Title: Enlightened (2^nd Edition)

Series: Enlightenment 03

Author: Joanna Chambers

Genre: Historical (Industrial Revolution England)

Length: Novel (226 Pages)

Publisher: Joanna Chambers Books (April 23, 2017)

Heat Level: Explicit

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥ 5 Hearts

Blurb: David Lauriston has been recuperating at Lord Murdo Balfour’s Laverock estate for the last five months. At Laverock, he has regained his health and confidence and has found—with Murdo—more happiness and contentment than he has never known before.

David is all too aware that some day soon he will have to leave Laverock—and Murdo—and return to his legal practice in Edinburgh, just as Murdo will have to return to his life in London. But when David’s mentor, Patrick Chalmers, asks David to return to Edinburgh to visit him on his deathbed, it seems that day has come sooner than either David or Murdo would have wished.

Chalmers begs David to undertake one last piece of business for him: to secure the future of Chalmers’s daughter Elizabeth. But to carry out his old mentor’s wishes, David must travel to London, with Murdo.

No sooner have the two men arrived in the capital than they encounter Murdo’s ruthlessly manipulative father, who reveals a shocking secret that rocks David to his foundations. What’s more, when David discovers Elizabeth is facing far greater danger than even her father feared, he is determined to help her, no matter the cost to his own safety.

As the stakes rise, it is Murdo who must choose what he is prepared to sacrifice to keep David at his side, and ask whether there is any possibility of lasting happiness for men like them.

Product Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071RK71MR

Reviewer: Gigi

Review: This is a great series for those historical romance lovers out there! Be sure to read all three in order, or the plots won’t make sense. The writing grabs hold of my attention quickly, and my mind begins to wander with the possibilities. Much of the beginning of the book is all about Murdo and David living and working together, getting to really know and enjoy each other in a safe, private environment. I think that really was important to help cement their relationship.

From the beginning of the series, I loved the dominance and heavy-handedness of Murdo. He’s powerful, he’s independently and inheritably wealthy, he’s defiant, he’s nobility, but he has a weak spot, David.

David is the perfect foil for Murdo. He’s highly intelligent, he has submissive tendencies, but book three shows he can equal the playing field just fine. He’s strong enough to stand up to Murdo, he’s strong enough to be what Murdo needs, now if they can just admit to each other what their needs and wants really are. Admitting to love, when their kind of love doesn’t stand a chance in society, seems foolish to David.

But they do, and where there’s a will….Murdo finds a way. I thought the solution the author weaved up was perfect. I knew all along it would involve Chalmers’ daughter, but the oh so clever Joanna Chambers came up with a perfect social explanation that would last Murdo and David’s lifetime, and a happy lifetime together it should be.

The dominant role Murdo has played through the series mellows a bit, and David finally admits to his true desires, his true love and let’s go of others’ expectations. I like how Chalmers, David’s mentor, is actually the person to allow David to let go, to admit to his feelings and have the hope and courage to grab hold of his dreams.

A great trilogy, I look forward to more from this author for sure!

Title: Beguiled (2^nd Edition)

Series: Enlightenment 02

Author: Joanna Chambers

Genre: Historical

Length: Novel (226 pages)

Publisher: Joanna Chambers Books (April 23, 2017)

Heat Level: Explicit

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥ 4.5 Hearts

Blurb: Two years after his last encounter with cynical nobleman Lord Murdo Balfour, David Lauriston accidentally meets him again in the heart of Edinburgh.

King George IV is about to make his first visit to Edinburgh and Murdo has been sent North by his politician father to represent his aristocratic family at the celebrations.

David and Murdo’s last parting was painful—and on Murdo’s part, bitter—but Murdo’s feelings seem to have mellowed in the intervening years. So much so, that he suggests to David that they enjoy each other’s company during Murdo’s stay in the capital. 

Despite his initial reservations, David cannot put Murdo’s proposal from his mind, and soon find himself at Murdo’s door—and in his arms. 

But other figures from David’s past are converging on the city, and as the pomp and ceremony of the King’s visit unfolds around them, David is drawn into a chain of events that will threaten everything: his career, his wellbeing, and the fragile bond that, despite David’s best intentions, is growing between him and Murdo.

Product Link: https://www.amazon.com/Beguiled-Enlightenment-Joanna-Chambers-ebook/dp/B0722GJFD4

Reviewer:  GiGi

Review: Did I mention how much I enjoyed Provoked? I dug right into that wonderful book, filled with tension. Beguiled takes off running with tension, and Murdo has been holding on to David’s rejection for a couple of years now. Their past encounters were rife with passion, yet they lived in two different worlds, with different ideals, and went separate ways. Murdo feel’s it was David’s idealism that separated them in the first place and he’s determined to get under his skin and have him again. It’s not an accident that Murdo decided to go to Edinburgh after all, not just family commitment…Murdo went seeking David.

David has been busy working his way up with his friend Chalmers’ help and influence. He owes him a good showing for the King’s visit and amidst his long hours and heavy caseload agrees to get fitted for a new suit so he can meet his commitments and attend several patriotic events. Of course, David wasn’t prepared to see the man who exposes his weaknesses, that tempts him at every turn, Murdo Balfour. The sparks fly once again, David and Murdo battle back and forth between passion and frustration, pride and what David sees as weakness in himself.

Once again, political station, commitments to friends and political disagreements act to force David and Murdo apart. But a tragic injury to David forces them together. Giving them time to build on their passion, or time for an angry husband to catch up with David and finish the threat to his life? Will David and Murdo take this time to get closer, to find a solution to their predicament, how long can they hide their true relationship? I’ll have to wait for the next book to find out!

My only complaint is the cliffhanger…I know there is going to be a very angry, very dangerous, politically powerful Lord coming after David in the very near future, but can Murdo protect him? Ugh…eagerly awaiting the next bite of passion from these two!

Title: Provoked (2^nd Edition)

Series: Enlightenment 01

Author: Joanna Chambers

Genre: Historical, 1800’s Scotland

Length: Novel (208 pages)

Publisher: Joanna Chambers Books (16^th April 2017)

Heat Level: Explicit

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥ 5 Hearts

Blurb: David Lauriston is struggling to build his reputation in Edinburgh’s privileged legal world. His humble origins are enough of a hurdle, never mind his recent decision to defend a group of weavers accused of treason, prompting speculation that he may harbour radical sympathies. The last thing he should be doing is agreeing to help the brother of one of the convicted weavers find the government agent who caused his brother’s downfall.

David’s personal life is no more successful. Tormented by his forbidden desires for other men, and the painful memories of the childhood friend he once loved, David tries his hardest to live a celibate existence, castigating himself whenever his resolve slips. 

But then—into David’s repressed and orderly world—bursts Lord Murdo Balfour.

Cynical, hedonistic and utterly unapologetic, Murdo could not be less like David. Whilst David refuses to entertain the prospect of entering into a loveless marriage for propriety’s sake, Murdo is determined to wed one day—and has no intention of giving up the company of other men when he does so. But as appalled as David is by Murdo’s unrepentant self-interest, he cannot resist the man’s sway.

Murdo tempts and provokes David in equal measure, distracting him from his promise to find the agent provocateur responsible for the weavers’ fate, and forcing him to acknowledge his physical desires.

But is Murdo more than a mere distraction? 

Is it possible he could be the very man David is looking for?

Product Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071YJ254F

Reviewer:   Gigi

Review: I know it’s a great book when I stay up reading until 2:30 in the morning on a work night! I couldn’t put it down. I really enjoy historical romances, I really truly love m/m romance, I get all hot and bothered over Scottish men, and I love a bit of intrigue…this book contains it all! The drama, the angst, the steamy hot and erotic sexual encounters. Chambers has really developed complex characters in both David and Balfour; they each have concrete reasons for being the way they are, how they react to their life situations, and how they see themselves in the peerage. The book opens with an intense scene of a public hanging and decapitation, and really sets the tempo for the tension I felt throughout the book. It’s edgy, it’s philosophical, and it’s exciting throughout.

I really enjoyed how the author is building up tension and magnetism between the two main MC’s, and that they are both drawn to and repelled by each other throughout the plot. I’m also surprised and intrigued by the fact that the bleeding heart idealist David is the rough and gritty lover, and the brutish lord Balfour is the more sensual, intimate lover. That was a nice twist. The drama unfolds as David and his bleeding heart agrees to help Euen, the brother of the executed men he advocated for in court. He wants David’s help tracking down the spy that got his brother killed, and that path may just lead to Balfour! You just know no good can come of it. You see the train wreck coming but can’t help but turn the pages even faster.

As the characters paths begin to align the book becomes nail-biting, and at the same time the sexual confrontation is also coming. The end of book one was at once painful, and settling. I really truly felt sorrow for David’s self-sacrifice for his ideals, and understanding in him accepting what love and family he has as his best comfort in the world. But I know I want so much more for him. I’m left irritated a bit with Balfour, and my mind is whirring with the many possibilities that may lie in store for David and Balfour in the next book!

If you enjoy reading about the Ton and you love a hot, angsty romance, this book is for you! I couldn’t put it down!