Claiming Mister Kemp

Wonderful regency romance with angst and heart. Tom and Lucas have been friends since childhood, but Tom has been away at war and has experienced things that make him realize that there is more to them than just friendship. When he comes back to London he confronts Lucas with his feelings, and Lucas is reluctant, to say the least, to take things further. Tom does, however, push, someting that I feel the author has placed comfortably on the right side of too pushy. Tom has the benefit of experience and he's comfortable with who he is and what he wants. Lucas is not. I find that this is a very realistic portrayal of the Regency era, Lucas is very affraid of his feelings and very aware of how it's illegal and he's understandably carful and tries to deny his feelings, their feelings. I actually think that he comes across as demi, perhaps, he needed Tom to be able to fall in love. Not sure if this is intentional, I'm sure it wasn't unusaual for men who liked other men to be very cautious indeed, as it was necessary for them. Regardless of this a troubled but charming love continnues to grow, and we get to see how true love finally conquers all. The side characters are delightful, I especially love the families of both MCs, they're simply wonderful. This book is part of a series where the other books are M/F. The other books do also have a dash of magic, which is present to a lesser extent in this book, though neither of the MCs have any magical abilities. This is still very much more a historical book than a paranormal. You do not have to read the other books in this series to enjoy this one. As usual Hamish Long is amazing! I love how he voices Tom and Lucas, but all the characters comes alive in his charming narration, it gives this book an extra dimention and it’s a pure delight to listen to it.