Title: Benjamin Pepperwhistle and the Fantabulous Circus of Wonders
Series: Weight of a Gun
Author: Cornelia Grey
Genre: Historical Romance
Length: Novella (65 Pages)
Publisher: Storm Moon Press (March 13th, 2014)
Heat Level: Explicit
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥ 4 ½ Hearts
Blurb: Benjamin Pepperwhistle has one overriding desire: to handle the glorious machinery that is a gun. So when he decides to run away to join the circus, its only natural that he should seek out the legendary pistoleer, Cole Beauchamp, and beg to be his assistant. Life in the circus has definite ups and downs, but as Benjamin settles in to his role, he finds that some perks are even better than he’d anticipated.
ISBN: 978-1-62757-095-4
Product Link: http://www.stormmoonpress.com/books/Benjamin-Pepperwhistle-and-the-Fantabulous-Circus-of-Wonders.aspx
Reviewer: Zack
Review: Benjamin Pepperwhistle chases his dreams of working with world-famous pistoleer Cole Beauchamp and runs away to join him in the circus in this sharp, visceral novella. The smart writing harkens back to a time when the circus was the greatest show on earth, when feats of prowess and skill marveled crowds across the land.
Benjamin stars as the leading man in search of a home, a place, a tribe with those who are his people. He’s timid and shy, unsure of what he’ll find as he discovers more about himself than he ever thought he would. Cole Beauchamp stands his opposite: confident, strong, intelligent and brooding. Will the pair bond over the smoke and thunder call of the pistols?
Let me preface this by saying: I don’t like guns. I’m not wholly against them, I just don’t like them and they make me nervous. But boy howdy did this novella make me see guns in a different light. The entire story serves as a build of the tension felt by Benjamin – it’s sexual and electric as he handles the guns — cleaning them, loading them, shooting until every last bullet has been spent.
The story featured hardly any explicitly sexual scenes, yet every page I turned was filled with a thrumming tension built and then released and then built higher. I need a cold shower just thinking about it.
The writing is incredibly tight and strong, with even side characters feeling fleshed out and real. Grey draws on each of your senses as she leads you down a rabbit hole to a world that’s just this side of fantasy, a world you’ve always wondered about but never really seen. The circus as it was in its heyday has fascinated many authors and readers alike, and this novella makes a strong addition to the genre.
I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys good writing and sweltering sexual tension – though you may not want to read it at work! It may make it quite difficult to concentrate.
* I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review through http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com *