Review: A Case for Christmas (The Lords of Bucknall Club #2) by J.A. Rock and Lisa Henry
He loves no-one and never will.
Lord Christmas Gale is a genius and a misanthrope, and, quite to his disgust, adored by all of Society for his capacity to solve mysteries. When a man approaches him seeking help in locating a lost dog, Gale rebuffs him. But what begins with a missing dog ends in murder and intrigue–two of Gale’s favourite things, if it weren’t for the orphan that comes attached to them. Oh, and Benjamin Chant.
He has sworn to never love again.
The Honourable Mr. Benjamin Chant isn’t sure how he got swept up in Gale’s mad investigation, but there’s something intriguing about the man–a vulnerability that most of the world doesn’t notice, but which captures Chant’s interest, and his sympathy, from their first meeting. After a disastrous love affair in the past, Chant has sworn to never give his heart away again. Especially to a man who does not want it.
But it isn’t just their hearts at stake.
When their investigation takes a dangerous turn and their lives are threatened, both Gale and Chant are forced into the realisation that perhaps two imperfect men might fit perfectly together–that is, if they can outwit the killer who is intent on seeing them both dead.
A Case for Christmas is the second book in the Lords of Bucknall Club series, where the Regency meets m/m romance
I got this book from Kindle Unlimited.
Review.
Dear J.A. Rock and Lisa Henry,
For those readers who had been reading this series in order (I have read this book first and then the first book), we met grumpy Lord Christmas Gale in the first book when he helps one of the main characters to investigate some stuff. Apparently his hobby becomes more than a hobby for him when more and more people get to know about his investigative skills. Only in this book Lord Gale (obviously he hates being called Christmas, I would have too) stumbles upon murder and drags Benjamin Chant in to help him.
This is once again a society where the same sex marriages are supposed to be encouraged between the younger sons and daughters of the British nobility to decrease the amount of heirs and I thought this book did a much better job in showing that society itself accepts same sex relationships pretty well.
Gale’s mother not only takes it as absolute matter of fact when her son seems fond of another man (more importantly another man is found of him), but when one of her daughters gets an offer from another woman. More importantly no one seems to have a problem with the hero not really hiding his preference for men.
I thought Gale and Chant were really sweet together. Now, Gale can be really, really prickly – but I thought this was explained really well, and his awkwardness notwithstanding I loved Gale very much right away and had no problem empathizing with some difficulties he may have had communicating with the world around him. The authors, thank goodness, did not attempt to explain it in contemporary language, but they talk about Gale not always understanding what people around him were feeling and how to relate to that. I suspect that they once again wanted to portray Asperger syndrome but I cannot be sure and everyone can interpret on their own of course.
Chant also was a sweetheart and had some of his own issues, but I thought together the men had great chemistry.
Why is my grade what it is? Well I don’t think it is a bad grade, but I thought the mystery was awkward at best – enough to give the men something to do, but not enough to be considered a real mystery in my opinion. Oh, we are suspecting somebody to be a bad guy? YAY he really is a bad guy and here is a detailed explanation of their motivations.
Grade: B-
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