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The Fortune Hunter – Bonnie Dee
A man with nothing finds everything.
Abandoned at birth, WWI veteran Hal Stanton faces bleak employment prospects in post-war London. Desperation spurs him to reinvent himself to hook a wealthy wife, one he will be devoted to even if he feels no real passion. But when he meets his fiance’s cousin, Julian Needham, it’s all he can do to keep his heart in check and his eye on the prize.
From the moment he’s introduced to the charming stranger Margaret plans to marry, Julian suspects the man’s motives yet fights a relentless attraction. He’s determined to reveal Hal as a fraud but must handle the matter delicately to protect his sweet cousin’s feelings. A weekend at the family estate should allow time and opportunity for him to expose Halstead Wiley.
Even as the men match wits in a battle of attempted unmasking, powerful sexual attraction threatens to overcome them both and win the day. Can a true love connection possibly grow between these adversaries without destroying lives and loved ones?
In a story involving gold diggers and love triangles, you are bound to end up hating one of the characters. Fortunately, Bonnie Dee writes people well. Julian and Hal were both flawed but still, essentially, have good intentions. The woman, Margaret, is intelligent, sweet and ahead of her time.
The story starts with Margaret introducing Hal to the Needham family as her fiance. Julian suspects Hal to be a gold digger and sets about trying to unmask him but of course, they couldn’t help but like each other and tentatively tried to get along for Margaret’s sake. Bonnie Dee did a great job keeping the undercurrent of attraction and deeper connection simmering underneath their truce. I felt sorry for Hal. He just wanted to have a better life. And after Margaret’s decision, he was in an even sorrier state. Julian’s effort to find Hal and their reunion was all I could ever asked for.
When I began reading, I found the first quarter a bit slow and stopped for a couple of weeks. However I was glad I picked it up again because I enjoyed Hal and Julian bonding in the library. That joke about an angel visiting an orphan boy got me laughing. I like that Hal and Julian are both good friends and lovers. Margaret’s fate was predictable but still satisfying. I’m glad she found her perfect match.
Extra points for the the post-WWI setting and how the author was able to easily transport me to this time period. It’s rarely featured in MM books. It was the time when the upper class way of life started to change. There were less money and less servants. The manor upkeep was hard and the landed gentry turn to tourism to keep up with the cost. They also had to keep up with the times by installing telephones, modern plumbing and electricity. Old guards might balk at this but the more practical ones knew they had to make changes. I would have loved a tour of Julian’s family estate. I have always loved old houses and visiting a house with a name is always a treat. Especially if Hal’s hosting the tour.
Again, The Fortune Hunter might start slow and the characters might be unlikable but it would gradually draw you in and you’ll end up rooting for Julian and Hal. Highly recommended!
Rating:
4 Stars – minor quibbles but I loved it to bits
Soundtrack: Shame and Fortune
Artist: Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Album: It’s Blitz!(source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36988262-the-fortune-hunter)
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REVIEW: Spectred Isle by K.J. Charles
Green Men: Spectred Isle – K.J. Charles
Archaeologist Saul Lazenby has been all but unemployable since his disgrace during the War. Now he scrapes a living working for a rich eccentric who believes in magic. Saul knows it’s a lot of nonsense…except that he begins to find himself in increasingly strange and frightening situations. And at every turn he runs into the sardonic, mysterious Randolph Glyde.
Randolph is the last of an ancient line of arcanists, commanding deep secrets and extraordinary powers as he struggles to fulfil his family duties in a war-torn world. He knows there’s something odd going on with the haunted-looking man who keeps turning up in all the wrong places. The only question for Randolph is whether Saul is victim or villain.
Saul hasn’t trusted anyone in a long time. But as the supernatural threat grows, along with the desire between them, he’ll need to believe in evasive, enraging, devastatingly attractive Randolph. Because he may be the only man who can save Saul’s life—or his soul.
First, isn’t the cover art gorgeous! <3<3<3
This book gave me happy goosebumps. This book also spooked me although I am rarely spooked. This book gave me a pleasant case of book hangover. Therefore I declare this as K.J. Charles’ best book to date.
The story is told in dual POV of Saul Lazenby, a disgraced archeologist and Randolph Glyde, an aristocratic arcanist. Both lonely men, both war veterans dealing with the pain and trauma of war. The two kept meeting at certain places and their mutual attraction was undeniable. I enjoyed their banter and Charles’ brilliance at creating dialogue and prose had me mumbling some lines and chuckling at the clever turn of phrase. Randolph is what is usually described as sardonic and tends to evade questions. But when he does say what he really thinks, usually when talking to and about Saul, I can’t help but internally squeal because it’s clear that he loves/adores/worship Saul. Saul is what is described as a tender but scarred soul. I greatly admire him and his resilience. He was just suddenly thrust into another war he had no idea existed but he didn’t back down. Sometimes in a love story, I tend to love one of the pair more than the other but here, I love them both so much.
The rest of the Green Men deserved books of their own. Sam is getting one (hooray!) but I am conflicted because it’s m/f. Yeah, OK, they can’t be all gay as much as I want them to be. Barney and Max definitely should have their own HEA (love ‘em!).
The world building and the magic system are awesome! Rooted in myths and folklore, seamlessly integrated into post-world war 1920s and very convincingly delivered. The time and place was very palpable and imagining the War Beneath and the Great Summonings scared the hell out of me at 3 a.m.
Please do read this book even if you are not into MM.
Rating:
5 Stars – absolutely perfectSoundtrack: Time for Heroes
Artist: The Libertines
Album: Up the Bracket(source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35118935-spectred-isle)
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Think of England: Song for a Viking – K.J. Charles
‘Song for a Viking’ takes place during/just after the events of the last chapter of Think of England and will be of no use at all to anyone who hasn’t read that book. It is not a standalone.
You will definitely get the most out of it if you remind yourself of Think of
England’s last chapter before readingThis I enjoyed more that the main story because we get to see what’s going on in Daniel’s head.
Rating:
4 Stars – minor quibbles but I loved it to bits(source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29754736-song-for-a-viking)
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Think of England – K.J. Charles
Lie back and think of England…
England, 1904. Two years ago, Captain Archie Curtis lost his friends, fingers, and future to a terrible military accident. Alone, purposeless and angry, Curtis is determined to discover if he and his comrades were the victims of fate, or of sabotage.
Curtis’s search takes him to an isolated, ultra-modern country house, where he meets and instantly clashes with fellow guest Daniel da Silva. Effete, decadent, foreign, and all-too-obviously queer, the sophisticated poet is everything the straightforward British officer fears and distrusts.
As events unfold, Curtis realizes that Daniel has his own secret intentions. And there’s something else they share—a mounting sexual tension that leaves Curtis reeling.
As the house party’s elegant facade cracks to reveal treachery, blackmail and murder, Curtis finds himself needing clever, dark-eyed Daniel as he has never needed a man before…
Warning: Contains explicit male/male encounters, ghastly historical attitudes, and some extremely stiff upper lips.
I couldn’t really connect with the main characters but it’s a testament to K.J. Charles’ writing skill that I still enjoyed the story. Can’t wait for the second book.
Rating:
4 Stars – minor quibbles but I loved it to bits(source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20822874-think-of-england)
