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Two Rogues Make a Right

Content Warning: Child abuse, sexual abuse, attempted suicide, torture (all off the page)

Every moment of this book made me feel better. I’m in an ocean of chaos at the moment (as many of us are*) and this book was the door to which I clung in these frigid waters. Did it magically solve my problems? No. But as with all the best escapist fiction, it made me feel like things would be okay again and that good times could come again. In short, dear Bitchery, it gave me hope.

*(Side note: I read this book during the first month of our (so far) three month lockdown)

Sir Martin Easterbrook and William Sedgwick have been best friends since childhood. The details on their early years are only revealed later in the book, but suffice to say they, individually, Went Through It. A brief overview: William’s father was neglectful and eccentric (and not in the loving sort of way) and Martin’s father was an asshole. Martin spent all of his childhood being ‘taken care of’ as his lungs were weak. This results in an adult that is obsessed (understandably) with always making his own decisions and not subject to the decisions of others. William joined the navy as a young teen and experiences an initially joyful, but ultimately traumatic time.

When the book opens, William has found Martin staying in his brother’s pub.** Martin has consumption and is on death’s door. William sort-of kidnaps Martin and takes him away to the country where under his tender ministrations, Martin makes a recovery. But in the process, so much is uncovered. Martin has loved William since they were 17 years old. Bisexual William is a little oblivious. But oh, how things change in the most wonderful WONDERFUL ways. They find a sense of home and of liberation in each other. Martin discovers sex, and William is the perfect guide. But more importantly, they redefine what “home” is and create a space that allows them not only to survive but to thrive.

**(The start of this story is found in closing chapters of A Gentleman Never Keeps Score. While this book is part of the Seducing the Sedgwicks series, I was able to read it as a standalone with no difficulty.)

It’s not just the story that melted my heart. The WAY the story is told has its own kind of magic. The wry, sharp wit of Martin Easterbrook left me laughing, and Will’s guileless vulnerability made me as hungry to protect him as Martin is. These characters come ALIVE in the most wonderful way. I would find myself smiling stupidly at my Kindle, melting in the heat emitted by these two. I’ve read more historicals than you can shake a stick at, but none that have a turn of phrase quite like this one.

This review could easily extend to countless paragraphs of my simply listing the ways in which I love this book and what it has done for me, but I must stop so that you, dear Bitchery, can pick this book up and enjoy it yourselves.

– Lara

Will Sedgwick can’t believe that after months of searching for his oldest friend, Martin Easterbrook is found hiding in an attic like a gothic nightmare. Intent on nursing Martin back to health, Will kindly kidnaps him and takes him to the countryside to recover, well away from the world.

Martin doesn’t much care where he is or even how he got there. He’s much more concerned that the man he’s loved his entire life is currently waiting on him hand and foot, feeding him soup and making him tea. Martin knows he’s a lost cause, one he doesn’t want Will to waste his life on.

As a lifetime of love transforms into a tender passion both men always desired but neither expected, can they envision a life free from the restrictions of the past, a life with each other?