It Takes Two To Tumble is a ridiculously adorable romance very loosely inspired by The Sound of Music. In this Regency m/m romance, a grumpy ship captain comes home as a new widower to find that the only person who can control his three unruly children is a very handsome vicar named Ben. This book is the first book in the Seducing the Sedgewicks Series and it’s a fine standalone as well.
Naval Captain Philip Dacre’s wife dies while he is at sea. They were an affectionate but not passionate couple who didn’t spend much time together due to his career. Dacre is sad about his wife, but much more sad about the recent loss of one of his shipmates, with whom he was in love. Philip is a believer in stern (but not sadistic or arbitrary) discipline and strict routine.
Meanwhile, after the death of their mom, the Dacre children run wild and drive away every tutor and governess and housemaid they encounter with the exception of Ben Sedgwick, the vicar. They tolerate Ben because he has a good sense of humor and gives them as much freedom as possible. When Philip comes home and wants to install order and discipline, Ben convinces him to try a warmer, more affectionate and relaxed approach. Needless to say, the two men fall in love, which is awkward not only because they are both men navigating homosexuality during the Regency, but also because Philip is supposed to return to sea eventually, and Ben is engaged to a childhood friend, Alice.
I want to talk about Alice first, because I was concerned about ableism in her story and I’m not entirely happy with how her part of the story turned out. Ben grew up in a chaotic home. He found refuge in the home of a neighbor family, who basically raised him. It was understood from early on that Ben would marry Alice, the daughter in this family.
At the start of the book, Alice is recovering from an illness and is unable to walk. Ben doesn’t want to break the engagement because not only do they have a long-standing agreement, but now she can’t walk and he feels sorry for her. The awesome part of all this is that Alice gets her own romance with someone who doesn’t feel sorry for her, so HA. However, I wanted to see more of that. Alice’s story really hit a nerve with me. Her romance deserved a bigger place, either in this story or in her very own. Ben’s anxiety about Alice ending up alone is so powerful (and so ableist) that I needed more to counteract that.
Be as that may be, this is supposed to be about Ben and Philip, and they are adorable. Neither of them are hung up on the religious implications of being attracted to men and the practical solutions to their relationship are not difficult to find, although they take a lot of commitment. As Ben puts it:
You can leave it to me to decide what I think a sin is. Everybody’s a damned theologian on this topic. I’m so tired of it. If we can all agree that eating pork and shaving aren’t sinful, I don’t see why we can’t extend that same grace to men like us.
The two are funny together, and in addition to their sexual chemistry they have a nice, relaxed way about each other – they work as friends as well as lovers once Philip starts to accept Ben’s approach to the children. The book features many cute moments (many baby animals are involved) but avoids being cloying.
In a way, this is a romance about the resolution of anxiety. Philip’s stability makes Ben feel safe after Ben’s turbulent, unpredictable childhood. Ben’s nurturing qualities make Philip feel safe, because he can relinquish some control and also stop hiding his feelings. A mix of freedom and (eventually) structure and discipline makes the children feel safe. Finding a lover who truly loves and appreciates her makes both Ben and Alice feel safe, and makes Alice feel appreciated and supported as opposed to pitied.
The very lack of conflict makes this a difficult review to write. What’s to say? The writing is lovely, the characters delightful, and the story cosy without being too cutesy. I loved it. We had a meeting of opposites, a story about found family, the aforementioned baby animals, a lot of humor, and children with real personalities (along with a subplot about dyslexia). It’s true that could have used more Alice, and it’s also true that this romance was a bit rushed, especially since Philip is mourning two recent losses (hence the B). This is a great romance for readers who want something fairly short, beautifully written, and not too angsty. If only Alice had a book all to herself.
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I adore this novel but have always felt uneasy about “the Alice situation” and I’m so glad that your review gave voice to this concern. I’m also glad that she found her own HEA.
I recently read a post about minority groups in romance. I was totally surprised with the number of readers who said they didn’t want the hero or heroine to be handicapped–the consensus was that they read romance novels because they wanted to escape reality, not face it in the form of a disabled protagonist. I read out some of the posts to my husband who is in a wheelchair and comes up a lot of discrimination, who said that’s what I got for reading romance, to which I countered with the argument that the only disabled people I encountered in his beloved Sci-Fi, were brains in a jar. LOL
To this end, I’m working on a regency where the heroine is disabled. It’s difficult because the temptation is always to write a happy ending–she can walk again or regains her sight. Like Alice, however, the disabled character is usually kind and very smart. It’s a challenge.
This sounds lovely and low angst which is exactly what I’m looking for right now. It’s moving to the top of the tbr.
I’ll preface this with the following: As a physically disabled person, whose romantic life has consisted of never finding someone who I fancy/click with who also hasn’t then suddenly ghosted me/flat up rejected me (to my face because apparently if you are brutally honest it makes you abetter person) due to my disability, while watching all my other friends partner up and get all the privileges of couple-dom…
I think a hero who didn’t worry for someone he has made a promise to AND is (from this review at least) someone he is clearly fond of and has been for a very long time, would be a douchecanoe.
Its patronising as all hell for it to be all from his side, and it depends on the level of it and what he does about it (do they have a conversation? Does Alice know he prefers men? Is SHE worried about it?), but many heroes suffer from being patronising arses and have to grovel a lot for it.
I’d think this no matter what the disability status of the heroine is.
I think more of a problem is what Pamela brings up that the disabled character in fiction is always somehow “better than”/ or saintly! And its hard not to fall into pits even if you have a lot of experience. (I also struggle!)
I really enjoy Sebastians work so I hope she continues to work on her representation of disabled characters and decides to keep working on it.
(And on that note I went to Oz Amazon to get this book and what is with the pricing its so weirdly all over the place and nothing looks “on sale” so …what are you doing HarpersCollins. Or is this kind of all over the place pricing typical and I’ve just been living in some bubble where most authors books will be all the same price unless on sale or a lower price for novellas)
I haven’t read the book (and at $9.99 on amazon.com.au I’m not likely to) but it seems to me that Ben being concerned for the fate of a woman who’s likely to end up alone in 19th England (which happened to many women if a long understanding didn’t eventuate in marriage) is an ableist attitude by our 21st century standards, but is probably historically accurate. The fate of many spinster relatives was pretty grim in those days.
Also, I don’t think you can accuse the romance genre of never depicting disabled main characters. I’ve read romances featuring blindness, deafness, wheelchair-bound-ness, MS, aphasia, depression, PTSD, lingering war wounds, drug addiction, alcoholism, amputations, autism spectrum disorder, acquired brain injury, epilepsy, etc. Whether some of those books are patronising or unrealistic or use a disability as a substitute for a personality is another matter, but they are definitely out there.
I have a chronic illness (firmly in the grey area of disability) and I really wish there were more disabled heroes and heroines who don’t make a full recovery as part of their HEA, as odd as that feels to type. I just read DANCING WITH CLARA by Mary Balogh and thought from reviews that it might be one to buck the trend, but (spoiler) it is not. Obviously I hold out hope there will be a cure someday, but it’s likely that there won’t be for a long long time to come, and living with the new normal has been a big learning curve for me since diagnosis. Has there been a Rec League for this yet? It would be a welcome one!
Yes has their been a historical romance disabled character Rec League? I seem to vaguely recall one but maybe it was for modern?
I tend to only read historical and haven’t come across too many born physically disabled hero’s/heroines or very prominent characters (rather than minor minor sideline/plot point characters) but there are probably heaps out there …. i just don’t find them because this blog is how I find books and my energy levels don’t allow me to do too much more searching
I feel there are certainly many more modern ones probably as it’s “easier” than in a historical. (Though as oceanjasper says how well they are done varies dramatically)
All I can think of are a number of blind characters (Mary baloghs series?) and injured during the war type books which is a very different type of character than one born with a disability. (In the sense that I cannot miss something I never had but I certainly can be envious 🙂 )
So I’m feeling pretty silly right now that I never realized this book is based on The Sound of Music. It’s SO OBVIOUS. I agree with all the things that have been said here! This book was cute and light, a very fast read. I liked the dyslexia subplot, though it sort of felt more like a device to help Philip bond with his son more than an actual exploration of dyslexia. I desperately loved Alice and wanted her to have the happiest life of all time.
Re: books with characters with disabilities. I read exclusively historicals, and have come across some really wonderfully done stories. I highly recommend The Prince by Katharine Ashe (the hero (who is an exiled Middle-Eastern prince, but is not at all stereotypical) survived amputation, and the heroine is neurodivergent–I think she is on the spectrum and has OCD. Neither person is magically cured, but they support each other and learn coping skills. Also this book is just GLORIOUS and beautifully written); The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie by Jennifer Ashley (the hero is on the autism spectrum and has some OCD tendencies; he was nonverbal as a child and sometimes is nonverbal as an adult; the heroine supports him and doesn’t want to change him. In the rest of the books in the series, Ian has children and is so happy and in love with them that I honestly cried every time); and Romancing the Duke by Tessa Dare (the hero suffered an injury and is now blind and very grumpy; the heroine is so not here for his grumpiness. They remodel a decrepit castle, and it’s delightful). Also, Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant, which isn’t a romance, but does have some romantic elements, kickass lady scientists, killer mermaids, and a beautiful exploration of deafness and autism. And, of course, The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang. There are tons of others that I’ve read, but tbh I usually don’t pay attention to book titles, and I can’t figure out which books they were 🙁
One thing I haven’t seen a ton of is MCs born with physical disabilities. It seems like mental disabilities are becoming more common, but so far I’ve really just seen war wounds and whatnot–which also means that I’ve really never read a book with a heroine with a physical disability. Does anybody know of any?
This book sounds like a fun, gentle romance. I’ve been more in the mood for gentle romances that aren’t sappy lately. I’m also nodding my head in agreement with Oceanjasper’s comments.
Regarding recs for books with heroes and heroines who have a disability, I recommend the following:
It Happened at the Fair by Deeanne Gist. Hero has hearing loss, which I also have. Gist treats lip reading realistically, much to my relief. I get so tired of authors giving people the magic ability to follow conversation with no trouble at all via magic lip reading ability as soon as they experience hearing loss or suddenly become deaf. That’s not how it works, folks!
From Sand and Ash by Amy Harmon, a WWII novel with a love story set in Italy. Hero was born with a defect and part of leg was amputated while still a baby, and he wears a prosthetic.
The Parfit Knight by Stella Riley is a fun Georgian romance with a blind heroine.
This comment is not related to the above discussion of disability in (historical) romance, but – for what it’s worth – I wanted to share a dissenting opinion on this book in general. I found ‘It Takes Two to Tumble’ infuriatingly twee, and felt that the conflict between the protagonists’ sexuality and their respective roles in society was resolved in just about the most simplistic manner possible. The book overall strained credulity pretty hard, and by the end it felt more like a manifesto for the author’s particular views on child-rearing than an actual romance novel. For example, IIRC, every single sympathetic character treated corporal punishment of children as some not-even-to-be-countenanced horror, even Philip, who is supposed to be *a strict 19th century naval captain.* Like, really? There are authors who can balance the demands of historical authenticity with those of modern/progressive sensibilities, but Sebastian is just not one of them.
Momo, I agree with you. I started reading it last night. Twee is a good word for it. I wasn’t expecting it to be realistic, but it did stretch my credulity too far. I read 25% and gave up.
Loved this book, it was 5 stars from me! It made me smile, it made me laugh. The kids antics were hilarious. I loved the reference to The Sound Of Music. And it made me swoon, it was very, very sexy.