Hooray gay romance
Finished Helpless by M.J. Pearson tonight.
Firstly, while the cover for this one was not as embarrassing to be seen with in public as her previous books; it is misleading. That scene never happens in the book! And where the shirtless, bound, muscular young man could be Douglas, the main character, I have no idea who the bewhiskered bloke in the big coat is...
Secondly, in comparison to her other two historical, gay romance novels this one is darker. I mean, really, it's still very romantic and fluffy and everything ends Happily Ever After for our heroes (and despite her attempts to convince the readers otherwise, I had a feeling she'd stick with her fairly uncomplicated plots). But unlike Price and Discreet our heroes are far more touched by the prejudices of the time they live in; mostly because Helpless takes place during the Oscar Wilde indecency trials.
What also makes it darker is that although nothing explicit (her novels are never explicit with sex, actually), rape is a main issue in this story. For most of the book there is some question of it happening at all, but by the end as truths are revealed it gets a little distressing. But true to Pearson form, characters find ways to overcome, help others, and justice is served (even if a little morally questionable).
But as I said before, it still maintains a lot of lightness, and enjoyable, diverse characters. If you like fuzzy, easy, historical romance, I really rec her stuff. I just wish she wrote as quickly as those that churn out het romance, but then I guess that's the price of wanting quality.
Her last update on her site is from January and says this:
Right now I'm trying to finish American Ajax, in which an English gentleman gets hired to polish the manners of an American trapper. More on that soon...honest!
Can't wait!
Now for something to completely different: currently in the middle of the audio of Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz. Yes, it totally has to do with the announcement of a movie version in the works starring Anton Yelchin.
Firstly, while the cover for this one was not as embarrassing to be seen with in public as her previous books; it is misleading. That scene never happens in the book! And where the shirtless, bound, muscular young man could be Douglas, the main character, I have no idea who the bewhiskered bloke in the big coat is...
Secondly, in comparison to her other two historical, gay romance novels this one is darker. I mean, really, it's still very romantic and fluffy and everything ends Happily Ever After for our heroes (and despite her attempts to convince the readers otherwise, I had a feeling she'd stick with her fairly uncomplicated plots). But unlike Price and Discreet our heroes are far more touched by the prejudices of the time they live in; mostly because Helpless takes place during the Oscar Wilde indecency trials.
What also makes it darker is that although nothing explicit (her novels are never explicit with sex, actually), rape is a main issue in this story. For most of the book there is some question of it happening at all, but by the end as truths are revealed it gets a little distressing. But true to Pearson form, characters find ways to overcome, help others, and justice is served (even if a little morally questionable).
But as I said before, it still maintains a lot of lightness, and enjoyable, diverse characters. If you like fuzzy, easy, historical romance, I really rec her stuff. I just wish she wrote as quickly as those that churn out het romance, but then I guess that's the price of wanting quality.
Her last update on her site is from January and says this:
Right now I'm trying to finish American Ajax, in which an English gentleman gets hired to polish the manners of an American trapper. More on that soon...honest!
Can't wait!
Now for something to completely different: currently in the middle of the audio of Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz. Yes, it totally has to do with the announcement of a movie version in the works starring Anton Yelchin.