I have read very few historical fiction romance novels where the main character was gay or bisexual. Ruby Moone takes the typical historical romance tropes, and turns it into a romance between two male childhood friends, Lord Hugo and Lyndon Cross. I loved this book from beginning to end, but it is chock full of twists and turns!
Lord Hugo is being blackmailed. A man he owed over 1000 guineas to saw him in an alley in a rather compromising position with another man, and is threatening to ruin his family’s reputation. Hugo is younger than his family and always looked to them for help, and this time is no different. Even when he might be kicked out for his actions, he can’t let his family be ruined for them. Then, Lyndon shows up to his family’s holiday party, and he is thrown back into his school years where he had a crush on the cute boy whom his classmates bullied. Hugo joined in sometimes, but only so they would focus on Lyndon for a bit and not him. Now, the cute boy has turned into a handsome man, and Hugo can’t keep his eyes off him. He is already in enough trouble, but he just can’t help himself.
Hugo and Lyndon are so sweet, and have so much chemistry with one another! In a time where someone found out to be attracted to other men could legally be executed for it, their romance always had a level of suspense and secrecy. One wrong move, one wrong pair of eyes seeing them, and it would all be over. But they don’t let that dim the fire between the two of them.
I feel like this book did have the typical “misunderstanding leads to arguments” tropes that many different romance novels use, but it doesn’t bother me as much as it usually does. In this case, it made sense and wasn’t just a pointless conflict for no reason.
This book packed so many twists and turns into its short 145 pages. This was actually the reason why I took off .5 of a book from my overall score. At some points of the story it felt rushed where the characters were just having more and more info poured on them in a short period of time. If the story had been a bit longer to spread these events out more, I feel like it would not have felt rushed at all.
Overall, I would recommend this novel to anyone looking for a new adult romance book to read.
I received a copy of this book and this is my voluntary review.
Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5 books.
