Reviewed by Heather C
Title: The Bitter Rednesses of Love
Author: Dominique Frost
Heroes: Anthony Clark & Stephen Ayers
Genre: MM Historical Romance, Steampunk
Length: 21,721 words
Publisher: Loose Id
Release Date: June 2013
Available at: Loose Id, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, All Romance eBooks and Kobo
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads
Blurb: Anthony Clark, degenerate genius and impoverished nobleman, finds himself wedded to the painfully proper young aristocrat, Stephen Ayers. They’ve been pledged since before Stephen’s birth.
Will their marriage prove intolerable to them both, or will they find a happy equilibrium, instead? As Anthony teaches Stephen the pleasures of the body, will Stephen be able to teach Anthony the pleasures of the heart?
Review:
Ever get tired of reading the same ol’ gay historical romances? Where loving another man is punishable by death or incarceration? Imagine a world, lets say maybe set around the Victorian era, where marriage equality exists. Throw in a little steampunk, a delicate virgin and a tinkering rake…
The Plot: Since birth, Stephen has been promised to marry Anthony. Stephen is the calendar boy for purity and Anthony is a bit of a man whore with every intention of having an open marriage with Stephen. Of course, it all doesn’t work out as planned.
The Romance: It doesn’t start off very romantic at first; had more of an erotica feel. Anthony quickly shows Stephen the pleasures he can have with a man (oh man it was HOT), but never really gives all of himself and control to Stephen. Eventually, Stephen finds Anthony in a compromising position with another person and Anthony suddenly realizes he only wants Stephen…a little too late!!
The Steampunk: Instead of having “respectable employment”, Anthony spends his time creating steam powered items for commissions, therefore putting this story a bit in the steampunk sub-genre. Its very minor and only a side plot to the main story, although important to the outcome. But if you don’t like steampunk much, I don’t think those bits would hinder your enjoyment of the story.
The End: There’s a sweet HEA at the end. Anthony really had to fight for it there for a while and it put a huge smile on my face when Stephen finally gave in. These two were sexy together!
I really liked this little story, even though it could have been longer and I really wanted some insight into Stephen’s head. But in the end, this story works just as it is.
Sweet, sexy, a bit of angst with a HEA.
I wish there were more m/m historical romances like this out there. Who cares for historical accuracy everyday, all the time, right? Sometimes I just want two aristocrats to be able to get-it-on and everyone to think “so what”!
Overall Impression: I Really Liked It
*I purchased my own, personal copy of this book for review.*
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