Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Below Stairs at Crofton Hall
SERIES: Modern Crofton
AUTHOR: Rebecca Cohen
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 3xx pages
RELEASE DATE: June 1, 2022
BLURB:
Karl Vinter joins the staff at Crofton Hall as the new under butler. He’s too busy to bother with relationships, but he’s more than happy to explore a friends with benefits arrangement with gardener, Val Blake. He couldn’t imagine a more perfect way to settle into is his new life at Crofton Hall. Pity pesky things like feelings start to get in the way.
Meanwhile, Ben Redbourn, 16th Earl of Crofton, is trying to find the perfect way to propose to Ashley, his boyfriend. He’s going to need all the help he can get, especially after at least one misstep and that he’s never given Ashley any indication he wants to get married.
This is the third Modern Crofton novel, featuring Benjamin Redbourn, the 16th Earl of Crofton and descendant of Anthony Redbourn, 1st Earl of Crofton from my historical series, The Crofton Chronicles.
REVIEW:
NOTE: This is the fourth book in the Modern Crofton series and it builds on the three previous titles. It is recommended to read them in order as this book contains major spoilers for the previous books.
As this series goes on, I’m enjoying it more and more. This new episode introduces us to a new couple, Karl Vinter, the new under butler at Crofton Hall, and Val Blake, one of the new gardeners. In addition, we get catch up time with the previous couples, Dara and Nathan and of course Ben, the 16th Earl and Ashley, his forever love and the events manager at the hall.
Karl has joined staff after a ridiculous dismissal from his previous position due to the outdated stance of his employer on Karl’s sexual orientation. He’s not happy to have been let go, but his supervisor has a word with the butler at Crofton Hall and after a successful interview with Billins, the Crofton Hall butler and Ben, he happy to join the staff there.
Val has had a rough go with a gaslighting ex and he’s happy to ease into life at Crofton Hall. He’s not his own boss anymore, but he’s got some breathing room and he really likes his job. He meets Karl soon after he joins staff and they hit it off despite Val’s initial reaction. They begin a sort of friends with benefits relationship. But of course, it’s hard to keep it just casual and feelings begin to grow. Val has a lot of baggage though and he’s not in the best headspace for anything. He hasn’t really dealt with the loss of his home, business and partner even though it has been some time. Eventually Val is able to deal with his issues – not without some real sturm und drang – and he and Karl are able to develop more of a real relationship.
In parallel, Ashley and Ben are still going strong, despite a few bumps in the road. Ashley still has the occasional twinge that he’s not good enough for Ben and he’s not sure where Ben stands on thing like permanence and marriage. There are a few moments when both of them were a little bit dense about things, but luckily things get on track 🙂
I just love this series. Val is aa character that experiences a lot in this story. He is frankly a real mess and the writer’s ability to put us in his headspace when he’s not doing well was especially poignant. He’s had a number done on him by his ex, and it takes real work for him to heal from that trauma. I really liked Karl from the get-go. And of course revisiting Ashley and Ben is always a treat. I can’t wait for the next book in this series. Crofton Hall is a wonderful place to spend time and I highly recommend both this book and the entire series. Just really good writing and truly brings the setting and characters to life.
RATING: 
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