Blurb:

Power, privilege, and the rigid rules of class leave two hearts yearning for connection in the sizzling new Society of Gentlemen novel from K. J. Charles.

Among his eccentric though strictly principled group of friends, Lord Richard Vane is the confidant on whom everyone depends for advice, moral rectitude, and discreet assistance. Yet when Richard has a problem, he turns to his valet, a fixer of unparalleled genius—and the object of Richard’s deepest desires. If there is one rule a gentleman must follow, it is never to dally with servants. But when David is close enough to touch, the rules of class collide with the basest sort of animal instinct: overpowering lust.

For David Cyprian, burglary and blackmail are as much in a day’s work as bootblacking—anything for the man he’s devoted to. But the one thing he wants for himself is the one thing Richard refuses to give: his heart. With the tension between them growing to be unbearable, David’s seemingly incorruptible master has left him no choice. Putting his finely honed skills of seduction and manipulation to good use, he will convince Richard to forget all about his well-meaning objections and give in to sweet, sinful temptation.

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Review:

I umm…kinda feel like I’ve shot my wad with all the praise words I’ve hurled at KJ Charles over every book of hers I’ve read so far. I’m like Here lady, HAVE ALL THE BEST WORDS.

I shoulda held something back.

‘Specially since I have a few more to go before I’ve read all her published works.

But, I’m not so good at that.

Can I make up words? Lemme give it a shot.

Awemazing. Fabtacular. Splendiferous <<that one’s real. Astounomenal. Supificent.

How’s that?

This y’all, the book and the ENTIRE SERIES, is without a doubt the best there is in Regency Romance…and possibly M/M…and quite possibly among the best story telling being produced.

I can name on one finger the Historical Romance authors I’ll Auto-Buy/One-Click, and I’m relatively certain I don’t need to spell it out.

Katie…gush much do ya?

Yeah, well… I’ll try to reign it in.

I was unnecessarily surprised by this in the best way possible.

See, I’m following this series with great enthusiasm. So much so that I didn’t read the blurbs. I clicked pre-order as soon as I knew it was available—because that’s aaaaall I needed to know.

Going into this third book of the series, I had no idea who of these gentlemen we’ve met so far would have the starring role. It’d been long enough since the last book came out that it had completely slipped my mind that it was Lord Richard Vane’s turn on deck. Again, not having any need whatsoever to read the blurb to sell me on the ABSOLUTE NECESSITY to read this book I had nary a clue who his man-love would be.

No clue.

Until I started reading. Then it was all KAPOW and OMG! and Of Course but wow!

Lord Richard Vane is so swoon worthy I need to one-click/express-ship a fainting couch. He’s a little distant, so intent is he to be the dutiful Lord and paragon of society. It was fun, so much fun, watching him mess up, say all the wrong things in his attempt to get the guy. Bless his lordly heart, he meant well.

And Cyprian was adorable, which likely isn’t the best word for him because he’s such a strong character. He’s a man who gets shit done…and it’s best not to ask questions as to exactly how he gets results. He knows what he wants, takes pride in all he does and has it baaaad for Lord Vane. It’s better and worse that it’s his job to dress and undress the man every single day. I can’t even imagine that agony of surreptitious looks and not being able to really touch or…ya know, other stuff.

This is about bridging the gap in a steadfast society where social class and standing is everything. EVERYTHING. Bridging that gap for love-everlasting is a big no-no. And…so is being gay. One gets a man discredited, the other gets a man hung.

I absolutely LOVED the running theme of the power imbalance between Richard and Cyprian. It was addressed head-on, without fear and illustrated perfectly how, even though a person without power might have the same level of want and desire, a consenting partnership is impossible unless there is some sort of balance.

It ain’t all about sneaking in nookie-time with a forbidden. There’s trouble afoot. Serious trouble that’s raining down on all of the gentlemen. It could destroy lives if not dealt with. And there’s only one man who can fix it all. But…Lord Vane managed to piss him off good and proper.

Every book in the series has been building to this final showdown. And Charles was masterful at slotting all the players into place and laying all the groundwork for every single thread to get unraveled, tangled, mangled, then straightened out and woven back together into a stronger fabric.

I was on the edge of my seat with all the intrigue and suspense. Then holding my breath as Richard and Cyprian tried to find common ground. Parts of this shredded my heart with the want and longing mixed up with the world of all these characters teetering on the precipice of destruction.

This is some flawless and fantastic story telling with genius prose that evokes every emotion from laughter to tears. The plot is tight with all kinds of twisty turns, has characters with incredible depth, snappy quick-witted dialogue, and HOT — oh so hot.

Everything, everything, everything about this series ticks all my checkboxes for what I look for in romance books. This last book of the series was way much more than I expected.

Gorgeous!

This review also posted on GoodReads.