Oh look, it's a KJ Charles book that I really enjoyed, imagine that!
This is a standalone regency romance with a framing device I found quite clever - one of the two main characters, Theo, is a writer of romantic melodramas, and the story itself fits within that genre. The characters have an awareness of that at times, but it never collapses under the weight of the meta, and the central love story is charming and compelling.
In addition to writing novels, Theo also runs the equivalent of a personal ads publication. One of the people using his service is the daughter of the former master of Martin St. Vincent, a black man who had been freed by his owner at the age of eighteen. His former master asked him to put a stop to the romance between his daughter and an unknown man, and Martin then enlists Theo's assistance in this matter.
One of the things I love about KJ Charles's books is that she writes historical romances that don't gloss over the realities of an earlier era in order to give the reader a nice romance. Instead she works within that reality to show us a more complete picture while also giving characters we don't often focus on - a free black man and a working class white man in a big financial bind - a chance for a believable and satisfying happy ending. All this while crafting a romance that's well-explored and very sexy. I always feel like I'm getting the chance to read something brand new from her that also scratches the romance itch. I am already looking forward to my first reread of this book.
Grade: A
This is a standalone regency romance with a framing device I found quite clever - one of the two main characters, Theo, is a writer of romantic melodramas, and the story itself fits within that genre. The characters have an awareness of that at times, but it never collapses under the weight of the meta, and the central love story is charming and compelling.
In addition to writing novels, Theo also runs the equivalent of a personal ads publication. One of the people using his service is the daughter of the former master of Martin St. Vincent, a black man who had been freed by his owner at the age of eighteen. His former master asked him to put a stop to the romance between his daughter and an unknown man, and Martin then enlists Theo's assistance in this matter.
One of the things I love about KJ Charles's books is that she writes historical romances that don't gloss over the realities of an earlier era in order to give the reader a nice romance. Instead she works within that reality to show us a more complete picture while also giving characters we don't often focus on - a free black man and a working class white man in a big financial bind - a chance for a believable and satisfying happy ending. All this while crafting a romance that's well-explored and very sexy. I always feel like I'm getting the chance to read something brand new from her that also scratches the romance itch. I am already looking forward to my first reread of this book.
Grade: A
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