I seem to be in the minority with my assessment of this story. I liked it well enough, I suppose, and I was impressed with the author creating a trans (F2M) character in a historical setting. I liked the inclusion of a fantasy element with Banyn, a fae, and his backstory.

I think this book would have worked better for me if it had been a longer story. While the author created a nice timeline, there seemed to be big jumps in time, that especially in the later years of John's story would have perhaps rounded his character out a bit more. We're told of his struggles, the binding of his chest, the monthly bleeding, and the constant fears of being found out, but we're not shown much of it. The story is written with flashback scenes, while John is on the run, bleeding from a wound, and we get to see the beginning of his relationship with Banyn, the progression of their love, and how he ended up in a penal colony on an island off Australia. 

There's a melancholy undertone to the book, befitting the story, and I thought it was perhaps a bit too depressing to be a Christmas story, even if John gets his wish and his HEA. 

I also quite liked the epilogue - that was a fitting ending to this story. 


** I received a free copy of this book from its publisher in exchange for an honest review. **

I know I'm supposed to have some clever words to write up a review, but I haven't got any.

I can tell you though that if you haven't read this book, you must.

That is all.

Set in the past, when Vikings were still around and the Christian religion was only just taking hold in the Scandinavian lands, two warriors from opposing sides fall for each other. Unfortunately, the dialogue seemed too modern for the times in which this story took place.

Free from the M/M Romance group's Love Is An Open Road event.

My thanks to the author.

Delightful Regency romance between the sophisticated Lord of a manor, and the half-wild ward he inherited with the property. A well-written, smashing bodice-ripper that just happens to be man on man.

And a reminder that there's a thin line between love and hate, indeed.

Well done!

FREE from the M/M Romance group's Love Is An Open Road event.

I am so mad right now, I probably shouldn't write up this review, but I will anyway.

Nowhere in the blurb does it state that this book has a cliffhanger. Nowhere does it state that this book doesn't have a beginning, a middle and an ending. I was admittedly concerned when I opened the file and saw that this was only 82 pages long on my Nook, but I still expected the story, even as a novella, to have somewhat of an ending.

TO BE CONTINUED is NOT an ending. That's just a ploy to get readers to buy your next book in the series as well. So uncool.

Now, for the book itself - while I can't claim to have lived in the time in which this story supposedly takes place, I am fairly certain that the language used here didn't quite fit the times. I also thought that the characterization of Ben was too uneven, and Logan lacked common sense. I don't know what he expected to accomplish by riding in a blaze of glory into a Sioux camp on his own. Seriously, his plan was doomed to fail from the start.

I did appreciate the realistic sounding depiction of the atrocities committed during the Indian Wars, from both sides. The inclusion of the deluded Mormons was also a nice touch - that stuff did happen. The story flows at a fairly rapid pace, and I didn't quite buy that the two men would be having sexual relations so frequently in such a short amount of time, under the circumstances in which they find themselves. While it's nice to think that they so in lust to forget everything around them, that's not entirely realistic. 

I had some issues with plot holes (like a Captain running a fort not mustering his new Privates, but whatever), and thought that the inclusion of a tornado as a plot device was, if not far-fetched, a bit too convenient.

Also, lots of people during those times died from losing a limb or even a hand, because of gangrene. And while Captain Logan Harris might be tough, I had a hard time believing he'd be up and riding about in a day or two after getting his hand viciously chopped off. Laudanum will only do so much.

Yeah, this was not a good read for me. And I'm still angry about the non-ending. YMMV.

** I received a free copy of the book from the publisher. A positive review was not promised in return. **