Review: Intimate, faced paced,romance with heat...
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 09 28, 2013
I loved the immediacy of this tale of two friends who bridged the gap of social class and their own fear to find love. Set in Regency England, the tale forgoes society balls and the teeming masses and focuses instead on the intimate friendship between Marcus, heir to an earldom, and Race, son of the estate housekeeper.Race is a couple of years older than Marcus and as boys the two did everything together. As they reach adolescence, despite the difference of their stations, the two grow closer. But when Race is stomped by a horse, a flash of insight into his true feelings for his friend sends Marcus fleeing to London, confused, afraid, and determined to lose himself in women. The story begins with Marcus returning home to see if the man he left behind is still his friend, and to find out if he has successfully exorcised "those feelings" he once held.The story has a nice buildup, as I was afforded points of view from both Marcus and Race, and it was fun to wonder who would brave the feared waters first. Trouble between Marcus and his father showcased the emotional depth of both characters well, and even knowing that some form of happiness was imminent, intense scenes of "almost" made for some very entertaining and hot moments. For me, there was a haunting note of E.M. Forster's "Maurice" echoing this piece at points, but perhaps that was because both men were adorable in their hesitancy to harm the others reputation.I also want to give the author major points for the concise manner in which the story was delivered. Although it reads at a fast clip, I was surprised to find it was only eighty-five pages long. All of the traditional Regency style romance elements are present and it reads like a larger novel. So kudos, Jenna Rose Ellis, for making me desire some lessons from you in sharp, well worded, condensed writing.  "Sexy, Sweet, Charmer"