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Kindred Hearts (Spice it Up)

3.25 of 5 stars 3.25 · rating details · 28 ratings · 5 reviews

Crippled by a devastating stammer, Alfie would prefer to hide himself away in the audience of London's theaters. But as the perfect Georgian gentleman, it's his responsibility to find a husband for his ward Eleanor. The pain of having to converse with strangers is lessened by the appearance of the kind-hearted Lord George Caldwell and his cousin Lieutenant Markham, who is...more

ebook, 36 pages

Published April 22nd 2010 by Torquere Press (first published April 21st 2010)

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Jul 06, 2010 Elisa Ramblings added it

This is a very nice novella, of the type you would probably expect to have read 20 years ago; it’s a love story, and there is sex, but it adopts the old fashioned rule to not follow the main characters behind the bedroom doors… we know that something happened, but we were not invited inside the room.

For me sincerely, it’s not a problem, on the contrary, I prefer all the interaction between the main characters and it’s not really important to witness to the material conclusion; it’s nice, and if...more This is a very nice novella, of the type you would probably expect to have read 20 years ago; it’s a love story, and there is sex, but it adopts the old fashioned rule to not follow the main characters behind the bedroom doors… we know that something happened, but we were not invited inside the room.

For me sincerely, it’s not a problem, on the contrary, I prefer all the interaction between the main characters and it’s not really important to witness to the material conclusion; it’s nice, and if well written, it’s even good, but not mandatory. More if the author has the ability to say everything is necessary, without saying too much, like in this case, it’s a perfect combination.

Another nice aspect of this story is that Alfred, third Earl Brentworth, never actually “admits”, not even with himself, that he is homosexual; being homosexual is not something he can allow himself to be, and so he has erased the concept from his mind. Alfie is a nice man, average wealthy, average noble and average handsome. He would be a suitable suitor, if not for the stammer that plagues him; and then, Alfie has an innate passion for the theatre so much that he spent 6 night out of 7 attending different representations in 6 different theatres, one for each night. The theatre is Alfie’s mistress, and the actresses are all his lovers, meaning that he courts all of them, with small gift and gentle manners; but he never once goes further with one of them.

At the beginning I didn’t understand why Alfie was so aloof with all these attractive women, not even a hint of jealousy, if not for the risk to loose one of them to a marriage outside the show business. If not for the fact that this novella is published by a LGBT publisher, I would have really wondered what the reason was behind. When Markham, a handsome naval officer enters the scene, he upsets Alfie’s world: in the end, with all his frequenting of the different theatres and different actresses, Alfie was avoiding temptation; there is no temptation there for Alfie, something he immediately finds in open air, in a public park, when he stumbles upon Markham.

Everything is against them, Markham grieves the freedom he has when he was an officer at war, far from home, Alfie is an only son, and he has to marry and produce an heir, they are not in the condition to be able to ignore society’s binding.

As for the absence of sex, also the development of the story is old fashioned, with an output that says and not says, and a possible solution that was compatible with the situation and time. In the end, Kindred Hearts is a novella that can appeal to the sophisticated reader, more interested in the rich details and characters development than in some tumble between the sheets.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003P2VGKI/?...(less)

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Jun 09, 2010 Erastes rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: gay-historical

This is a thoroughly enjoyable little Regency, and anyone who likes the genre will like this I’m sure.

I was particularly taken to it for several reasons, writing being one of them, the language is very nicely done, without being overly “of the period” there is enough flavour for anyone to pick it up and to get a feel of the era without getting lost in the wordiness.

Alfie is the kind of hero you can really get behind. Giving the poor man a terrible stammer is enough to get anyone on his side–and...more This is a thoroughly enjoyable little Regency, and anyone who likes the genre will like this I’m sure.

I was particularly taken to it for several reasons, writing being one of them, the language is very nicely done, without being overly “of the period” there is enough flavour for anyone to pick it up and to get a feel of the era without getting lost in the wordiness.

Alfie is the kind of hero you can really get behind. Giving the poor man a terrible stammer is enough to get anyone on his side–and he copes with this by hiding away in a land of make-believe and enough repression to build a sizable wall. He has a super-bossy mother who constantly nags him to find a husband for his ward and a wife for himself, and so it’s not really surprising he keeps out of society.

The main problem I had with this otherwise enjoyable piece is the length. It really cries out to be longer–not necessarily a full sized novel, but at least a little longer. There are three relationships in this book, and all of them feel hugely rushed. Eleanor meets George and within one day she is determined to marry him (this is passed off with “I need to marry, I’ll worry about happiness afterwards” but all the same, it’s still scandalously fast, specially considering George is a younger son. Alfie’s friendship with Markham proceeds at the same breakneck pace, which works slightly better, seeing the constraints that homosexual men were under, but there’s few clues that he might be homosexual, and he’s so repressed those hopes rarely spill out onto the page.

However, the research, as far as I could see was impeccable, there are some made up theatres as far as I could see but that’s not a crime in historical fiction. The nomencalture of peers is correct–and that’s something you often see done wrong, so that was pleasing.

The well trod theme of “finding a husband” was one I liked, and from a different angle worked well. What I didn’t really understand though was why Lady Brentworth (Alfie’s mamma) was so determined she was going to find a Good Catch for Eleanor when Eleanor had very little dowry and I didn’t understand why she had so little dowry. Granted her family had left her none, but Alfie could have put his hand in his pocket, as it were.

Without giving too much away, I absolutely loved the ending. It was entirely true to the period, but managed to be sweet and optimistic too. Brava GS Wiley.

Don’t be fooled by the “Spice it Up” label on the Torquere cover. There’s no sex in this book at all. “Burgeoning” is the nearest hint of anything happening in breeches, but unless you really HAVE to have sex in your books, you won’t miss it, as the writing and the characters make up for it. I just wish that there was more of both.(less)

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May 24, 2010 Kassa rated it 3 of 5 stars

This short story is one of the spice lines of Torquere Press, which incorporates a spice somewhere. Here the mace fruit cake is used well, although I kept thinking of the modern day uses of mace spray instead of the nutmeg like spice intended. Either way this delightful historical touches on romance, marriage, and accurate details of the time period to offer a quick, fun read. I wish the story had been longer as it didn’t fully satisfy like other offerings by this author but still stands out as...more This short story is one of the spice lines of Torquere Press, which incorporates a spice somewhere. Here the mace fruit cake is used well, although I kept thinking of the modern day uses of mace spray instead of the nutmeg like spice intended. Either way this delightful historical touches on romance, marriage, and accurate details of the time period to offer a quick, fun read. I wish the story had been longer as it didn’t fully satisfy like other offerings by this author but still stands out as a solid, interesting story.

The shorter novella gives a glimpse into the life of Alfie. An older gentleman (gasp 30s!) whose main passion is the theatre, he has a set schedule of different theatres each night to visit and a beloved favorite on Saturday with an incredible lead actress. Unfortunately for Alfie, his family has descended upon him and decided his ward, Eleanor, is ready for a husband. Although he’s rarely seen the girl, his mother wants a good match and Eleanor’s flirtation with a younger son of a Baron isn’t going over well. Alfie attempts to find Eleanor a match, solve the problems of his favorite actress, while figuring out his emotions for the enigmatic but attractive Lt. Markham.

Although there are several threads going on in the plot, they are all well crafted and worked together so the story never feels overwhelming or too busy. The tie in of Eleanor’s new flirtation with Lord Caldwell gives Alfie an introduction to the man that stirs his emotions, Lt. Markham. The theatre aspects with the spice fruit cake are very nice touches and end with a solid resolution and bit surprising. The romance between Alfie and Lt. Markham stays within accurate historical details, even so far as Alfie recognizes he’ll likely marry one day (far down the line he hopes) to further the line.

The great writing of Wiley’s is on display here but as fun and entertaining as the story is, it lacks a little something. Alfie’s romance is almost eclipsed by the manipulations to ensure George and Eleanor get together and the issues with Alfie’s mother. While all of these touches are nice and help compliment the historical period well, I still felt somewhat unsatisfied at the end. I would have liked a little more focus on Alfie’s own romance, which feels secondary to the main plot.

All the characters are very well rounded and interesting from Alfie’s stutter to Eleanor’s pragmatic look at life and even Lt. Markham’s wish for more war action. There are a few stumbles where Alfie didn’t make much sense in his actions. He has never acted on his desires for men before and shows great fear in that direction yet comments that due to his stutter he has to have a lot of strength and courage. While I agree with the later comment, I felt this would have helped him gain more courage to face his desires, which he does eventually with some liquid courage.

As a short delightful historical, Kindred Hearts really delivers. It has some very nice moments and the flawed character of Alfie is very nicely drawn. The entire story feels unique and different from most stories in the genre so definitely check this out.
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Nov 02, 2011 Book Utopia rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical, m-m, romance

3.5 stars

Though this is a short novella, it reads even more swiftly than other stories its length, mostly due to the utterly readable and unassuming authorial voice. The prose is clean and crisp, with just enough detail to make the setting pop and lend an air of authority to its accuracy, without bogging it down in unnecessary minutiae and distracting from the characters themselves.

But while I zipped through with barely a blink of an eye, much of the credit for that goes to the protagonist Alfie...more

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May 19, 2011 Indigo rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: m-m, historique

Mièvre, mais bien écrit.

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Apr 18, 2013 Shannon marked it as maybe

Mar 09, 2013 Remus Grrrl marked it as to-read

Mar 06, 2013 Anna Isbell rated it 4 of 5 stars

Feb 21, 2013 Misty rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: mm

Jan 25, 2013 yohtan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Nov 01, 2012 Helle marked it as to-read

May 17, 2013 Reader rated it 4 of 5 stars

May 13, 2012 bazinga ~Lisa marked it as to-read

Shelves: torquere

Mar 30, 2012 Dawn and Scott Flemington rated it 3 of 5 stars

Oct 21, 2012 Kate rated it 4 of 5 stars

Jan 13, 2012 BlackTulip rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: mm, georgian

Jan 04, 2012 ReadingAgent rated it 2 of 5 stars

Nov 08, 2011 Kyra rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical, shorts

Sep 25, 2011 Kevin marked it as books-galore · review of another edition

May 31, 2011 Pushubuu rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: m-m, shortees-novellas

May 22, 2011 Kiki rated it 3 of 5 stars

May 02, 2011 Barbara Gem(ini) marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Mar 28, 2011 Dianna rated it 2 of 5 stars

Mar 26, 2011 Noughty marked it as 2 · review of another edition

Mar 19, 2011 itmfiddler rated it 2 of 5 stars

Mar 13, 2011 Clover marked it as to-read

Feb 04, 2012 Brett rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: mm-historical, mm-military

Mar 11, 2011 Peggy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical, mm, z-2010, length-0-49p

Mar 09, 2011 Lada rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: regency, disability

Feb 05, 2011 Shanna marked it as wishlist

Shelves: historical-fiction, m-m, spice, under-100pgs

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About G.S. Wiley

G.S. Wiley is a writer, reader, sometime painter, and semi-avid scrapbooker who lives in Canada.

Visit G.S.'s web site at http://wileyromance.googlepages.com/.

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