I really enjoyed this historical romance. I voluntarily chose to review it and I've given it a 4.5* rating. This story pulled me in from the first and kept me interested the whole time. There was a bit of back and forth on the hero and heroine but once it's straightened out, other factors took over. Nice ending too.
I really enjoyed this read. It has a lot of twists and surprises that show things aren't always what it seems. Julian Hesham the Marquis of Alston the heir of his father the Duke is fifteen when we meet him and he is out of hand and his father wants to send him on tour but is afraid he'll do something stupid just to make him angry like marry someone unsuitable, He decides to marry him off to a respectable girl of his class before he goes and picks twelve year old Deborah. Since she has been plied with a sleeping drug before the marriage she has no memory of it after it takes place. Young Julian is rushed abroad and Deborah goes on to grow up none the wiser....until Julian comes back to London with a bad reputation and a bride that doesn't know him and thinks he's a rake. He tries to win her by not telling her who he is. The story goes off into many directions and there are a lot of good side characters.
For some reason when I read books in a series like this, with each friend finding his mate, I feel like I have to choose my favorite. I think Ben and Cavin will probably remain my favorites, but Oscar and Julian were pretty great.
Oscar is the sweetest guy. He’s always smiling and happy. He’s spent a lot of his life alone, so his top priority is being social. He loves going out and being with people. The problem is that he’s filthy rich. People have a tendency to use him for his money, privilege, and status. He’s never minded very much because everyone got what they wanted. That is, until he met Julian. Julian came back to London with the intention of marrying himself into society. He wants to be part of the ton. He’s spent most of his life listening to whispers about his gambling father and being cut by his peers. He believes if he can find a wealthy wife, he can buy his way to happiness. When he meets Oscar he suspects he’s found someone who shares his attraction for the same sex. Soon he finds that Oscar might also be his ticket to getting in with society.
Julian can be a little difficult to like, at first. He’s so blinded by his plan to marry rich, he has a hard time seeing what’s right in front of him. Obviously, being with Oscar won’t fix his monetary problems. It takes a huge mistake and an enormous fight with Oscar to make him understand how important making it on his own is. I felt like that part of the story was a little rushed. One minute he was too worried about his reputation to think of Oscar’s feelings; the next minute he was flipping out about his relationship with Oscar and seeing the error of his ways. It was a little convenient. It actually took a little more time than that, but the book skips over that period of miserable waiting. A peek into that part of the story might have made the overall story a little stronger.
All in all, I really loved this book. It was almost as good as the last. This is possibly a little spoilery, but I really loved when Julian found out about Ben and Cavin. I’d been hoping all the guys would figure out they’re all gay. They’re all trying so hard to hide it that they’re even careful of speaking to each other about it. I definitely recommend this series to anyone who likes MM. Start with My True Love Gave to Me. I still haven’t read it, but that’s the prequel short.
I love historical romance and I love MM romance. Put them together? Yes, please! This is actually a re-read. Ava March was just on my mind and I decided I would pick this series back up and read through it. I get so into her historical MM books, that I just can’t stop reading. I could read them all in one sitting if I had the time.
In a time when status was everything, being gay was dangerous. Just to throw a little history your way, it wasn’t until 1861 that England abolished the death sentence for sodomy. They decided 10 years in prison was more appropriate. According to the synopsis, Ben and Cavin’s story takes place in the 1820s. The possibility of death is there, though I think that punishment was more often enforced on poor men who found themselves in bad situations than rich men in serious relationships. My understanding is that gay men were safe, for the most part, as long as they kept their relationships secret. That’s the kind of world Ben and Cavin are dealing with. For Ben, he’s content to be himself and be with Cavin. He does understand the importance of secrecy, but he’s accepted his attraction to men and prefers to embrace it. Cavin, too, is very sure of who he is and the fact that he’s attracted to men. His issues have much more to do with Ben’s status than anything else. Cavin has spent his entire life being told that he’s nothing, and he almost believes it. His struggles are less with himself as a gay man and more with himself as man with nothing who came from nothing (at least, by society’s standards). I think the notion that Ben would care so much for someone like Cavin could have been unrealistic. It wasn’t, though. Ben is the type of man who cares about everyone. Even when he talks of his reasons for not marrying, he makes it sound as if it’s more for the lady’s sake than his.
“That would be cruel, condemning some poor woman to a husband who can’t feel true attraction toward her… I plan to remain a bachelor indefinitely.”
Such a gentleman! March did such a great job writing a character with the caring, sweet personality required to make that sort of leap. It probably helps that Ben went through the doubt and confusion of feel “other” around other boys. I guess I should talk about what you’re really interested in: the sexy times. Together, Ben and Cavin are passionate and sweet all at once. They burn up the sheets with intense sex scenes, but there’s a kind of tenderness between them that draws them closer to each other. They find a kind of intimacy with each other that makes them such a great couple.
I loved this book, and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys MM romances. Keep a lookout for my upcoming reviews of the rest of the series.
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