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Imperial Space Regency #3
The Inconvenient Count
A widowed Count…
Everyone in society knows newly titled Count Yun Rit killed his husband. After being trapped into a marriage by parents who wanted a peerage in their family, what was to stop him from murdering his elderly spouse and stealing the title? Only Yun didn’t kill his husband and proving his innocence would expose some devastating truths about his heart and his past.
A decorated Captain…
Captain Ado Pastor is a highly ranked member of the Secrets Division in Her Imperial Majesty’s Navy. When he’s tasked with finding evidence that Yun Rit murdered his husband for a title, he takes a break from capturing pirates and breaking up smuggling rings to investigate the claims against his one-time fiancé.
An old flame rekindled…
Now Ado must choose between his duty to the Empire and his duty to his heart. If making the choice involves heading to the outer rim, engaging with criminals, and tracking down the real killer, then he’s willing to do that for the man he once loved.
The Inconvenient Count is a 90k MM space regency novel with an HEA.
Everyone in society knows newly titled Count Yun Rit killed his husband. After being trapped into a marriage by parents who wanted a peerage in their family, what was to stop him from murdering his elderly spouse and stealing the title? Only Yun didn’t kill his husband and proving his innocence would expose some devastating truths about his heart and his past.
A decorated Captain…
Captain Ado Pastor is a highly ranked member of the Secrets Division in Her Imperial Majesty’s Navy. When he’s tasked with finding evidence that Yun Rit murdered his husband for a title, he takes a break from capturing pirates and breaking up smuggling rings to investigate the claims against his one-time fiancé.
An old flame rekindled…
Now Ado must choose between his duty to the Empire and his duty to his heart. If making the choice involves heading to the outer rim, engaging with criminals, and tracking down the real killer, then he’s willing to do that for the man he once loved.
The Inconvenient Count is a 90k MM space regency novel with an HEA.
333 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 18, 2021
34 people are currently reading
134 people want to read
About the author
Kai Butler
27 books503 followersKai has been reading and writing romance novels since she was a teenager. She lives in California with her two children and her very supportive husband.
She writes M/M romance with an emphasis on HEAs and all the feels. Her current series are San Amaro Investigations and the Imperial Space Regency Novels. She likes dashing heroes and couples with banter.
She writes M/M romance with an emphasis on HEAs and all the feels. Her current series are San Amaro Investigations and the Imperial Space Regency Novels. She likes dashing heroes and couples with banter.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
October 19, 2021
3.75 stars ⭐️
Another lovely addition to the series!
This book can be read as a standalone but I would recommend reading the 1 &2 first as the MCs are both introduced in the previous books. Their backstories, especially Yun's really makes them much more sympathetic characters.
Favourites
I'm obsessed with this world: steampunk regency in space + normalized mm relationships (they can even have bio kids through science engineering and artificial wombs). If you like historical fiction, the characters in this series speak very properly and there is a lot of traditional norms in the society. Also, theres spaceships and Lords don't just own land but PLANETS and MOONS, like how cool?
The love in this story was wonderfully written, this is a second chance romance and it was done very well. The pain and heartbreak both Yun and Ada felt from the years apart was gut wrenching and emotional. I did not expect to cry as many times as I did. When they finally choose one another, it was worth the wait!
Not so favourites
The mystery of Yun's husband's murder was entertaining for the most part but it kind of lost me in the last quarter. It was a bit convoluted and I found the killer's identity a little lacklustre. Nonetheless, I was happy that Yun got justice and proved his innocence. My only wish for the story was that 'the ton' (upper class society in Regency) and Yun + Ado's families had been more involved in the storyline. They were such a big part of the issues in the story (the murder, Yun's reputation, their first breakup) I would've liked to see some resolution or comeuppance for all those who wronged them.
All in all, it was a good time, my favourite of the series is still book 2 but this book is still worth reading. Really hoping this isn't the end of the series! I love the feel of historical fiction mm but the homophobia and having to hide relationships that's so prevalent in so many of them puts me off so bad, so please authors more alt regency!!!
Another lovely addition to the series!
This book can be read as a standalone but I would recommend reading the 1 &2 first as the MCs are both introduced in the previous books. Their backstories, especially Yun's really makes them much more sympathetic characters.
Favourites
I'm obsessed with this world: steampunk regency in space + normalized mm relationships (they can even have bio kids through science engineering and artificial wombs). If you like historical fiction, the characters in this series speak very properly and there is a lot of traditional norms in the society. Also, theres spaceships and Lords don't just own land but PLANETS and MOONS, like how cool?
The love in this story was wonderfully written, this is a second chance romance and it was done very well. The pain and heartbreak both Yun and Ada felt from the years apart was gut wrenching and emotional. I did not expect to cry as many times as I did. When they finally choose one another, it was worth the wait!
Not so favourites
The mystery of Yun's husband's murder was entertaining for the most part but it kind of lost me in the last quarter. It was a bit convoluted and I found the killer's identity a little lacklustre. Nonetheless, I was happy that Yun got justice and proved his innocence. My only wish for the story was that 'the ton' (upper class society in Regency) and Yun + Ado's families had been more involved in the storyline. They were such a big part of the issues in the story (the murder, Yun's reputation, their first breakup) I would've liked to see some resolution or comeuppance for all those who wronged them.
All in all, it was a good time, my favourite of the series is still book 2 but this book is still worth reading. Really hoping this isn't the end of the series! I love the feel of historical fiction mm but the homophobia and having to hide relationships that's so prevalent in so many of them puts me off so bad, so please authors more alt regency!!!
November 24, 2021
4.5 stars
That was delightful! Mystery, danger, several very colourful characters, and a second chance at love. Add to that humour and love! The sci- fi was light - they travelled through space but it wasn’t very scientific with time and distances. I forgave that though for the overall entertainment value!
That was delightful! Mystery, danger, several very colourful characters, and a second chance at love. Add to that humour and love! The sci- fi was light - they travelled through space but it wasn’t very scientific with time and distances. I forgave that though for the overall entertainment value!
July 10, 2023
OMG. Their love!
The moment when Yun said "Don't leave me". The emotions in my heart. The feelings. The moment. The yearning. My god.
To be in Ados shoes, to live with the knowledge that he could have easily lost the love of his life and wouldn't have even known that Yun was in danger before it was too late.
"Ado: ...When I'm with you I could never be lost. I would only be home."
The mystery was quite engaging and spiced up with spys, pirates and murder. Combined with my fav. genres sci-fi and regency MM it is a book no one should miss out on.
Even though Ado and Yun knew each other before and were even engaged their lovestory is a slow burning one. And I'm happy for it, anything else would simply not be believable as well as also would just not let us slowly fall in love with those two characters.
The moment when Yun said "Don't leave me". The emotions in my heart. The feelings. The moment. The yearning. My god.
To be in Ados shoes, to live with the knowledge that he could have easily lost the love of his life and wouldn't have even known that Yun was in danger before it was too late.
"Ado: ...When I'm with you I could never be lost. I would only be home."
The mystery was quite engaging and spiced up with spys, pirates and murder. Combined with my fav. genres sci-fi and regency MM it is a book no one should miss out on.
Even though Ado and Yun knew each other before and were even engaged their lovestory is a slow burning one. And I'm happy for it, anything else would simply not be believable as well as also would just not let us slowly fall in love with those two characters.
March 13, 2023
You would think that a Regency style romance wouldn't work well in space, but it really does. Yun and Ado are two very wonderful men who need all the good things to come to them.
October 26, 2021
3.5 rounded down
Another enjoyable installment! I was really looking forward to this one, and though I enjoyed it, it wasn't *quite* what I wanted. There was lots of lovely angst potential with the previous relationship and how it ended, and while I do think we got a decent amount of wallowing in that, I still felt they got together pretty quickly/easily. Yun had a lot of issues stemming from Ado's abandonment that I didn't really feel like were adequately addressed, and he seemed to forgive Ado quite easily IMO. I also continue to be a bit let down by the steam factor in these books. There's such lovely tension and build, and then the actual smut is infrequent, brief, and kind of lukewarm. Was even less into the smut here than the previous books. Mystery was fun, and it was still definitely enjoyable, but this one was prob my least favorite.
Another enjoyable installment! I was really looking forward to this one, and though I enjoyed it, it wasn't *quite* what I wanted. There was lots of lovely angst potential with the previous relationship and how it ended, and while I do think we got a decent amount of wallowing in that, I still felt they got together pretty quickly/easily. Yun had a lot of issues stemming from Ado's abandonment that I didn't really feel like were adequately addressed, and he seemed to forgive Ado quite easily IMO. I also continue to be a bit let down by the steam factor in these books. There's such lovely tension and build, and then the actual smut is infrequent, brief, and kind of lukewarm. Was even less into the smut here than the previous books. Mystery was fun, and it was still definitely enjoyable, but this one was prob my least favorite.
December 4, 2021
I have to agree with Pastor. I love Yun Rit so much. His charm (and his love for holovids) really made this read highly entertaining.
I also very much enjoyed how absolutely smitten Pastor was. I'm so here for the pining looks and the guilt and regret!
The Genre shift halfway through was a bit strange and some plot points felt a bit muddy and a bit pointless.
Nevertheless, it was very fun to read (fatalistic Yun Rit is the best Yun Rit) and I would absolutely enjoy reading more books in this universe. There are two space pirates in particular that I'd love to see more of!
I also very much enjoyed how absolutely smitten Pastor was. I'm so here for the pining looks and the guilt and regret!
The Genre shift halfway through was a bit strange and some plot points felt a bit muddy and a bit pointless.
Nevertheless, it was very fun to read (fatalistic Yun Rit is the best Yun Rit) and I would absolutely enjoy reading more books in this universe. There are two space pirates in particular that I'd love to see more of!
May 3, 2022
Highly satisfactory ending to the trilogy! Nice to have the other two couples show up in the epilogue. Possibly my favorite side character was Velt, fulfilling her potential from the previous book quite well, lovely young lady! I look forward to seeing what this author does with non-Regency and on one planet.
March 23, 2022
I loved all of these, but I do believe this might be my favourite in the series. I really liked Yun when we met him in the first book and was fervently hoping a future installment would see him get his HEA - that it came in form of a wonderful, highly entertaining second chance romance with a murder mystery thrown in was an extra cherry on top. Now if only there were more books in this series... I guess I'll just have to check out Butler's other works instead.
January 31, 2022
This is the third book in this series and follows Yun Rit from the first book, who I really enjoyed as a side character so I was excited to see him have his own romance. The plot wasn't one I was expecting since it was about Ado being sent to frame Yun for the death of his husband by the military. Thankfully, the conflict wasn't what I had expected as Ado immediately told Yun what was going on and instead the plot of the book was about investigating the death of the Count and Yun and Ado resolving why they broke up last time.
This was a second chance romance and I found the reason why they broke up the first time understandable, as well as how they resolved it. I loved Ado learning to bring Yun in on the decisions about their relationship while Yun has to learn to talk to Ado rather than assume things. The subplot of the former Count being abusive being slowly revealed throughout the book was done really well, and Yun not being able to put it into words what the man was like because that was something you only knew after living with him was done so well.
I liked the cosy murder mystery set up with all the investigations and all the suspects coming back together by the end. I liked the murderer as well as the reason behind it and how Yun dealt with all the problems that his late husband caused. I wasn't such a huge fan of the whole dress up bit, it was a lighthearted addition that just didn't work for me.
This book took a little while to get going for me, I kept putting it down in the first quarter but then the actual murder mystery plot started up and it started to get a little more interesting.
4 stars!
This was a second chance romance and I found the reason why they broke up the first time understandable, as well as how they resolved it. I loved Ado learning to bring Yun in on the decisions about their relationship while Yun has to learn to talk to Ado rather than assume things. The subplot of the former Count being abusive being slowly revealed throughout the book was done really well, and Yun not being able to put it into words what the man was like because that was something you only knew after living with him was done so well.
I liked the cosy murder mystery set up with all the investigations and all the suspects coming back together by the end. I liked the murderer as well as the reason behind it and how Yun dealt with all the problems that his late husband caused. I wasn't such a huge fan of the whole dress up bit, it was a lighthearted addition that just didn't work for me.
This book took a little while to get going for me, I kept putting it down in the first quarter but then the actual murder mystery plot started up and it started to get a little more interesting.
4 stars!
May 29, 2024
The Inconvenient Count just felt unwieldy and the main characters had little chemistry
Rating: 3🌈
The Inconvenient Count is the third and last of the Imperial Space Regency Novels by Kai Butler. For me it’s also my least favorite.
I really enjoy this trope and the two novels that came before it but The Inconvenient Count just felt unwieldy, too long, and the main characters were never really well written or throughly connected to each other by chemistry or a well constructed narrative to make them viable. Inconsistencies in crafting the characters, and histories just didn’t make sense to me.
Nor does the confusing and ill defined storyline about a fertile egg which they go back and forth between calling a “daughter” or frozen viable egg in a clinic. Hmmm.
The author is trying to tie up various plots, character storylines, strange mysteries and barely mentioned murders, and none really get explored or explained to real satisfaction. Same goes for the ending.
It just feels pulled together and rushed. I liked this mainly because of how some of the secondary characters were written and because of how fond I am of certain lady pirates.
But the preceding books are my favorites.
See the series below:
Imperial Space Regency series:
- [x] The Earl and the Executive #1
- [x] The Barony Bet #2
- [x] The Inconvenient Count #3
Rating: 3🌈
The Inconvenient Count is the third and last of the Imperial Space Regency Novels by Kai Butler. For me it’s also my least favorite.
I really enjoy this trope and the two novels that came before it but The Inconvenient Count just felt unwieldy, too long, and the main characters were never really well written or throughly connected to each other by chemistry or a well constructed narrative to make them viable. Inconsistencies in crafting the characters, and histories just didn’t make sense to me.
Nor does the confusing and ill defined storyline about a fertile egg which they go back and forth between calling a “daughter” or frozen viable egg in a clinic. Hmmm.
The author is trying to tie up various plots, character storylines, strange mysteries and barely mentioned murders, and none really get explored or explained to real satisfaction. Same goes for the ending.
It just feels pulled together and rushed. I liked this mainly because of how some of the secondary characters were written and because of how fond I am of certain lady pirates.
But the preceding books are my favorites.
See the series below:
Imperial Space Regency series:
- [x] The Earl and the Executive #1
- [x] The Barony Bet #2
- [x] The Inconvenient Count #3
January 12, 2024
Of this trilogy, I think I liked this one the best. Yun was so sassy a didn't give an inch at first! And Ado was in self-imposed exile, then forced to find Yun and save him or follow his orders and frame him for his husband's murder. There were so many players that I had no idea who the culprit was at first! I didn't expect that everyone had something to hide! I'm glad Yun and Ado worked things out, and I LOVED that Ado's superior basically orchestrated this second chance romance. 4/5 🌟
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 9, 2022
Great second chance sci fi romance
This series is great, and I hope there is a book 4. Count was a little more violent and darker than the previous books. But Yun, Ado, and the supporting characters are marvelous, and there is definitely the trademark humor and zaniness. I recommend this series.
This series is great, and I hope there is a book 4. Count was a little more violent and darker than the previous books. But Yun, Ado, and the supporting characters are marvelous, and there is definitely the trademark humor and zaniness. I recommend this series.
January 14, 2022
Over the top, yet so exciting! Great characters, a bit of humor, murder and adventure, and even space pirates. This is not a heavy read in sci-fi, but it was inventive at times. Loved the idea of their pocket fobs being their communication devices. Overall a fun second chance romance.
Read
October 24, 2021Was not expecting a murder mystery
Read
January 5, 2022CW: spousal abuse.
The weakest installment in the series so far, I mostly did not buy anybody's motivation for anything.
The weakest installment in the series so far, I mostly did not buy anybody's motivation for anything.
April 7, 2022
Great series
Space opera and regency style romance. Lovely combo. Make sure to start with book 1 to really enjoy the whole thing.
Space opera and regency style romance. Lovely combo. Make sure to start with book 1 to really enjoy the whole thing.
June 20, 2022
Favorite from this series. The sci-fi element is a more prevalent here and I enjoyed it so much.
May 8, 2023
Bit unwieldy in the second half, and the reasoning behind the initial breakup was a bit unsatisfying, but Yun is a wonderful character.
April 9, 2025
This was a murder mystery with just a little romance sprinkled on top. And I really don't care for murder mysteries, but even if I was, I wouldn't go looking for them in the romance isle.
June 2, 2025
A second-chance romance amidst pirates, murderers, and military! A whirlwind story.
March 1, 2024
The third, and extremely sadly final, book in this space regency series. I actually wish this book had been a little bit darker, it would have made for a bit better of a story. The secret poisonings ultimately wasn't as dramatic or horrifying as I wish it could have been.
I also appreciated bringing back some of the delightful side characters *cough* pirates. But the storyline about a missing embryo wasn't as compelling as I hoped for.
I also appreciated bringing back some of the delightful side characters *cough* pirates. But the storyline about a missing embryo wasn't as compelling as I hoped for.
November 3, 2024
3.5 stars -> Second chance romance is really not my cup of tea, but I liked the way the romance unfolded here and I thought the mystery aspect of Yun's husband's murder was an interesting plot, even if it got a bit too easily solved in the end.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews