Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: The Disaster of Drury Lane: Regency Romance Act VIII
SERIES: The Scandals and Scoundrels of Drury Lane
AUTHOR: Merry Farmer
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 131 pages
RELEASE DATE: October 24, 2023
BLURB:
What the audience sees is only half the drama…
A lost wager leads to a smoldering night of passion…but when the two men meet in the light of day and have to work together, disaster strikes.
Florizel Holland was born and raised in the Theatre and has spent his entire life surrounded by “colorful” people. His devotion to those people shows not only in his position as stage manager for the Drury Lane Theater and his dedication to its current production, but in the way he gives everything he has to the home for retired actors he helped to establish. But endeavors such as the home need funding, and gambling for high stakes at a club called Perdition is how Flory intends to get them.
But losing himself for the night to a mysterious newcomer to town changes everything…
Librarian Oliver Penhurst has been on the back foot ever since inheriting the title Earl of Headington. His venture into London was supposed to be so that he could learn from his old university friends how to be a nobleman. Patronizing the Drury Lane Theater seemed like a good idea, but when Oliver comes face to face with the man he just spent a wicked night with, Oliver doesn’t know whether to run and hide or to throw himself at the man.
There is more to both Flory and Oliver than meets the eye, and as the two men work together for the good of the show—especially when everything seems to go wrong with the play at the very last minute—they discover that it is the unexpected blessings in life that make it so much fun.
The Disaster of Drury Lane is an MM love story with very steamy bits that take place at The Perdition Club, and it involves masks and disguises, old actors who are young at heart, risks that are worth taking, bad eels, painting catastrophes, and fires both inside and outside.
REVIEW:
Oh my goodness! This story was completely unexpected. I was completed charmed and entertained by this story of Flory and Oliver. They were the perfectly imperfect pair that meet by chance and just click. Little do they know their paths will cross again and that meeting will be quite fortuitous 🙂
Flory is the stage manager at the Drury Lane Theatre. He’s getting ready for the opening of a new play. He also is trying to fund a home for aging theatre folks and goes to the Perdition Club to try to win some funds. He’s usually pretty successful but on this night meets a new man. He runs out of money and decides to offer himself as the prize. When the new man wins, he and Flory spend a wonderful night together.
Oliver, the new man, is the recently named Earl of Headington. His real life had been as a librarian at Oxford. He’s not keen on his new life in London. He’s out of a night of fun when he meets Flory. He’s trying to figure out what to do with his new found wealth and his old friend takes him to the theatre to look at investing. Who should be the stage manager? Why his paramour from the night before of course 😉
Flory is thrilled to see Oliver again. Oliver not so much. He’s very nervous about anyone seeing them together and inferring something untoward. Flory tells him in London and the theatre, nobody cares. He introduces Oliver to his mother and continues to get ready for opening night.
Well Opening Night is an unmitigated disaster. Literally anything and everything that can go wrong does. The play ends up going not at all as planned. But maybe that’s not so bad? Oliver and Flory work as best they can to make it a “success” and the do. In their own way 😀
This is a genuinely funny and touching story. I couldn’t believe all that went wrong for the play. One thing after another. Luckily Oliver learns to go with the flow and realizes that Flory is the best thing that has ever happened to him and that they need to figure out a way to make a go of things. Flory couldn’t be happier – and not just because he’s found a lovely man. His life is finally falling into place. Highly recommended.
RATING: 
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