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Twelve Letters #2
Queer Relations
Sequel to Twelve Letters
In the autumn of 1814, the Honourable Percy Havilland is generally content with his sheltered existence in London’s exclusive Mayfair. As a society beau, renowned for his fair and youthful beauty and an object of desire to other well-born gentlemen, Percy is slightly miffed his personal life is not running as seamlessly as he might wish.
His good-natured lover from the spring season, Jo Everett, has inexplicably lost interest, and his replacement, Nathaniel Brooks, is far too hard-headed to be cajoled and manipulated into pandering to Percy’s every whim.
But these trifles are cast into proportion when, out of the blue, a family scandal of immense proportions threatens Percy’s peace of mind and his standing amongst the ton. Fearing rejection or even social banishment, to his surprise, Percy discovers a small, unconventional band of friends, including Jo, who are prepared to stick by him. And more importantly, he finds Nathan is utterly reliable in a crisis.
Will Percy remain spoiled, immature, and pampered? Or can he grow from this disaster to appreciate the value of true friendship? Might he even learn to love?
In the autumn of 1814, the Honourable Percy Havilland is generally content with his sheltered existence in London’s exclusive Mayfair. As a society beau, renowned for his fair and youthful beauty and an object of desire to other well-born gentlemen, Percy is slightly miffed his personal life is not running as seamlessly as he might wish.
His good-natured lover from the spring season, Jo Everett, has inexplicably lost interest, and his replacement, Nathaniel Brooks, is far too hard-headed to be cajoled and manipulated into pandering to Percy’s every whim.
But these trifles are cast into proportion when, out of the blue, a family scandal of immense proportions threatens Percy’s peace of mind and his standing amongst the ton. Fearing rejection or even social banishment, to his surprise, Percy discovers a small, unconventional band of friends, including Jo, who are prepared to stick by him. And more importantly, he finds Nathan is utterly reliable in a crisis.
Will Percy remain spoiled, immature, and pampered? Or can he grow from this disaster to appreciate the value of true friendship? Might he even learn to love?
84 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 10, 2022
1 person is currently reading
23 people want to read
About the author
Ellie Thomas
62 books76 followersEllie Thomas lives by the sea. She comes from a teaching background and goes for long seaside walks where she daydreams about history. She is a voracious reader especially about anything historical. She mainly writes MM historical romance.
Ellie also writes historical erotic romance as L. E. Thomas.
Ellie also writes historical erotic romance as L. E. Thomas.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
June 28, 2023
What a disappointment! After loving Book 1, I eagerly dove into Book 2 because the first book had left a lot of things unresolved and I was excited to see those plotlines continue. Most intriguing was that Book 1 ends with Percy being a spoiled, immature party boy who was pursuing Nathan purely because Nathan's unimpressed response to Percy left the latter intrigued and offended. Nathan's an older businessman who had no patience for Percy's antics so I was really looking forward to seeing how these two get together. Unfortunately, the romance is a rushed, underdeveloped subplot while the book's main focus is on Percy's family issues, which are also rushed and resolved way too quickly.
I didn't even recognize Percy in this book because the author had him instantly change his entire personality when his big family scandal was revealed . I was looking forward to Percy lashing out in bitter disappointment as a spoiled, immature brat would if their life circumstances changed in such a dramatic way. But the author had Percy immediately react with humility and resignation, withdrawing into his shell and being scared of how others react to him. This wasn't anywhere close to the Percy from Book 1 so it left me disappointed.
Making the situation worse is that the entire thing is resolved way too quickly and neatly, making the whole conflict a moot point by the end of the story. I also hated that the majority of the story had Percy interacting with his brother and other siblings. Nathan was a side character who only showed up at random times to have sex with Percy and be the Perfect Boyfriend, but that was it. This was really disappointing because we never got to know Nathan in Book 1 and that stays true in this book. I felt zero connection to Nathan which is why I didn't care about their romance.
Connected to that point - the author made the absurd decision to speed-run Percy and Nathan getting romantically involved at the beginning of the story. Nathan doesn't even get a single line of dialog before the author tells readers that the two characters had a difficult time getting together but then they did and they're happy now. We also learn (via telling, not showing) that they have a mild BDSM relationship and that this daddy/brat dynamic is what led to Percy calming down and him and Nathan falling for each other. This was all great - if any of it had been shown!! The development of their romance and Percy's maturing was supposed to be the point of this book but the author decided to rush through all of that and focus on that stupid family drama, which ended up not really mattering.
Basically, this felt like gay fiction instead of gay romance and Percy and Nathan were an established couple due to their getting-together being entirely skipped over. It didn't help that the MCs from the previous book (Jo, Daniel, Ben, Edward) were just side characters and only existed to play the same role Nathan did: provide emotional support for Percy being sad about his family scandal. The whole thing was boring and disappointing.
Another disappointment was the author's approach to homosexual relationships during this time period. In the first book, I was willing to suspend my disbelief just enough so Jo writing explicit smutty letters to Percy and Percy flirting with men at social events was okay. But in this book, the author went fully down the pseudo-historical route by including a scene where Daniel and Jo casually kiss in public, on a street in broad daylight. This was a big miss IMO because the author had taken the time period pretty seriously the rest of the time so this was a noticeable change.
The only thing I was happy about was that the author decided to include explicit smut scenes in this book, which didn't happen in the first one. The scenes are very rushed and vague but still - I appreciated the effort. What I didn't appreciate was that the italics formatting was wonky. Every paragraph that contained a character's thoughts had those thoughts italicized (which is dumb and unnecessary but fine, I could have lived with it) but something went wrong and the entire paragraph would be in italics, which was irritating.
Overall, this was a massive disappointment. I was expecting to read about Percy's character development and his interesting developing relationship with Nathan but the story focused on completely different things. Since the books are short, I'm going to try Book 3 and I'm keeping fingers crossed that it'll go better.
I didn't even recognize Percy in this book because the author had him instantly change his entire personality when his big family scandal was revealed . I was looking forward to Percy lashing out in bitter disappointment as a spoiled, immature brat would if their life circumstances changed in such a dramatic way. But the author had Percy immediately react with humility and resignation, withdrawing into his shell and being scared of how others react to him. This wasn't anywhere close to the Percy from Book 1 so it left me disappointed.
Making the situation worse is that the entire thing is resolved way too quickly and neatly, making the whole conflict a moot point by the end of the story. I also hated that the majority of the story had Percy interacting with his brother and other siblings. Nathan was a side character who only showed up at random times to have sex with Percy and be the Perfect Boyfriend, but that was it. This was really disappointing because we never got to know Nathan in Book 1 and that stays true in this book. I felt zero connection to Nathan which is why I didn't care about their romance.
Connected to that point - the author made the absurd decision to speed-run Percy and Nathan getting romantically involved at the beginning of the story. Nathan doesn't even get a single line of dialog before the author tells readers that the two characters had a difficult time getting together but then they did and they're happy now. We also learn (via telling, not showing) that they have a mild BDSM relationship and that this daddy/brat dynamic is what led to Percy calming down and him and Nathan falling for each other. This was all great - if any of it had been shown!! The development of their romance and Percy's maturing was supposed to be the point of this book but the author decided to rush through all of that and focus on that stupid family drama, which ended up not really mattering.
Basically, this felt like gay fiction instead of gay romance and Percy and Nathan were an established couple due to their getting-together being entirely skipped over. It didn't help that the MCs from the previous book (Jo, Daniel, Ben, Edward) were just side characters and only existed to play the same role Nathan did: provide emotional support for Percy being sad about his family scandal. The whole thing was boring and disappointing.
Another disappointment was the author's approach to homosexual relationships during this time period. In the first book, I was willing to suspend my disbelief just enough so Jo writing explicit smutty letters to Percy and Percy flirting with men at social events was okay. But in this book, the author went fully down the pseudo-historical route by including a scene where Daniel and Jo casually kiss in public, on a street in broad daylight. This was a big miss IMO because the author had taken the time period pretty seriously the rest of the time so this was a noticeable change.
The only thing I was happy about was that the author decided to include explicit smut scenes in this book, which didn't happen in the first one. The scenes are very rushed and vague but still - I appreciated the effort. What I didn't appreciate was that the italics formatting was wonky. Every paragraph that contained a character's thoughts had those thoughts italicized (which is dumb and unnecessary but fine, I could have lived with it) but something went wrong and the entire paragraph would be in italics, which was irritating.
Overall, this was a massive disappointment. I was expecting to read about Percy's character development and his interesting developing relationship with Nathan but the story focused on completely different things. Since the books are short, I'm going to try Book 3 and I'm keeping fingers crossed that it'll go better.
June 1, 2024
A Cinder-fella story in reverse and I loved it! RTC
* I did not mention Percy in my review of Book 1 because he was a character I thought would not be returning, as his friends with benefits relationship with Jolyon came to an end when Jo fell for Daniel. And, Percy was a brat! I would not have had anything good to say about him! Except that he sounds very beautiful in his description.
Percy was like the ‘Funny Girl’ song, “Do for me, buy for me, lift me, carry me!”(finally got a guy to marry me!)
Jolyon could not visit Percy for a tryst without bringing an expensive present. So, I was surprised when Percy was an MC in Book 2, and as I mentioned above, he has quite the transformation, well, not totally, but he does get a reality check, a huge one.
Percy and his siblings find out that they are not the legitimate family of his father, who has committed bigamy years before and has an older son. This revelation is like a bomb thrown into Percy’s charmed world of rigid manners and morality and unlimited finances. Yes, Percy is now having a relationship with older man, Nathan, who is an awesome character, so that aspect of morality is a definite gray area, lol, but everything else is under the gimlet eye of the London ton. Percy’s unmarried sisters will be ruined and the entire family will be shunned.
Percy would not have navigated all of this without Nathan’s solid presence. Every scene between these two was very well written, I loved their relationship! Brat vs Grownup, lol. The physical between them had depth and passion, a real outlet for a wound up Percy.
The friends group of Jolyon and Daniel and the others are steadfast in their support of Percy and his siblings. The girls were especially lovely characters, I’m looking forward to their being in future installments of this wonderful series! While reading, it really does take you away!
* I did not mention Percy in my review of Book 1 because he was a character I thought would not be returning, as his friends with benefits relationship with Jolyon came to an end when Jo fell for Daniel. And, Percy was a brat! I would not have had anything good to say about him! Except that he sounds very beautiful in his description.
Percy was like the ‘Funny Girl’ song, “Do for me, buy for me, lift me, carry me!”(finally got a guy to marry me!)
Jolyon could not visit Percy for a tryst without bringing an expensive present. So, I was surprised when Percy was an MC in Book 2, and as I mentioned above, he has quite the transformation, well, not totally, but he does get a reality check, a huge one.
Percy and his siblings find out that they are not the legitimate family of his father, who has committed bigamy years before and has an older son. This revelation is like a bomb thrown into Percy’s charmed world of rigid manners and morality and unlimited finances. Yes, Percy is now having a relationship with older man, Nathan, who is an awesome character, so that aspect of morality is a definite gray area, lol, but everything else is under the gimlet eye of the London ton. Percy’s unmarried sisters will be ruined and the entire family will be shunned.
Percy would not have navigated all of this without Nathan’s solid presence. Every scene between these two was very well written, I loved their relationship! Brat vs Grownup, lol. The physical between them had depth and passion, a real outlet for a wound up Percy.
The friends group of Jolyon and Daniel and the others are steadfast in their support of Percy and his siblings. The girls were especially lovely characters, I’m looking forward to their being in future installments of this wonderful series! While reading, it really does take you away!
October 3, 2022
This was nice even though I enjoyed Twelve Letters a bit more. I did think Percy would annoy me and he didn’t so was happy about that. I do enjoy the characters that are also in Twelve Letters and that they become a close knit group who look out for each other.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
September 24, 2022
Meeting Percy briefly in "Twelve Letters," the story before this one, did not adequately prepare me for how much I would come to like him in this one. I love stories that allow readers to see the layers beneath a shallow or spoiled facade, and watching Percy grow into himself and out of his worst impulses made for a rewarding read. I liked Nathan, liked what they brought to each other, and, as always with this author, really enjoyed the careful yet vibrant historical details that bring the time period and place to life. Well worth a read.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
September 20, 2022
Ellie Thomas is quickly establishing her own little ton in Regency London, and in Queer Relations we meet several of the Twelve Letters characters, as the spoilt and beautiful Percy finally gets his head screwed on right. Gorgeous, funny and wonderfully told, this is another quick read M/M historical to add to your TBR. Highly recommended!
September 22, 2022
This is the follow up to Twelve Letters and focuses on Percy and his relationships. It's well written with strong characters, moves quickly and smoothly with perfectly painted scenes and is an enjoyable read.
I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book. All opinions in this review are my own and freely given.
I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book. All opinions in this review are my own and freely given.
October 11, 2022
So I have been stalking the author about this book and the others in what is becoming a series. She says that she had the idea about a group of men who become friends (and some become lovers) and, as she wrote, the words just flowed. Yes, indeed. You can feel that the words just flowed onto the page. This book continues the developing relationships and friendships that started in Twelve Letters . Long time readers of mm historical romance may recall KJ Charles' Society of Gentlemen series that features a group of men known as the Ricardians, led by Lord Richard Vane. The men in these E. Thomas books reminds me of that group. Supporting each other with care and friendship. So I loved these men - Jo, Nathan, Daniel, Edward and of course, beautiful Percy and more importantly, I loved the story, the writing and the various secondary characters. So I understand there will be a 3rd book and maybe a 4th! YES! More please!!! I know that the author typically writes shorter books - between 60-80 pages, on average but I would definitely read something from her that is much longer!
September 24, 2022
In this sequel to Twelve Letters Ellie Thomas brings a lot of the same characters together again and along with the main story about Percy and Nathan we we are treated to more about how all of these people are getting along. Percy was a bit of self centered character in the previous book but he comes a long way in this book, triggered by a terrible scandal in his family and his relationship with Nathan. I love the way that Ms. Thomas weaves all these people and stories together and also manages to make us sympathetic to those who at first glance don’t deserve it. The book mostly revolves around Percy and and although I don’t have any first hand knowledge of what his life would have been like and how devastating things would have been for him I feel like I understand because of how well this book relays things. I’m feel like this review sounds a bit weird because I’m trying to not give things away. Sorry. I can say that I enjoyed this book a lot and recommend it highly to anyone who likes historical mm romance.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
September 10, 2022
This is a direct sequel to 12 Letters, you could read it as a standalone but I think you'd get so much more out of it if you read 12 Letters first. (Plus 12 Letters is good so there's that too 😉)
When I finished 12 Letters, all I wanted was Percy's story. Percy is a 'Regency Himbo' (seriously, I love that description and was dying to use it 😂), a spoiled, vain, selfish, petulant child who wants to be looked after and catered to. All I wanted was someone to teach Percy a lesson, and this is that story.
Going to be honest, I wasn't expecting it to be such a sweet, heartwarming story. Percy totally has more depth than I ever thought when I met him in the first book, he totally exceeded my expectations in every way and I love that this wasn't the story I thought it was going to be when I started it. I adored Percy and Nathan, I loved their dynamic as they each brought something totally different to the relationship that the other needed.
I loved being back in Ellie Thomas' Regency world, loved seeing all the guys from the first book, and keen to see if there will be more stories in this world.
I received an ARC and this is my honest review.
When I finished 12 Letters, all I wanted was Percy's story. Percy is a 'Regency Himbo' (seriously, I love that description and was dying to use it 😂), a spoiled, vain, selfish, petulant child who wants to be looked after and catered to. All I wanted was someone to teach Percy a lesson, and this is that story.
Going to be honest, I wasn't expecting it to be such a sweet, heartwarming story. Percy totally has more depth than I ever thought when I met him in the first book, he totally exceeded my expectations in every way and I love that this wasn't the story I thought it was going to be when I started it. I adored Percy and Nathan, I loved their dynamic as they each brought something totally different to the relationship that the other needed.
I loved being back in Ellie Thomas' Regency world, loved seeing all the guys from the first book, and keen to see if there will be more stories in this world.
I received an ARC and this is my honest review.
September 15, 2022
Queer Relations is an historical romance of a moment in Percy Havilland's life that could change his world forever. Life was going well for Percy when a secret was revealed that could cause him social banishment. Percy soon discovered he's not entirely alone and his new love Nathan is very resourceful. I really enjoyed this book. It's a look at the privilege side of history where Percy is free to be himself and be with whomever he wants. I didn't read Twelve Letters, the book that came before, but after reading this book I need to go back a read that one. This book is full of wonderful characters and adventure. I felt like I was back in time. This is a new to me author and I will definitely be reading more from them. I recommend this book and would love more stories from this world.
I voluntarily reviewed and arc of this book.
I voluntarily reviewed and arc of this book.
September 13, 2022
Exciting Historical Gay Romance!
Ellie Thomas has added Queer Relations, a character driven follow up to her Twelve Letters story. We met Percy and Nathan as peripheral characters in Twelve Letters, but this story focuses on Percy and changes that drive him to learn just how important loyalty and friendship can be.
When an unexpected relationship connection changes his status, he learns that his own behavior has not helped his status in this early 1800’s depiction of a hidden gay society.
Challenges might change Percy’s standing, but a heart that learns to care for more than just himself may change his life.
A steamy little slice of 1814!
Ellie Thomas has added Queer Relations, a character driven follow up to her Twelve Letters story. We met Percy and Nathan as peripheral characters in Twelve Letters, but this story focuses on Percy and changes that drive him to learn just how important loyalty and friendship can be.
When an unexpected relationship connection changes his status, he learns that his own behavior has not helped his status in this early 1800’s depiction of a hidden gay society.
Challenges might change Percy’s standing, but a heart that learns to care for more than just himself may change his life.
A steamy little slice of 1814!
September 24, 2022
A delightful story that brought back some characters from previous stories, but focuses mainly on Percy and his current suitor, Nathan. When Percy is shunned by society for the actions of his father, he reluctantly accepts the friendship of his former lover and his band of gentlemen friends. They welcome him into the group and make him feel wanted and never shunned. Also the way that Nathan and Percy's relationship deepens over the course of the story is adorably sweet. It was great watching Percy grow up from being a spoiled brat to a caring young man worthy of society.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
October 17, 2022
I was at 13% before I got that 'wait a minute!' thought, I know these names. These are the gentlemen from this authors story 'Twelve Letters', a riot of a read with both letters and emotions flying. I feel a little embarrassed it took 13% before I recalled them all, I should have remembered Percy, I found him a bit of a fool back then and although he started off like that here I soon couldn't help but feel sorry for his turn of events as his world imploded. I loved this, it was a wonderful, scrumptious tale, it was everything I love in a story, historically set, pompus upper class, gay men trying to stay discreet and alive, and a mystery or scandal thrown in.
September 22, 2022
A sweet, queer romance set in the 1800s with lots of cute moments and multiple queer couples. Our main duo, Nathan and Percy, could not have been more polar opposites. And what Percy believes to be a simple fling develops into something deeper after his family is ensnared in scandal. One of the side couples, Jo and Daniel, are sweet as honey, and if anything, I wish there had been more in the book about them. A quick, easy read with multiple HEA, Queer Relations was an incredibly enjoyable read from start to finish.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
September 24, 2022
Pampered and gorgeous, Percy has the ideal life of a young aristocrat—until a family crisis changes everything. Facing the consequences of his superficial entanglements, will he have any true friends left after scandal strikes?
This gay Regency novella has a light, fun tone. Yet the story is poignant with surprising depth. Nathan is the perfect foil to Percy—steady, sensible, and immune to manipulation. Loved it!
This is a followup to the delightful “Twelve Letters.” While this story can stand alone, the two novellas are best enjoyed if read in order.
Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.
This gay Regency novella has a light, fun tone. Yet the story is poignant with surprising depth. Nathan is the perfect foil to Percy—steady, sensible, and immune to manipulation. Loved it!
This is a followup to the delightful “Twelve Letters.” While this story can stand alone, the two novellas are best enjoyed if read in order.
Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.
October 8, 2022
Nice little Novella based on Percy’s story. Enjoyed the background detail which explained a lot about his desire to be the centre of attention - and loved his character development. I would have liked for it to be a little longer and for Nathan’s character and background to be more fleshed out. If you like a regency mm love story - if a little ‘lite’, this is a nice read.
September 23, 2022
M/M HISTORICAL ROMANCE AT ITS BEST!
The follow up to Twelve Letters gives you as reader a more deeper insight to the spoilt ex paramour of Jo Everett- Percy Havilland….
Percy needs someone strong in personality to put up with his whimsical nature and that person is Nathaniel Brooks it seems….
In this novel Percy goes through a terrible family crises that can either make him a better, stronger person for his family and friends or be ostricized from the ton and live in self pity and mortification!
This autumn of 1818 is where Percy really learns the true meaning of friendship, love and family values!
I absolutely loved this story and characters that Ellie Thomas created for us as readers to enjoy!
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
The follow up to Twelve Letters gives you as reader a more deeper insight to the spoilt ex paramour of Jo Everett- Percy Havilland….
Percy needs someone strong in personality to put up with his whimsical nature and that person is Nathaniel Brooks it seems….
In this novel Percy goes through a terrible family crises that can either make him a better, stronger person for his family and friends or be ostricized from the ton and live in self pity and mortification!
This autumn of 1818 is where Percy really learns the true meaning of friendship, love and family values!
I absolutely loved this story and characters that Ellie Thomas created for us as readers to enjoy!
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
January 7, 2024
Ellie thomas books so far have been engaging safe reads.
I really liked her series. The world and characters all develop really well. I hope she writes more in these series.
I really liked her series. The world and characters all develop really well. I hope she writes more in these series.
October 2, 2022
This book follows Twelve Letters. I don’t see them set up as a series but I feel it is better to read in order since some of the characters from book 1 are in this story also.
This story centers mostly on Percy. His relationships are never that deep. He is completely self-centered right up until the time he gets some information that changes his life. Percy faces evaluating his lifestyle and has to decide which direction he takes. He also faces family issues and has to decide if he will be more involved or remain more of an outsider. His relationship with Nathan takes a turn that is unexpected. He has to deal with friendships. I feel this gave me more of the story of Jo, Daniel, Ben and Edward. I’m hoping there are more short stories to continue with these characters. For being a short story, this author has the ability to make me feel like I’ve had the details of a longer book.
This story centers mostly on Percy. His relationships are never that deep. He is completely self-centered right up until the time he gets some information that changes his life. Percy faces evaluating his lifestyle and has to decide which direction he takes. He also faces family issues and has to decide if he will be more involved or remain more of an outsider. His relationship with Nathan takes a turn that is unexpected. He has to deal with friendships. I feel this gave me more of the story of Jo, Daniel, Ben and Edward. I’m hoping there are more short stories to continue with these characters. For being a short story, this author has the ability to make me feel like I’ve had the details of a longer book.
September 25, 2022
If you've read the previous book,"Twelve Letters", you'll recognize some of the characters. It was nice to not only rad about them, but also to have a happily ever after for a new couple.
After being shunned for the deeds of his father, Percy is left with few options. Accepting help from a past love and his friends. Despite his initial reluctance, this was the best decision for both Percy and Nathan. Allowing their relationship to flourish on a much deeper level.
**I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.**
After being shunned for the deeds of his father, Percy is left with few options. Accepting help from a past love and his friends. Despite his initial reluctance, this was the best decision for both Percy and Nathan. Allowing their relationship to flourish on a much deeper level.
**I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.**
December 1, 2022
So happy Percy gets to grow up.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 31, 2023
4 stars
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews