Customer Reviews
Loved It! - By: Broder, 14 May 2008 
This book is very engaging from the start. Standish also works well as a period piece. making it very easy to imagine the periodin which it is set.
Give it a go. I still think about the characters every so often. surely the sign of a great book.
Entertaining and informative - By: Cerisaye, 23 Jan 2008 
I enjoyed this book but it frustrated & disappointed me too, even though better than most romance stories. Maybe that's the problem, the writing raises higher expectations than possible to fulfil within the confines of its genre? Or maybe I just need more than a relationship story.
Clearly Erastes has done the research & cares about the past as more than background colour, so you do actually feel you're reading about characters & events not of our time. The story particularly informs about real life experience for homosexualsin England after the Napoleonic Wars.
I confess to a love-hate relationship with the romance genre. Many readers might not be aware of things that bothered me. I'm conflicted too when it comes to sexin novels. Here there is simply too much, as though Erastes lacked confidence the story alone could hold readers' interest, though not overly graphic. Plot & characters are secondary-for e.g., the protagonists are brought together too quickly, so there follows a succession of contrived conflicts to keep things interesting & that vital sexual/romantic tension racked up. The resulting pace is relentless: a melodramatic, cross-Europe panoply just too breathtaking for comfort (or realism).
Unfortunately I didn't actually like either protagonist very much, though I know it is part of the formula one has to be meek & submissive & the other controlling & hyper-masculine. It bothered me that secondary characters are little more than puppets used to further romantic complications then when no longer required simply disappear, or dispatched conveniently to America. There is so much going on there's enough material for more than one novel to do it justice.
Another flaw that irritated me was the writer's habit of mixing POV, often within scenes, which was confusing & distracting, lifted me right out of the story.
As a romance it would have worked better for me if Ambrose & Rafe had taken longer to get together. I like that delicious will they/won't they tension & we wouldn't have had to endure quite so much fallout when inevitably it gets difficult for our lovebirds. Or if Ambrose had struggled more believably with fierce attraction to another man- it wasn't enough that as a Classical scholar he knew about Greek love.
The most intriguing & sympathetic character comes along much later, when Ambrose learns what true love is thanks to the intervention of Padruig Fleury, highwayman & rogue. This most vivid section of the book takes place within the confines of Newgate prison, & injects welcome realism. There is also a deliciously bad villain-of-the-piece worthy of his own story.
After much suffering Ambrose at least becomes less annoying, though Rafe never won me over despite extenuating circumstances of appalling childhood abuse to explain his substantial character defects. A childhood tutor ruined by young Rafe, suddenly reappears then vanishes again as though unimportant once his purpose is served. Erastes didn't make me care much about either Ambrose or Rafe, maybe because we never truly get to know them. We sprint from Dorset to London, all over Europe, then back to London & Newgate, fobbed off with sex scenes at the expense of developing characters as more than sex objects or plot devices.
Ambrose & Rafe tread a thorny path on the way to the inevitable romantic conclusion. There are disturbing scenes involving sexual violence. Yet nothing is allowed to go too long without fortuitous intervention & neat resolution (except for those superfluous minor characters). The story effectively shows the way power was what it was all about. Which hasn't changed a jot. The ending is of course is predictable, though I secretly hoped it would surprise me.
However, I did enjoy the story & would definitely read more from this writer- I'd love to know what happens to Fleury & more of his back-story. There isn't enough good gay-themed historical fiction, so kudos to Erastes for a strong debut.
A sexy, entertaining read - By: K. Husband, 18 Aug 2007 I adored this novel, & read it avidlyin just a few days. Great writing combined with a fast pace & believable characters, especially Rafe, whom I loved. Highly recommended, I look forward to reading Erastes' next novel.
Awfully Entertaining! - By: Shelly Hart - Leeds, 25 Jul 2007 I so enjoyed this novel - I read it on a rainy hoildayin Scotland & it really lifted my spirits & made the whole few days even more memorable. The period detail is done with a light touch & although the author must have done loads of research it never gotin the way of this fantastic romp of a read, just made it all the more believable. Standish himself is gorgeous & lovely, but I really fell for the glowering Rafe...Very sexy, very entertaining.
Deliciously entertaining - By: suzyh, 12 Jul 2007 This was a wonderful read, pure romantic escapism.I read a lot of historical fiction but tend to steer clear of traditional macho hero,fainting heroine romances. The story is well plotted & paced & excellently written. I found the historical context believable & stimulating. The characters have enough depth to make them sympathetic & to make you care what happens to them, I thought Ambrose was a little two dimensional at first but his character matures convincingly as he experiences the lows of life & love. The ending wasn't ambiguous to me- just dramatic but then I may just be soppy !!
