A Seditious Affair

I was already planning to read more KJ Charles and now I'm definitely going to - I have [b:The Magpie Lord 34715150 The Magpie Lord (A Charm of Magpies, #1) K.J. Charles https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1490703800i/34715150.SY75.jpg 24803707] next in line for summer romance bingo and I bought [b:Proper English 44420645 Proper English K.J. Charles https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1554298689i/44420645.SY75.jpg 68974183] last month, I just can't figure out a way to make it work for bingo. Anyway! I think I would've enjoyed this more if I'd read the first book in the series beforehand, but that's on me and not the book. As it is, I had to spend a little more time than I liked early on figuring out who all the characters were and how they were related. That didn't really detract from my enjoyment of this, though - I loved the premise and the conflict was fascinating and not one that's easily resolved.(2019 summer romance bingo: on the page atheist; can't think of another square it'd fit well in, except the free space/HEA)

I casually picked this up from Goodreads' Romance Week recommendations, expecting just a regular run-of-the-mill romance but with m/m - and boy, was I wrong.

This was everything I've been yearning to find in romance novels for so long (and I usually read m/f 99% of the time). It's a book about an actual honest-to-goodness relationship blossoming between two people. They are certainly physically attracted to each other, but it's not just about that - and I think that's where this book truly shines. You can really feel the actual chemistry between Silas and Dominic, and most of that is outside of the bed. Their relationship feels deeper than just physical intercourse. K.J. Charles does an excellent job really sculpting the interaction between these two people, having them act realistically and logically. They may have a hierarchy in the bedroom, but you can feel that despite their class difference, these two people have such complete respect for the other and they treat each other as equals on every level.

Best of all, their relationship is also situated in the world that they lived in. I guess it helped that I recently watched a documentary on the Regency era and know a smattering of the real events referred to in the book, such as the Peterloo massacre and the Cato Street Conspiracy. K.J. Charles managed to weave an entrancing and compelling historical piece seamlessly and intricately into the romance that I never skipped or skimmed a paragraph. Dominic and Silas stand on opposite sides of a class war, but through them we really appreciate why that divide brewed in English society to begin with. Coming away, I felt like I had a deeper understanding and appreciation for the social setting during the Regency - and it's so wild that a romance novel taught me that!

All in all, one of the best romances I've read so far.

Well, I wound up liking this book more than I thought I would. I almost gave it a pass because I really didn't like Silas in the previous book and Dom was...kind of just there in my mind. And, truthfully, I'm not really a fan of BDSM. And that's what this is, before there was even a term for it and it was seen more as something wrong with a person.

However, I liked this story. I liked Silas (especially) and Dom together - mostly when they were arguing or being sweet. Because there were a few surprisingly sweet moments. I was okay with the sex, at least once we got away from the start (which felt a little rape-y) and into Dom's head. (Some of it was even kind of hot.)

(I also loved Ash getting involved and being his usual irreverent self.)

My faith in KJ Charles is fully restored after the somewhat disappointing A Fashionable Indulgence. The love story between Dominic and Silas is passionate, angsty, occasionally laugh-out-loud hilarious, and basically everything I look for in a good romance novel. Frankly, I could only read a few chapters of the book at a time because the feels were so incredibly strong and often painful. The D/s theme made me a little uncomfortable but it was such an important part of the dynamic between the two MCs that I don't see how KJ Charles could have skipped it. And it's obvious that the emotional attachment between them (based largely on a shared love of books sigh) is just as important as the physical side.

I expressed my discomfort with Indulgence, which seemed to celebrate upper class excess while paying lip service to the working class concerns. A Seditious Affair, however, goes all in, portraying two men - Tory and Brute - on the front lines of opposite sides of the struggle. While I'll always sympathize strongly with the oppressed party, Charles does a credible job of presenting Dominic's aristocratic views in a way that don't detract from his appeal. Plus by the end of the book, both men realize that the issue isn't completely black and white.

Along with the beautifully kinky star-crossed love story, Charles also incorporates a full arc about the transformation of Dominic's relationship with his former lover and best friend Richard, which emotionally frees up Richard to be featured in Society of Gentlemen book #3, due in April (so far away!).

There are so many great KJ Charles books that it's hard to rank them, but I'd put A Seditious Affair right up there with Think of England as one of her absolute best.

ARC received from Net Galley in exchange for honest review.