Summary:
K. J. Charles
turns up the heat in her new Society of Gentlemen novel, as two lovers
face off in a sensual duel that challenges their deepest beliefs.
Silas Mason has no illusions about himself. He’s not lovable, or even likable. He’s an overbearing idealist, a Radical bookseller and pamphleteer who lives for revolution . . . and for Wednesday nights. Every week he meets anonymously with the same man, in whom Silas has discovered the ideal meld of intellectual companionship and absolute obedience to his sexual commands. But unbeknownst to Silas, his closest friend is also his greatest enemy, with the power to see him hanged—or spare his life.
A loyal, well-born gentleman official, Dominic Frey is torn apart by his affair with Silas. By the light of day, he cannot fathom the intoxicating lust that drives him to meet with the Radical week after week. In the bedroom, everything else falls away. Their needs match, and they are united by sympathy for each other’s deepest vulnerabilities. But when Silas’s politics earn him a death sentence, desire clashes with duty, and Dominic finds himself doing everything he can to save the man who stole his heart.
Silas Mason has no illusions about himself. He’s not lovable, or even likable. He’s an overbearing idealist, a Radical bookseller and pamphleteer who lives for revolution . . . and for Wednesday nights. Every week he meets anonymously with the same man, in whom Silas has discovered the ideal meld of intellectual companionship and absolute obedience to his sexual commands. But unbeknownst to Silas, his closest friend is also his greatest enemy, with the power to see him hanged—or spare his life.
A loyal, well-born gentleman official, Dominic Frey is torn apart by his affair with Silas. By the light of day, he cannot fathom the intoxicating lust that drives him to meet with the Radical week after week. In the bedroom, everything else falls away. Their needs match, and they are united by sympathy for each other’s deepest vulnerabilities. But when Silas’s politics earn him a death sentence, desire clashes with duty, and Dominic finds himself doing everything he can to save the man who stole his heart.
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Review:
Rating: 5 stars!!!
A Seditious Affair, book two in another awesome series penned by the incredible KJ Charles, is one of my 2015 favorites. In a year when luck wasn't always on my side when I was choosing my reading material, I did make one excellent decision and started reading books by KJ Charles. Some were great, and some were even better. A Seditious Affair... well, I'd need many positive adjectives to describe all my love for this book. It was everything I had hoped it would be and more.
Reading A Fashionable Indulgence, which is the first book in this series, made two things clear. One: I was going to enjoy immensely reading about this group of men, and two: Silas & Dominic's novel would be my favorite. There is still one book to come, but I strongly believe my prediction was correct.
"A man needs to be cruel to be kind."
I don't want to say this was love at first sentence, but love at first chapter it sure was. It had the elements of the story I would look forward to throughout the book.
As you may or may not know M/M D/s romance novels, if done right, are my favorite kind. It's been awhile since I've read a romance like that, and Dominic and Silas and their bedroom games that really weren't games at all reminded me why they are my favorite. Not to mention it is what brought them together and what made them live from Wednesday night to Wednesday night, so I was extra glad for those games. What I appreciated the most was Silas's imaginative ways to satisfy Dominic's submissive needs when he himself had limitations regarding what he would or wouldn't use. Plus, this story is set in 1819, which makes me admire it all even more.
The D/s dynamic between the main characters was one of the things I loved about this book and found in the first chapter. Another would be their discussions. Whether they were discussing books or politics, I always liked hearing their often much different opinions on the matter at hand, and the arguments that would ensue. And their opinions were different as they come; Silas was a lower-class radical often busy printing seditious libels, and Dominic was a gentleman working for the Home Office whose job was apprehending people like Silas, and was after Silas, though he was not aware of it for quite some time as in all those Wednesday nights they spent together, they never revealed their names to each other. Their differences were numerous and difficult to deal with, but they always had Wednesdays.
Politics had a notable presence in the story. I'm someone who finds everything politics-related disgusting. Those parts, especially those tragic historical events that were included in the novel left me feeling sad. It was a filthy business then, and it is now. Nevertheless, it did not manage to make me like this book less. If anything, the difficult situation Dom and Silas found themselves in for being on the opposite teams made me more eager for them to get their much-deserved happy ending. And let me tell you, the tender moments between these two made my heart melt.
A Seditious Affair is the second book in the Society of Gentlemen series. The first third of the novel or so overlaps the events in A Fashionable Indulgence, but even so I'd say it could be read as a standalone, but why you want to skip that lighter, funnier beginning? For me, both were great reads, but this one is my personal favorite. I did like seeing the past main characters, Harry and Julius, and Ash from the short story The Ruin of Gabriel Ashleigh (which is also wonderful!). I have to say I was rather disappointed by Richard in this installment, but still I'm excited for his book. Now, if only I could make April come sooner.
Overall, a fantastic book! That's all.
***ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.***
Until next time, happy reading!
XOXO,
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