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Ian and Edward
If Jane Austen had written a gay romance with a murder mystery and time travel, this book would be it.
Edward Ford Westcott has accepted a position in a clandestine program that seeks to find answers to history's greatest unknowns. He is sent back in time to 18th century England to investigate a woman’s murder and falls in love with Ian Gallihugh, the devoted nephew of the soon-to-be victim, but when he and his partner, Angelica Law, are thrown into the upper echelons of English society, they soon discover that things are not what they appear to be. Edward’s relationship with Ian is soon in jeopardy, along with all their lives. Discovering the truth will leave the two men cornered, and they will be forced to make a terrible choice if they are to save their love.
Edward Ford Westcott has accepted a position in a clandestine program that seeks to find answers to history's greatest unknowns. He is sent back in time to 18th century England to investigate a woman’s murder and falls in love with Ian Gallihugh, the devoted nephew of the soon-to-be victim, but when he and his partner, Angelica Law, are thrown into the upper echelons of English society, they soon discover that things are not what they appear to be. Edward’s relationship with Ian is soon in jeopardy, along with all their lives. Discovering the truth will leave the two men cornered, and they will be forced to make a terrible choice if they are to save their love.
351 pages, Paperback
Published July 27, 2019
6 people are currently reading
54 people want to read
About the author
David McMullen-Sullivan
8 books32 followersI grew up around Orlando, FL. and have a background in medicine and computer science. I was always an avid reader, an interest encouraged by my amazing mother, who took all us kids to the library regularly.
I am a new writer, with a small body of work, and I am someone who is interested in many genres. Because of that, I think it will hard to pin down what kind of writer I am.
I've recently finished my horror series, Moorehead Manor; however, I do not see myself as a horror writer. At present, I am working on my next book. It's the kind of novel Jane Austen would pen, were she writing a time traveling, murder mystery (slash) gay romance. After that, I hope to dive into a WWII story that's been on my brain for years.
Yep. My writing is all over the place, and I don't expect people to follow me across all the terrain I wish to cover, but one thing I do hope to achieve is making you, as a reader, happy with what you do read of mine.
Thanks for coming with me on the journey.
I am a new writer, with a small body of work, and I am someone who is interested in many genres. Because of that, I think it will hard to pin down what kind of writer I am.
I've recently finished my horror series, Moorehead Manor; however, I do not see myself as a horror writer. At present, I am working on my next book. It's the kind of novel Jane Austen would pen, were she writing a time traveling, murder mystery (slash) gay romance. After that, I hope to dive into a WWII story that's been on my brain for years.
Yep. My writing is all over the place, and I don't expect people to follow me across all the terrain I wish to cover, but one thing I do hope to achieve is making you, as a reader, happy with what you do read of mine.
Thanks for coming with me on the journey.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
July 10, 2021
I'm a huge fan of well-written time travel romances, and in selecting this book to review, I was very interested in the 18th century England setting and the 21st century time travelers who arrive to investigate a murder. However, while the plot has possibilities - as Ford says "So to make it out alive, we need to investigate a murder, uncover a thief and rebuild a time machine" - the execution leaves a lot to be desired.
When Ford and Angelica are sent back to the 18th century and their ship / time machine malfunctions for unknown reasons, they learn they have arrived too early and must bide their time quietly living in the English countryside avoiding detection. Unfortunately, neither is particularly good at this ... and before too long, they rent a huge estate, attend numerous social events, give someone modern medicine, Angelica breaks out her "black spandex jumpsuit" and Ford aggressively falls head over heels in love with virginal Ian. There is no on-page sex here and I do not get a strong sense of any sexual chemistry between Ian and Ford.
Too much of the plot is told rather than shown, there is little character development throughout and events occur randomly. For example, Ford and Angelica meet Ian's Aunt Cora and within a few sentences, consider her their Aunt Cora and exclaim of their love for her, while a romance occurs with no build-up or rational explanation for an unlikely couple. Finally, there are far too many editing errors here, i.e. "you're" instead of "your" and sentences with missing words.
While I like the world building and find the core of the time travel plot intriguing, the lack of in-depth character development and the stilted language do not work for me. 3 stars.
I received an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review.
Visit my blog, Sinfully Good Gay Book Reviews
When Ford and Angelica are sent back to the 18th century and their ship / time machine malfunctions for unknown reasons, they learn they have arrived too early and must bide their time quietly living in the English countryside avoiding detection. Unfortunately, neither is particularly good at this ... and before too long, they rent a huge estate, attend numerous social events, give someone modern medicine, Angelica breaks out her "black spandex jumpsuit" and Ford aggressively falls head over heels in love with virginal Ian. There is no on-page sex here and I do not get a strong sense of any sexual chemistry between Ian and Ford.
Too much of the plot is told rather than shown, there is little character development throughout and events occur randomly. For example, Ford and Angelica meet Ian's Aunt Cora and within a few sentences, consider her their Aunt Cora and exclaim of their love for her, while a romance occurs with no build-up or rational explanation for an unlikely couple. Finally, there are far too many editing errors here, i.e. "you're" instead of "your" and sentences with missing words.
While I like the world building and find the core of the time travel plot intriguing, the lack of in-depth character development and the stilted language do not work for me. 3 stars.
I received an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review.
Visit my blog, Sinfully Good Gay Book Reviews
August 21, 2019
More accurately it's 2.3 stars.
I received an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review.
This review has been originally posted at Gay Book Reviews - check it out!
When someone claims they have written a book “à la”—i.e. à la Agatha Christie, J.R.R. Tolkien, or Jane Austen, as in this case—, one should always be circumspect. Extremely circumspect. And any author should be just as circumspect to utter such a claim because expectations will be soaring high, and if they aren’t met, the readers will be all the more disappointed. So, let me tell you my subjective truth right away: this ain’t no effin’ Jane Austen. Not even remotely.
The storyline would have been promising. Two time-travellers from the 2020s (Edward and Angelica) go back to 1775 England. Their mission: to prepare the proper investigation of a murder the importance of which remains somewhat vague in the beginning (the reader is allowed to figure it out eventually). But due to a defect of their time-machine, they get stranded five weeks before their programmed arrival. They find a manor to let, but to stay under-cover and undetected by the locals as procedure would have it turns out nigh impossible. The village inhabitants, intrigued, knock on their door one after another, and soon, Edward discovers he’s falling head over heels in love with handsome Ian Gallihugh, son of the richest man in the county. Then, Edward and Angelica stumble upon a suspicious-looking suicide, and the time-travel agents they’re meant to liaise with are killed. It seems they have to investigate on their own, all the while trying to repair their time-machine. And winning Ian’s heart where Edward is concerned.
Properly handled, this could have been an entertaining read, and in parts, it was. But there were too many inconsistencies to make this even remotely believable. Angelica is forever repeating how important it is to stay off the radar and to have as little impact as possible on the (historical) goings-on, but both constantly do the reverse. This may help the plot, but this reader couldn’t help but shake his head more than once in disbelief. They mingle with the locals, they intervene, Edward even telling Ian at one point who he and Angelica really are. Worse, you’d think the secret agency that sent them would have chosen capable agents. Angelica seems to be just that, but Edward? He’s completely self-centred to the point of being reckless, oblivious to and impervious of what the mission requires and entails. You go back to 18th century England, for instance, you don’t get yourself a blow-job by another man mere minutes after having arrived; you’d wait until the late 1970s at least, your urges be damned! The murder mystery is interesting, but could have been explored more deeply, presenting us with several possible culprits to choose from—the deus ex machina-solution the author preferred is really not satisfying.
As I said, the plot idea is not bad per se. Imagine the contrast between two characters from the 21st century in the environment of the late 18th. How much wit, how much hilarious situations, how much thrill and tension you could have milked out of that. For instance, you could have had private dialogues between Angelica and Edward in modern language counter-balanced by public conversations in the manner of the time. In the manner of Jane Austen, as it were. But no, Edward and Angelica don’t make the least effort to speak differently with the (historical) locals, and those don’t speak like you would expect people of that time to speak, either. A missed opportunity. That’s what makes historical novels so difficult to write: you need to research the period of your setting very thoroughly so as to get the tone, the atmosphere, the colour, taste, and feel right. In this book, that wasn’t the case, alas. You could have set the story anywhere between now and the year 0.
The major flaw of this novel, however, is that it doesn’t seem to have been proofread at all. As if the author had written his piece and then published it immediately. Now, that doesn’t do. I can overlook the odd wrongly placed comma—I know I’m repeating myself, but as a rule, “but” and “and” are not followed by a comma. To add a comma to “a long, stone wall” is wrong, too, something which the author ignores consistently. The worst, however, wasn’t that, even if it is annoying in the long run. The author should have opened a Thesaurus, at least to check if he spelled the words correctly. You simply cannot write “boar” when it should be “bore”, “populous” instead of “populace”, “right” instead of “ride”, “speak your peace” instead of “speak your piece”. Not to forget the odd mistake “you’re”/”your”-“they’re”/”their”. And why in heaven would anyone write “he stood in solitary occupancy of the hall” to say “he stayed behind all by himself”? That’s horribly overwritten to the point of being ridiculous. Add some overlooked present tense verbs, some missing prepositions, and you’ll understand why I was rolling my eyes by the time I had finished the book (note that I always finish my books, even if “I’m not amused”, as the current Queen would say).
I received an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review.
This review has been originally posted at Gay Book Reviews - check it out!
When someone claims they have written a book “à la”—i.e. à la Agatha Christie, J.R.R. Tolkien, or Jane Austen, as in this case—, one should always be circumspect. Extremely circumspect. And any author should be just as circumspect to utter such a claim because expectations will be soaring high, and if they aren’t met, the readers will be all the more disappointed. So, let me tell you my subjective truth right away: this ain’t no effin’ Jane Austen. Not even remotely.
The storyline would have been promising. Two time-travellers from the 2020s (Edward and Angelica) go back to 1775 England. Their mission: to prepare the proper investigation of a murder the importance of which remains somewhat vague in the beginning (the reader is allowed to figure it out eventually). But due to a defect of their time-machine, they get stranded five weeks before their programmed arrival. They find a manor to let, but to stay under-cover and undetected by the locals as procedure would have it turns out nigh impossible. The village inhabitants, intrigued, knock on their door one after another, and soon, Edward discovers he’s falling head over heels in love with handsome Ian Gallihugh, son of the richest man in the county. Then, Edward and Angelica stumble upon a suspicious-looking suicide, and the time-travel agents they’re meant to liaise with are killed. It seems they have to investigate on their own, all the while trying to repair their time-machine. And winning Ian’s heart where Edward is concerned.
Properly handled, this could have been an entertaining read, and in parts, it was. But there were too many inconsistencies to make this even remotely believable. Angelica is forever repeating how important it is to stay off the radar and to have as little impact as possible on the (historical) goings-on, but both constantly do the reverse. This may help the plot, but this reader couldn’t help but shake his head more than once in disbelief. They mingle with the locals, they intervene, Edward even telling Ian at one point who he and Angelica really are. Worse, you’d think the secret agency that sent them would have chosen capable agents. Angelica seems to be just that, but Edward? He’s completely self-centred to the point of being reckless, oblivious to and impervious of what the mission requires and entails. You go back to 18th century England, for instance, you don’t get yourself a blow-job by another man mere minutes after having arrived; you’d wait until the late 1970s at least, your urges be damned! The murder mystery is interesting, but could have been explored more deeply, presenting us with several possible culprits to choose from—the deus ex machina-solution the author preferred is really not satisfying.
As I said, the plot idea is not bad per se. Imagine the contrast between two characters from the 21st century in the environment of the late 18th. How much wit, how much hilarious situations, how much thrill and tension you could have milked out of that. For instance, you could have had private dialogues between Angelica and Edward in modern language counter-balanced by public conversations in the manner of the time. In the manner of Jane Austen, as it were. But no, Edward and Angelica don’t make the least effort to speak differently with the (historical) locals, and those don’t speak like you would expect people of that time to speak, either. A missed opportunity. That’s what makes historical novels so difficult to write: you need to research the period of your setting very thoroughly so as to get the tone, the atmosphere, the colour, taste, and feel right. In this book, that wasn’t the case, alas. You could have set the story anywhere between now and the year 0.
The major flaw of this novel, however, is that it doesn’t seem to have been proofread at all. As if the author had written his piece and then published it immediately. Now, that doesn’t do. I can overlook the odd wrongly placed comma—I know I’m repeating myself, but as a rule, “but” and “and” are not followed by a comma. To add a comma to “a long, stone wall” is wrong, too, something which the author ignores consistently. The worst, however, wasn’t that, even if it is annoying in the long run. The author should have opened a Thesaurus, at least to check if he spelled the words correctly. You simply cannot write “boar” when it should be “bore”, “populous” instead of “populace”, “right” instead of “ride”, “speak your peace” instead of “speak your piece”. Not to forget the odd mistake “you’re”/”your”-“they’re”/”their”. And why in heaven would anyone write “he stood in solitary occupancy of the hall” to say “he stayed behind all by himself”? That’s horribly overwritten to the point of being ridiculous. Add some overlooked present tense verbs, some missing prepositions, and you’ll understand why I was rolling my eyes by the time I had finished the book (note that I always finish my books, even if “I’m not amused”, as the current Queen would say).
August 14, 2020
Good storyline, with interesting characters, but needed more editing to keep from feeling as though it's a rushed draft. Could've done without the gratuitous sex scenes, as well as more emphasis on the danger of same-sex attraction two centuries ago.
Couldn't really buy into Edward's sudden shift from player to smitten monogomist. Didn't really get him as a physician either... medic, maybe? Ian seemed a bit too sheltered (naive), but he'd had a lifetime of psychological abuse. Rest of the characters were fine.
Audio narration a good fit for the story, although I cringed at a couple of mispronounciations.
Couldn't really buy into Edward's sudden shift from player to smitten monogomist. Didn't really get him as a physician either... medic, maybe? Ian seemed a bit too sheltered (naive), but he'd had a lifetime of psychological abuse. Rest of the characters were fine.
Audio narration a good fit for the story, although I cringed at a couple of mispronounciations.
November 12, 2020
audio review
This is an enjoyable story that combines sci fi with m/m romance. It's about love, loss, time travel and a murder mystery. Edward (Ford) and is partner Angelica travel back in time, to solve a murder. As they get immersed in the culture of the time, Edward didn't expect to meet Ian, the victim's nephew, and fall in love. Narrator Trista Harter does a fabulous job.
This is an enjoyable story that combines sci fi with m/m romance. It's about love, loss, time travel and a murder mystery. Edward (Ford) and is partner Angelica travel back in time, to solve a murder. As they get immersed in the culture of the time, Edward didn't expect to meet Ian, the victim's nephew, and fall in love. Narrator Trista Harter does a fabulous job.
January 13, 2021
Bridgerton. That's what I'd equate this book to, in the sense that it's an 18th century story written for a modern readership. Like Bridgerton's depiction of people of color being emancipated during that time, Ian and Edward doesn't dwell on the cruel prejudices of the day. It focuses on the story. I like that it leaves much of that out. We all know it was there, and really if it's inhumanity you want, watch Schindler's List.
The love story is sweet. The story has twists (which I like), and it's humorous as well. That's all I need from a romance. I was quiet satisfied and will look at more works by this author.
The love story is sweet. The story has twists (which I like), and it's humorous as well. That's all I need from a romance. I was quiet satisfied and will look at more works by this author.
January 10, 2021
Synopsis: Some stupid liberal gay Dr. Who wannabe from the 21st century goes back in time to 18th century England in order to lecture some gay boy about how it’s his right to be gay and rail against the system. In the process said hedonist rake who swears he’ll “NEVER EVER” love anyone falls in love with the cute little submissive and fragile British boy in the span of about 5 minutes and suddenly develops morals. <>
Meanwhile his overbearing female cohort goes all feminist on everyone involved. I actually could never figure out if she was just some cold heartless cow or wanted to pretend to have some kind of heart. One thing I did grow tired of is how she could out-do everyone else at dropping F-bombs. Could this wannabe author not realize that ladies of this period would never be caught using such language and here’s 2 educated type people that cannot figure this out? Furthermore Mr. Horney Toad would NOT have been so free to F-%k his way across England with whichever boy he chooses without having been arrested and executed!
The mystery is juvenile. The lame attempt at any “investigation” is a joke often overshadowed by their preference to run amuck having quite a jolly time. Little Miss I’m in charge team leader has absolutely no clue what she’s doing and no care whatsoever for anyone.
The writing is childish and incoherent, and the sex is boring and uninteresting. The absolute worst and most vomit worthy scene is where Edward goes to the Judges office and identifies himself to the clerk as Han Solo. REALLY?!!! THATS THE BEST YOU COULD COME UP WITH??!!
TIS BOOK SUCKS!
The worst thing though about this crap is the homophobic attitude about who can and cannot decide what constitutes love and/or who is able to decide whether or not two people can love. Although I don’t for one moment but this time travel fall in love with someone 200 years ago shite, what’s more disturbing is that this author finds it a viable option to allow the government to decide and thereby stick two men who had the bad manners to fall in love in some damn black home in time!
AGAIN …
THIS BOOK SUCKS!!!
Meanwhile his overbearing female cohort goes all feminist on everyone involved. I actually could never figure out if she was just some cold heartless cow or wanted to pretend to have some kind of heart. One thing I did grow tired of is how she could out-do everyone else at dropping F-bombs. Could this wannabe author not realize that ladies of this period would never be caught using such language and here’s 2 educated type people that cannot figure this out? Furthermore Mr. Horney Toad would NOT have been so free to F-%k his way across England with whichever boy he chooses without having been arrested and executed!
The mystery is juvenile. The lame attempt at any “investigation” is a joke often overshadowed by their preference to run amuck having quite a jolly time. Little Miss I’m in charge team leader has absolutely no clue what she’s doing and no care whatsoever for anyone.
The writing is childish and incoherent, and the sex is boring and uninteresting. The absolute worst and most vomit worthy scene is where Edward goes to the Judges office and identifies himself to the clerk as Han Solo. REALLY?!!! THATS THE BEST YOU COULD COME UP WITH??!!
TIS BOOK SUCKS!
The worst thing though about this crap is the homophobic attitude about who can and cannot decide what constitutes love and/or who is able to decide whether or not two people can love. Although I don’t for one moment but this time travel fall in love with someone 200 years ago shite, what’s more disturbing is that this author finds it a viable option to allow the government to decide and thereby stick two men who had the bad manners to fall in love in some damn black home in time!
AGAIN …
THIS BOOK SUCKS!!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 22, 2019
Emotional story. Good suspense and thought how the murders were done was clever. Didn't know it was gonna be so funny. There were parts where it made me LOL.
August 23, 2019
I really liked it. This one made me cry ya'all.
July 20, 2020
The author gave me a free Audible book to enable me to enjoy this book and write an honest review. (Sorry in advance)
I really wanted to enjoy this more than I did. The elements were there and when I added the book to my goodreads list it was on the basis of the bare bones of the plot: Time travel, murder mystery, Jane Austen, gays.
The story that was provoked in my head was possibly the Platonic Ideal of this kind of novel.
Initially I thought some of the teething issues of me settling into and enjoy the plot were the audiobook element (female voice, female voice almost trying to do accents but not really bothering enough...) but it quickly became apparent that some of my issues were with the pacing, plotting and writing style.
The swearing wasn’t consistent or frequent enough to make it believable, the sex was a little decorous, the murder mystery was a little too easy to solve...
I really wanted to like it more and was wanting to be generous due to having a free audiobook but, honestly, it’s just bad.
I really wanted to enjoy this more than I did. The elements were there and when I added the book to my goodreads list it was on the basis of the bare bones of the plot: Time travel, murder mystery, Jane Austen, gays.
The story that was provoked in my head was possibly the Platonic Ideal of this kind of novel.
Initially I thought some of the teething issues of me settling into and enjoy the plot were the audiobook element (female voice, female voice almost trying to do accents but not really bothering enough...) but it quickly became apparent that some of my issues were with the pacing, plotting and writing style.
The swearing wasn’t consistent or frequent enough to make it believable, the sex was a little decorous, the murder mystery was a little too easy to solve...
I really wanted to like it more and was wanting to be generous due to having a free audiobook but, honestly, it’s just bad.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 14, 2021
I liked it.I was taken aback at the first tryst our time traveler had.Too much, too soon.The whole premise just did not quite work for me. Trista Harter was a fine narrator.I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.'
October 21, 2023
This is a fun story. I hope there's a second book. The characters are fun, and you dive into their world by the first chapter. It has romance, a mystery and humor. It's just what I was looking for to fill a cold, rainy weekend.
July 20, 2020
I want a boyfriend like Edward.
August 3, 2020
I'm on team Ian.
August 19, 2020
love a sweet romance. I was like ahhh.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews