JulieHasMoved

Had such fun reading with my girl Els again...it had been too long. ❤️❤️

I'm torn a bit on this one and hovered over 4 stars for most of the book. While the relationship and chemistry of our dear David and Balfour are off the charts hot and passionate it is the political story taking place as well that pulled this down. I found myself wanting to skip ahead just to get back to them.

Then that end...my heavens. Yeah I could bump it up to 4.5 but I'll refrain. It's beautifully written and absolutely heartbreaking. The thought of living during this time is painful. Sad. Sad. Sad.

Thank the lords that I knew about more books with them as this does not end in a HEA or a HFN. But I am certain it is to come and I eagerly await seeing this unfold. Phew.

Status Updates:

8%
“Before the landlady came in, I was about to ask you something,” Balfour said as he added a little water to his own glass, diluting the spirit.
“Oh yes? What was that?”
Balfour smiled, as relaxed as though he were proposing a game of cards. His dark gaze grew languid and inviting. “Do you really need to ask?”
Oh my.


36%
"I was brought up to believe it’s a sin. Not to mention a crime. It’s not something I’m proud of. Are you?”
Balfour laughed. “Proud of it? I don’t even think about it in those terms. I don’t think the fact I want to stick my cock in the occasional arse is any business of God, the King or anyone else. I’m not harming anyone when I bugger a pretty boy—assuming the pretty boy is of age and willing. And I’m not going to flagellate myself with regret over something that brings me a great deal of pleasure. Does that answer your question?”
"Perfectly."

57%
Lust didn’t make you forget all the reasons you shouldn’t do something. It just made you not care. It made you not care, even knowing you would regret your actions later. And so it was that when Balfour leaned in a fraction of an inch closer and brushed David’s lips with his own, David did nothing to stop him. And when the man shifted his whole body closer, when he took hold of David’s face between his gloved hands and slid his sleek tongue into David’s mouth in a devouring kiss, David groaned and gripped the edges of Balfour’s cloak for dear life.


64%
Oh David...it is time you came out of this box. :-(

You are killing me here.

88%
“Christ almighty, don’t you want to be happy?"
Oh my heart.

91%
That night—that moment—had been the sweetest of all David’s life. And if thinking that made him wicked and bound for hell, he wasn’t sure he had it in him to repent. But Christ, it was bittersweet. More bitter than sweet, truth to tell. Sweet to know that for once in his life, he’d known such tenderness, but oh so bitter to know it would never come again.