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Campion Square #2
Mr. Montague and the Pineapple
Print-maker Peter Marsham can’t believe he owns a house of his own on Campion Square, and all from the sale of his artwork. Youngest son of an earl Cecil Montague has been banished to a boarding house on Campion Square by his father. They meet when Peter finds Cecil digging through a rubbish heap to rescue the remains of a pineapple, thinking he’s in need of help, and ends up offering to let Cecil attempt to grow the pineapple in his spare room.
Just as Peter and Cecil are beginning to sort out their feelings for each other, a series of thefts are reported in the square, and Cecil becomes a suspect. Now they must find a way to clear Cecil while keeping their secrets.
a gay - M/M romance set in Regency England approx 80,000 words.
Just as Peter and Cecil are beginning to sort out their feelings for each other, a series of thefts are reported in the square, and Cecil becomes a suspect. Now they must find a way to clear Cecil while keeping their secrets.
a gay - M/M romance set in Regency England approx 80,000 words.
206 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 16, 2021
About the author
Adella J. Harris
17 books33 followersAdella J. Harris lives in Ohio where she writes, watches far too much British television, and reads anything with words on it.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
July 18, 2021
Another delightful romantic diversion in this series,with two sympathetic MCs and some mild threat in the form of criminal investigation by the police (and of course the threat of discovery for being a lover of men). Whilst the pineapple provides the reason for Peter and Cecil meeting (and continuing to meet) - I strongly doubt that it would have survived (much less thrived) in Peter's upstairs study given the lack of central heating / hothouse conditions there as afforded by constructed pineries.
June 9, 2022
Two stars for the charming premise, but continuity and editing errors threw me out of the story over and over and over until I gave up. Two examples:
When Peter sees Cecil rooting in the rubbish for the pineapple top, Cecil appears to be unknown to him; Peter thinks he must be hungry and offers to feed him. But later it turns out he's seen Cecil gardening in the square, and introduces him to his housekeeper as a familiar figure in the square. So what is Cecil, a homeless stranger or a well-known person in the neighborhood?
Cecil is supposed to be broke and in disgrace with his noble father, yet somehow he has visited "most of the houses on Campion Square," some of which apparently belong to rich people, and knows that they have "strange small rooms in odd places." (Wait, so he's on such intimate terms with the people he visits that he's seen every room in their houses? *tears hair out in despair of this narrative making any sense*)
Sloppiness like this, more than anything else, leaves me thinking that an author doesn't really care about the quality of the books they write, but just wants to get them out there as fast as possible to make money. Of course we all need to make money! That's not bad in itself! But I feel cheated, as a reader, when a writer can't be bothered to tidy up even the most obvious messes.
When Peter sees Cecil rooting in the rubbish for the pineapple top, Cecil appears to be unknown to him; Peter thinks he must be hungry and offers to feed him. But later it turns out he's seen Cecil gardening in the square, and introduces him to his housekeeper as a familiar figure in the square. So what is Cecil, a homeless stranger or a well-known person in the neighborhood?
Cecil is supposed to be broke and in disgrace with his noble father, yet somehow he has visited "most of the houses on Campion Square," some of which apparently belong to rich people, and knows that they have "strange small rooms in odd places." (Wait, so he's on such intimate terms with the people he visits that he's seen every room in their houses? *tears hair out in despair of this narrative making any sense*)
Sloppiness like this, more than anything else, leaves me thinking that an author doesn't really care about the quality of the books they write, but just wants to get them out there as fast as possible to make money. Of course we all need to make money! That's not bad in itself! But I feel cheated, as a reader, when a writer can't be bothered to tidy up even the most obvious messes.
November 24, 2021
** 3.5 Stars **
March 3, 2021
***reread 2022 July***
Still love this story if you want to read something sweet and low angst but still containing a mystery angle. A perfect read for me after a stressful day. The only thing I would have loved is some better sort of closure with Cecils father. I would have liked to see him get his comeupance for people to get to know the true Earl so at least the people around him (barrister, police det., lady where he was staying at) know who Cecil truly is and not just in a roundabout way.
***original read 2021 March***
I really like Peter an Cecil together. Cecil seems in dire need of a hug and Peter is more than happy to provide just that. ❤ I loved the idea of writing short essays coupled with grafic illustrations and had I lived in that time I surely would have been one of their customers. 🍍 Their relationship was slow burn and anything else would have felt rushed and against Cecils personality. The story was sweet and the mystery was quite interesting and kept you guessing as to who the real culprit of the thefts might be. I even liked the watchman Mr. Pearce, even though I dreaded him coming around and asking his little questions. He somehow reminded me of Mr. Colombo and his constantly showing up at the suspects home, he even mentioned that his wife would be interested in an idea for another flower🌹/essay project once 😂
Still love this story if you want to read something sweet and low angst but still containing a mystery angle. A perfect read for me after a stressful day. The only thing I would have loved is some better sort of closure with Cecils father. I would have liked to see him get his comeupance for people to get to know the true Earl so at least the people around him (barrister, police det., lady where he was staying at) know who Cecil truly is and not just in a roundabout way.
***original read 2021 March***
I really like Peter an Cecil together. Cecil seems in dire need of a hug and Peter is more than happy to provide just that. ❤ I loved the idea of writing short essays coupled with grafic illustrations and had I lived in that time I surely would have been one of their customers. 🍍 Their relationship was slow burn and anything else would have felt rushed and against Cecils personality. The story was sweet and the mystery was quite interesting and kept you guessing as to who the real culprit of the thefts might be. I even liked the watchman Mr. Pearce, even though I dreaded him coming around and asking his little questions. He somehow reminded me of Mr. Colombo and his constantly showing up at the suspects home, he even mentioned that his wife would be interested in an idea for another flower🌹/essay project once 😂
March 24, 2021
A truly sweet story of two lonely Victorian men that live quietly and get by fairly comfortablely . This follows a previous story involving Peter Marsham's nextdoor neighbor who is briefly mentioned here. A discarded pineapple top is what bought Peter and Cecil together. It's a nice slow, lazy read, and I don't mean in a bad way, no, it's a pleasent, comfortable story with little angst, just a little drama around the neighborhood robberies. I just felt so very sad for Cecil, having such a mean and vindictive Father. I always enjoy this authors stories.
September 5, 2021
Not quite as enjoyable as the first book in the series, Mr. Wilkins and the Lodger, but written with the same low key pace and emphasis on domestic tranquility. The author has a unique style in these books. Four stars.
October 23, 2021
Middle felt super slow and repetitive, and then BOOM, everything in the last two chapters. Would have liked more time on the stuff at the end rather than lots of reiteration of daily patterns of the characters.
May 13, 2021
My favorite of the series because gardening, although that pineapple grew unusually rapidly.
April 3, 2022
Wasn't this a lovely, charming, guileless book. I wasn't sure, new to me author, strange title, I like to make as certain as possible that whatever I grab will be something worth my while as my time is limited. I'm so glad that this was such an enjoyable, rather adorable story.
March 12, 2023
So fluffy. Perfectly nice historical. Rather silly, but it does what it is intended to, and nothing bad happens to anyone.
April 7, 2024
I thought it was brilliant and could not put it down till I finished it
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 1, 2021
Over all, an enjoyable story. I thought the underlying mystery plot was a bit dumb, but honestly I was here for the romance --not some scapegoat mystery hi-jinx. The only other negative I really have is: this needed another set (or three) of eyes on it. There were some odd sentences here and there, but what really got me was the sentence structure. Some of them could really have been tightened up quite a bit. They seemed to go on forever. But, maybe that's a *me* problem. There is also a bit of repetition that happens or bit of timeline wibbly-wobble that was a bit frustrating. A good editor (or even an excellent beta) should have pointed those issues out.
Over all, I thought both of the main characters were likable and unique in their own ways. Not a bad thing, but I did get a little tired of them eating them *same things* over and over. Roast Chicken does sound delicious, but I'm sure the Chalice and Child has other food. And as I don't enjoy fish, the constant eating of Fish Pie from the Red Oak turned me a bit green. Again, a *me* problem, not necessarily something the author should change or fix. But it definitely popped out at me.
I am a bit confused about their ages. When they first meet, there is a line about "a man around his own age" or "not much older than him " (it was a library ebook and I've already returned it). However, as the story progresses, Mr. Montague seems *considerably* younger than Mr. Marsham. I'm not against an age gap, but I think it could have been more obvious what their differences were. It would have helped me visualize the characters and their habits a little better.
I also read this book of the series first because it seemed the most interesting. As I liked it, I have since read #3 and am about half-way through #4. I do hope there will be more? I think this is one of those series that could just go on for ages until all of Campion Square is full of LGBTQ+ couples.
Over all, I thought both of the main characters were likable and unique in their own ways. Not a bad thing, but I did get a little tired of them eating them *same things* over and over. Roast Chicken does sound delicious, but I'm sure the Chalice and Child has other food. And as I don't enjoy fish, the constant eating of Fish Pie from the Red Oak turned me a bit green. Again, a *me* problem, not necessarily something the author should change or fix. But it definitely popped out at me.
I am a bit confused about their ages. When they first meet, there is a line about "a man around his own age" or "not much older than him " (it was a library ebook and I've already returned it). However, as the story progresses, Mr. Montague seems *considerably* younger than Mr. Marsham. I'm not against an age gap, but I think it could have been more obvious what their differences were. It would have helped me visualize the characters and their habits a little better.
I also read this book of the series first because it seemed the most interesting. As I liked it, I have since read #3 and am about half-way through #4. I do hope there will be more? I think this is one of those series that could just go on for ages until all of Campion Square is full of LGBTQ+ couples.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews