This is not for everyone, not by a long mark. It wasn’t for me, either, really, but I have to say K.J. Charles’s writing was what made me keep on with it, even though it took a while. I am constantly amazed that the one big difference between straight romances and gay romances is that the ones featuring gay main characters seem to consistently be remarkably better written. I find mainstream romances hugely cringe-worthy, but in terms of grammar, language skills, and simple likeability of characters gay romances do quite well.
A Seditious Affair did all of that, except perhaps the last. The romance in this romance novel is … not at all romantic. The predilections of the main characters were utterly alien to me, and quite frankly those scenes were hard to read. I found it difficult to empathize with the dominant (in more ways than one) character, writer of seditious pamphlets (hence the title) and inveterate risk-taker; it was almost as hard to connect with “his Tory”.
This is part of a series, and that is evident in characters all along the edges of the story who clearly have their own stories. It wasn’t one of those books that was a rough read because of its place in a series; the primary story is clear and independent. But it does seem like it would be a richer tale with the background in the preceding book(s).
I’ve read other books by K.J. Charles, and they’re enjoyable; I think in future I’ll just be a bit more careful about the preferences of the main characters I read about.
The usual disclaimer: I received this book via Netgalley for review.
Stewartry 