Review: A great read !
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 12 16, 2012
Although I have always found Lady Jennings's Victorian gay stories too short, I have continued to read them nonetheless, five and counting! To me it looks very much like an addiction ... but this time with "Complicated Affairs" it's even better; this isn't a short one as usual, but a novella, what a treat! She has the knack for creating the ideal atmosphere that very easily and completely engulfs you from the beginning and this time is no different.The plot is simple but executed with precision, talent and wit. There are two amazing flawed, yet beautiful men who are so very different that you wonder how the author is going to make it work. Her stories are always wonderful in their detailed descriptions and elegant phrasing. It allows the reader to easily visualize every place and situation, to absorb the ambience and live each emotion. And here again, you cannot help but be involved in the character's life and all these elements combine to make the story all the more credible.Where Sebastian Cox is a charming rakehell, a gamester who drinks too much and who doesn't care for his lovers, Carl Whitmore is a very private gentleman who has chosen to more or less withdraw from society. He came back from war wounded and with a broken heart. One man is all boldness and rather wild while the other is all discretion and restraint.It all begins like a game of seduction for Sebastian, one is the hunter, the other is the prey or is it the other way round? There are misunderstandings, misconception, mistakes, confusion, burning and explosive passion ... in the end there's hope for more, maybe love and trust ... who knows?It was sweet, romantic and hot with a very satisfying ending and all this is tastefully written. A great read! I give 4 stars.