reviews_and_ramblings | Bound to Him by Ava March

I don't know, but I have the feeling that Ava March wanted to prove that she can write an accurate gay historical romance... the previous book, Bound by Deception was really good, but, maybe since it was short, or maybe since it was only the starting of a relationship, when all the odds seem smaller, reader actually didn't indulge in wondering if there was historical accuracy.

Lord Oliver and Lord Vincent were in love, Lord Oliver deceived Lord Vincent but only for love, and at the end of the novella they were happily in love ever after... or not? At the end of the previous book Vincent admits to be attracted by men, and in particular to be attracted by his friend Oliver, but a lot of question are still opened; Oliver is still a destitute aristocrat that barely makes the ends meet, he has not the wealth or the means to allow him to be above the law, and he is to proud to accept help from Vincent. On the other end Vincent has the means, but probably not still the willingness; he has barely accepted his preferences for men, maybe helped by the fact that now he can satisfy them easily in the safe haven of Oliver's apartment.

But Vincent is not still at peace with himself, he still considers his desires as a deviance and since him first judge them, he has the idea that everyone around him are judging them. And so if previously Oliver, even if poor and out of fashion, had the chance to frequent Vincent in public as his friend, now Vincent limits their encounters to shabby places or in private. Now Oliver, other than feeling inferior due to his financial situation, feels like Vincent is considering him his mistress. So the happily ever after we thought they found at the end of the first book, is not so happily in the end...

And since this is the second book, the author now has the chance to deal with her characters in society... how they can remain inside the boundaries of the ton even after? The obviously and only answer is: they can't. The author decides to not use the easily short cut of making them both wealthy and noble, and saying that the law is not equal for all, that noblemen are judged with a different parameter; the only concession that the author does to the romance, and the romance reader, is to write that the heroes, and Vincent in particular, are still very young, 24 years old, and so the necessity to marry and produce an heir is not yet so imperative... and maybe it will never be, since Vincent is a second son, like Oliver, and if his older brother does his due, Vincent will have a change to become an old bachelor, with a very special friend by his side like Oliver... but never openly and always with discretion.

And so my final verdict is that Bound to Him is less pink glasses perspective that Bound by Deception, more realistic, and being so, feels truer, and probably will appeal to the more selective historical romance readers. Anyway, again, to be only a novella, the quality standard is very high.

http://www.loose-id.com/prod-Bound_to_Him-931.aspx

Amazon Kindle: Bound to Him

Series:
1) Bound by Deception: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/617430.html
2) Bound to Him

Reading List:

http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading list&view=elisa.rolle

Cover Art by April Martinez