Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: A Sanctuary for Soulden
SERIES: The Lords of Bucknall Club
AUTHORS: J.A. Rock and Lisa Henry
LENGTH: 255 pages
RELEASE DATE: December 28, 2021
BLURB:
He wasn’t meant for a quiet life.
Philip Winthrop, Viscount Soulden, is a fop. An idle popinjay with nothing more on his mind than how to best knot his cravat. He definitely doesn’t spy against the French. Or arrange hasty weddings. Or occasionally commandeer the navy. And he certainly doesn’t seek out mortal danger in order to combat his pervasive ennui. It’s all just a big misunderstanding when he’s shot by a French intelligence officer during a merry riverside chase. And what a wonderful bit of quick thinking to pretend to be a corpse in order to get himself taken to the local surgeon’s autopsy cellar. The French will never find him there. If the French are even looking for him. Which they’re not. Now he just needs to locate a way out before this surgeon fellow attempts to dissect him.
He’d rather deal with the dead than the living.
Surgeon Edmund Fernside does his best to heal the living, but in truth, he’d much rather look into the gaping chest cavity of a corpse than into the startling blue eyes of a…corpse that just climbed off his autopsy table. Well then. Lord Soulden is clearly a man with some complicated secrets. But with the French in hot pursuit and a rather brutal gunshot wound, Soulden’s not going anywhere anytime soon, and Fernside discovers that he enjoys the pleasure of his company. In more ways than one.
Now, trusting each other could mean the difference between life and death.
As Soulden learns to be still for the first time in his life, Fernside wonders if perhaps it’s time to spread his wings a little. They can only hide from the outside world—and from their pasts—for so long before the secrets they’ve uncovered about each other strain the growing attraction between them. Each man must decide whether a life of comfortable lies is preferable to one full of difficult truths. And whether the sanctuary they’ve created together is something worth fighting for.
A Sanctuary for Soulden is the fourth book in the Lords of Bucknall Club series, where the Regency meets m/m romance. The Lords of Bucknall Club can be read in any order.
REVIEW:
Note: This is the fourth book in the series. It does contain spoilers for the previous books, but can be enjoyed as a standalone.
Philip Viscount Soulden has made a life of playing the fool. He’s avoided any entanglements during the season, but he’s not at all what he seems. As he’s left Bucknall’s one evening, he’s shot in the back. He thinks he knows who the would be assassin is. He’s lucky that he’s able to get away on a cart, but he cannot fathom where he ends up.
Edmund Fernside is the local surgeon to a rather questionable neighborhood. He uses bodies for dissection and study and when 3 arrive at his surgery one night, well it’s a gift. Except one turns out not to be so dead 😉 He realizes immediately that his third undead corpse has been wounded and so of course he patches him up. Given the situation with the attempted murder however, he agrees to hide the man until he’s well enough to travel unaided. Hidden in the attic, Fernside and Philip get to know each other.
Once Philip has recovered enough, they realize that they have a lot more in common and the Philip is very keen on the dear doctor. They begin a relationship that is of course furtive and clandestine, all while trying to keep Philip’s whereabouts a secret. Because when Philip leaves, he knows he’s still got a target painted on his back. and he doesn’t want that danger to land on Edmund’s doorstep.
When Philip reaches back out to Edmund, things have gone a bit sideways for both of them. And Philip realizes that if he wants Edmund to ever trust or see him again, he’s going to have to be honest. So he is – and Edmund is stunned at the revelations that Philip shares. But he’s not about to give up on him. Even when things seem dire and it’s clear that someone is definitely out to get rid of Philip, help appears from many unexpected quarters 🙂
I absolutely enjoyed every second of this. I really liked Soulden and Fernside from the previous books. Their meeting is the opposite of normal 🙂 I loved how they became a bit playful with each other and each saw the best in the other. Fernside has lived a solitary life – and he’s been fine with that. Until he isn’t. Because he’s gotten close to Philip. Philip has been running – from his pain, from his past, from his family. He’s led a double life and he’s gotten himself into a bit of a jam. He’s not cared that much about dying in the past, but now he really really doesn’t want to and that’s largely down to Fernside. Gale and Chant and Hartwell and Warry and Notley and Rivingdon are once again in the thick of things when the chips fall. But Philip finally realizes that he can make changes and that he does have more than he thinks he does to live for. I loved Fitz and his relationship with Fernside as well. I can’t wait to see what happens next in this series. There is pathos and humor and just a lot of lovely details that keep me coming back for more. Highly recommended for wonderful plot, prose and romance.
RATING: 
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