade: B
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