Reviewed by Elizabetta

TITLE: Enlightened

SERIES: Enlightenment, bk #3

AUTHOR: Joanna Chambers

PUBLISHER: Samhain Publishing

LENGTH: 230 pages

BLURB: 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.

REVIEW:

“Love should not be denied.”

This opens at Murdo’s country estate, Laverock, with David looked after by Murdo, and recuperating from injuries he suffered at the end of book two. They’ve had a blissful sojourn, six months away from prying curious eyes, and their relationship has deepened for it. Murdoch’s home is a sanctuary for them, and for David especially— a true Scotsman, the man does like his traipsing about the surrounding woodlands and glens.

David and Murdo have come a long way from the initial prickliness of book one. And yet, Enlightened deals with David’s ongoing feelings of unrest— at becoming so close to Murdo yet knowing that he must return to his ‘normal’ life, and resume his law practice. This means life away from Murdo, and neither of them are happy about that.

David’s mentor, Patrick Chalmers, is gravely ill and has asked that David look after his eldest daughter, Elizabeth. Readers will remember from book two that she has run away from an abusive husband (it was in defending her that David was injured)  and is now in hiding from him. David is tasked with seeing to her welfare.

There is commonality between David and Murdo’s situation and that of Elizabeth. David feels “a righteous anger, at a world that wouldn’t stop prying and interfering, demanding that its unjust rules be followed.” Those rigid rules deny the right of two men to love and commit to one other, and uphold that a woman has no rights, even against an abusive husband.

So this final book of the series is quieter, almost introspective, in its look at David’s inner turmoil: his fear of discovery of this secret part of himself, his relentless obligation to a high standard of morality. Can there be enlightenment? Can he make the two live side-by-side? Will Murdo meet him half-way?

“He just let Murdo see it all, the despair and the grief, and the sharp, pressing desire…what was the point in hiding it? What was the point of having the gift of life…if he couldn’t share it all with this man?”

The action is around these issues and in helping Elizabeth. And, in Murdo always being there for David. Murdo has his own lessons too— perhaps what he takes as naiveté in David is really about being truthful to yourself. And, perhaps, love cannot be denied.

Kudos to the author for a wonderful wrap-up to this wonderful series. Recommended.

RATING:  

BUY LINKS:

Samhain

Amazon