Guest Reviewed by Sadonna
Title: The Uncertain Customer
Author: Pearl Love
Series: The Garden Series #1
Heroes: Devon Wilcox/Wallace Church
Genre: MM Historical
Length: 80 Pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: April 23, 2014
Available at: Dreamspinner Press, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, All Romance Ebooks and Kobo
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads
Blurb: Devon Wilcox, the privileged fifth son of a viscount, has everything a man could want … except being gay in a time when such deviant behavior could land him in prison. He tries to console himself with the denizens of society’s underbelly, but frequently ends up the victim of those who’d rather take advantage of his desperation. Fortunately, his best friend and secret object of infatuation, Sir Wallace Church, comes to his rescue. Wallace tempts him with the promise of high-class entertainment at a mysterious boy brothel called “The Garden.” Situated in the heart of mid-Victorian London, The Garden offers an array of choice morsels, beautiful young men named after flowers. There, Wilcox finds not only the perfect bed partner for the evening, but the chance to gain his most ardent heart’s desire.
Review: Each year I try to read something by each author scheduled to be at GRL. The first year, I did it by finishing the last book on the plane to NOLA. Year 2 of GRL was a bit of a bust for me – my life was not going at all well and consequently really impacted both my reading for and my enjoyment of GRL and it was a fail. For Atlanta, I did a fairly good job, but still didn’t complete my list. This year I have vowed to once again make sure I have read something by each author. Pearl Love is an author that I had not read before and so I wanted to be sure that I read something by her by October. When The Blogger Girls asked if I’d like to review this book, I jumped at the chance. 🙂
First, I should say that I have a love/hate relationship with historicals. When I first started reading M/M, the historicals I read were awful. I have a degree in History which might make me a little more skeptical but somehow, the stories that I found in the beginning just were not very good. Luckily, I can say that over the last 4 years, I’ve found a number of very good historicals, so I think that as authors and readers become more familiar and comfortable with them, the quality just keeps improving.
Since I hadn’t read anything by this author before, I didn’t have any pre-conceived notions about the writing style. I went in with pretty much no expectation whatsoever. I am happy to say that I really enjoyed the story and the writing.
At the beginning of this story, we meet Devon Wilcox in his club quietly getting drunk when he is interrupted in his pursuit by his best friend Wallace Church. Devon has been robbed and roughed up as he was attempting to find a willing body – a male body – down by the docks. Church is dismayed that Devon has been assaulted and takes him to his home. Since Devon continues to put himself in danger, Church has a proposal that will hopefully be less hazardous. It seems Church has met a gentleman who has given him an introduction to a place called The Garden. However, what is on offer is not the usual variety of horticulture 😉 It seems the Church has already made an appointment for them both the following week at this very exclusive brothel.
While Devon exclusively seeks male companionship, Church is apparently not quite a restrictive. This is breaking Devon’s heart as he is secretly in love with his best friend, but he’d rather have him as a friend than risk not having him at all so he has kept this to himself. When they arrive at The Garden, Devon and Wallace meet Mr. Leslie, the proprietor. As they make their way into the inner sanctum, they meet Gardenia and Aster – as all of Mr. Leslie’s boys are named for the flower that represents their personalities best. As they withdraw to a private room to be “entertained” Church suggests that they do not need to separate and that the four may enjoy themselves together Wilcox is furious with this suggestion as he realizes he will have a difficult time not betraying his true feelings for Church.
Gardenia is playful and full of joy while Aster is shy and nervous. As Gardenia entertains Wilcox, he begins to surmise the truth of Wilcox’s desire for Church when it appears that his client is quite distracted by the other couple. Quite cleverly, he then endeavors to help Wilcox in getting his man. There is a slight mystery that hopefully foreshadows the next installment of this series.
I really loved the descriptions of The Garden. I could just see the beautiful décor of this opulent space. Each detail was exacting without being too much. I also really liked the way the author developed the characters of Church and Wilcox and Gardenia and Aster. I felt I was really getting to know these gentlemen in this story and it left me wanting more. I am really looking forward to discovering what comes next for this couple and their erstwhile companions. Hopefully we won’t have to wait too long.
Overall Impression: I really liked it.
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in return for a fair and honest review.*
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