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Society of Gentlemen #2
A Seditious Affair
K. J. Charles turns up the heat in her new Society of Gentlemen novel, as two lovers face off in a sensual duel that challenges their deepest beliefs.
Silas Mason has no illusions about himself. He’s not lovable, or even likable. He’s an overbearing idealist, a Radical bookseller and pamphleteer who lives for revolution . . . and for Wednesday nights. Every week he meets anonymously with the same man, in whom Silas has discovered the ideal meld of intellectual companionship and absolute obedience to his sexual commands. But unbeknownst to Silas, his closest friend is also his greatest enemy, with the power to see him hanged—or spare his life.
A loyal, well-born gentleman official, Dominic Frey is torn apart by his affair with Silas. By the light of day, he cannot fathom the intoxicating lust that drives him to meet with the Radical week after week. In the bedroom, everything else falls away. Their needs match, and they are united by sympathy for each other’s deepest vulnerabilities. But when Silas’s politics earn him a death sentence, desire clashes with duty, and Dominic finds himself doing everything he can to save the man who stole his heart.
Includes a special message from the editor, as well as an excerpt from another Loveswept title.
Silas Mason has no illusions about himself. He’s not lovable, or even likable. He’s an overbearing idealist, a Radical bookseller and pamphleteer who lives for revolution . . . and for Wednesday nights. Every week he meets anonymously with the same man, in whom Silas has discovered the ideal meld of intellectual companionship and absolute obedience to his sexual commands. But unbeknownst to Silas, his closest friend is also his greatest enemy, with the power to see him hanged—or spare his life.
A loyal, well-born gentleman official, Dominic Frey is torn apart by his affair with Silas. By the light of day, he cannot fathom the intoxicating lust that drives him to meet with the Radical week after week. In the bedroom, everything else falls away. Their needs match, and they are united by sympathy for each other’s deepest vulnerabilities. But when Silas’s politics earn him a death sentence, desire clashes with duty, and Dominic finds himself doing everything he can to save the man who stole his heart.
Includes a special message from the editor, as well as an excerpt from another Loveswept title.
251 pages, ebook
First published December 15, 2015
198 people are currently reading
3962 people want to read
About the author
K.J. Charles
65 books12.1k followersKJ is a writer of romance, mostly m/m, historical or fantasy or both. She blogs about writing and editing at http://kjcharleswriter.com.
She lives in London, UK, with her husband, two kids, and a cat of absolute night.
Bluesky @kj_charleswriter.com
Join the lively Discord group at https://discord.gg/fmPTWSZfT6
Sign up to the (infrequent) newsletter at http://kjcharleswriter.com/newsletter
Please **do not** message me on Goodreads as I no longer check the inbox due to unwanted messages.
She lives in London, UK, with her husband, two kids, and a cat of absolute night.
Bluesky @kj_charleswriter.com
Join the lively Discord group at https://discord.gg/fmPTWSZfT6
Sign up to the (infrequent) newsletter at http://kjcharleswriter.com/newsletter
Please **do not** message me on Goodreads as I no longer check the inbox due to unwanted messages.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,022 reviews
May 12, 2016
quite ludicrously excellent.
that first thirty percent is so tightly plotted and infernally pacey that the first night i read this it took me hours to realize that i'd forgotten to pee and was legitimately in peril of literally pissing the bed.
ridiccccccccccculously engaging. i mean, one escandalo smoothly transitioning into another, to the point where i decreased the font size so i didn't have to swipe so frequently.
things eventually hit a different rhythm (and thank god—i don't get much sleep these days, and the little i do get should ideally not be relentlessly consumed by exquisitely crafted romance novels), but then the book simply became excellent in another way.
it went from a breathlessly exciting headlong tumble into a series of scrapes to the measured glide of a number of outrageously clever juxtapositions, wherein no opportunity for conflict went untapped.
but then! yet moar escandalo! right through to the thunderingly good finish, and fuck me in the eye but i was done.
spectacular language (i lived for the arguing and the name-calling and the hilarious what-have-you), incineratingly sexy sodomitical escapades, delightful callbacks to familiar characters from the first book of the series, thoughtful handling of very real problems between irreconcilable ideals, characters as glorious as they are flawed, and oh my fucking god in heaven inclusion.
you heard me.
i said the book features inclusion.
in fact, i need to put on my church hat right here and Testify a little bit because this shit has been weighing on me for ages:
i've seen authors cluck and fret over a lack of diversity in every single art form there is. but the day i saw an author flat out tell me there was no way to make inclusive media and money at the same time—i about lost my shit. because he appeared to be arguing that it was out of his hands and there was simply no way, at all for one to craft things that didn't alienate, say, black people.
...to pull a completely random example from the air at just this very second with no forethought or empirical data whatsoever.
now, i was quite catastrophically in love with him at the time, so i'll thank you to forgive me for not cursing his ass out on the spot.
but that shit ate at me for-e-ver.
because if the artists—the painters, the writers, the film directors, the sculptors—if the artists aren't putting my people in the art, who will?
you want inclusion? don't fucking moan about it like a fucking ninny in quintillion-word blog posts that can be reduced to "it's not faiiiiiiiir."
you're the goddamned creator. you make that shit fair, or you shut the hell up.
make it work. because nobody else will.
and people like me—woke-assed consumers who are still spending money buying Rey and Finn and Poe action figures and reading Star Wars fanfic like it's made out of jizz and chocolate—
we are fucking gagging for it.
ok?
ok.
*removes church hat; fans self briskly; is clearly overcome by the Spirit*
now where was i?
oh.
inclusion.
brotheren and sisteren: k.j. charles wrote a book about white-azz georgian fops and guttersnipes and found a way to include the everlivin' shit out of
no big deal.
just—hi, we exist, here we are, and we're awesome.
...and without all the narcissistic whining about how difficult it was to do and why we should all be impressed by her bravery for giving it a go.
she did it so well i forgot to be mad at my ex, this world, and that thing that happens to me every time i read a queer historical where i reflect on how—no matter how splendid the story goes for the main characters—there are always about a dozen practical reminders of sickening and still very real dangers that made such things impossible for gay folk to achieve without wealth or position or whatever.
like the threat of being hanged for finding someone to love.
so: yeah.
the book is that good.
digressions aside:
this is a scintillating novel of surpassing excellence.
go get you some at once.
amen?
aaaaaa-men.
that first thirty percent is so tightly plotted and infernally pacey that the first night i read this it took me hours to realize that i'd forgotten to pee and was legitimately in peril of literally pissing the bed.
ridiccccccccccculously engaging. i mean, one escandalo smoothly transitioning into another, to the point where i decreased the font size so i didn't have to swipe so frequently.
things eventually hit a different rhythm (and thank god—i don't get much sleep these days, and the little i do get should ideally not be relentlessly consumed by exquisitely crafted romance novels), but then the book simply became excellent in another way.
it went from a breathlessly exciting headlong tumble into a series of scrapes to the measured glide of a number of outrageously clever juxtapositions, wherein no opportunity for conflict went untapped.
but then! yet moar escandalo! right through to the thunderingly good finish, and fuck me in the eye but i was done.
spectacular language (i lived for the arguing and the name-calling and the hilarious what-have-you), incineratingly sexy sodomitical escapades, delightful callbacks to familiar characters from the first book of the series, thoughtful handling of very real problems between irreconcilable ideals, characters as glorious as they are flawed, and oh my fucking god in heaven inclusion.
you heard me.
i said the book features inclusion.
in fact, i need to put on my church hat right here and Testify a little bit because this shit has been weighing on me for ages:
i've seen authors cluck and fret over a lack of diversity in every single art form there is. but the day i saw an author flat out tell me there was no way to make inclusive media and money at the same time—i about lost my shit. because he appeared to be arguing that it was out of his hands and there was simply no way, at all for one to craft things that didn't alienate, say, black people.
...to pull a completely random example from the air at just this very second with no forethought or empirical data whatsoever.
now, i was quite catastrophically in love with him at the time, so i'll thank you to forgive me for not cursing his ass out on the spot.
but that shit ate at me for-e-ver.
because if the artists—the painters, the writers, the film directors, the sculptors—if the artists aren't putting my people in the art, who will?
you want inclusion? don't fucking moan about it like a fucking ninny in quintillion-word blog posts that can be reduced to "it's not faiiiiiiiir."
you're the goddamned creator. you make that shit fair, or you shut the hell up.
make it work. because nobody else will.
and people like me—woke-assed consumers who are still spending money buying Rey and Finn and Poe action figures and reading Star Wars fanfic like it's made out of jizz and chocolate—
we are fucking gagging for it.
ok?
ok.
*removes church hat; fans self briskly; is clearly overcome by the Spirit*
now where was i?
oh.
inclusion.
brotheren and sisteren: k.j. charles wrote a book about white-azz georgian fops and guttersnipes and found a way to include the everlivin' shit out of
no big deal.
just—hi, we exist, here we are, and we're awesome.
...and without all the narcissistic whining about how difficult it was to do and why we should all be impressed by her bravery for giving it a go.
she did it so well i forgot to be mad at my ex, this world, and that thing that happens to me every time i read a queer historical where i reflect on how—no matter how splendid the story goes for the main characters—there are always about a dozen practical reminders of sickening and still very real dangers that made such things impossible for gay folk to achieve without wealth or position or whatever.
like the threat of being hanged for finding someone to love.
so: yeah.
the book is that good.
digressions aside:
this is a scintillating novel of surpassing excellence.
go get you some at once.
amen?
aaaaaa-men.
June 12, 2019
“I kneel for two reasons only, and the other one is prayer. It’s not how I am, not usually.”
ASSDKNGJJGFORKJCJGROKWESTANGORKKKGJGJ!!!!!!
#Dead, Deader, Deadest!
Warning! Some quotes ahead! Proceed with caution.
5+++++++++ stars
Gushing! Gushing! And more Gushing!
Gaaaah!
Just read this beautiful quote....
“I must. I have been coming to love you for a long time, you damned seditious brute, as I almost found the courage to tell you earlier. Wednesday by Wednesday, week by week, I have loved you.” He ran his hands gently down Silas’s sides, to his hips. “I know the burden this puts on you, and that it is a crackbrained, dangerous way to go on, but I also know what it is to lay my life waste. I will not do it again.”
Ok! You read it, right? Did you feel it? The rush! The stomach churning and all that jazz, lovey, dovey stuff. BECAUSE, i felt it!
Silas and Dom’s story did things to my body, my soul and my whole entire being. The connection between these two is mind blowing, the chemistry is just! WOW! WOW! I was in book heaven while reading this one. I am currently still basking in book heaven.
Silas broke my little peanut heart. I love him. His character is well written and i felt like i was with his in the 1800s, going through every struggle he was going through, trying his best to fight for what he believes in, in turn that leaves him at a vulnerable position and sometimes lonely because not so many people share his beliefs.
Silas had little enough Yuletide spirit. He had nobody to share Christmas with, for one thing, with Harry gone to be a gentleman. He’d never made a fuss about the day, but Harry, with that irrepressible joy of his, had put up greenery and candles too, when the extravagance could be justified, and usually found something decent to make a meal. Silas, atheist to the core, had grumbled about waste and foolish superstition, but now there was no Harry after six years, and the prospect of a cheerless, lonely Christmas was bleak.
Dominic gaah! This guy, i wanted to smack him and hug him at the same time. Another MC well written to a point you can’t help fall in love with the Tory. Throughout the book his character growth is evident. I love him. I love him and Silas together.
Dominic had paced around Richard’s room like a caged animal the day before, going over and over the same ground—What do I do? What do I do?—until finally Richard had said, “Do you trust him?”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s a simple question. Do you believe that he is, as you have said, a good man with different opinions? Not a murderer, not a Bonapartist, not a traitor?”
“Yes. I do.”
Did i mention the writing is soooooooo goooood? If i didn’t, then here it is. The writing is excellent, It flows from page to page, we have conflicts, believable conflicts without crossing the drama llama line. I was not even bothered with the politics stuff because it blended with the story; it was part of the story.
The sex scenes left me undone. Damn! Hot! Hot! Hot! The chemistry between the Tory and the Brute is on fire. These two complement each other. Silas knows what Dom wants in the bedroom and he gives it to him good, while enjoying himself too. Dom knows that Silas is the only man who can fulfil his sexual needs. These two make the sheets explode and set the beds on fire. GAAAH!
Silas ran a finger along Dominic’s length. “Heaven in Hell’s despair.You’re mine, understand? Mine to the bone.”
“Yes.” Too true, hopelessly true.
“I own you, Tory. Nobody else. No lackwit gentry-fuckster who doesn’t know how to treat you right.” His hand was around Dominic’s prick, fingers just touching, making him wait. Dominic’s fingers were clenched on empty air. “Like it’s a hardship to have those pretty eyes pleading. Like I wouldn’t want that pretty mouth telling me I’m the master here. Christ, the way you give it up to me. I own you.”
ANNNNNDDD! Yap! Dead, Deader, Deadest!
What i am gushing about is! Everything in this book worked for me. DOUBLE GAAAH!
Richard! You are still in my boot camp.
Thank you so much Elena, Moony, Rosa and Teal for the awesome buddy read. Yay! I finally read this book thanks to you.
ASSDKNGJJGFORKJCJGROKWESTANGORKKKGJGJ!!!!!!
#Dead, Deader, Deadest!
Warning! Some quotes ahead! Proceed with caution.
5+++++++++ stars
Gushing! Gushing! And more Gushing!
Gaaaah!
Just read this beautiful quote....
“I must. I have been coming to love you for a long time, you damned seditious brute, as I almost found the courage to tell you earlier. Wednesday by Wednesday, week by week, I have loved you.” He ran his hands gently down Silas’s sides, to his hips. “I know the burden this puts on you, and that it is a crackbrained, dangerous way to go on, but I also know what it is to lay my life waste. I will not do it again.”
Ok! You read it, right? Did you feel it? The rush! The stomach churning and all that jazz, lovey, dovey stuff. BECAUSE, i felt it!
Silas and Dom’s story did things to my body, my soul and my whole entire being. The connection between these two is mind blowing, the chemistry is just! WOW! WOW! I was in book heaven while reading this one. I am currently still basking in book heaven.
Silas broke my little peanut heart. I love him. His character is well written and i felt like i was with his in the 1800s, going through every struggle he was going through, trying his best to fight for what he believes in, in turn that leaves him at a vulnerable position and sometimes lonely because not so many people share his beliefs.
Silas had little enough Yuletide spirit. He had nobody to share Christmas with, for one thing, with Harry gone to be a gentleman. He’d never made a fuss about the day, but Harry, with that irrepressible joy of his, had put up greenery and candles too, when the extravagance could be justified, and usually found something decent to make a meal. Silas, atheist to the core, had grumbled about waste and foolish superstition, but now there was no Harry after six years, and the prospect of a cheerless, lonely Christmas was bleak.
Dominic gaah! This guy, i wanted to smack him and hug him at the same time. Another MC well written to a point you can’t help fall in love with the Tory. Throughout the book his character growth is evident. I love him. I love him and Silas together.
Dominic had paced around Richard’s room like a caged animal the day before, going over and over the same ground—What do I do? What do I do?—until finally Richard had said, “Do you trust him?”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s a simple question. Do you believe that he is, as you have said, a good man with different opinions? Not a murderer, not a Bonapartist, not a traitor?”
“Yes. I do.”
Did i mention the writing is soooooooo goooood? If i didn’t, then here it is. The writing is excellent, It flows from page to page, we have conflicts, believable conflicts without crossing the drama llama line. I was not even bothered with the politics stuff because it blended with the story; it was part of the story.
The sex scenes left me undone. Damn! Hot! Hot! Hot! The chemistry between the Tory and the Brute is on fire. These two complement each other. Silas knows what Dom wants in the bedroom and he gives it to him good, while enjoying himself too. Dom knows that Silas is the only man who can fulfil his sexual needs. These two make the sheets explode and set the beds on fire. GAAAH!
Silas ran a finger along Dominic’s length. “Heaven in Hell’s despair.You’re mine, understand? Mine to the bone.”
“Yes.” Too true, hopelessly true.
“I own you, Tory. Nobody else. No lackwit gentry-fuckster who doesn’t know how to treat you right.” His hand was around Dominic’s prick, fingers just touching, making him wait. Dominic’s fingers were clenched on empty air. “Like it’s a hardship to have those pretty eyes pleading. Like I wouldn’t want that pretty mouth telling me I’m the master here. Christ, the way you give it up to me. I own you.”
ANNNNNDDD! Yap! Dead, Deader, Deadest!
What i am gushing about is! Everything in this book worked for me. DOUBLE GAAAH!
Richard! You are still in my boot camp.
Thank you so much Elena, Moony, Rosa and Teal for the awesome buddy read. Yay! I finally read this book thanks to you.
December 9, 2015
K.J. Charles seems to always get it right, and she scored again with another really well-written historical in the Society of Gentlemen series.
Now, here is some stuff that I think you should know. This absolutely can't be read as a stand-alone. It takes place in and around the same time line as A Fashionable Indulgence, and the plot-lines are interwoven to a great extent.
If I'm comparing the two stories, I'd say that I liked A Fashionable Indulgence more. It was more... unexpected, more charming, and for sure less gritty. This story has it's moments that felt darker, almost depressing, which is less my speed. It also felt political and charged, something I tend to avoid in my romance reading.
In terms of sex content, I thought that this book was hot. I like D/s books where there is a power-play of some sort, especially if it involves humiliation or begging... and Dominic loves to beg! No, he loves to be FORCED to beg! Ohhhh yeahhhh.
But the best part about this story has to be the writing. K.J. Charles is one of my tried-and-true standbys for an excellently written book. She has a way with words that gives great authenticity to her stories. I can't wait to see where else she takes this series because I know Richard's story is going to be perfection.
*Copy provided in exchange for an honest review*
Now, here is some stuff that I think you should know. This absolutely can't be read as a stand-alone. It takes place in and around the same time line as A Fashionable Indulgence, and the plot-lines are interwoven to a great extent.
If I'm comparing the two stories, I'd say that I liked A Fashionable Indulgence more. It was more... unexpected, more charming, and for sure less gritty. This story has it's moments that felt darker, almost depressing, which is less my speed. It also felt political and charged, something I tend to avoid in my romance reading.
In terms of sex content, I thought that this book was hot. I like D/s books where there is a power-play of some sort, especially if it involves humiliation or begging... and Dominic loves to beg! No, he loves to be FORCED to beg! Ohhhh yeahhhh.
But the best part about this story has to be the writing. K.J. Charles is one of my tried-and-true standbys for an excellently written book. She has a way with words that gives great authenticity to her stories. I can't wait to see where else she takes this series because I know Richard's story is going to be perfection.
*Copy provided in exchange for an honest review*
Read
July 10, 2015Book 2 of Society of Gentlemen. This is a standalone story but overlaps significantly with the characters and events of A Fashionable Indulgence.
In the bedroom of an assignation house, a self-taught brute and a Tory gentleman are carrying on a passionate but anonymous affair, spurred as much by a shared love of books as by their deviant desires. In the streets, lower-class radical Silas Mason risks his life to write polemics against the oppressive government, while high-born Dominic Frey of the Home Office hunts seditious rogues down. Unfortunately...
Their spectacularly ill-matched love affair plays out against the backdrop of vicious Regency politics, from the Peterloo Massacre to the Cato Street Conspiracy. I loved writing Regency from this angle, with older heroes and some fairly dark times; I hope you enjoy it!
In the bedroom of an assignation house, a self-taught brute and a Tory gentleman are carrying on a passionate but anonymous affair, spurred as much by a shared love of books as by their deviant desires. In the streets, lower-class radical Silas Mason risks his life to write polemics against the oppressive government, while high-born Dominic Frey of the Home Office hunts seditious rogues down. Unfortunately...
Their spectacularly ill-matched love affair plays out against the backdrop of vicious Regency politics, from the Peterloo Massacre to the Cato Street Conspiracy. I loved writing Regency from this angle, with older heroes and some fairly dark times; I hope you enjoy it!
December 2, 2015
Intellectual, passionate, radical, intense ...
I hated this book. I loved it.
Dominic and Silas don't walk in the same circles. They don't breathe the same air.
But they give each other what they need, and watching Dominic's humiliation, his pain & submission, is at once terrifying and beautiful.
This is not an easy read. The author firmly grounds the story in the politics of the era, and Silas and Dominic are on opposite sides of the fight.
I enjoyed A Fashionable Indulgence more. It was lighter, easier, perhaps less thought provoking, but clever and pretty.
Silas and Dominic prefer the base and dirty. Silas likes nothing more than Dominic on his knees begging for his cock, and Dominic wants to be defiled.
If you're looking for tenderness and sweet romance, this is not it. But if you fancy rough sex with BDSM overtones, this book provides.
The ending is a HEA appropriate to the time and place.
I am desperately waiting for Richard's story now. He needs more than he knows.
I hated this book. I loved it.
Dominic and Silas don't walk in the same circles. They don't breathe the same air.
But they give each other what they need, and watching Dominic's humiliation, his pain & submission, is at once terrifying and beautiful.
This is not an easy read. The author firmly grounds the story in the politics of the era, and Silas and Dominic are on opposite sides of the fight.
I enjoyed A Fashionable Indulgence more. It was lighter, easier, perhaps less thought provoking, but clever and pretty.
Silas and Dominic prefer the base and dirty. Silas likes nothing more than Dominic on his knees begging for his cock, and Dominic wants to be defiled.
If you're looking for tenderness and sweet romance, this is not it. But if you fancy rough sex with BDSM overtones, this book provides.
The ending is a HEA appropriate to the time and place.
I am desperately waiting for Richard's story now. He needs more than he knows.
January 22, 2016
I could give this a high rating just for the sex. Those were intense D/s scenes well before BDSM was established and the rest of the world caught up to it. But I’d be a shallow git if I recommend this just for the sex and romance.
Because this book is so much more. And K.J. Charles is a master weaver of brilliant historical novels. Novels that make sense. Stories that really matter.
This book makes you think. I mean really, really think. It calls into question your beliefs, morality and the principles you’ve been holding on to your entire life.
The arguments presented in this book concerning class distinction, aristocracy, equality, anarchy, politics and the many facets affecting society are sound but very debatable. The author clearly challenging you and wanting you to give voice. To weigh and choose. To reflect and be enlightened.
Gripping, tension-filled, and fast-paced, you’ll be sucked in the world of Dominic and Silas as they trudge through a great divide. With great characters and a brilliant storyline, Charles will not disappoint you with this book.
November 18, 2015
Where does one's fealty lay?
Dominic, so torn. Over the course of the story I felt such empathy for him. He was faced with a couple of critical, life-altering decisions, both of which had advantages and disadvantages to them. One required learning something for himself and the other allowing others to make their own choices.
Silas characterization is brilliant. The turns of phrase are humorous, illuminating and clever--a perfect guttersnipe. Equally intelligent men, but on different social ladders with vastly different resources. He's a democrat and a radical--fighting words.
Dominic's work collides with his illicit personal life and the interconnections of the characters, beyond the Richardians, endanger all. The group needs to stand together or be picked off one by one. Needless to say, this upheaval is not met kindly and there is a great deal of infighting and harsh words as the cards are played out.
The dissolution of the dream of young love is the most heartbreaking thing and here it is laid bare, the aching pain of letting go as Richard and Dominic redefine their relationship. Absolutely gutted me. There's this deep tie of friendship and love that once was something else, and to use an analogy from the previous book in the series, it needs to be untangled, not cut. This was a most difficult knot.
Dominic's moved on. He's found something that he needed and the acceptance that he craved. Silas gives him what he's wanted for so long. Question is, what will it cost him?
Charles does a good job addressing social issues, even fringe ones without bungling them. There are substantive, albeit brief discussions on ex-slaves within London and even the spectrum of sexuality in Regency England including transgenderism. None of these tertiary characters are throw aways or cheap, each has a distinct personality with laudable traits. Simply put, the depth of the characterization makes this engaging.
While the historical references make this a chewy read. The counter to Tory politics, the pros and cons of both sides' arguments, and the demands of the people for representation, all under the specter of the French Revolution is fascinating. This was a razor's edge and you feel it reading the book.
The William Blake quotes peppered throughout are hysterical. Delightful and unexpected ripostes that charmed me and brought a grin to my face every bloody time. Previously, I had never pondered Blake's historical context enough to see him as a radical, and this little nugget of enlightenment brought me joy.
Lest you wonder where this will all go, Charles leaves a big neon sign with Cyprian, the valet cum puppet master, rise in prominence. Playing the characters like chess pieces and setting up quite a doozy for the third book in the series. I just gotta have it. Gotta.
Overall, a frisky, kinky love affair that bridges classes and politics.
~Copy provided by Netgalley~
Dominic, so torn. Over the course of the story I felt such empathy for him. He was faced with a couple of critical, life-altering decisions, both of which had advantages and disadvantages to them. One required learning something for himself and the other allowing others to make their own choices.
Silas characterization is brilliant. The turns of phrase are humorous, illuminating and clever--a perfect guttersnipe. Equally intelligent men, but on different social ladders with vastly different resources. He's a democrat and a radical--fighting words.
Dominic's work collides with his illicit personal life and the interconnections of the characters, beyond the Richardians, endanger all. The group needs to stand together or be picked off one by one. Needless to say, this upheaval is not met kindly and there is a great deal of infighting and harsh words as the cards are played out.
The dissolution of the dream of young love is the most heartbreaking thing and here it is laid bare, the aching pain of letting go as Richard and Dominic redefine their relationship. Absolutely gutted me. There's this deep tie of friendship and love that once was something else, and to use an analogy from the previous book in the series, it needs to be untangled, not cut. This was a most difficult knot.
Dominic's moved on. He's found something that he needed and the acceptance that he craved. Silas gives him what he's wanted for so long. Question is, what will it cost him?
Charles does a good job addressing social issues, even fringe ones without bungling them. There are substantive, albeit brief discussions on ex-slaves within London and even the spectrum of sexuality in Regency England including transgenderism. None of these tertiary characters are throw aways or cheap, each has a distinct personality with laudable traits. Simply put, the depth of the characterization makes this engaging.
While the historical references make this a chewy read. The counter to Tory politics, the pros and cons of both sides' arguments, and the demands of the people for representation, all under the specter of the French Revolution is fascinating. This was a razor's edge and you feel it reading the book.
The William Blake quotes peppered throughout are hysterical. Delightful and unexpected ripostes that charmed me and brought a grin to my face every bloody time. Previously, I had never pondered Blake's historical context enough to see him as a radical, and this little nugget of enlightenment brought me joy.
Lest you wonder where this will all go, Charles leaves a big neon sign with Cyprian, the valet cum puppet master, rise in prominence. Playing the characters like chess pieces and setting up quite a doozy for the third book in the series. I just gotta have it. Gotta.
Overall, a frisky, kinky love affair that bridges classes and politics.
~Copy provided by Netgalley~
December 18, 2015
Buddy Read with Adam and Cupcake
A tag-team review betwixt Cupcake and Baby can be found here:
4.5 Hearts--I was very happy for the future pairings in the Society of Gentlemen series. And this series thankfully features a different couple each book. But Cyprian, the redheaded valet/spy made an impression on me. Immensely. I was all over the ginger (go figure). He's cunning and bends the rules? I wanted to spring on top of him like...I dunno what. I wanted Cyprian like I wanted my next breath. And his book won't be out until next year.
So I figured, A Seditious Affair, (book #2) was going to be a filler book, a stepping stone if you will. I was just going to enjoy the read but knew the main dish would be with the ginger.
K.J. Charles knocked me out with her words...AGAIN!
I shouldn't have underestimated the words of K.J. Charles. Or even thought for a second that it was going to be a filler book. Sweet Cheesus, the couple...their words to one another...the kink...this story!
As per usual, it was word porn for the mind in A Seditious Affair. And K.J. Charles and kink, who knew? BDSM before it was formalized but not heavy for those who shy away from kinkier romances.
Silas, the ham fisted brute with a mega chip on his shoulder who breaks the law while fighting for the every man's rights is the dom in the relationship. He's thoughtful, he's creates the scene and he knows his gentleman sub, Dominic. Through him, Dominic gets to not only recognize the part of himself that has been shamed by his former lover, but he gets to finally have someone in his corner. Dominic was not weak for having his predilections and through Silas, he was even stronger.
If only their lives coincided as easily as their bedroom activities. They were on opposite sides of the fence, gentleman vs. working man. Silas was the seditious writer when not selling books and Dominic worked for the Home Office, the very institution that was trying to snuff out people like Silas. How could they ever have a HEA? At points, I thought it wasn't going to happen. Silas and his stubbornness and pride would get in the way but Charles makes the story work, as well as the men work for their happy ending.
Of course with the help of wonderful supporting characters including, the gentlemen Ricardians, a slew of folk that made the tensions run high and kept the pace going. But I must discuss the standouts
Zoe! I thought I was half in love with Shakespeare...but he has a new contender in Zoe, the ballsy madam of Millay's.
I thoroughly enjoy the way this author handles diversity in this time period and she doesn't just make a free black another part of the scenery, seen but not heard. She gives them a voice. She gives them character. And Zoe...she goes onto my faves secondary characters list. She's ballsy and smart...I adored her. Almost as much as the other scene stealer, Mr. Julian Norreys - the star of book #1, A Fashionable Indulgence.
Julian Norreys...I lived for each and every scene he entered, each scathing remark was pleasure unbound. He's still not my fave character from this author but he's a close second. Bless his tongue, may it never part from his head. I think he was even better in this book. I don't know but I'm so tempted to start a Norreys fan club - Harry being the president of course.
Enough about the two breakout characters (though the secondary characters get more depth added to them, so I applaud all of them), this story is isn't just delicious kink (D/s, mind games, bondage, HUMILIATION- score!) and the gut wrenching love Silas and Dominic had for one another. (I'm not spoiling since it's apparent from the first page about their connection)
It's also about politics of the times, the haves maintaining an iron fist grip on the wealth and letting the have nots suffer. It's about social injustice. It's about sedition. And the author researched it thoroughly and added a lot of detail. It might be point that could possibly turn some off. It gets heavy. But to me, this was Silas and Dominic's tale. They were in the thick of politics, so of course, their story would be bloody political. And it's based on real events and it made me sad how close to current events they are right now.
I think the story as a whole worked. There was romance, there was action, there was sex and grit. And most importantly there were words. Lovely words that transported to a favorite time period of mine and showcased a different side. And made it interesting.
While I now purr in glee for the next book (April can't get here soon enough), A Seditious Affair is most certainly not a book to scoff at. Silas and Dominic are a very solid couple, I think even more so that Harry and Julian.
It's one of my favorite reads of the year.
A copy provided via Netgalley for an honest review.
A tag-team review betwixt Cupcake and Baby can be found here:
4.5 Hearts--I was very happy for the future pairings in the Society of Gentlemen series. And this series thankfully features a different couple each book. But Cyprian, the redheaded valet/spy made an impression on me. Immensely. I was all over the ginger (go figure). He's cunning and bends the rules? I wanted to spring on top of him like...I dunno what. I wanted Cyprian like I wanted my next breath. And his book won't be out until next year.
So I figured, A Seditious Affair, (book #2) was going to be a filler book, a stepping stone if you will. I was just going to enjoy the read but knew the main dish would be with the ginger.
K.J. Charles knocked me out with her words...AGAIN!
I shouldn't have underestimated the words of K.J. Charles. Or even thought for a second that it was going to be a filler book. Sweet Cheesus, the couple...their words to one another...the kink...this story!
Consideration, that was what it was...That tiny piece of thoughtfulness from a gentleman who wanted to be fucked into the gutter, but who noticed how the man in the gutter felt.
As per usual, it was word porn for the mind in A Seditious Affair. And K.J. Charles and kink, who knew? BDSM before it was formalized but not heavy for those who shy away from kinkier romances.
Silas, the ham fisted brute with a mega chip on his shoulder who breaks the law while fighting for the every man's rights is the dom in the relationship. He's thoughtful, he's creates the scene and he knows his gentleman sub, Dominic. Through him, Dominic gets to not only recognize the part of himself that has been shamed by his former lover, but he gets to finally have someone in his corner. Dominic was not weak for having his predilections and through Silas, he was even stronger.
If only their lives coincided as easily as their bedroom activities. They were on opposite sides of the fence, gentleman vs. working man. Silas was the seditious writer when not selling books and Dominic worked for the Home Office, the very institution that was trying to snuff out people like Silas. How could they ever have a HEA? At points, I thought it wasn't going to happen. Silas and his stubbornness and pride would get in the way but Charles makes the story work, as well as the men work for their happy ending.
Of course with the help of wonderful supporting characters including, the gentlemen Ricardians, a slew of folk that made the tensions run high and kept the pace going. But I must discuss the standouts
Zoe! I thought I was half in love with Shakespeare...but he has a new contender in Zoe, the ballsy madam of Millay's.
"We all knew who he was except you," Zoe hissed, "and we all knew who you was except him, and how the fuck was anyone to know that you two was too stupid to ask each other?"
I thoroughly enjoy the way this author handles diversity in this time period and she doesn't just make a free black another part of the scenery, seen but not heard. She gives them a voice. She gives them character. And Zoe...she goes onto my faves secondary characters list. She's ballsy and smart...I adored her. Almost as much as the other scene stealer, Mr. Julian Norreys - the star of book #1, A Fashionable Indulgence.
Julian Norreys...I lived for each and every scene he entered, each scathing remark was pleasure unbound. He's still not my fave character from this author but he's a close second. Bless his tongue, may it never part from his head. I think he was even better in this book. I don't know but I'm so tempted to start a Norreys fan club - Harry being the president of course.
Enough about the two breakout characters (though the secondary characters get more depth added to them, so I applaud all of them), this story is isn't just delicious kink (D/s, mind games, bondage, HUMILIATION- score!) and the gut wrenching love Silas and Dominic had for one another. (I'm not spoiling since it's apparent from the first page about their connection)
He'd enjoyed doing that. Marking the Tory, stamping him his. Making sure any trespassing society gentleman would know Silas had been there first.
It's also about politics of the times, the haves maintaining an iron fist grip on the wealth and letting the have nots suffer. It's about social injustice. It's about sedition. And the author researched it thoroughly and added a lot of detail. It might be point that could possibly turn some off. It gets heavy. But to me, this was Silas and Dominic's tale. They were in the thick of politics, so of course, their story would be bloody political. And it's based on real events and it made me sad how close to current events they are right now.
I think the story as a whole worked. There was romance, there was action, there was sex and grit. And most importantly there were words. Lovely words that transported to a favorite time period of mine and showcased a different side. And made it interesting.
While I now purr in glee for the next book (April can't get here soon enough), A Seditious Affair is most certainly not a book to scoff at. Silas and Dominic are a very solid couple, I think even more so that Harry and Julian.
It's one of my favorite reads of the year.
A copy provided via Netgalley for an honest review.
June 11, 2019
"We disagree without hatred, and fuck as we choose. If I were to give my idea of utopia..."Here am I again, wishing I could give a better review to this book after my second read of it in less than 5 months. And still not feeling able to.
"Come to bed with me, you blasted radical. Bring me your revolution."For me, this book is perfect. PERFECT. The character development makes me feel everything that Silas and Dom go through, to my very bones. I'm held captive by every page.
It's very, very rare for me to heart both the romantic relationship and the plot-outside-the-romance an equal amount. Especially if that "equal amount" is YES, PLEASE / EVERYTHING / ALL THE GOOD.
...when it was a matter of dying on your feet or living on your knees, the answer wasn't as clear as you might have hoped.I don't recommend reading this book as a standalone. The good news is that it's no hardship to read the full captivating trilogy + shorts. Fortheloveofgod, don't forget the shorts.
Note: The cover, though. Who in the holy hell is that supposed to be? Certainly not either of the MCs. Not even remotely close in any aspect. Argh. Ignore it and carry on.
December 21, 2015
Written December 20, 2015
4.8 Stars - Amazing well written, heartbreaking, painful, intensely hot and grand romantic good. My happy HUGE love!
Book #2
A Seditious Affair is the second part in K.J. Charles new historical (non paranormal) men loves men series, Society of Gentlemen. This M/M novel is telling the story about an unexpected secretly encounters (later love) couple, two men from completely different social classes, as we met as second characters already in #1-A Fashionable Indulgence (3.8 stars from me).
FANTASTIC ! — I'm happydancing, exhausted amazed, chattering satisfied and just want a lot more books from this fantastic M/M writer. Everything Ms Charles does seems to be addictive good and I'm stunned once again.
************************************************
London, summer / fall / winter 1819 - 1820
• Silas Mason, the radical 40 year old bookshop owner who acting at risk for what is legal and permitted in terms of political seditious words, printed pamphlets with dangerous strong opinions about a non-democratic regime, unfair conditions, citizens' rights and the all mighty governance of society. A brave "people's man" raised in simplicity near poverty who lives for the "to be" revolution and his beloved books. Silas is the man who Harry Vane from book #1 first worked and lived with.
Silas is a man who takes risks and sometimes also like it to be a bit hot and rough in the bedchamber. — Since a year is he secretly meeting a man he doesn't even know the name of. A man in fancy clothes drinking expensive (good) wine.
• Dominic Frey (aka Tory), is a well-born gentleman working for the Home Office (a ministerial department). At daytime trying to curb crime and illegal activities, and at night wish it to be kinky rough, dominant and quite hard from another mans hand. Inner needs that for years has been giving him a lot of anxiety as he feels it is inexcusable forbidden and also embarrassing.
A Seditious Affair starts intriguing good (it catched my interest at once) with a steaming scene in a secret "men with special needs" house. Two incognito men secretly longing and caring for each other in their own different ways. These secret hot Wednesday meetings with Silas are Dominic's "lifeline" for insanity and strength to survive all those long days between. — ...When not hunting the pamphleteer who wrote sedition under the pseudonym of Jack Cade.
(Level of kink? )
************************************************
Society of Gentlemen a HR series...
Dominic is one of the 'Ricardians', a close bunch of gay gentlemen this series circling around. ~ No story spoilers just facts: .
Characters to both like and dislike sometimes. I'm not that fond of dear Lord Richard right now. I hope he shapes up in his own book.
************************************************
Ms. Charles does this (as always) impressive good.
A Seditious Affair isn't just a heartbreaking touching grand romantic romance novel it os akso a bit of a historical novel about the way "things" were. My heart is still bleeding for all those unfair oldish law & rules and the way to treat people with different opinions or sexual orientation. I was more or less like a big question mark to guess or foresee in which way this rough and angsty story could turn out to be a romance HEA book in the end. - Did it?
Two strong men from different social groups with big hearts and grand feeling in a pretty dark historical time. — I fancy this kind of "important" background topic, heartbreaking scenes and to not be sure. It's doubtless quite far from those sparkling m/f HR (with charming lords and innocent witty ladies) I very often pick, but instead beautiful painful, intense and very grand. I'm sure these male lovebirds story will stay in my mind for a long time.
Better end this (too long-nothing-new..) review now at once. Time for fixing xmas stuff.
************************************************
Highly RECOMMENDED!
I LIKE - I freaking LOVE
******
A enjoying BR this weekend before Christmas with Bev, Sofia, Andrea and Maya. Thanks Ladies!!
4.8 Stars - Amazing well written, heartbreaking, painful, intensely hot and grand romantic good. My happy HUGE love!
Book #2
A Seditious Affair is the second part in K.J. Charles new historical (non paranormal) men loves men series, Society of Gentlemen. This M/M novel is telling the story about an unexpected secretly encounters (later love) couple, two men from completely different social classes, as we met as second characters already in #1-A Fashionable Indulgence (3.8 stars from me).
FANTASTIC ! — I'm happydancing, exhausted amazed, chattering satisfied and just want a lot more books from this fantastic M/M writer. Everything Ms Charles does seems to be addictive good and I'm stunned once again.
************************************************
London, summer / fall / winter 1819 - 1820
• Silas Mason, the radical 40 year old bookshop owner who acting at risk for what is legal and permitted in terms of political seditious words, printed pamphlets with dangerous strong opinions about a non-democratic regime, unfair conditions, citizens' rights and the all mighty governance of society. A brave "people's man" raised in simplicity near poverty who lives for the "to be" revolution and his beloved books. Silas is the man who Harry Vane from book #1 first worked and lived with.
A « desire clashes with duty » tale...
‘It snowed. Of course it snowed, with unemployment and hunger all over the country. If it hadn’t snowed, maybe the people would have spoken out more against the Six Acts. But it was midwinter, and hot food in your belly was a good deal more of a concern than freedom.’
Silas is a man who takes risks and sometimes also like it to be a bit hot and rough in the bedchamber. — Since a year is he secretly meeting a man he doesn't even know the name of. A man in fancy clothes drinking expensive (good) wine.
• Dominic Frey (aka Tory), is a well-born gentleman working for the Home Office (a ministerial department). At daytime trying to curb crime and illegal activities, and at night wish it to be kinky rough, dominant and quite hard from another mans hand. Inner needs that for years has been giving him a lot of anxiety as he feels it is inexcusable forbidden and also embarrassing.
‘His throat felt absurdly tight. “Thank you.” The brute’s arm tightened, and Dominic blurted, “I wish—”
“What?”
“Nothing. Nothing at all.”
I wish you’d tell me your name.
I wish I dared tell you mine.’
A Seditious Affair starts intriguing good (it catched my interest at once) with a steaming scene in a secret "men with special needs" house. Two incognito men secretly longing and caring for each other in their own different ways. These secret hot Wednesday meetings with Silas are Dominic's "lifeline" for insanity and strength to survive all those long days between. — ...When not hunting the pamphleteer who wrote sedition under the pseudonym of Jack Cade.
(Level of kink? )
************************************************
Society of Gentlemen a HR series...
Dominic is one of the 'Ricardians', a close bunch of gay gentlemen this series circling around. ~ No story spoilers just facts: .
Characters to both like and dislike sometimes. I'm not that fond of dear Lord Richard right now. I hope he shapes up in his own book.
************************************************
Ms. Charles does this (as always) impressive good.
A Seditious Affair isn't just a heartbreaking touching grand romantic romance novel it os akso a bit of a historical novel about the way "things" were. My heart is still bleeding for all those unfair oldish law & rules and the way to treat people with different opinions or sexual orientation. I was more or less like a big question mark to guess or foresee in which way this rough and angsty story could turn out to be a romance HEA book in the end. - Did it?
‘... Take my help because I am your friend.”
“Your lover,” Silas pointed out. “Which is different.”
“My love,” Dominic said.’
Two strong men from different social groups with big hearts and grand feeling in a pretty dark historical time. — I fancy this kind of "important" background topic, heartbreaking scenes and to not be sure. It's doubtless quite far from those sparkling m/f HR (with charming lords and innocent witty ladies) I very often pick, but instead beautiful painful, intense and very grand. I'm sure these male lovebirds story will stay in my mind for a long time.
Better end this (too long-nothing-new..) review now at once. Time for fixing xmas stuff.
************************************************
Highly RECOMMENDED!
I LIKE - I freaking LOVE
******
A enjoying BR this weekend before Christmas with Bev, Sofia, Andrea and Maya. Thanks Ladies!!
January 5, 2016
My god, if I'd realised historicals could be that good I'd read them regularly. Charles had me at the verb 'to swive' and never let go. I didn't particularly love Flight of Magpies and I feel aggrieved no one grabbed me and shook me and said, "No, you don't understand, this is so much better!"
I highly rec this book to all.
4.5 stars
**
Read for my 2016 Reading Challenge: #8. A book set in Europe (if you live in Europe, substitute with a book set in another continent) and as our MMQ January BoM
I highly rec this book to all.
4.5 stars
**
Read for my 2016 Reading Challenge: #8. A book set in Europe (if you live in Europe, substitute with a book set in another continent) and as our MMQ January BoM
December 12, 2017
**** 4.5 Stars ****
October 9, 2025
Reread 10/2025
As impossible as it should be... KJC's impressive writing makes me believe in a future for Silas and Dominic.
Loved it.
--------
Read 05/2024
Another stellar installment in this awesome series.
I loved how the author made Silas and Dominic's love story believable despite its near impossibility.
I loved how much they were in love and admitted it, and already quite early on.
The plot was again fastpaced, gripping and tied to historical events.
KJ Charles is an exceptional writer.
As impossible as it should be... KJC's impressive writing makes me believe in a future for Silas and Dominic.
Loved it.
--------
Read 05/2024
Another stellar installment in this awesome series.
I loved how the author made Silas and Dominic's love story believable despite its near impossibility.
I loved how much they were in love and admitted it, and already quite early on.
The plot was again fastpaced, gripping and tied to historical events.
KJ Charles is an exceptional writer.
Read
January 15, 2016Fucking ridiculously, spectacularly, goddamn obscenely good.
The best historical romance I've read in years.
If I were telling you about this book in person, I would be cussing my admiration in italics.
Just, go read this book, okay?
The best historical romance I've read in years.
If I were telling you about this book in person, I would be cussing my admiration in italics.
Just, go read this book, okay?
December 25, 2022
Bookseller by day, radical pamphleteer by night, Silas Mason has dedicated his entire life to fighting for the underdog. From rousing prose, to good old fashioned monetary donations, there's nothing he wouldn't do for a fellow citizen in need. A regular saint, one might say, if it weren't for his dirty little secret. Every Wednesday, Silas'll meet a certain upstanding gentleman, and make him submit to all his sexual whims. The stimulating conversation is just icing on the cake... or so he keeps telling himself.
Dominic (Dom) Frey is a force to be reckoned with. A high-ranking official at the Home Office, he is the bane of the enemies of the crown; of a certain mysterious pamphleteer, in particular. All this upstanding citizen persona however, can take a toll on our hero, so he reserves his Wednesdays for activities... of a less upstanding nature.
Should I ever decide to make a top 10 list based on favorite character chemistry, this book will definitely make the list. Silas and Dom can certainly stage a good... *hem hem* scene.
The rest however, ended up being more stressful than satisfying, for me. I do commend the author for skillfully getting rid of most of the educational gap between the two protagonists, unfortunately there was no getting over their class differences. By which I mean: yes, the story has a happy ending, but without the romantic frolicking amidst beautiful sunsets.
.. not to mention, that I didn't necessarily feel too attached to either or the protagonists, outside of their erm bedroom activities.
Once again, I'm left with this vague feeling that I really should present this book in a much more favorable light, but the reality of its setting just won't let me fully appreciate the happy aspect of their relationship.
Score: 2.8/5 stars
Having been warned about its BDSM aspects, I was rather excited to get started with this couple's story, unfortunately the end result wasn't quite what I expected. For me, one of the main attractions in M/M romances, are the two participants' equal standing, which is much easier handled in a contemporary setting. When it comes to regency settings, they require a significant amount of fantastic aspects, to fit my needs of a sufficiently happy ending.
===================
Review of book 0.5: The Ruin of Gabriel Ashleigh
Review of book 1: A Fashionable Indulgence
review of book 2.5: A Confidential Problem
Review of book 3: A Gentleman's Position
Review of book 3.5: A Private Miscellany
Dominic (Dom) Frey is a force to be reckoned with. A high-ranking official at the Home Office, he is the bane of the enemies of the crown; of a certain mysterious pamphleteer, in particular. All this upstanding citizen persona however, can take a toll on our hero, so he reserves his Wednesdays for activities... of a less upstanding nature.
Should I ever decide to make a top 10 list based on favorite character chemistry, this book will definitely make the list. Silas and Dom can certainly stage a good... *hem hem* scene.
The rest however, ended up being more stressful than satisfying, for me. I do commend the author for skillfully getting rid of most of the educational gap between the two protagonists, unfortunately there was no getting over their class differences. By which I mean: yes, the story has a happy ending, but without the romantic frolicking amidst beautiful sunsets.
.. not to mention, that I didn't necessarily feel too attached to either or the protagonists, outside of their erm bedroom activities.
Once again, I'm left with this vague feeling that I really should present this book in a much more favorable light, but the reality of its setting just won't let me fully appreciate the happy aspect of their relationship.
Score: 2.8/5 stars
Having been warned about its BDSM aspects, I was rather excited to get started with this couple's story, unfortunately the end result wasn't quite what I expected. For me, one of the main attractions in M/M romances, are the two participants' equal standing, which is much easier handled in a contemporary setting. When it comes to regency settings, they require a significant amount of fantastic aspects, to fit my needs of a sufficiently happy ending.
===================
Review of book 0.5: The Ruin of Gabriel Ashleigh
Review of book 1: A Fashionable Indulgence
review of book 2.5: A Confidential Problem
Review of book 3: A Gentleman's Position
Review of book 3.5: A Private Miscellany
February 3, 2021
I don't give out many A grades at AAR, and I've never given an A+. Until now.
The second book in K.J Charles’ Society of Gentlemen trilogy, A Seditious Affair contains all the ingredients I enjoyed so much in A Fashionable Indulgence, which I read in the summer. I was so impressed by Ms Charles’ writing and the wonderful way she wove the romantic relationship through a gripping story of social and political unrest, attempted murder and conflicting loyalties that to say I was chomping at the bit to read this next in the series is a massive understatement.
But the wait was well worth it, because A Seditious Affair is, amazingly, even better than the previous novel. Some of its events run concurrently with those in A Fashionable Indulgence, so readers of that book will already be familiar with the protagonists of this story; lawyer and Home Office official Dominic Frey and Silas Mason, bookseller and free-thinking political activist.
Every Wednesday night for the past year, Dom and Silas have been meeting anonymously, at a discreet house of assignation. Although he is a gentleman of good breeding and a powerful official, when it comes to the bedroom, Dominic likes it rough; he wants to surrender control, to be forced to submit to the man he has dubbed his “brute”. Neither knows the others identity, but over the year they have been meeting, they have become friends and companions as well as sexual partners, enjoying the intellectual aspect of their relationship as much as the sexual side.
K.J Charles sets the tone of their relationship right from the opening page, with a searingly hot sex scene after which the couple starts chatting companionably about their week. It’s poignant, almost domestic and utterly brilliant, the deep emotional connection between them so strongly drawn that it drew me in straight away and wouldn’t let me go until I’d finished the book.
Readers of A Fashionable Indulgence will recall Silas’ activities as a pamphleteer, writing about the injustices practiced on the British people by the ruling classes, and calling for drastic change. The book is set shortly after the Peterloo Massacre in 1819, a peaceful gathering of workers which turned nasty when soldiers began firing on unarmed civilians. Readers of historical romance set in the Regency period will be familiar with the world of the ton; the seemingly endless round of balls and parties attended by our beautifully dressed heroes and heroines as, in the best tradition of escapist fiction, we are presented with a picture of grace, elegance and wealth . But in actuality, the decade from 1812 to 1822 was a period of great unrest in England. Following the end of the Napoleonic Wars, the country was on the verge of great change in many ways, fuelled by bad harvests, large numbers of returning soldiers unable to find work and the massive inequalities between rich and poor. And in 1819, so many were prepared to speak out against the privileged classes that the government was driven to introduce the Six Acts, acts of parliament that pronounced every meeting for radical reform is an overt act of treasonable conspiracy against the King and his government. I confess, this isn’t a situation I knew much about before reading this book, but I found it fascinating.
On opposite sides of the political spectrum, “the brute” and “the Tory” are stimulated as much by their often voluble exchanges of ideas as by their sexual relationship. Dominic is all for the need to maintain order – people need rules, laws and government or there will be chaos; whereas Silas wants people to have a choice, even if they choose badly, and he will continue to speak out while he can. But the passing of the acts – one of which is a tax on printed material – makes Silas’ already precarious situation even more hazardous. Already believed to be the seditionist Jack Cade, Silas is struggling to stay one step ahead of the authorities who want to silence him. Dominic’s loyalties are stretched to their limit, and it’s hard to see how on earth these men who so obviously care very deeply for each other can possibly end up together. But what Ms Charles does so beautifully and convincingly is to show how both men have been changed by their association, so that when things come to a head and they have to make some difficult choices, those choices are perfectly within the bounds of possibility and don’t feel at all like some convenient plot device to ensure an HEA.
Set against the backdrop of the Cato Street Conspiracy, Ms Charles has done an amazing job of weaving a compelling and deeply romantic love story through the rich tapestry of real historical events. I admit that when the nature of the relationship between two such unlikely bedfellows was revealed, I wasn’t sure whether I’d enjoy the book as D/s relationships are not normally my cup of tea. But I was completely won over by both Silas and Dominic, who are wonderfully drawn, strong characters, and by the sheer depth of emotion that lies between them. We are re-introduced to a familiar cast of supporting characters including Julius and Harry from the previous book and Lord Richard Vane and his mysterious, seemingly omnipotent valet. Richard will be one of the protagonists in the next book, and is such an unpleasant stuffed-shirt in this one that I can’t imagine how Ms Charles is going to redeem him; although I’m sure she will, and in spectacular fashion.
Without doubt, A Seditious Affair is one of the best books I’ve read this year.
The second book in K.J Charles’ Society of Gentlemen trilogy, A Seditious Affair contains all the ingredients I enjoyed so much in A Fashionable Indulgence, which I read in the summer. I was so impressed by Ms Charles’ writing and the wonderful way she wove the romantic relationship through a gripping story of social and political unrest, attempted murder and conflicting loyalties that to say I was chomping at the bit to read this next in the series is a massive understatement.
But the wait was well worth it, because A Seditious Affair is, amazingly, even better than the previous novel. Some of its events run concurrently with those in A Fashionable Indulgence, so readers of that book will already be familiar with the protagonists of this story; lawyer and Home Office official Dominic Frey and Silas Mason, bookseller and free-thinking political activist.
Every Wednesday night for the past year, Dom and Silas have been meeting anonymously, at a discreet house of assignation. Although he is a gentleman of good breeding and a powerful official, when it comes to the bedroom, Dominic likes it rough; he wants to surrender control, to be forced to submit to the man he has dubbed his “brute”. Neither knows the others identity, but over the year they have been meeting, they have become friends and companions as well as sexual partners, enjoying the intellectual aspect of their relationship as much as the sexual side.
K.J Charles sets the tone of their relationship right from the opening page, with a searingly hot sex scene after which the couple starts chatting companionably about their week. It’s poignant, almost domestic and utterly brilliant, the deep emotional connection between them so strongly drawn that it drew me in straight away and wouldn’t let me go until I’d finished the book.
Readers of A Fashionable Indulgence will recall Silas’ activities as a pamphleteer, writing about the injustices practiced on the British people by the ruling classes, and calling for drastic change. The book is set shortly after the Peterloo Massacre in 1819, a peaceful gathering of workers which turned nasty when soldiers began firing on unarmed civilians. Readers of historical romance set in the Regency period will be familiar with the world of the ton; the seemingly endless round of balls and parties attended by our beautifully dressed heroes and heroines as, in the best tradition of escapist fiction, we are presented with a picture of grace, elegance and wealth . But in actuality, the decade from 1812 to 1822 was a period of great unrest in England. Following the end of the Napoleonic Wars, the country was on the verge of great change in many ways, fuelled by bad harvests, large numbers of returning soldiers unable to find work and the massive inequalities between rich and poor. And in 1819, so many were prepared to speak out against the privileged classes that the government was driven to introduce the Six Acts, acts of parliament that pronounced every meeting for radical reform is an overt act of treasonable conspiracy against the King and his government. I confess, this isn’t a situation I knew much about before reading this book, but I found it fascinating.
On opposite sides of the political spectrum, “the brute” and “the Tory” are stimulated as much by their often voluble exchanges of ideas as by their sexual relationship. Dominic is all for the need to maintain order – people need rules, laws and government or there will be chaos; whereas Silas wants people to have a choice, even if they choose badly, and he will continue to speak out while he can. But the passing of the acts – one of which is a tax on printed material – makes Silas’ already precarious situation even more hazardous. Already believed to be the seditionist Jack Cade, Silas is struggling to stay one step ahead of the authorities who want to silence him. Dominic’s loyalties are stretched to their limit, and it’s hard to see how on earth these men who so obviously care very deeply for each other can possibly end up together. But what Ms Charles does so beautifully and convincingly is to show how both men have been changed by their association, so that when things come to a head and they have to make some difficult choices, those choices are perfectly within the bounds of possibility and don’t feel at all like some convenient plot device to ensure an HEA.
Set against the backdrop of the Cato Street Conspiracy, Ms Charles has done an amazing job of weaving a compelling and deeply romantic love story through the rich tapestry of real historical events. I admit that when the nature of the relationship between two such unlikely bedfellows was revealed, I wasn’t sure whether I’d enjoy the book as D/s relationships are not normally my cup of tea. But I was completely won over by both Silas and Dominic, who are wonderfully drawn, strong characters, and by the sheer depth of emotion that lies between them. We are re-introduced to a familiar cast of supporting characters including Julius and Harry from the previous book and Lord Richard Vane and his mysterious, seemingly omnipotent valet. Richard will be one of the protagonists in the next book, and is such an unpleasant stuffed-shirt in this one that I can’t imagine how Ms Charles is going to redeem him; although I’m sure she will, and in spectacular fashion.
Without doubt, A Seditious Affair is one of the best books I’ve read this year.
December 8, 2021
Reread- Dec 2021- On Audiobook by Matthew Llyod Davies
"Wednesday by Wednesday, week by week, I have loved you".
KJ Charles is my fav historical Romance author and this is one of my all-time fav books by her. But, I swear this is my first reread and that too because my Audible account keeps dangling the ' Included freely with your subscription' tag every time I check my library. 😒😒
The audiobook Narration by Matthew Llyod Davies was perfect. His Cockney accent for Silas is brilliantly done.
The reread proved again that this book is one of the most perfect Historical romance books I have ever read. Just be careful this book is not for you
*if you don't like books with heavy political discussions because the main conflict between the couple is completely based on it.
*And, Humiliation kink, again it's one of the main elements of the romance here.
"I wish you’d tell me your name.
I wish I dared tell you mine".
"No mercy.
Except that everything he did was a mercy, a pure, agonizing relief to the desires that snarled in Dominic’s gut, like pulling a thorn out of the skin. Cruel to be kind".
“Heaven in Hell’s despair. You’re mine, understand? Mine to the bone,
I own you, Tory. Nobody else. No lackwit gentry-funkster who doesn’t know how to treat you right.”
I can't decide who's my fav couple by KJ Charles because it's one of the toughest things to choose between so many of my fav couples but Silas and Dominic come pretty close to being one.🥰🥰
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Original review
I love most of KJ Charles's work but still, this turned out to be a good surprise. It was a thoughtful, intelligent and intriguing book. Our MC Silas is a lifelong radical activist and an atheist. He believes in equality and hates the upper class(gentry) quite strongly. He meets 'Dominic ' in a gentlemen club( read Molly house). Dominic is an officer in the home office and is a strong believer in the hierarchy of the class system. He thinks change can destabilize society.
Dominic was into D/s and extreme humiliation kink, so he was heartbroken after his childhood love made fun of his desires when he was in his 20s. Now he has developed a mutually beneficial relationship with Silas. But it slowly developed into something meaningful.
The steam level was very high and It was both lovely and heartbreaking to see their relationship change from meaningless sex to something worth fighting for. This happened between their Wednesday meetings and their heated debates on books. But their strong and opposite belief system was the biggest hurdle. I particularly love the young brute, Silas. Only he can say stuff like -
"There were no chains like the ones in your head".
"Wednesday by Wednesday, week by week, I have loved you".
KJ Charles is my fav historical Romance author and this is one of my all-time fav books by her. But, I swear this is my first reread and that too because my Audible account keeps dangling the ' Included freely with your subscription' tag every time I check my library. 😒😒
The audiobook Narration by Matthew Llyod Davies was perfect. His Cockney accent for Silas is brilliantly done.
The reread proved again that this book is one of the most perfect Historical romance books I have ever read. Just be careful this book is not for you
*if you don't like books with heavy political discussions because the main conflict between the couple is completely based on it.
*And, Humiliation kink, again it's one of the main elements of the romance here.
"I wish you’d tell me your name.
I wish I dared tell you mine".
"No mercy.
Except that everything he did was a mercy, a pure, agonizing relief to the desires that snarled in Dominic’s gut, like pulling a thorn out of the skin. Cruel to be kind".
“Heaven in Hell’s despair. You’re mine, understand? Mine to the bone,
I own you, Tory. Nobody else. No lackwit gentry-funkster who doesn’t know how to treat you right.”
I can't decide who's my fav couple by KJ Charles because it's one of the toughest things to choose between so many of my fav couples but Silas and Dominic come pretty close to being one.🥰🥰
--------------------------------------------------------
Original review
I love most of KJ Charles's work but still, this turned out to be a good surprise. It was a thoughtful, intelligent and intriguing book. Our MC Silas is a lifelong radical activist and an atheist. He believes in equality and hates the upper class(gentry) quite strongly. He meets 'Dominic ' in a gentlemen club( read Molly house). Dominic is an officer in the home office and is a strong believer in the hierarchy of the class system. He thinks change can destabilize society.
Dominic was into D/s and extreme humiliation kink, so he was heartbroken after his childhood love made fun of his desires when he was in his 20s. Now he has developed a mutually beneficial relationship with Silas. But it slowly developed into something meaningful.
The steam level was very high and It was both lovely and heartbreaking to see their relationship change from meaningless sex to something worth fighting for. This happened between their Wednesday meetings and their heated debates on books. But their strong and opposite belief system was the biggest hurdle. I particularly love the young brute, Silas. Only he can say stuff like -
"There were no chains like the ones in your head".
January 10, 2016
“Heaven in Hell’s despair. You’re mine, understand? Mine to the bone.” [...]
“I own you, Tory. Nobody else. No lackwit gentry-fuckster who doesn’t know how to treat you right.” His hand was around Dominic’s prick, fingers just touching, making him wait. Dominic’s fingers were clenched on empty air. “Like it’s a hardship to have those pretty eyes pleading. Like I wouldn’t want that pretty mouth telling me I’m the master here. Christ, the way you give it up to me. I own you.”
This book. This book owns me. It grabbed me by the throat and wouldn't let me go. 5 stars are not enough for the best historical I 've ever read.
This was real and accurate from the smallest detail, down to historical events that took place during these ugly times in the UK. It's my kind of historical. Aristocrats, lords, and viscounts are ok, but I prefer real life heroes over them any day.
This isn't an easy love story, and the romance is gritty and raw. The humilliation kink isn't usually my cuppa. The thing is, when the sex games end, Silas worships Dominic. He cherishes him with everything he has. He is the only one who understands him and makes him see that his desire to submit shouldn't be a source of guilt. Silas might be the Dom, but he is the one on his knees for Dominic.
There are a lot of politics here, but the story is well researched, and I was never bored. On the contrary, something was always happening to hold my attention.
Silas and Dominic initially only have Wednesdays together, but what begins as just sex between strangers, soon becomes something much more.
They make love, read books, talk politics, and drink wine. And share William Blake quotes.
The writing is flawless and engaging, but I didn't expect any less.
I'm not coherent enough for a longer review. All the stars, all the stars for this book.
September 11, 2025
Reread: September 2025
I loved the slow romance between Dominic and Silas, built slowly through Wednesdays.
As a second reading, I struggled to like Dominic at times. His political ideas about the people, typical I’m guessing for gentlemen of that time, made me angry. How can you defend your government and the current order of things when people are starving?
I adored Silas, on every single page.
Initial read: February 2021
Regency England BDSM? Yes please!!!! Who knew???
OMG this book. Incredible heat. Impossible love. Politics. History. A gentleman sub. A radical Dom. And once again, wonderful secondary characters.
My heart broke for Dominic and Richard in the first book. Young love gets to me. First loves don’t usually last forever, but they leave deep scars. I felt guilty for years for ruining my first perfect beautiful love. Even though it wasn’t meant to last.
“David and Jonathan, they’d called themselves, Achilles and Patroclus, and forgotten that neither of those stories had a happy ending. They’d had their own Garden of Eden, and sure enough the curse of knowledge had come upon them, with Dominic’s growing, sick awareness that what they had wasn’t enough. He had spent fifteen miserable years knowing himself to be the man who had despoiled paradise.”
Until Silas comes and he feels whole again. Silas worships him. Gives him everything he needs and makes him feel cherished. I didn’t like Silas all that much in the first book, but he was so perfect for Dominic. They meet on Wednesdays. For more than a year. Without exchanging even names.
Dominic: “Wednesday by Wednesday, week by week, I have loved you.”
I hated Richard here, with his devotion to his family and his friends, and his willingness to ruin anyone that comes in their way. My heart broke for him but I still hated him. I’m intrigued to see his book. I’m running there right now, because I’m totally addicted to this series.
I loved the slow romance between Dominic and Silas, built slowly through Wednesdays.
As a second reading, I struggled to like Dominic at times. His political ideas about the people, typical I’m guessing for gentlemen of that time, made me angry. How can you defend your government and the current order of things when people are starving?
I adored Silas, on every single page.
Initial read: February 2021
Regency England BDSM? Yes please!!!! Who knew???
OMG this book. Incredible heat. Impossible love. Politics. History. A gentleman sub. A radical Dom. And once again, wonderful secondary characters.
My heart broke for Dominic and Richard in the first book. Young love gets to me. First loves don’t usually last forever, but they leave deep scars. I felt guilty for years for ruining my first perfect beautiful love. Even though it wasn’t meant to last.
“David and Jonathan, they’d called themselves, Achilles and Patroclus, and forgotten that neither of those stories had a happy ending. They’d had their own Garden of Eden, and sure enough the curse of knowledge had come upon them, with Dominic’s growing, sick awareness that what they had wasn’t enough. He had spent fifteen miserable years knowing himself to be the man who had despoiled paradise.”
Until Silas comes and he feels whole again. Silas worships him. Gives him everything he needs and makes him feel cherished. I didn’t like Silas all that much in the first book, but he was so perfect for Dominic. They meet on Wednesdays. For more than a year. Without exchanging even names.
Dominic: “Wednesday by Wednesday, week by week, I have loved you.”
I hated Richard here, with his devotion to his family and his friends, and his willingness to ruin anyone that comes in their way. My heart broke for him but I still hated him. I’m intrigued to see his book. I’m running there right now, because I’m totally addicted to this series.
July 25, 2018
The narration was stellar as I expected. The MCs were very likeable. The story however was just okay for me. Politics and bdsm…I wasn’t feeling it. At least I got a little more of the exquisite Julius from book 1. Love and adore him!!
I have high hopes for book 3. I’m hoping Richard and the mysterious Cyprian’s story turns out to be the best in the series.
I have high hopes for book 3. I’m hoping Richard and the mysterious Cyprian’s story turns out to be the best in the series.
December 31, 2015
Charles does not let one breathe in this one. From the very first is was straight into the fray and she did not let up until the very end.
Whilst A Fashionable Indulgence was a study in assimilation, this one, the second in the trilogy is a study in contrasts. Everything is pit against the other. Contrasts in wealth and circumstances, education, family and friends, sexual preferences, political beliefs, duty and self, duty and friends. Silas and Dom are such excellent vehicles so that we get both positions and we realise that nothing is so black and white.
I like how Charles is building up this story. My interest was immediately piqued with The Ruin of Gabriel Ashleigh and then we got more of the story itself and the characters with the first book so that now in this one, everything was familiar we got immediately into the story. We are now familiar with the people and things like Ash's wide eyed look and Julius rapier tongue are very much appreciated. Silas and Dom are now favourites and I hate the wait for more.
This was a great BR with my friends whom I thank.
July 10, 2021
4 stars⭐️ Have I read any book by KJ Charles before? A big NO. Was I missing out on something precious? A big YESSS. I absolutely enjoy reading this book. Not only the couple is lovable but the writing style duh it's phenomenal and flawless.
Dominic and Silas' backgrounds were not compatible. They were related to different social classes. Dominic was a gentleman who was working for Home Office. Silas was a radical activist and his nightmare was Dominic.
There was a wonderful anonymous Wednesday arrangement between Silas and Dominic. Dominic wanted to be humiliated and abused in his bed. Silas became the daddy dom for Dominic and gave what Dominic craved to get in his whole life, and made sure Dominic's little fantasy came true.
“Heaven in Hell’s despair. You’re mine, understand? Mine to the bone.”
“Yes.” Too true, hopelessly true.”
“I own you, Tory. Nobody else.”
But they should never have made this arrangement in the first place. Dominic was working for the Home Office, and his job was to find Silas and arrest him for the actions that he had been committing against the country.
“Wednesday by Wednesday, week by week, I have become yours for the taking.”
The funny thing was they cannot ever stop seeing each other, and their lustful events came to be more prominent afterward.
Dominic cared for Silas. But his job made him suffocate with everything. He wanted to do everything to save Silas from his death sentence and warned him as much as he could do in his shoes. In this story, there was a great talk about law and politics, and the author has pinpointed more things you should think about twice.
But the whole time there was one problem bugging me, and it was who the hell was in the cover!?
Dominic and Silas' backgrounds were not compatible. They were related to different social classes. Dominic was a gentleman who was working for Home Office. Silas was a radical activist and his nightmare was Dominic.
There was a wonderful anonymous Wednesday arrangement between Silas and Dominic. Dominic wanted to be humiliated and abused in his bed. Silas became the daddy dom for Dominic and gave what Dominic craved to get in his whole life, and made sure Dominic's little fantasy came true.
“Heaven in Hell’s despair. You’re mine, understand? Mine to the bone.”
“Yes.” Too true, hopelessly true.”
“I own you, Tory. Nobody else.”
But they should never have made this arrangement in the first place. Dominic was working for the Home Office, and his job was to find Silas and arrest him for the actions that he had been committing against the country.
“Wednesday by Wednesday, week by week, I have become yours for the taking.”
The funny thing was they cannot ever stop seeing each other, and their lustful events came to be more prominent afterward.
Dominic cared for Silas. But his job made him suffocate with everything. He wanted to do everything to save Silas from his death sentence and warned him as much as he could do in his shoes. In this story, there was a great talk about law and politics, and the author has pinpointed more things you should think about twice.
But the whole time there was one problem bugging me, and it was who the hell was in the cover!?
April 17, 2022
The Story: 4.5 Pants Off
KJ Charles has done it again!! Like this shit be mad hot fire and out of this world brilliant.
Silas is a cranky bastard, he’s a radical and he makes no illusions about who he is and what he believes in. Domenic Frey is on the other end of the spectrum, he’s a man with money and prestige who likes to get off in the seedier parts of town. What he doesn’t know is that his Wednesday hookups is none other than radical Silas, and the rest you can say is history.
There’s gonna be spark, there’s gonna be fire, there’s gonna be glorious fucking.
The writing is superb, if you wanna jizz in your pants off some words, this is the freaking series for you. Multilevel characters, a story that’s inclusive and A Sedious Affair is the story you don’t want to miss.
And while it’s all glorious and sexy it doesn’t shy away from the reminders that two men in or just men being together is exponentially dangerous and could lead to a hanging.
How does one remain with their Pants 👖 on for this remarkable piece of work?!
I recommend it, if you love historical romances, and I recommend it because KJ “fucking” Charles did the darn thing 💁♀️
The Narration: 5 Pants Off
Somebody call 911...cus there is a fire burning in my pants 👖 ooohhhh.....
Mathew Lloyd Davies you are the G.O.A.T for all things British right now. His voice, his take on the characters, his flair for making an already incredibly scene extraordinary is just...
AMAZING!!
KJ Charles has done it again!! Like this shit be mad hot fire and out of this world brilliant.
Silas is a cranky bastard, he’s a radical and he makes no illusions about who he is and what he believes in. Domenic Frey is on the other end of the spectrum, he’s a man with money and prestige who likes to get off in the seedier parts of town. What he doesn’t know is that his Wednesday hookups is none other than radical Silas, and the rest you can say is history.
There’s gonna be spark, there’s gonna be fire, there’s gonna be glorious fucking.
The writing is superb, if you wanna jizz in your pants off some words, this is the freaking series for you. Multilevel characters, a story that’s inclusive and A Sedious Affair is the story you don’t want to miss.
And while it’s all glorious and sexy it doesn’t shy away from the reminders that two men in or just men being together is exponentially dangerous and could lead to a hanging.
How does one remain with their Pants 👖 on for this remarkable piece of work?!
I recommend it, if you love historical romances, and I recommend it because KJ “fucking” Charles did the darn thing 💁♀️
The Narration: 5 Pants Off
Somebody call 911...cus there is a fire burning in my pants 👖 ooohhhh.....
Mathew Lloyd Davies you are the G.O.A.T for all things British right now. His voice, his take on the characters, his flair for making an already incredibly scene extraordinary is just...
AMAZING!!
February 20, 2024
FEBRUARY 2024 REREAD
this annual ASA reread is brought to you by the girl with the world's sorest throat and runniest nose 😭😭😭😭 *hoarse muttering: "save me yearly ASA reread save me random twink on the cover save me KJ Charles 🙏"*
ngl, i really thought it wasn't gonna sink its claws into me as hard this time round (the first few chapters somehow didn't grab me as forcefully as they usually do), but it was really Chapters Five and Six that did me in.
"I still have books of yours to return" break-up lament followed by "What are we doing?/Making it worse." ill-advised-getting-back-together lament followed by "My friend called me a Whig the other night" pillow talk followed by the iconic "Wednesday by Wednesday"(!!!) followed by "I kneel for two reasons only and the other one is prayer" (lmaooo Dom be serious mate) followed by "I know you are not in the habit of leaning on anyone. You are a tower of strength out there, aren't you? Always taking the brunt of it all. But in here, at least, let me bear your weight." followed by the incomparable "For the books. For Blake. For the ways you have changed me." followed by ANOTHER "Wednesday by Wednesday" (will i never know peace??) followed by "I know the burden this puts on you, and that is a crackbrained, dangerous way to go on, but I also know what it is to lay my life waste. I will not do it again." ENOUGH KJC LET ME BREATHE!!!
and all of these quotes are just from Dom!! who is objectively speaking *at best* a poor little meow meow and at worst my class enemy number one (he is both). whereas Silas is basically Sam Vimes if Vimes fucked and wasn't a cop and was the best most wonderful man ever to grace the page, so his chapters are a fucking doozy.
"He feared in his bones that he'd give in if Dom asked, and Dom knew it and didn't ask. Silas loved him more for that, with a heart so poorly suited and so unaccustomed to love that he felt it might burst its banks like one of London's choked, fetid rivers." something something Silas has never left London and is so hopelessly devoted to its people and their struggle that even his mental images of his doomed love affair are inextricably tied to London something something he has walked the entire city in his terrible shoes and threadbare coat something something HE IS SEXY VIMES
once again i was obsessed with how much of the romance was fundamentally rooted in a deep sense of intellectual connection and kinship. KJC actually establishes the books/politics/philosophy as *just as important* as the sex, and does that in an opening chapter that is literally just a protracted kinky sex scene, and somehow keeps this balance throughout the book. an air sign/air sign pairing if there ever was one!
regarding the kink though!! was once again struck by how Dom's journey and Silas's struggle fundamentally do not successfully function as one another's foils. like yes having the protagonist have an understandable and relateable personal struggle (Dom's sexual shame) that he overcomes through the power of love is a 10/10 romance novel concept, but no it cannot work alongside the love interest battling a *systemic* injustice that he can never overcome. and yes, romance as a genre always in a way substitutes the structural for the personal (powerless woman living in a misogynistic world and a deeply patriarchal society -> victorious woman securing a nurturing and loving relationship with a Good Man who will never hurt her), so i think it would have been fine if Silas's storyline went "powerless man who is disenfranchised by the brutal police state he lives in" -> "victorious man who has found personal contentment and material safety without losing his principles". and that *is* basically what happens? but then there's Dom, who textually equates his sexual shame and resulting emotional issues to Silas's problems, and i quote "'Sometimes one must cleave to what one knows to be right in the teeth of all opposition. Sometimes it comes at an unbearable price. Sometimes one must even face the fact that one's wishes may be wrong-' / 'We still talking about politics?' / 'It's all the same,' Dominic said." ummm Dom bestie i'm pretty sure your ex kinkshaming you is not the same as your current lover being threatened with deportation for writing pamphlets about how state-sanctioned violence is bad, actually?? 😭😭😭 like honey get a grip!! but he never really has to? i mean, in the end, it all works out fine for him. he is forced to face the fact that he was an instrument of a corrupt goverment apparatus and that is quite disheartening for him (and i quote "This is not my England and this is not my party." my man is a walking cringe factory fr 😭), but i think that since the reader can never fundamentally buy into his "democracy is a utopian pipe dream" 19th century politics, you can't really be sad for him when the other penny drops? whereas Silas is so eminently relatable, and his struggles so well depicted and keenly felt (he is SO tired and cold and hungry and angry), that the end of this book does leave me feeling kinda unmoored. not on the romance side of it -KJC does an amazing job of showing why and how these two make a perfect match and you really do buy into their future as a couple- but on the whole "impossibility of true freedom and parity under an unjust system" side of things. and i don't know if this is an issue that a romance novel about kinky sex and Blake fanboying can be reasonably expected to solve! but it does gets freakishly close, hence the kvetching.
-------------------------------------------
I just reread this book for the fourth(!!) fucking time so I wanted to finally write up a proper review. I even had critiques this time! Like, a genuine analysis of why Dom's and Silas's needs aren't quite as well-balanced as the book would have us believe, and how this ties in to the parallels I noticed between A Seditious Affair and Black Sails (my beloved), and how Dom is just,,,unbearably stupid with his politics.
But then I made the grave mistake of going through my highlights to try to select some quotes, and guess what, now I'm FUCKED because a) how on Earth am I supposed to CHOOSE and not just type out a good 50% of this novel and b) this is actually a perfect book. Like yes it's imperfect yes I have critiques but it is also the best histrom ever written and potentially the best romance ever written and it is, in fact, perfection.
And I am fully aware that a part of this is just my id reacting violently to the fact that this novel fundamentally values the same things as I do. Like, book 3 of this series has the most iconic premise ever (king/his loyal knight vibes but with a lord and his Macchiavellian and absolutely devoted valet, cmon that’s hot as hell), but it left me pretty cold? It’s a good book, KJC couldn’t write a bad book if she tried, but it just didn’t hit for me, bcs my lizard brain didn’t feel that weird spark from the themes/dynamics A Gentleman's Position is preoccupied with (NB these themes were expounded on wonderfully by the amazing Charlotte, go read her review, it’s brilliant, and while you’re at it read the one for A Seditious Affair too!)
But this one…. God!!! It makes me feel so much!! It makes me think so much! “The mind forg’d manacles”!! The way we begin to internalize shame the minute we see unthinking scorn in the eyes of the ones we love most!! The way true partnership is about SEEING someone for all they are and accepting them and respecting them even when you disagree! How love is minds meeting, and how a meeting of minds leaves both parties irrevocably changed!! IT’S SO INTENSE IT’S SO GOOD IT’S INSANE
And that’s not even getting into the politics or the history, which are just so incredibly well done. This book is at times fucking BLEAK. And not in an angsty romance “oh no I am emotionally constipated and I have alienated the one person I love most” way, no no no, this is not your garden variety protagonist-with-mommy/daddy-issues situation. It’s the “I am starving and I do not have any political or social power and I do not have any coals to keep warm AND I AM IN LOVE WITH A TORY” kinda despair. Honestly don’t know how Silas made it through the winter, the “being in love with a Tory” bit would have pushed me over the edge fr.
Anyway, fantastic and brilliant and spectacular, and somehow every bit as gut-punching as when I first read it almost 7 years ago. Looking forward to my inevitable future rereads, when I will again scream over the same fucking lines and be disgusted with Dom’s politics and relate to him way too hard on every other count. (I’d give my heart impossibly to a guttersnipe radical with mongrel eyes too.)
------------------------------------------------
ORIGINAL NOVEMBER 2021 REVIEW
Here is a brief rundown of the things I texted my friend while rereading this book (N.B. she had not read this book nor asked for my pterodactyl screaching about it... and yet):
Not these dudes using literary discussions as aftercare after a bdsm scene kfksmdkek this book gives me a sex scene but then it gives me a Sexy Scene(TM)
Give me a better premise, I'll wait.
the *true* enemies to lovers
SCREAMING CRYING THROWING UP OVER THE BEST PREMISE
tory u do not deserve to get that good d if you champion the proper maintenance of social order
SCREAMING CRYING THROWING UP!!! THE TORY IS SLOWLY REFORMING INTO A HUMAN!!!
FOR THE BOOKS FOR BLAKE FOR THE WAYS THAT YOU HAVE CHANGED ME T.T T.T <3 <3 <3<3
I've only read 5 books by kj charles but I can confidently say this is her magnum opus, perfection never to be replicated.
Silas has strong Sam Vimes energy and I for one think that's so hot of him
Silas Mason, literature's sexiest man.
Politics, pricks and principle is the tagline of this whole thing tbh
This was the first book where I read a trans male character....love!!!
Also not silas saying trans rights!!
Silas Mason, the best man
I'm convinced this is the most romantic book in the world
Or maybe it was just tailored to my needs, idk
I'm literally slamming my head on my pillow to stop myself from screaming from all the feels rn
"I have done violence to my feelings by dragging myself to this dreary locale" -me whenever ppl insist on having a drink anywhere other than at my local
All in all....it's the radical self-acceptance & deep desire to understand and be understood for me!!!!
12/10 would recommend, kj charles is the real MVP, gotta binge all her books now byeeeee
this annual ASA reread is brought to you by the girl with the world's sorest throat and runniest nose 😭😭😭😭 *hoarse muttering: "save me yearly ASA reread save me random twink on the cover save me KJ Charles 🙏"*
ngl, i really thought it wasn't gonna sink its claws into me as hard this time round (the first few chapters somehow didn't grab me as forcefully as they usually do), but it was really Chapters Five and Six that did me in.
"I still have books of yours to return" break-up lament followed by "What are we doing?/Making it worse." ill-advised-getting-back-together lament followed by "My friend called me a Whig the other night" pillow talk followed by the iconic "Wednesday by Wednesday"(!!!) followed by "I kneel for two reasons only and the other one is prayer" (lmaooo Dom be serious mate) followed by "I know you are not in the habit of leaning on anyone. You are a tower of strength out there, aren't you? Always taking the brunt of it all. But in here, at least, let me bear your weight." followed by the incomparable "For the books. For Blake. For the ways you have changed me." followed by ANOTHER "Wednesday by Wednesday" (will i never know peace??) followed by "I know the burden this puts on you, and that is a crackbrained, dangerous way to go on, but I also know what it is to lay my life waste. I will not do it again." ENOUGH KJC LET ME BREATHE!!!
and all of these quotes are just from Dom!! who is objectively speaking *at best* a poor little meow meow and at worst my class enemy number one (he is both). whereas Silas is basically Sam Vimes if Vimes fucked and wasn't a cop and was the best most wonderful man ever to grace the page, so his chapters are a fucking doozy.
"He feared in his bones that he'd give in if Dom asked, and Dom knew it and didn't ask. Silas loved him more for that, with a heart so poorly suited and so unaccustomed to love that he felt it might burst its banks like one of London's choked, fetid rivers." something something Silas has never left London and is so hopelessly devoted to its people and their struggle that even his mental images of his doomed love affair are inextricably tied to London something something he has walked the entire city in his terrible shoes and threadbare coat something something HE IS SEXY VIMES
once again i was obsessed with how much of the romance was fundamentally rooted in a deep sense of intellectual connection and kinship. KJC actually establishes the books/politics/philosophy as *just as important* as the sex, and does that in an opening chapter that is literally just a protracted kinky sex scene, and somehow keeps this balance throughout the book. an air sign/air sign pairing if there ever was one!
regarding the kink though!! was once again struck by how Dom's journey and Silas's struggle fundamentally do not successfully function as one another's foils. like yes having the protagonist have an understandable and relateable personal struggle (Dom's sexual shame) that he overcomes through the power of love is a 10/10 romance novel concept, but no it cannot work alongside the love interest battling a *systemic* injustice that he can never overcome. and yes, romance as a genre always in a way substitutes the structural for the personal (powerless woman living in a misogynistic world and a deeply patriarchal society -> victorious woman securing a nurturing and loving relationship with a Good Man who will never hurt her), so i think it would have been fine if Silas's storyline went "powerless man who is disenfranchised by the brutal police state he lives in" -> "victorious man who has found personal contentment and material safety without losing his principles". and that *is* basically what happens? but then there's Dom, who textually equates his sexual shame and resulting emotional issues to Silas's problems, and i quote "'Sometimes one must cleave to what one knows to be right in the teeth of all opposition. Sometimes it comes at an unbearable price. Sometimes one must even face the fact that one's wishes may be wrong-' / 'We still talking about politics?' / 'It's all the same,' Dominic said." ummm Dom bestie i'm pretty sure your ex kinkshaming you is not the same as your current lover being threatened with deportation for writing pamphlets about how state-sanctioned violence is bad, actually?? 😭😭😭 like honey get a grip!! but he never really has to? i mean, in the end, it all works out fine for him. he is forced to face the fact that he was an instrument of a corrupt goverment apparatus and that is quite disheartening for him (and i quote "This is not my England and this is not my party." my man is a walking cringe factory fr 😭), but i think that since the reader can never fundamentally buy into his "democracy is a utopian pipe dream" 19th century politics, you can't really be sad for him when the other penny drops? whereas Silas is so eminently relatable, and his struggles so well depicted and keenly felt (he is SO tired and cold and hungry and angry), that the end of this book does leave me feeling kinda unmoored. not on the romance side of it -KJC does an amazing job of showing why and how these two make a perfect match and you really do buy into their future as a couple- but on the whole "impossibility of true freedom and parity under an unjust system" side of things. and i don't know if this is an issue that a romance novel about kinky sex and Blake fanboying can be reasonably expected to solve! but it does gets freakishly close, hence the kvetching.
-------------------------------------------
I just reread this book for the fourth(!!) fucking time so I wanted to finally write up a proper review. I even had critiques this time! Like, a genuine analysis of why Dom's and Silas's needs aren't quite as well-balanced as the book would have us believe, and how this ties in to the parallels I noticed between A Seditious Affair and Black Sails (my beloved), and how Dom is just,,,unbearably stupid with his politics.
But then I made the grave mistake of going through my highlights to try to select some quotes, and guess what, now I'm FUCKED because a) how on Earth am I supposed to CHOOSE and not just type out a good 50% of this novel and b) this is actually a perfect book. Like yes it's imperfect yes I have critiques but it is also the best histrom ever written and potentially the best romance ever written and it is, in fact, perfection.
And I am fully aware that a part of this is just my id reacting violently to the fact that this novel fundamentally values the same things as I do. Like, book 3 of this series has the most iconic premise ever (king/his loyal knight vibes but with a lord and his Macchiavellian and absolutely devoted valet, cmon that’s hot as hell), but it left me pretty cold? It’s a good book, KJC couldn’t write a bad book if she tried, but it just didn’t hit for me, bcs my lizard brain didn’t feel that weird spark from the themes/dynamics A Gentleman's Position is preoccupied with (NB these themes were expounded on wonderfully by the amazing Charlotte, go read her review, it’s brilliant, and while you’re at it read the one for A Seditious Affair too!)
But this one…. God!!! It makes me feel so much!! It makes me think so much! “The mind forg’d manacles”!! The way we begin to internalize shame the minute we see unthinking scorn in the eyes of the ones we love most!! The way true partnership is about SEEING someone for all they are and accepting them and respecting them even when you disagree! How love is minds meeting, and how a meeting of minds leaves both parties irrevocably changed!! IT’S SO INTENSE IT’S SO GOOD IT’S INSANE
And that’s not even getting into the politics or the history, which are just so incredibly well done. This book is at times fucking BLEAK. And not in an angsty romance “oh no I am emotionally constipated and I have alienated the one person I love most” way, no no no, this is not your garden variety protagonist-with-mommy/daddy-issues situation. It’s the “I am starving and I do not have any political or social power and I do not have any coals to keep warm AND I AM IN LOVE WITH A TORY” kinda despair. Honestly don’t know how Silas made it through the winter, the “being in love with a Tory” bit would have pushed me over the edge fr.
Anyway, fantastic and brilliant and spectacular, and somehow every bit as gut-punching as when I first read it almost 7 years ago. Looking forward to my inevitable future rereads, when I will again scream over the same fucking lines and be disgusted with Dom’s politics and relate to him way too hard on every other count. (I’d give my heart impossibly to a guttersnipe radical with mongrel eyes too.)
------------------------------------------------
ORIGINAL NOVEMBER 2021 REVIEW
Here is a brief rundown of the things I texted my friend while rereading this book (N.B. she had not read this book nor asked for my pterodactyl screaching about it... and yet):
Not these dudes using literary discussions as aftercare after a bdsm scene kfksmdkek this book gives me a sex scene but then it gives me a Sexy Scene(TM)
Give me a better premise, I'll wait.
the *true* enemies to lovers
SCREAMING CRYING THROWING UP OVER THE BEST PREMISE
tory u do not deserve to get that good d if you champion the proper maintenance of social order
SCREAMING CRYING THROWING UP!!! THE TORY IS SLOWLY REFORMING INTO A HUMAN!!!
FOR THE BOOKS FOR BLAKE FOR THE WAYS THAT YOU HAVE CHANGED ME T.T T.T <3 <3 <3<3
I've only read 5 books by kj charles but I can confidently say this is her magnum opus, perfection never to be replicated.
Silas has strong Sam Vimes energy and I for one think that's so hot of him
Silas Mason, literature's sexiest man.
Politics, pricks and principle is the tagline of this whole thing tbh
This was the first book where I read a trans male character....love!!!
Also not silas saying trans rights!!
Silas Mason, the best man
I'm convinced this is the most romantic book in the world
Or maybe it was just tailored to my needs, idk
I'm literally slamming my head on my pillow to stop myself from screaming from all the feels rn
"I have done violence to my feelings by dragging myself to this dreary locale" -me whenever ppl insist on having a drink anywhere other than at my local
All in all....it's the radical self-acceptance & deep desire to understand and be understood for me!!!!
12/10 would recommend, kj charles is the real MVP, gotta binge all her books now byeeeee
February 13, 2016
BR with Wench and SheReadsALot
Another winner by K.J. Charles!
Wednesday by Wednesday, week by week, I have loved you.
I've basically been salivating for this from the moment that I put two and two together near the end of A Fashionable Indulgence. I knew that Silas and Dominic would provide the angst, romance, and hot sexin' that I look for in my MM historical reads. I was not disappointed!
This book takes off running. Dom and Silas have been secretly meeting for a year. Silas is everything Dom has looked for his whole life - someone who will make him bend and break, who isn't afraid to push Dominic's limits and force him to take it. And Silas is just awed that an upper-crust gentleman would put his wants and desires in Silas' hands. The two won't admit it, but they're already in love.
Beginning the book a year in to the relationship doesn't detract from it in any way. I could clearly see why the two fell for each other, and what they both get out of their Wednesdays. The two needed each other so desperately, but were too proud to admit it.
And the sex. Absolutely on fire. This is D/s before the formalities and intricacies of modern BDSM. I don't know how historically accurate it was, but I'm assuming that kinky folks in the 1800s followed something along the lines of Silas and Dominic. If you like humiliation kink, this one will be right up your alley.
There's definitely a lot of politics in this book. The political upheaval that the UK was facing at the end of the Regency era is front and centre in 'A Seditious Affair'. Silas and Dom have many debates and arguments over their differing political views. Beyond that, the author weaved the romance between actual historical events.
I can understand why that might not appeal to all readers. I, for one, enjoyed it a lot. Adding that element of realism made this story more believable, and added to the star-crossed lovers thing that it had going. And it made the HEA all the more well-deserved.
Overall, I loved this book from front to back. The romance, the kink, and the plot were all wins from me. I'd highly recommend 'A Seditious Affair' for fans of MM historical romance!
Review copy provided through NetGalley.
Another winner by K.J. Charles!
Wednesday by Wednesday, week by week, I have loved you.
I've basically been salivating for this from the moment that I put two and two together near the end of A Fashionable Indulgence. I knew that Silas and Dominic would provide the angst, romance, and hot sexin' that I look for in my MM historical reads. I was not disappointed!
This book takes off running. Dom and Silas have been secretly meeting for a year. Silas is everything Dom has looked for his whole life - someone who will make him bend and break, who isn't afraid to push Dominic's limits and force him to take it. And Silas is just awed that an upper-crust gentleman would put his wants and desires in Silas' hands. The two won't admit it, but they're already in love.
Beginning the book a year in to the relationship doesn't detract from it in any way. I could clearly see why the two fell for each other, and what they both get out of their Wednesdays. The two needed each other so desperately, but were too proud to admit it.
And the sex. Absolutely on fire. This is D/s before the formalities and intricacies of modern BDSM. I don't know how historically accurate it was, but I'm assuming that kinky folks in the 1800s followed something along the lines of Silas and Dominic. If you like humiliation kink, this one will be right up your alley.
There's definitely a lot of politics in this book. The political upheaval that the UK was facing at the end of the Regency era is front and centre in 'A Seditious Affair'. Silas and Dom have many debates and arguments over their differing political views. Beyond that, the author weaved the romance between actual historical events.
I can understand why that might not appeal to all readers. I, for one, enjoyed it a lot. Adding that element of realism made this story more believable, and added to the star-crossed lovers thing that it had going. And it made the HEA all the more well-deserved.
Overall, I loved this book from front to back. The romance, the kink, and the plot were all wins from me. I'd highly recommend 'A Seditious Affair' for fans of MM historical romance!
Review copy provided through NetGalley.
October 11, 2021
First time reading historical romance, but with real tragic touches. I was nervous, but wow! I really liked it. ❤️
Reading how these two fell in love, especially when their principles and ideals were different, was very interesting.
"What people want is freedom to live their lives, and good rulers to make that possible in an orderly state. Your cries for unbridled liberty are cries for chaos. What sort of society arises from murder and upheaval?”
“I don’t call for murder,” Silas said. “What I want is to see people rule themselves, not be ruled, and for that they need teaching, and they need a voice. And if men, and women too, don’t want to rule themselves, well, let them say that. Let them who want chains stay in them, but they should have the choice."
They were su cuteeeee😭❤️
You’ll stay.” Dominic rested his forehead against Silas’s, felt for his hands. “You’ll stay, and I can come and go as I please. We can see each other as we like. More than just Wednesdays even.”
I think their favorite day was Wednesdays 😌😉
Reading how these two fell in love, especially when their principles and ideals were different, was very interesting.
"What people want is freedom to live their lives, and good rulers to make that possible in an orderly state. Your cries for unbridled liberty are cries for chaos. What sort of society arises from murder and upheaval?”
“I don’t call for murder,” Silas said. “What I want is to see people rule themselves, not be ruled, and for that they need teaching, and they need a voice. And if men, and women too, don’t want to rule themselves, well, let them say that. Let them who want chains stay in them, but they should have the choice."
They were su cuteeeee😭❤️
You’ll stay.” Dominic rested his forehead against Silas’s, felt for his hands. “You’ll stay, and I can come and go as I please. We can see each other as we like. More than just Wednesdays even.”
I think their favorite day was Wednesdays 😌😉
December 19, 2015
Too many highlights.
Too many notes.
Too many instances of me sobbing like a fool over endearments, sentiments and things I have no business crying over.
Knowing what I did from book one about Silas and Dominic, this did NOT disappoint.
It was everything I could have wanted and beyond.
Dominic was consuming.
Silas was just a tat bit more.
I loved seeing the Ricardians as always.
It was lovely.
It was political and amazing and raw and ruthless and sexy as all fuck.
It wrecked me at only 2% and never stopped wrecking me until the last line.
I have do clue how I will survive book three knowing who it is but, of course I will suffer.
This was so good.
Just so good and this is all I will get out for a review because I am useless right now.
Too many notes.
Too many instances of me sobbing like a fool over endearments, sentiments and things I have no business crying over.
Knowing what I did from book one about Silas and Dominic, this did NOT disappoint.
It was everything I could have wanted and beyond.
Dominic was consuming.
Silas was just a tat bit more.
I loved seeing the Ricardians as always.
It was lovely.
It was political and amazing and raw and ruthless and sexy as all fuck.
It wrecked me at only 2% and never stopped wrecking me until the last line.
I have do clue how I will survive book three knowing who it is but, of course I will suffer.
This was so good.
Just so good and this is all I will get out for a review because I am useless right now.
June 13, 2020
I enjoyed this very much. Right from the start I engaged with the characters, they were well drawn and I really cared what happened to them. The love story between two people from opposite ends of the social spectrum with separate belief systems was very moving. The dialogue was realistic for the time and Silas's London accent and use of swear words was of the period, which is often something other writers fall down on. I knew about the Cato Street conspiracy and was expecting that it would at least be mentioned so was intrigued that it actually became part of the story.. Learning about this reactionary period with the Peterloo Massacre, the laws infringing freedom, the Poor Laws etc, at school forty five yeas ago, caused me to develop socialist values. I don't see everything so much in black and white these days but I still would never ever vote Tory, I loathe and despise everything they stand for. How depressing that 200 years later and Britain is still run by a load of Eton boys and what is even more depressing is the fact that a lot of brainwashed working class people voted for them just because an Australian newspaper magnate told them to, through the vehicle of the tabloid press! Shelley's ' The Masque of Anarchy' (sometimes called Mask) is as relevant today as it was when he wrote it in response to the tragedy of Peterloo. What a disgrace that working people, including women and children, should be cut down by sabre wielding militia just for attending a peaceful public meeting.
dnf
March 5, 2024hating this so I’ve decided to dnf @ 65%
June 12, 2019
4.5 stars
More heavy and focused on politics than the first book, which was to be expected since the MCs are a Tory and a radical.
On the opposite spectrum of political beliefs and ideals, Dominic and Silas meet because of Dominic’s unusual sexual desires and, in the course of a year of weekly meetings, they forge a connection of sexual compatibility and mutual respect. Silas learns to appreciate wine, Dominic expands his literature’s horizons and they both enjoy their discussions and thoughts-provoking disagreements.
They fall in love without knowing each others’ names and it all comes crumbling down when
After that, it’s all about finding a balance between their feelings for each other, their respective positions in life and their principles.
This was another page turner for me, probably more so than the first one, though it wasn’t what I’d call a relaxing reading. The undercurrent of urgency and fear of discovery that permeated many passages was anything but relaxing. Still, I enjoyed it very much. The writing is excellent and the heavier moments were balanced with humor.
The romance was in line with the characters and their situation and I loved Silas’ possessiveness and protective streak toward Dom.
I also enjoyed seeing
The Ricardians have a marginal but essential role in this story and I loved every moment of . The comments Silas makes in his own head about the “gentlemen” were very fitting and it was so entertaining to see Julius through his eyes.
More heavy and focused on politics than the first book, which was to be expected since the MCs are a Tory and a radical.
On the opposite spectrum of political beliefs and ideals, Dominic and Silas meet because of Dominic’s unusual sexual desires and, in the course of a year of weekly meetings, they forge a connection of sexual compatibility and mutual respect. Silas learns to appreciate wine, Dominic expands his literature’s horizons and they both enjoy their discussions and thoughts-provoking disagreements.
They fall in love without knowing each others’ names and it all comes crumbling down when
After that, it’s all about finding a balance between their feelings for each other, their respective positions in life and their principles.
This was another page turner for me, probably more so than the first one, though it wasn’t what I’d call a relaxing reading. The undercurrent of urgency and fear of discovery that permeated many passages was anything but relaxing. Still, I enjoyed it very much. The writing is excellent and the heavier moments were balanced with humor.
The romance was in line with the characters and their situation and I loved Silas’ possessiveness and protective streak toward Dom.
I also enjoyed seeing
The Ricardians have a marginal but essential role in this story and I loved every moment of . The comments Silas makes in his own head about the “gentlemen” were very fitting and it was so entertaining to see Julius through his eyes.
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