Book 92: My True Love Gave To Me by Ava March

Yet another m/m Christmas book, but this one is a Regency! It was fine, although I have to say that I want more Christmas flavor from my holiday-themed romances than this one provided. Thomas and Alexander meet at Oxford and begin a secret affair. It isn't Alexander's first experience with another man, but Thomas is new to it all, and having a hard time coming to terms with his desires for me. Alexander sets up a special night for the two of them at his father's empty hunting lodge, but at the last moment Thomas panics and leaves Alexander there and then flees to New York for four years. Now he's back in London and hoping for a second chance.

This book is fine for what it is, which is basically a long drawn out question of "can Alexander forgive Thomas for hurting him deeply over something that is a rational concern and dilemma for a gay man in the early 19th century?" There's no misunderstanding or explanation that can make it hurt less, or be less understandable in many ways, so it's just a matter of seeing how and why Alexander can forgive him, and whether they've both matured in ways that make a second chance seem plausible. The book mostly succeeds, in that I'm happy enough as a reader to believe that this time these two crazy kids will make it, but the resolution winds up feeling just a bit too easy, in the end.

Grade: B