664 ratings (2.33 avg)
762 reviews

#47.0 top reviewers

AngelFire

AngelFire’s Bookshelves

read‎ (483)
currently-reading‎ (1)
to-read‎ (131)
not-for-me‎ (7195)
did-not-finish‎ (192)
too-short‎ (167)
maybe‎ (101)
tried-but-not-for-me‎ (92)
wish-list‎ (65)
genre-mm-romance‎ (758)
genre-contemporary-romance‎ (460)
genre-historical-romance‎ (230)

rating-1-star‎ (219)
rating-2-stars‎ (178)
location-england‎ (172)
char-job-military‎ (168)
trope-hurt-comfort-physical‎ (140)
rating-3-stars‎ (136)
awesome-cover‎ (133)
genre-fantasy-romance‎ (129)
trope-mental-health-issues‎ (125)
trope-phys-disab-disfig-illness‎ (119)
trope-enemies-to-lovers‎ (108)
rating-no-rating‎ (98)

rating-4-stars‎ (85)
time-period-1700s-1800s-uk‎ (84)
char-gentle-giant‎ (78)
char-job-law-enforcement‎ (70)
genre-sports-romance‎ (68)
trope-second-chance-romance‎ (64)
trope-sex-top-bottom-subversion‎ (64)
char-felon‎ (63)
genre-susp-myst-romance‎ (63)
trope-established-relationship‎ (62)
genre-bdsm-romance‎ (57)
trope-friends-to-lovers‎ (55)

trope-grief‎ (54)
trope-sex-two-alphas‎ (53)
trope-sex-virgin‎ (52)
genre-fantasy-type-creatures‎ (48)
trope-alcohol-drug-addiction‎ (48)
char-job-sex-worker‎ (46)
rating-5-stars‎ (45)
genre-dark-romance‎ (44)
char-job-cowboy-farmer‎ (42)
char-wears-glasses‎ (40)
genre-scifi-romance‎ (40)
wish-list-historical‎ (38)

Stats | More…

AngelFire is Currently Reading

AngelFire is currently reading

A Seditious Affair (Society of Gentlemen, #2)

by K.J. Charles (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: genre-mm-romance, genre-historical-romance, time-period-1700s-1800s-uk, trope-enemies-to-lovers, genre-bdsm-romance, rating-5-stars, location-england, trope-sex-top-bottom-subversion, re-read, currently-reading

Reading for the 3rd time

read in July 2021

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

AngelFire said: " Re-Read: Oct 2022
Original Read: July 2021

This book was amazing! In true K.J. Charles fashion, she dives into the Victorian era and gives us characters and situations that I've never seen before. I love the way she puts together characters from differ Re-Read: Oct 2022
Original Read: July 2021

This book was amazing! In true K.J. Charles fashion, she dives into the Victorian era and gives us characters and situations that I've never seen before. I love the way she puts together characters from different walks of life to allow readers to experience different parts of Victorian society and this book was a perfect example. Dom is upper class but he also works for the government so he has the same responsibilities that any working man has. Silas is a working class man and he's a social activist but he also holds a slightly higher position amongst his peers due to being literate and running his own business. I love how much effort KJ Charles puts into creating unique and interesting characters and these two are a perfect example.

What I appreciated most about this book was that the author purposefully made Dom be sexually submissive while Silas is the dominant. My favorite type of romance pairings are ones where each character has something about them that makes them superior to the other, so when combined, the two of them are true equals. Silas is in a position of power in the bedroom, Dom is in a position of power in society. This beautiful contrast of these two characters constantly switching between being in power versus relying on the other person to take care of them made their relationship a joy to watch and I loved these two together.

I also appreciated the specific kinks that the author gave Dom (view spoiler). Throughout the book, there's a lot of conflict surrounding Dom's specific desires and his friends (like Richard) and others don't understand or like those kinks. A lot of judgement and assumptions are thrown around, which was difficult to read but it was understandable. Even Silas thought Dom's kinks were strange at first but over time, he accepts them when he sees how happy they make Dom. This acceptance helps Dom's self-esteem return and it was wonderful to see him grow throughout the book. He went from accepting the shame that others forced on him to pushing back and making it clear that he doesn't need or care about other people's understanding regarding his kinks. I loved this entire plotline and I especially like that the author clearly chose Dom's kinks specifically to make this plotline be as powerful as possible. If she had chosen more mainstream or lighter kinks that are more universally understood and accepted, this plotline wouldn't have been as powerful. I think she was trying to make the point that it doesn't matter whether others (characters or readers) understand or like Dom's kinks - the important thing is that they make him happy.

I also liked how the author chose to end the story. For a while, I was worried/curious over how the author would give these two MCs their HEA while remaining true to the historical time period. Their class difference, histories and lifestyles made a long term relationship between them pretty much impossible so I knew the author would have to change at least one of the character's situations to make things work, and I loved what she decided to do. (view spoiler). I ended up really liking this choice because it felt realistic, it gave the characters a stronger HEA but it still stayed true to the characters.

Overall, I loved every aspect of this book and it's one of my favorite KJC reads. ...more "

Oct 04, 2023 10:18PM · see review