Lord of Endersley

This was a disappointing read, after recommendations from several GR reviewers whose opinions I highly respect. First and foremost, I had no idea why the two MCs were in love with each other, since we never really get to know either of them other than “handsome” and “is nice to servants.” OK, their behavior was restrained by Victorian conventions, but couldn't the author have gone a little deeper into their emotions, other than shame at being gay?

My other major complaint was that the historical setting, during the Indian Sepoy Rebellion, had potential to be interesting, but again the author just skims the surface. Why were the Indians revolting against the British? Did they have valid reasons for their actions, and what was the impact after the rebellion was quelled? There is no explanation, other than to allude to violence on both sides, so the book might as well have taken place during the Russian Revolution or the American Civil War for all that I learned (which was nothing). Even if you ignore that implied racism of the British colonialism of the time (including the stereotypical obsequious Indian servant who is happy to uproot himself from everything and everyone he knows to follow one of the MCs to England), there's not enough historical detail to enrich the story.

I was hoping to add S.A. Meade to my short list of dependable historical M/M authors. Sadly, I have no desire to read the second book in this series.

Merged review:

This was a disappointing read, after recommendations from several GR reviewers whose opinions I highly respect. First and foremost, I had no idea why the two MCs were in love with each other, since we never really get to know either of them other than “handsome” and “is nice to servants.” OK, their behavior was restrained by Victorian conventions, but couldn't the author have gone a little deeper into their emotions, other than shame at being gay?

My other major complaint was that the historical setting, during the Indian Sepoy Rebellion, had potential to be interesting, but again the author just skims the surface. Why were the Indians revolting against the British? Did they have valid reasons for their actions, and what was the impact after the rebellion was quelled? There is no explanation, other than to allude to violence on both sides, so the book might as well have taken place during the Russian Revolution or the American Civil War for all that I learned (which was nothing). Even if you ignore that implied racism of the British colonialism of the time (including the stereotypical obsequious Indian servant who is happy to uproot himself from everything and everyone he knows to follow one of the MCs to England), there's not enough historical detail to enrich the story.

I was hoping to add S.A. Meade to my short list of dependable historical M/M authors. Sadly, I have no desire to read the second book in this series.