The Lawrence Browne Affair

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I loved seeing some familiar faces from book one, I loved meeting some new faces (book three's couple, hello, I see you!), and I love love loved the dedication at the beginning of this book. Sebastian is definitely an author I can't wait for more from and this series is definitely topping the list of some of my favourite historical reads, not to mention favourite m/m books. Heartwarming, funny, relevant, sexy, and absorbing. Highly recommend. It was as if after a quarter of a century of blithely not giving a damn about anybody, he had accrued a surplus of damns to give.”

I don't think I can adequately express how much I loved this book. I've been trying to gather my thoughts all day, and I still can't think of more than "AWWWWW" and "I LOVED THIS SO MUCH!!!!". The story felt a little like Beauty and the Beast, especially with Lawrence's strong physique and generally behaving like a wild man and unable to socialize. Georgie is the fine and pretty one, easily accommodate himself in any situation like a perfect chameleon. Being isolated since he was a young man also make Lawrence sorta naive in relationship. Is so endearing and sweet to see him dipping his toes into the whirlpool of emotion with his new lover.The earl dropped the ax long enough to strip down to his shirtsleeves. That couldn't be necessary, given the chill in the November air. But on another, purely aesthetic level, it was quite, quite necessary for this man to take off his clothes whenever the spirit moved him. It’s safe to say this book is a new favorite of mine that i will probably be rereading in the future. They were still standing too close. Turner tipped his head against the wall and looked up at Lawrence with lazy indifference. Most unsecretarial. But Turner didn’t seem afraid, and Lawrence didn’t know how to feel about that. He was so accustomed to fear that the absence of it was unsettling.” Hero: Lawrence. His time with Georgie is like cleaning out a window from his brain to the rest of the world. He finally sees he is NOT mad. He is good. He is normal-ish and he is in love. He's gruff and cranky and awesomely curmudgeon like. There are solid overtones that bring Beauty and the Beast to mind: Georgie being the softer and gentler, and often more personable of the two, especially when contrasted with Lawrence’s decided discomfort and bad temper that characterize his own interactions. But Georgie is supremely skilled in coaxing and cajoling trust and confidence, even as he reveals little to nothing about himself. Lawrence, mired in the fears that family history will also result in his mental decline, have served to push him further from the public’s eye, finding refuge in his experiments and scientific study. Experiments don’t require conversation, they don’t judge and point fingers while whispering, and more importantly, they don’t require him to be anything other than himself. Of course, there is talk of the Mad Earl: how could they not with his father’s dramatic demise, and the servants who left in droves didn’t understand the difference between science and witchcraft, and everything combines to make a story far more dramatic and intriguing than the truth.

Also, the cover on this book is sooo much better than her first book, which honestly made cringe it was so bad. I could probably write 10,000 words on the plight of the romance novel cover. It is a topic that makes me lose my mind, so don't get me started. I was hooked on Georgie and Lawrence's interaction from the start. Despite Lawrence anti-social and brutish attitude that tend to scare off everyone else, Georgie was not the least affected. Being bred and raise in a slump, Georgie had experience all life had to offer and he know how to handle Lawrence's eccentricity. He even find himself fascinated by Lawrence brilliance. I will always be glad to have known you, Lawrence.” He brought a hand to Lawrence’s jaw and stroked his beard. “I want you to remember that. When I’m not here, I want you to know that wherever I am, however we part, I’ll be better for having…” He hesitated, then touched his own heart before bringing his hand to rest on Lawrence’s chest. “For having you as a friend.” After he gets too attached to one of his marks, an old lady he refused to swindle. He puts a huge target on his head, which forces him into hiding.I am not usually one for slow burns, but this was much needed. The slow burn added on top of all the copious amounts of attraction that Lawrence and Georgie had for one another. Another kudos to the author for keeping the authenicty and dialogue up to reflect the period of time. Radnor?” Turner asked. He had a bit of plaster in his hair, and Lawrence reached out to brush it away, letting his thumb linger overlong on his ear. Georgie Turner has made his life pretending to be anyone but himself. A swindler and con man, he can slip into an identity faster than he can change clothes. But when his long-dead conscience resurrects and a dangerous associate is out for blood, Georgie escapes to the wilds of Cornwall. Pretending to be a secretary should be easy, but he doesn't expect that the only madness he finds is the one he has for the gorgeous earl. So great to see that my enjoyment of the The Soldier's Scoundrel was not a fluke. Cat Sebastian knows how to write sweet and steamy historical romances with endearing characters, entertaining plots and lots of banter. I really loved the men’s conversations and banter, and the genuine heat and tenderness between them.

That was a lot of fun. Lawrence, the Earl of Radnor, is a great character. He's a solitary, brilliant giant of a man whose sociopathic now-deceased brother and father have made him into a recluse. Lawrence is sure he's going to go mad as they did, and that his attraction to men is a sign of his mental corruption, to be ruthlessly suppressed. He believes that he's going to harm anyone who gets close to him, and that he must shut out the world. He's an inventor, and has made himself content with hiding in his crumbling ancestral home, working on his research with only written correspondences, trying to perfect his devices while waiting for some kind of dissolution of his life. Or maybe for the roof to fall in and kill him. He's pared his life down to simple meals, science and technology, and his big, faithful mongrel dog. Until the day an unwanted secretary shows up and starts rearranging his papers and his clothes and his world. Lawrence knows that Turner is not the person he claims he is, but he is not afraid of the secrets that lie underneath his charismatic smile. He sees the handsome man who has put all his energy into creating a better life for him, and he wants to do the same in return. Instead Georgie, posing as a secretary, finds a reclusive man who is instead brilliant, hyper-focused, prone to debilitating anxiety and fears of the outside world, and harbouring "unnatural" desires, all of which he is convinced must mean he is, infact, mad.Listen,” Turner said, his voice silky. “I’ll spell this out for you. I want you badly. I won’t try to persuade you to do anything you might regret, but I also won’t hide how much I want you.” my favorite moment- Lawrence convincing Georgie to ‘steal’/take his jewels, so he can settle his debts and never need for money: