• book,  Uncategorized

    SERIES REVIEW: Enlightenment Books 2 & 3 by Joanna Chambers

    Enlightenment: Beguiled – Joanna Chambers

    A fleeting pleasure is the sweetest seduction…

    David Lauriston couldn’t be less interested in King George IV’s first visit to Edinburgh. But with Faculty of Advocates members required to put on a minimal show of patriotism, David makes an appointment with his tailor for a new set of clothes-only to run into a man he hasn’t seen for two long years.

    Lord Murdo Balfour.

    Much has changed since their bitter parting, except their stormy attraction. And when Murdo suggests they enjoy each other’s company during his stay, David finds himself agreeing. After all, it’s only a temporary tryst.

    Amidst the pomp and ceremony of the King’s visit, Murdo’s seduction is more powerful than David ever imagined possible. But when other figures from David’s past show up, he is drawn into a chain of events beyond his control. Where his determination to help a friend will break his body, threaten his career, and put at risk the fragile tenderness he’s found in Murdo’s arms.

    Warning: Contains a lowborn Scottish lawyer with no love for the aristocracy, but more than enough passion for this highborn lord. Political intrigue, kilts, explicit m/m trysts, and men who epitomize “knight in shining armor.”


    Rating:
    5 Stars – absolutely perfect

    Soundtrack: Show Me The Wonder
    Artist: Manic Street Preachers
    Album: Rewind the Film


    Enlightenment: Enlightened – Joanna Chambers

    The cruelest duel may not spill a drop of blood…but it could break their hearts.

    Five months ago, David Lauriston was badly hurt helping his friend Elizabeth escape her violent husband. Since then, David has been living with his lover, Lord Murdo Balfour, while he recuperates.

    Despite the pain of his injuries, David’s time with Murdo has been the happiest of his life. The only things that trouble him are Murdo’s occasional bouts of preoccupation, and the fact that one day soon, David will have to return to his legal practice in Edinburgh.

    That day comes too soon when David’s friend and mentor takes to his deathbed, and David finds himself agreeing to take on a private mission in London. Murdo is at his side in the journey, but a shocking revelation by Murdo’s ruthless father leaves David questioning everything they’ve shared.

    As tensions mount and the stakes grow higher, David and Murdo are forced to ask themselves how far they’re prepared to go—and how much they’re prepared to give up—to stay together. And whether there’s any chance of lasting happiness for men like them.

    Warning: Men in love, men with secrets, and men armed with dueling pistols.


    Rating:
    5 Stars – absolutely perfect

    Soundtrack: Light
    Artist: Kinder
    Album: Light


    I don’t know what the heck I read in 2017, but I remember not being too impressed with Provoked, Book 1 of Enlightenment. The series was a huge fan-favorite, so what was I missing? 

    The story is from the POV of young lawyer David Lauriston. He’s a man with strong opinions about right or wrong. He will go through extreme lengths to protect his friends, especially Elizabeth, who married a rich but abusive aristocrat. David is stubborn, but I liked that he’s loyal and kind to a fault.

    My main gripe was Lord Murdo Balfour.

    Murdo is a villain name. Also, he was supposed to be this mysterious rakish figure who seduced the then-virgin David Lauriston, only to leave him high and dry. Apparently, there’s a thing as too enigmatic because he came across as a faceless, featureless, one-dimensional entity.

    Cue Books 2 and 3, Beguiled and Enlightened, and I was spectacularly flabbergasted to discover the very same Lord Murdo Balfour, not just a living, breathing entity, but a swoony, generous, considerate, and attentive love interest so obviously smitten with our boy David. How the hell did I not see that before?!

    And Murdo, chafing at the bit to free himself from his father’s evil grasp, and single-mindedly defiant of the Earl’s machinations to have him marry a woman to further their family’s political power. Also, him doing everything to protect David and his friends at the cost of his reputation, family, and wealth. This man, OMG!!! My jaw dropped to the floor!

    My, ahem, enlightenment in this aptly named series gave me a high while reading the 2nd and 3rd books. I had better appreciation of what turned out to be an very-well thought out plot running through the first three books, with nuanced characters navigating tricky political and social rules and a high stakes forbidden romance culminating a daring all or nothing bid for an HEA.

    I also complained before about the POV being solely from David’s as too one-sided. It didn’t matter anymore. The storytelling felt more balanced now that I have a better grasp of Murdo’s character. Also, the rest of the supporting cast, David’s mentor Chalmers, Elizabeth, Euan who is David’s friend and Lizzie’s lover, the Earl, and Lizzie’s abusive husband, now stood out individually and playing their parts effectively.

    I have never been more glad to give a series another chance. The fans were right!

    From the eye-opening characters, the compelling threads of kindness, trust, and care in a world of power and abuse, to the clever, clever way it sliced through the Gordian knots that bind Murdo and the hard-won happiness for him and David, Enlightenment is a brilliant historical romance. 

    A true classic!

    P.S.

    Enlightenment should be read in order. Decide if Murdo was indeed cardboard or I was too blind to see his true nature in Book1, Provoked.


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  • song,  Uncategorized

    SOUNDTRACK: Show Me The Wonder by Manic Street Preachers & Light by Kinder

    Soundtrack to Enlightenment: Beguiled by Joanna Chambers

    Show Me The Wonder by Manic Street Preacher for a book about reconnections, revelations and a bid for freedom.

    This is no threat
    Just an invitation
    A sense of belonging
    A sense of inspiration

    If you’re exiled
    By all the cruel tongues
    Then show me the wonder
    The wonder of your love

    Soundtrack to Enlightenment: Enlightened by Joanna Chambers

    Light by Kinder for a book where love is inevitable, powerful, and hard-won.

    Isn’t it funny how we fall in love?
    Like a freight train with no brakes
    All of the questions that we’re thinking of
    That we don’t ask cause we don’t want a heartbreak

    There is something for us, I can see it
    With my own eyes, waiting for ya
    In the darkness
    You brought me into the light

  • quote,  Uncategorized

    This is no threat
    Just an invitation
    A sense of belonging
    A sense of inspiration

    Is heaven a place
    Where nothing ever happens
    Is it too much to ask
    To disbelieve in everything

    Show me the wonder
    I have seen the birthplace of the universe
    Show me the wonder
    I have seen their records move in reverse

    If you’re exiled
    By all the cruel tongues
    Then show me the wonder
    The wonder of your love

    A tapping pain of madness
    Running through their veins
    We may write in English
    But our truth lays in Wales

    Show me the wonder
    I have seen the birthplace of the universe
    Show me the wonder
    I have seen their records move in reverse

    Praying for the silence
    When we look in to a mirror
    Stained so patient
    We measure the nostalgia

    Is heaven a place
    Where nothing ever happens
    Is it too much to ask
    To disbelieve in everything

    Show me the wonder
    I have seen the birthplace of the universe
    Show me the wonder
    I have seen their records move in reverse

    Show me the wonder
    Show me the wonder
    I have seen their records move in reverse

    Isn’t it funny how we fall in love?
    Like a freight train with no brakes
    All of the questions that we’re thinking of
    That we don’t ask cause we don’t want a heartbreak

    There is something for us, I can see it
    With my own eyes, waiting for ya
    In the darkness
    You brought me into the light

    I tried to take my time but I can’t hold back
    I been waiting for the perfect moment
    Just before the feeling fades to black, yeah
    You give me those eyes, now I’m jonesin’

    There is something for us, I can see it
    With my own eyes, waiting for ya
    In the darkness
    You brought me into the light
    There is something for us, I can see it
    With my own eyes, waiting for ya
    In the darkness
    You brought me into the light
    There is something for us, I can see it
    With my own eyes, waiting for ya
    In the darkness
    You brought me into the light