Society of Gentlemen series

The Ruin of Gabriel Ashleigh

by KJ Charles
Genres: Fiction / Romance / Historical / Regency, Fiction / Romance / LGBTQ+ / Gay
Published on October 27, 2015
Pages: 32
Format: eBook Source: Owned

The youngest son and the blackest sheep in his family, Lord Gabriel Ashleigh never imagined he could sink so low. Though he’s a notoriously bad gambler, he takes on the formidable but strangely alluring Francis Webster, only to lose everything: all his money, the lovely estate he inherited from his aunt, and any hope of future happiness. So it’s a shock when Webster summons him to a private game for a chance to win back his possessions. The stake? If he fails, Ash must surrender his body.
 
Francis has been waiting years for this moment. At Eton, Ash’s elder brother harassed him relentlessly. Now, consumed by lust and rage, Francis is only too happy to exploit Ash’s foolish indiscretions. But as Francis strips the magnificently built youth—first of his family assets, then his clothes—he begins to wonder whether he’s been plotting revenge . . . or exquisite seduction.


If I had read that description first, I don’t know that I would have picked up this series. But, I love K.J. Charles books so I read them without the descriptions. I also read this short story last even though it takes place first in the timeline. Ash and Francis are around in the main storyline and you know they are a couple but knowing their backstory isn’t hugely important to understanding the main series.

Society of Gentlemen series

A Fashionable Indulgence

by KJ Charles
Genres: Fiction / Romance / Historical / Regency, Fiction / Romance / LGBTQ+ / Gay
Published on August 11, 2015
Pages: 264
Format: eBook Source: Owned

When he learns that he could be the heir to an unexpected fortune, Harry Vane rejects his past as a Radical fighting for government reform and sets about wooing his lovely cousin. But his heart is captured instead by the most beautiful, chic man he’s ever met: the dandy tasked with instructing him in the manners and style of the ton. Harry’s new station demands conformity—and yet the one thing he desires is a taste of the wrong pair of lips.

After witnessing firsthand the horrors of Waterloo, Julius Norreys sought refuge behind the luxurious facade of the upper crust. Now he concerns himself exclusively with the cut of his coat and the quality of his boots. And yet his protégé is so unblemished by cynicism that he inspires the first flare of genuine desire Julius has felt in years. He cannot protect Harry from the worst excesses of society. But together they can withstand the high price of passion.<


I loved this book so much! Harry was forced to flee the country with his parents when he was a child because they were involved in Radical politics. They led a rally that turned into a riot where a person died. Now he is an adult and has returned to England after his parents have died. He is living with a man named Silas who was part of his parents’ group and working in Silas’ bookstore.

He is plucked out of this life when his paternal grandfather finds him. He had disowned Harry’s father but wants to be able to mold Harry into a proper gentleman. If Harry doesn’t comply, he won’t get any inheritance. Harry realizes really quickly that he likes the aristocratic lifestyle. He wants to be a gentleman.

His tutor is going to be Julius. They go to an estate in the country for a while to try to turn Harry into a gentleman who can pass in society.

What I liked about this book is that while Harry is very quick to turn his back on the values that he was raised with, they don’t entirely go away. He does have a tendency to go off the rails if the people around him are running their mouths about things that are too conservative. Julius is trying to get him to shut up but Harry’s ideas start to get to him too.


Society of Gentlemen series

A Seditious Affair

by KJ Charles
Genres: Fiction / Romance / Historical / General, Fiction / Romance / LGBTQ+ / Gay
Published on December 15, 2015
Pages: 251
Format: eBook Source: Owned

Silas Mason has no illusions about himself. He’s not lovable, or even likable. He’s an overbearing idealist, a Radical bookseller and pamphleteer who lives for revolution . . . and for Wednesday nights. Every week he meets anonymously with the same man, in whom Silas has discovered the ideal meld of intellectual companionship and absolute obedience to his sexual commands. But unbeknownst to Silas, his closest friend is also his greatest enemy, with the power to see him hanged—or spare his life.

A loyal, well-born gentleman official, Dominic Frey is torn apart by his affair with Silas. By the light of day, he cannot fathom the intoxicating lust that drives him to meet with the Radical week after week. In the bedroom, everything else falls away. Their needs match, and they are united by sympathy for each other’s deepest vulnerabilities. But when Silas’s politics earn him a death sentence, desire clashes with duty, and Dominic finds himself doing everything he can to save the man who stole his heart.


With each book in this series the focus moves to a different couple but there is very much one story throughout the series. Harry has been becoming increasingly vocal about his political opinions. He has been refusing to give up his contact with Silas. What no one knows is that Silas has been meeting up with a person in Harry’s new friend group for a year.

Dominic is a bureaucrat who works on suppressing of radical publishing. When Silas and Dominic find themselves face to face during a raid on Silas’ store, they realize that their anonymous affair is going to have big consequences if they don’t walk away from each other. Then they realize that they don’t want to walk away.

I loved the through story of this series. It is all about real political unrest in the early 1820s in England. This is a group of men who have come together to be able to have safe places for homosexual relationships and now they are threatened with exposure.


Society of Gentlemen series

A Gentleman's Position

by KJ Charles
Genres: Fiction / Romance / Historical / Regency, Fiction / Romance / LGBTQ+ / Gay
Published on April 5, 2016
Pages: 246
Format: eBook Source: Owned

Among his eccentric though strictly principled group of friends, Lord Richard Vane is the confidant on whom everyone depends for advice, moral rectitude, and discreet assistance. Yet when Richard has a problem, he turns to his valet, a fixer of unparalleled genius—and the object of Richard’s deepest desires. If there is one rule a gentleman must follow, it is never to dally with servants. But when David is close enough to touch, the rules of class collide with the basest sort of animal instinct: overpowering lust.

For David Cyprian, burglary and blackmail are as much in a day’s work as bootblacking—anything for the man he’s devoted to. But the one thing he wants for himself is the one thing Richard refuses to give: his heart. With the tension between them growing to be unbearable, David’s seemingly incorruptible master has left him no choice. Putting his finely honed skills of seduction and manipulation to good use, he will convince Richard to forget all about his well-meaning objections and give in to sweet, sinful temptation.


Throughout the series Richard has been the stern, respectable person who holds them all together. His valet/fixer is Cyprian. He’s known as an amazing valet but most people don’t know about his underworld connections that helped Richard set up his safe house and helped keep his friends safe.

Now Cyprian leaves Richard’s service because he no longer wants to be working with a man he loves but who won’t let himself love Cyprian back. But when the political issues threaten to bring down more trouble than the gentleman can handle, Richard needs to go beg Cyprian to come back to help one more time.

I loved this character. I like my historical romances to focus more on everyday people. This is the type of character I love. You just see him in the background of the rest of the books. In this one you get to see how complex he really is.

This whole series was amazing.