In the
second volume, the reincarnated prince Jing Shao sets out to handle war campaigns
that almost cost him his life the first time round. And now the war has come years
earlier, so he can’t be sure it goes the way he remembers. But this time, he has
his gentleman wife, Mu Hanzhang, with him as a strategist, keeping their
marriage a secret from everyone.
From the
start, things go differently. Mu Hanzhang uncovers a large case of embezzlement
that had led to Jing Shao’s downfall in his first life. And Jing Shao is able
to recruit a warrior that almost singlehandedly turns some battles for him. The
war proceeds fast and the prince is victorious. But he can’t afford to give the
emperor a notion that he’ll use his success as an attempt to usurp the throne.
So it’s time to strategize with the knowledge he has from his first life. But Mu
Hanzhang is starting to become suspicious of his knowledge.
Jing Shao’s
generals are impressed with Mu Hanzhang, but they’re wondering why the prince
spends his nights at the strategist’s tent. There are some comedic moments as
the couple tries to keep their relationship secret and the generals try to
uncover things. There are plenty of bedroom moments for everyone to realise
what’s going on. There’s also a cute tiger cub Mu Hanzhang
adopts that adds to the sweetness, though they could treat him a bit better.
This was a
good volume. It’s fast-paced and well-written, and there’s plenty of action.
The battle scenes are especially good and not too drawn out. Jing Shao and Mu Hanzhang are very much in love, so the romance doesn’t bring tension
to the story. The volume ends at a tiny cliffhanger, but I doubt anything comes
of it either. Overall, despite all the wars, the stakes remain pretty low and
conflicts are handled fairly easily. A lovely low-angst read.
K.J.
Charles has a skill of writing historical romances of ordinary people who are
interesting without fancy titles or high social status. She gives her characters
skills and occupations that are unique and meaningful for the plot instead of
being mere gimmicks. And her gay historical romances never solely revolve around
the fear of being found out but have their unique obstacles on the way to
happily ever after.
How to Fake It in Society is about two men who know they’re not worthy of being loved. One
because he’s been brought up to feel insignificant, and the other because he
knows his entire life is a lie. They come together at the cross-roads in both
of their lives, and each turns out to be exactly what the other needs in his
life. But the lies are there and they’re not easy to forgive, as they’re exactly
the kind that makes the other realise how unworthy of being loved he is. It
takes a drastic turn for the two to find their happily ever after.
Titus Pilcrow
has made a meagre living as a colourist, someone who makes oil and
watercolours. But now he’s about to lose his shop, because his vindictive ex is
his landlord. But his fate takes a drastic turn, when his elderly client
pressures him to marry her on her deathbed so that her unworthy nephew won’t
inherit a penny. And then she dies, leaving him a fortune.
Enter Nicolas-Marc,
Comte de Valois de La Motte, who had quite counted on that fortune. He has a
moneylender at his neck, and he needs funds fast. But instead of asking for money
from Titus, he ends up befriending him. And it’s an excellent friendship that
gives Titus much needed self-confidence and happiness, while making Nico feel
like he isn’t a complete scammer. And then it all goes wrong, with no easy way
out to happiness.
This was a delightful
romance. I loved both men, their unique stories and especially Titus’
enthusiasm for colours. The detailed stories about different colours never felt
stamped on just so the author could show her research. They had a role in the
story, up to the climax. Bad guys had their comeuppances and good guys got
everything lovely. The men came together in the end on their own terms, without
lies or compromises. The reader can be sure that their union will last.
I received
a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Copper Script is a stand-alone historical
queer romance with a dab of mystery. It takes place in 1920s London and
features Aaron Fowler, a detective sergeant in the Metropolitan Police, and
Joel Wildsmith, a self-taught graphologist with an uncanny skill at
understanding a person’s character through their handwriting. Both men are in
their late twenties and veterans of the Great War, where Joel has lost his left,
dominant, hand. Both are also gay at a time when that could land them in prison.
The two come in touch when Aaron’s cousin
asks him to check Joel for fraud, having lost his fiancé because of Joel’s
character assessment of him. Under a false name, armed with three letters, Aaron
asks Joel to give assessments of each person. The results stun him, not least
because one of the letters was written by him. Unable to leave be, he devices a
blind test for Joel about an ongoing case. Not only does Joel call the perp, he
tells that one of the writers is a very bad person. Unfortunately for Aaron,
that letter was one of the control letters and belongs to a person he knows.
Joel is a graphologist because that’s the
only way he’s able to support himself and work towards buying a better prosthetic
hand than the government is willing to give him. He doesn’t trust the police—or
Aaron—ecause a cop had tricked him into a sexual act, which had landed him in
prison for two months. But when he reads Aaron’s letter, he’s instantly
interested in the man, and aroused by him too. He knows he should push the
other man away, but can’t help doing the opposite.
The mystery isn’t a typical whodunnit, and it
doesn’t dominate the story. Aaron knows who; he doesn’t know the crime. He has
a hunch though, as he tries to solve a death of a private investigator. The
more he investigates, the greater the pressure on him to leave be becomes. But
when the pressure lands on Joel too in the form of the biggest crime
organisation in London, he knows he must do something. Problem is how to do it
without ruining their reputations, landing them in prison—or losing their
lives.
This was an excellent novella. It’s not
long; sixteen chapters and a little over 200 pages on my e-reader. But it tells
a complete, satisfying story of love that needs to be kept hidden, but which is
so strong it’s worth the risks. Aaron and Joel were wonderful characters, with
Aaron having a more complex backstory. Joel was more at ease with being gay,
even though he had lost a lot because of it. He’s more emotional of the two,
but with equally strong character as Aaron; a survivor willing to keep surviving.
Aaron has had it easier in life to an extent, but he has maybe more to lose if
they’re discovered.
Like always in KJ Charles’ books, the
historical setting is well-researched and comes alive in small details. The
solution to the men’s problems was maybe easily achieved, and mostly done
behind the scenes, but it was satisfying. The ending isn’t necessarily a
happily ever after, but it is a chance for the men to achieve it. All in all, a
great small read.
You've Got Mail: The Perils of Pigeon Post by Blackegg
Volume 3 sees Wu Xingzi leave Guan Shanjin
so that the latter can be happy with Mr. Lu, and head to the nation’s capital.
He’s helped on his journey by Hei-er, who’s acting as Wu Xingzi’s bodyguard on Guan
Shanjin’s orders—not that Wu Xingzi knows about it—and Mr. Rancui, the
proprietor of the local peng society. He’s eager for Wu Xingzi to forget Guan
Shanjin and so he introduces him to Ping Yifan, a successful merchant. The man
is almost perfect down to his pengornis and scent that is very much like Guan
Shanjin’s. It doesn’t take long for Wu Xingzi to decide that he’s going to
spend the rest of his life with Ping Yifan.
But Wu Xingzi can’t entirely escape seeing Guan
Shanjin in the capital, often in the company of Mr. Lu. Guan Shanjin is very
busy with unravelling the origins of the treasonous plot that he took care of
at the Horse Face city. It turns out the perpetrator is no other than Wu Xingzi’s
long lost love, Yan Wenxin, now an important minister. And it appears Yan Wenxin
knows of Wu Xingzi’s connection with Guan Shanjin, because he seeks Wu Xingzi out,
ostensibly to reminisce, but obviously to influence him.
Wu Xingzi, usually very placid and
forgiving person, isn’t that easy to persuade though. He’s very loyal to Guan
Shanjin and knows him very well. So well, that he’s seen through Guan Shanjin’s
ruse: he’s in fact Ping Yifan in disguise. The two clear the air between them.
They just can’t be together until the plot against the emperor has been solved.
It’s not going well for Guan Shanjin though, and the emperor has him arrested. But
Wu Xingzi won’t sit idle and do nothing to help. The book ends before we learn
how his plan will work.
This was somewhat different from the
earlier two books. The plot is stronger and dominates the narrative, with the
romance at the back. It does have some very good moments though, even if it
relies on the excellence of some very odd masks. The sex scenes are fewer and
less over the top. Guan Shanjin comes out better here as well. He shows in
deeds, if not in words, that he cares about Wu Xingzi very much, as himself and
as Ping Yifan. And Wu Xingzi shows that he’s not quite so helpless as he appears.
We also learn that his father used to be an important person in the capital.
There were some side plots that were hinted
at and then discarded, like what is happening with Mr. Lu, what is going on
between Rancui and Hei-er, and who is the mysterious person behind the peng society. There’s also a long extra story about Man Yue, Guan
Shanjin’s longsuffering vice general, and Su Yang who owns a restaurant in Wu Xingzi’s hometown, which will be interesting to follow as well. Nevertheless, this was maybe the best book so far.
The Resurrectionist
is a historical novel set in 1820s Edinburgh, which was the centre of medical
learning of the time. Not only were the ideas concerning medicine more
enlightened, the students were able to study with actual human bodies, albeit
those of the dead. But people weren’t exactly willing to donate their bodies to
study medicine, so the only legally available bodies were those of people
executed by hanging. It didn’t offer many opportunities, so the bodies had to
be obtained by less legal manners, hence the rise of body-snatchers like Burke
and Hare, who made steady business with providing bodies to anatomy schools.
James
Willoughby is the third son of a landed gentry and is expected to find a
profession to support himself. He spends a brief spell in Oxford, studying to
become a clergyman, which he is wholly unsuited for. But science, especially
medicine, draws him. So he abandons Oxford and declares to his family that he’ll
be studying medicine in Edinburgh instead, leading to his father’s untimely
death. That has unfortunate consequences for James, because it turns out, his
father has gambled away the family fortune and there’s barely any money for his
studies.
It doesn’t matter
at first. He finds a cheap accommodation, throws himself to his studies, and
makes some like-minded friends, enjoying the freedom of spirit Edinburgh
offers. But then he learns about the anatomy schools that offer a proper chance
to practice with human bodies, and he has to join one. Problem is, it costs
money he doesn’t have.
Unwilling to
let the opportunity go, he asks if he can help out at the school in exchange
for a cheaper tuition. And the surgeon’s assistant, Aneurin MacKinnon, a dashing
and brilliant if slightly eccentric young man, agrees. James is to be a lookout
while Nye tries to capture body-snatchers. Only, that’s not what it’s really
about, as James discovers for his horror. Nye is a body-snatcher too, or a
resurrectionist, as he calls himself.
They part
ways, but when James’s family informs him that the money is completely gone and
order him to return home to become a businessman instead, desperation leads him
back to Nye to become a body-snatcher too, as the money is good. It’s a life-changing
experience for him. Things seem perfect at first; his friendship with Nye is
blooming amid their criminal adventures, soon deepening to love and adding
another thing he needs to hide from his friends. But this doesn’t last. A ruthless
gang of body-snatchers arrive to Edinburgh, and James and Nye find themselves
stepping on toes of Burke and Hare.
This was a
good book, and an excellent debut. The story was interesting and flowed in a
fairly fast pace. The narrative emulated 19th century prose very well, made fresher
by the first-person point of view. James was a likeable if single-minded in his
need to study medicine, but not always observant when it came to his
surroundings and his friends, so the historical setting and side-characters
apart from Nye remained slightly vague. It’s not a long book, and while it wasn’t
a “Twisty Gothic Mystery” that the subtitle promised, it was entertaining. The
ending was open enough that there might even be more adventures of James and
Nye. I would be willing to read them.
I received
a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Golden Terrace is
Chinese m/m romance set in an imaginary Chinese empire in a distant past. It’s
not wuxia/xianxia fantasy; there are no extravagant martial arts scenes,
cultivation sects, magic or supernatural elements. It’s historical romance with
court intrigue and political machinations.
Fu Shen is a third-generation leader of
cavalry troops that have kept the empire safe for decades. At 23, he’s revered
and feared. When he is badly injured in an ambush, the emperor seizes the opportunity
to order him back to the capital, ostensibly to recuperate, but in reality, it’s
to weaken his influence.
For a further measure, the emperor orders
Fu Shen to marry a man so that his family line can’t continue. The husband (or
wife) to be is Yan Xiaohan, 25, a feared general of the imperial investigator guard
that the emperor uses as his secret police. For him, the marriage is yet
another step up in his slow path to the top, whereas Fu Shen opposes it. It
doesn’t help that the two don’t really get along.
But Fu Shen is in for a surprise when it
turns out Yan Xiaohan is determined to look after him in his convalescence. And
as he remembers events from their past, he and the reader realise that there is
more to Yan Xiaohan than his reputation.
The romance unfurls
slowly. Most of the attention is in several mysteries. Fu Shen wants to find
out who organised the ambush and why. Yan Xiaohan has to investigate odd deaths
in rivalling imperial troops, a mystery that seems to implicate Fu Shen. And at
the background there’s court intrigue and machinations of an emperor who isn’t
ready to die just yet.
The mysteries didn’t
always follow logic or make sense to a western reader. The bad guys sprang from
nowhere and the actions and investigations seemed rather random. There were
side characters that went unused as plot devices, like Fu Shen’s sister, the wife
of a prince, who made a brief appearance, never to be mentioned again. And the
romance seemed to happen behind the scenes. The reader had an impression a lot
had taken place behind the closed doors, only to learn at the end that the
marriage hadn’t even been consummated yet.
I had some issues with the translation as well, especially when it came to indicating the speakers. At times it was really difficult to figure out who was acting or thinking and who was the object of action when only the pronoun he was used for both in the same sentence and paragraph. I don’t know if the same happens in the original text, but the translator could have used given names at several places to make the narrative clearer.
Nevertheless, the story and the main
characters were compelling, and the atmosphere and the historical setting were
interesting enough to make this a pleasurable read that I found difficult to
put down, transforming a three-star read to a five-star one. The first volume ends at a natural point without a cliffhanger. I’ll
definitely read more.
Infamous is the third book in Rebels of the
Ton series by Minerva Spencer. It’s a Regency romance set in the early 19th
century England and the world of its aristocrats.
It’s a series only in a loose sense. The
people featured in this book made only a brief appearance in the epilogue of
the previous book and vice versa. However, most of the characters have been
introduced in Spencer’s previous series, Outcasts, and are familiar to readers
of that. I haven’t read them, and as the author assumed familiarity, it left me
feeling a bit of an outsider throughout the book.
The book begins a decade before the actual
events. Celia, the pet of the ton is also its meanest person. Egged on by an
equally mean duke, she creates a scandal that forces two people, Lucian and
Phyllida, to marry. But the scandal destroys her too and a decade later she’s
living retired life as a companion of an old lady. She’s learned her lesson and
is transformed, but when she’s forced to spend Christmas at Luce and Phil’s manor,
old hurts surface. As does her old attraction to Richard, Luce’s twin
brother.
Richard hasn’t been bothered by the
scandal, living his dream life as an entomologist and travelling around the
world. His sister’s Christmas wedding forces him to return home, only to find
Celia there, the woman he was attracted to a decade earlier. But her sister’s
fiancé is the same horrible duke that ruined Celia’s life—and Lucian’s too.
There are two romances in this book, with own point of view chapters for every party: Richard and Celia, and Luce and Phil.
Despite having been married for a decade, the latter are strangers to each
other. Celia’s sudden presence forces them to take stock of their marriage and
build a better relationship. I was more invested in their romance. I found it sweet
and a bit heart-breaking too.
Richard and Celia were a more typical couple.
Since Richard didn’t feel ill-done by Celia, there wasn’t a great baggage
between them. Their romance was built during time spent together. They were good
scenes, but at some point I began to grow bored, as they didn’t really
drive the plot forward, making the middle part of the book slow and too long.
There was only a minimal plot outside the
romance. The dastardly duke made his move at the end of the book, but until
then no one tried to do anything about him, not even to stop an innocent girl
from marrying him. Plot-wise, then, this was a bit of a disappointment. But the
writing was good, people were interesting and there was a happy ending for
everyone involved, so it left me feeling good.
I received a free copy from NetGalley in
exchange for an honest review.
Minerva Spencer’s Outrageous is the second
book in her Rebels of the Ton historical romance series. I hadn’t read the
first book, but I decided to give it a try when I received a free copy from
NetGalley.
The story takes place in 1816, but instead
of the usual balls and operas of London, it’s mostly set in carriages and seedy
inns of the English countryside. Godric Fleming, a decorated war hero and a man
bent on avenging his dead family on Gabriel Marlington, has decided to abduct
Gabriel’s wife. Only to be abducted himself by Gabriel’s sister Eva de
Courtney who has learned of his plan. Her intention is to keep him away from
London long enough for Godric to give up his revenge, but weather and other unforeseen
factors keep them on the road for days. And, as Godric points out, she’s now
compromised in the eyes of the society and they have to marry. She’s not instantly
agreeable to the plan, and he isn’t thrilled either.
This was a competent and interesting story.
It relied heavily on some tropes of historical romances like forced intimacy
and a clandestine marriage, but they were handled so that they felt fresh. I
liked Eva and Godric both, and their inevitable falling in love happened
organically and felt believable. The intimate setting meant that most of the
time there was just the two of them, but they could carry the story well
enough. There were enough twists and turns, some of them beggaring belief, to
keep the reader entertained. The cover is somewhat misleading, making the reader expect a romance without sex scenes, but there were plenty of those.
I have a couple of complaints though. The
book was too long. Especially the ending that took place after the climax was unnecessary,
as it was basically a long filler scene that took several chapters. There’s
only so much a reader is willing to learn about the mechanics of horse
breeding. And then the reconciliation was handled hastily and was basically a
sex scene and not much else despite the issues the couple had. There was nothing
romantic or emotional about it. It was followed by a change in the point of
view, which gave the conclusion to secondary characters. I found it highly
unsatisfying, and it marred my enjoyment of the book.
I would also have liked the author to do a
better work with introducing the characters from the first book. Eva had complicated
family relations that I presume were handled in the previous book (and some in
an earlier series even). They had some bearing in this one, yet the reader was
left completely in the dark about who they were and why they mattered for this
story. Not everyone read all the books in a series, so a few words here and
there would’ve gone a long way to help the reader to understand some plot twists
that relied on those relationships.
Nevertheless, I liked the book. It stands
out in the mass of historical romances, which isn’t easy to pull off. I’ll be
reading the next one too.
Lord Lucifer is the first book in a new Regency romance
trilogy by Jade Lee, Lords of the Masquerade, and I received a review copy from
the NetGalley.
Regency romances tend to repeat a certain formula of an
innocent maiden paired with a more experienced man. The pair then waltzes
through the society season from balls to opera performances that offer private
moments for them to fall in love and have hot sex in a side. Some authors are
better at making it feel fresh; some less so.
Jade Lee has taken a different approach in her romance. Diana
has been married off at sixteen to a much older man to save family finances.
Lucas had offered to save her, but his attempts to raise money with gambling had
landed him in such hot waters that he had seen it best to enlist and leave the
country. Twelve years later they meet again. A fairly average approach so far.
But there’s a twist: Diana’s ailing husband is still alive. She’s not a merry
widow with whom the hero connects for a second chance. And she’s not a damsel
in distress, no matter what Lucas tries to tell her—though there is a villain out
to get her.
Most of the book takes place in a sick room and in private
parlours instead of balls and other glittering events. Diana is a dutiful wife
who has carved a life for herself in her husband’s hostile household. Her
husband needs to die, of course, for the young couple to have their happily
ever after, and much is made of his death and the causes of it. Lucas is a
soldier who sets his duty before anything, and so probably for the first time
in a romance history, the hero refuses sex with the heroine unless she agrees
to marry him. It works too.
For all that this is a romance, it’s a fairly gloomy book.
There’s sickness and death. There’s a murderous villain making everyone’s life
worse. There’s a lot of resentment between children and parents. All sorts of
issues that have to be dealt with, and while they add depth to the characters,
they dominate over the romance. There are a couple of fairly bland sex scenes that
fail to engage my emotions, and although I liked Diana and Lucas both, I wasn’t
terribly invested in their HEA. She could’ve retained her hard-earned
independence for all I cared and kept him in a side. But she caves in the end.
The other two gentlemen of the trilogy are introduced in
this book too. A lot is made of it—and then they are completely forgotten
for the rest of the book. So, as a lure for the reader to continue with these
characters, it comes somewhat short. But if I come across them, I may give them
a look.
Peace Talks by Jim Butcher
4/5 stars on Goodreads
I’ve also read Peace Talks by Jim Butcher, the long-awaited
fifteenth Dresden Files book. It’s one of my all-time favourite series, but it
fell a bit short. Harry was still familiar, but the way he interacted with his
friends and family felt slightly off. I remember wishing in earlier books that he
would be more connected with emotions, but now I sort of found him creepy at
times. Especially with how he became aroused by every which woman that he came
across, except the one he professed to be in love with. So the author needs to
work on the delivery there.
Most of the book was spent with waffling about, likely so
that the reader could connect with the characters again. I was still a bit lost
for the great part of it, as it had been so many years since I read this series
last. And then the plot picks up at the very end, only to continue in the next
book. But I’ll read it too, of course.
House of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones
4/5 stars on Goodreads
House of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones is the last book in
the trilogy that starts with Howl’s Moving Castle. It’s a charming book of
Charmain Baker, a young woman who would much rather read books than do anything
useful. And then she’s given a task to look after her great-uncle’s house while
he’s gone.
The uncle is a wizard and his house is a mysterious place
where rooms appear where ever, but only if you know how to get there. One is
even located in the past. The place is messy and Charmain isn’t terribly
practical, but luckily for her, her uncle’s apprentice Peter shows up to help
her. Not that either of them is terribly pleased by their circumstances. There’s
a plot about the king’s missing gold and a villainous heir to the kingdom. Howl
and Sophie show up too to help with that, and it’s nice to connect with them
again. In the end Charmain discovers that she’s more capable than she thought
she was and that she’s able to do magic. All in all, a nice story about growing
up and finding one’s true self.
When it comes to historical romance, I tend to be set in my
ways. I have a couple of favourite authors, like Suzanne Enoch, and I’m
reluctant to try new ones. They disappoint too often. I hadn’t read Sabrina
Jeffries before, but when I spotted her book at NetGalley, I decided to give
her a chance.
Who Wants to Marry a Duke is the third book in a series
called Duke Dynasty. Each book tells the love story of one of the siblings of a
large family, on top of which there’s a continuous story of a murder
investigation. I haven’t read the first two books, but it didn’t matter at all.
The characters of the earlier books are introduced well, and the murder
investigation doesn’t really kick in until here.
The main couple of this book is Olivia Norley and the Duke
of Thornstock, or Thorne. (He does have a real name, but it’s never used and
came as a bit of a surprise when I checked the book description just now.) They
have a bit of past together. He has been forced to propose to her ten years
earlier, but she’s refused. For some reason he’s held grudge for it ever since.
The murder investigation brings them together again. Olivia
is an aspiring chemist, beggaring belief in those of us who want some
historical accuracy (the book takes place in 1809), but it’s done well enough and I could let it stand. She’s
hired by Thorne’s brother Grey to investigate the body of Grey’s father for
traces of arsenic. Thorne wants to keep an eye on her, because he doesn’t trust
her. But of the two, he’s the one who’s keeping secrets.
Olivia is a forthright character who is curious about
everything new, including romance and sex. Thorne is slightly annoying with his hot
and cold act, and the grudge he holds seems a little contrived and manufactured
for the sake of drama. And when his secret is revealed, the following fight
seems out of proportions for the transgression. They make up easily enough
afterwards. But they’re a good couple together, Thorne especially grows as a
person, and the naughty scenes are satisfying. All in all, a nice romance.
The murder investigation is the weakest part of the
narrative and doesn’t really have much of a role despite starting the events. There’s
a lot of conjecture about the identity of the villain(s) and their motives, but
nothing concrete. The villains aren’t characters in this book, and despite some
mayhem caused by them, there’s no suspense. And the murder isn’t even solved in
the end.
What made me give only three stars, however, is that the
book is one act too short. The last twist, the final push and test of the
couple and their love never takes place. It’s even set up perfectly. There’s a
probable threat to Olivia’s life, a mirror of an earlier attack, and Thorne
rushes in to warn and protect her. But the attack never happens and the book
just ends, followed by an epilogue that rehashes the murder investigation, lessening
the emotional impact of the last chapter. So, a bit of a let-down in the end.
But I liked the writing style well-enough that I’ll likely read the last book in
the series, if only to find out who is offing the dukes and why.
