Reviewed by Donna

 TITLE: An Unusual Courtship

AUTHOR: Katherine Marlowe

PUBLISHER: Honeywine Publishing

LENGTH: 150 Pages

BLURB:

Percival Valentine is delighted by the arrival of new neighbours in the sleepy provincial town of Linston. Swiftly befriending the fashionable trio of Londoners, Percival sets out to court the elegant Miss Bolton, but soon comes to realise that he is being courted instead by the charming but secretive Mr. Everett. As Percival begins to uncover the circumstances behind his new friends’ arrival in Linston, he is drawn inextricably closer to Mr. Everett and his secrets.

REVIEW:

“I would still have you,” Percival said. “If you would be willing. And perhaps indeed it may lighten your mood, for I would most earnestly desire to do anything I might which would make you smile.”

That did make Mr. Everett smile, a little. “You are entirely too good and earnest, Mr. Valentine.”

Someone catch me as I swoon in the face of all this politely, earnest Regency flirting! This is the second book that I’ve read by Katherine Marlowe and I can safely say that she has a fan in me. What strikes me when I begin a story by this author is the immediate recognition that this is a regency period tale. For someone who is use to reading contemporaries, the contrast is a slap in the face as the physical setting and the “old fashioned” characters are presented in a convincing, well written manner. In my opinion, and I have no idea if this comparison will make sense to anyone else, Katherine Marlowe writes Regencies with two male main characters, rather than m/m romances set in a Regency period. Although the romance is the whole point of the story, the focus always remains on the fact that this is a historical setting. You never lose your awareness of that. And I greatly appreciate that the author never makes a huge fuss of the fact that these are two men in love. In such a time period, it could obviously be cause for endless angst, drama and violence, but in both books I’ve read so far, Katherine Marlowe treats the issue with a minimum of fanfare.

This story is told from the point of view of Mr. Valentine, though his friends call him…err, Mr. Valentine. Well, one wouldn’t want to be overly familiar, but for the sake of this review we shall call him Percival. Percival loves his life, overseeing the country town of Linston where he was born and has happily remained. Though not at all bored with his simple life he is, however, rather excited by the arrival of three Londoners who have arrived to spend the remainder of the summer in the quiet town. Percival decides he should court Miss Bolton, who seems perfectly suited to be the kind of wife he is suppose to want. The trouble is, he’d much rather spend his time with Mr. Everett, who is decidedly not the kind of life partner Percival is meant to yearn for, for obvious reasons. When Percival begins to suspect that Mr. Everett may also share

“…his inclination to be distracted by members of his own gender…”

he needs to decide just what he is prepared to do about it.

I’ve always loved the gentleness of Regency romances, and though I’m new to m/m historicals this book has all of the characteristics of a well written period story. The language, mannerisms and the thought processes were all perfect as far as I could tell, although, I in no way claim to be an expert, simply a voracious Regency romance reader. I particularly liked the humor the author managed to inject into the story, while remaining faithful to the time period.

“the fashion of wearing a long tail in the back was now embarrassingly eighteenth-century.”

And

“Sir, I question the etiquette of your wayward elbows.”

Ha! Wayward elbows indeed! You know, I promise that those lines sounded a lot funnier in the context of the story. I actually chuckled.

The characters themselves were interesting yet a little held back from us, which I can only assume was deliberate considering the skill this author demonstrates. It gave the characters an added air of reserve and in Mr. Everett’s case, romantic mystery. This reserve was however offset by the fabulous secondary characters, Hermione and Horatio Bolton, who added refreshing bursts of liveliness to whichever scene they popped into.

The sex was appropriately brief and fairly non-explicit. Any salacious goings on wouldn’t have fit with the tone of this book at all. Yet I was happy to get a little boudoir time with Mr. Everett and Mr. Valentine, because I always love to see how character’s public personas translate into their bedroom behavior. In a book like this I’m especially interested to see how the men would react in a sexual situation. I like a buttoned down man who will let it all go in bed.

“I am indeed,” Percival insisted, lifting his chin proudly at his very slender claim to being a rake-shame. “I am even so profligate as to kiss certain ladies upon their cheeks.”

My one and only complaint about this book is the cover. It’s probably very fitting but, in my opinion at least, it’s not at all appealing. It’s all just so…brown, and at first glance the men appear off-puttingly unattractive. Any prospective readers, I urge you to look past it.

If this is a genre you like then I feel confident in recommending this book to you. And if, like me, you “don’t read m/m historicals” well, guess what…I still feel confident in recommending this book to you.

RATING: 

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