Charming rascal Tristan Northwood seems to have it all: an ancient name, a noble inheritance, a lovely wife, and a son he adores. Women love him, men admire him, and it seems there is nothing he can't do, whether it's seducing a society wife or winning a carriage race. Little does Society suspect that the name means nothing to him, the fortune is in his father's controlling hands, and he has no interest in his wife except a very distant friendship. Society bores him, and he takes dares because he only feels alive when he's dancing on the edge... until his wife's brother comes home from the wars. Decorated war hero Major Charles Mountjoy jerks Tris out of his despair by inspiring feelings of passion Tris had never suspected himself capable of. Almost as terrifying as those feelings for Charles are the signs Charles might return his affection—or, even worse, that Charles sees the man Tristan has been trying so valiantly to hide from the world.
Review
I'm not a big fan of historical romances. When I saw the men in 19th Century clothes on the cover of Rowan Speedwell's Kindred Hearts, from Dreamspinner Press, my first thought was, "This does not bode well." When I discovered in the first few pages that the main character, Tristan Northwood, is an arrogant, womanizing, self-destructive drunk, I was all set to hate this novel.
Imagine my surprise when, only a few pages later, I found myself not only caring about Tristan but unable to put the book down. Speedwell has an uncanny ability here to take inherently unlikeable characters and make you root for them. The novel is set in England, in the early 1800's. Tristan's rich, distant father, fed up with his son's scandalous behavior, arranges for him to marry Charlotte, a somewhat self-centered woman who agrees to the marriage because, at 25, she is well past the age when a lady should take a husband. The scene where they consummate their marriage is hilarious, and it made me even more sympathetic toward Tristan. They plan to produce two children, after which she will be free to return to a home in the country and Tristan will be free to resume his wild lifestyle. But they actually come to care about each other, if in a platonic way. Charlotte knows that Tristan wants to be loved passionately, something that she can't give him, and she wants him to have it. Just as she wants her gay twin brother, Charles, to find love.
Speedwell does a very good job with the romance between Tristan and Charles. It develops gradually and believably, with plenty of obstacles to keep you pulling for these guys. The fact that the live in a time when homosexuality was an even bigger taboo than it is today raises the level of suspense. Add to that some snappy period dialogue and spicy sex scenes, and you get a very satisfying story.
