Review: light weight
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 06 28, 2011
There is nothing original in this very short Regency M/M romance.The setting is the usual one, gay aristocrats having to cope with the homophobic, claustrophobic mores of a time and society when laws founded on religious beliefs used to fetter people's life.To this well trodden setting the author adds the usual topic of forced proximity as the two lovers are bound to remain in the same place for a given numer of days and have no way to avoid each other, again a very common choice in this kind of novels.There is one twist though: the two star-crossed lovers have not only already met (this would be common) but they have been lovers in their early youth, until they were separated when one of them, a second son and therefore kind of useless to his father, was sent to war to acquire a status for himself. Problem is that, after five years, he had to come back because (second twist) he has lost his left forearm. Haunted by honour, duty and guilt Ian (the come-back soldier) has to be seduced again because he seems to consider the previous affair with Nicky a juvenile mistake and the attraction he still feels for Nicky something to be repressed.I will not spoil the third twist (a bit contrived) that allows them their happily ever after.All in all the story was captivating. The two main characters are easy to love even if the soldier sounds more childish, at times, than guilt-ridden and the other lover seems a little too unsouciant.The story could surely have born more fleshing out: it takes place within a limited time scope (twelve days) but it needs not have taken twelve pages to be told. There are several moments that feel hurried and character building could have been better.More care should have also been given to the sex scenes: they are emotional because of the baggage the two carry with them but they are not very erotic.