Title: Kindred Hearts
Author: Rowan Speedwell
Cover Artist:
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Genre: Historical Romance
Buy Link: Buy Link Kindred Hearts
Length: novel
Rating: 4.75 out of 5
A guest review by Sirius
Summary: Having two appealing main characters, wonderful female characters, and great research, this Napoleonic era historical romance has it all and satisfied me on so many levels.
Blurb:
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 liked Finding Zach by this author, but I loved this book and enjoyed every word of it. It is a very well-researched historical as far as I can tell, and has two heroes who are likeable and wonderfully flawed. Moreover both Charles and Tristan — especially Tristan — have real character arcs; they grow and change for the better over the course of the story. (I know it should be a given, but I do not see it in this genre often enough for my taste, so when I do see it I always praise it.)
I also liked that the author made sure that Tristan and Charles found a real passion, something wonderful to do with their time besides being with each other. I do not see that too often in historicals, either, if the protags are representatives of upper classes. We often find gentlemen spending time on their properties, and if they figure out how to take better care of people who serve them, then that is a bonus. Although this may be understandable and historically true, I absolutely loved how the author found something here for them to do, which allowed for them to engage in and be passionate about it as well as bringing them even closer.
Tristan’s wife, Lottie, is the most delightful character. I have seen authors go the marriage of convenience route to make sure that a man looks good in the eyes of society, but this author gave this trope a fresh twist and Lottie truly shines in my opinion. I cannot talk a lot about her character without rather significant spoilers, but I want to quote a paragraph from the only quarrel she and Tristan have on pages of the book, one which I thought was quite amusing:
“You began it,” she said dryly. “Now it’s your turn to say, ‘No, you started it.’ That’s how quarrels go, you know. They quickly devolve into meaningless posturing.”
“Listening to you speak one might think you were educated,” Tristan said.
“Too bad spelling wasn’t part of your education.”
“Oh very good,” she said approvingly. “We’re exchanging personal insults. One would think you had done this before.”
Despite his anger, this struck him as immensely funny, and he broke into unwilling laughter.
There were aspects of our heroes and their emotions that I really liked as well as how they helped each other, such as when Tristan was struggling with his outlook on life and Charles helped him to stand on both feet and realize what he wanted from his own life, and then when Charles needed assistance toward the end, Tristan was there for him. I also liked how whatever Tristan was feeling before Charles came along was not described in modern medical terms.
I also loved how the book successfully avoided what I call the break up for the sake of creating a conflict out of nowhere. I prefer when the characters spend time apart because what is happening around them truly demands it, and here Charles would not have been Charles if he refused to do his duty no matter how much he is tired and dislikes it. And the protags actually did not engage in idiotic quarrel before they needed to spend time apart — oh, this was such a refreshingly delightful story on so many levels!
Additionally, I enjoyed how while Tristan and Charles constantly are aware that discovery of their relationship could endanger their lives, they found a couple of people close to them who accept them and willing to help them. It does make sense to and heartens me that no matter how homophobic the majority of the population would have been in a past era in one country or another, sometimes close family members or very close friends managed to still accept them.
I should note that there is one tiny sex scene between Tristan and Lottie on their wedding night, but that is it, and by the time Tristan and Charles are together, Tristan is no longer sleeping with Lottie. Their marriage to me was both a usual and an unusual arrangement; unusual because of what Lottie wanted out of it, something I have not seen that often. Also note that while there is some sex in the story between Charlie and Tristan, in comparison to the length of the book, it is not much (three? four scenes? not even sure) and it definitely does not overwhelm the story, which worked for me.
The only little niggle I had with the story was Tristan’s father. I had no problem with him being clueless about how to raise his son and how he finally owned up to it, but I absolutely had a problem with him not realizing how his cruel words affected Tristan. I could not understand how he could not figure out that kindness could have been helpful in raising a child. But this is a small complaint of an otherwise wonderful novel.
Highly recommended.
I really enjoyed this one and historical M/M is my least favourite. It was great that the historical detail was so well done. It brought back memories for me of Vanity Fair and An Infamous Army!
Your review was exactly the way I found the book. Lottie- so refreshing ( love that quote ) and yes I found Tristan’s father was the weakest character in many ways. Tristan and Charles were lovely together.
This means I’ll have to read her next one- another historical grr….
Heeee, I do love historicals Raine, if they are well done of course, glad you enjoyed this one. Tris’ father, yes, I mean I was wavering about the rating of this one, may still change it to five star, because it was basically a five star read for me.
I DO NOT THINK THAT I WILL BE SAYING ANYTHING MORE ABOUT TRIS’ FATHER THAN WHAT I SAID IN THE REVIEW, BUT I GUESS JUST IN CASE SMALL SPOILER WARNING BEFORE YOU READ FURTHER.
But Tris’ father for me was just a bit off, if that makes sense. Sure if all he had done was to make wrong choices in bringing Tris’ up, I could see the explanation that he did not know what to do with children be enough, kind of? But he IMO basically verbally abused Tristan all his life, not just meddled in, I mean he did not know that calling anybody’s names is a wrong thing to do, no matter what? Not just your child (especially your child), anyone? I mean for me you do not NEED to know what to do with children to realize that, if that makes sense.
Yes, I quite agree, the thing is his father’s attitude towards him really is a huge shaping factor in Tristan’s life so if that behaviour is not believable enough it does influence the balance of the book.
So I still think your stars are the right stars! 🙂
Yes, exactly. Thanks Raine. Its just for behavior like this, I did not feel that ‘I do not know what to do with children” was sufficient explanation. I would have been happier if there was no explanation even, or maybe he realized that he indeed subconsciously resented Tristan in some way. Like if he would have for example give him to the nanny or relatives, abandoned him, then while still bad, at least the explanation ‘I did not know what to do with you” would probably satisfied me. But his behavior is something which I would have expected any decent person know not to do to any human being, child or adult and “do not know what to do with children” felt kind of irrelevant for me as explanation or justification.
Anyway, yes, despite my rambling, overall it was a small nigle for me in otherwise excellent read.
This sounds fantastic, thanks Sirius I should really give this one a try! 😀
Leslie, I loved it so much that in addition to kindle edition I also bought a paperback, something which I do so very rarely these days, this one is definitely going to be one of my comfort rereads. Please let me know what you thought if you decide to read it.
I love it when a m/m story has strong female characters who aren’t immediately regulated into the b*tch role just to give an excuse for one or the other to ‘be gay’ or cheat or whatever.
I liked Finding Zach also, with some reservations, but it seems those reservations will not be found in this story.
Thanks for the great review!
Merith,I also like when story has strong female characters who not either B*tch or bestest friend with no layers in characterization. I think you will enjoy Lottie. I did and a lot 🙂
Yes, I also liked Finding Zach but with reservations, which I had basically none for this story.
Thank you for this review, Sirius! I just finished DISCREET YOUNG GENTLEMAN by MJ Pearson and wanted to find another similarly excellent read. I think this will fit what I’m looking for, so thank you.
Missy I do not know if this helps or not, but I vastly preferred this one to Discreet Young Gentleman, even though I thought that one was a good book. Let us know what you thought if you decide to try this one.
Glad to hear you liked this! I bought it since I enjoyed Finding Zach so much. Still in my enormous TBR pile. Good to hear a great review.
I loved it. Well, when you get to reading this one, please come back and share your impressions with us.
I loved Finding Zach too – it was one of my favorites. She has a short spin-off with the journalist who wrote Zach’s story called Hopes and Fears which was also really good.
As soon as the next Little Boy Lost book is out the door, I’m going to finish Kindred Hearts because I’m really enjoying it so far. 🙂
Yes I did like Hopes and fears. Let us know what you think when you are done with this one 🙂
I also agree that your review reflected my view of the story spot on.
Thanks for the review.
Thank you very much Linda.
I just bought this as an insta-buy, didn’t even bother with the sample–because I love historicals and this is a great review. Thanks, Sirius…I am looking forward to reading this!
L
Leslie, I am keeping my fingers crossed that you will like it. I really think this one is good enough to pass quite strict muster 🙂
I tend to prefer historicals anyway, but sometimes they’re just a framework for the same old cliches. After reading two or three favorable reviews, and your nice insights into why this one is different from the usual run, it’s going on my to-buy list. Thanks
Catana, I absolutely agree with you that sometimes (or quite a lot of times) the historicals in this genre are just framework for same old cliches. Yes, to me this one was quite different in a good way. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did. Please let us know.
Why, oh, why are you adding to my list?! Because, you did. Just now. XD
That’s enthusiastic review. And I’m intrigued by the way you described the guy’s wife. That’s not something I usually say when it comes to m/m. Thanks for the review, Sirius! 🙂
Heee, sorry for adding to your list LadyM, although not really :). Thanks for commenting.
I really enjoyed this book. Tristan has made a friend at the end of the book and Im wondering will that friend get a story?
Hannah I have also wondered about it :). Glad you enjoyed the book.
Sirius, thank you so much for the wonderful review! I’m so glad you enjoyed the book. I’m sorry I’m so late acknowledging it–Google Alerts Epic Fail!
And yes, Derek will get a chance for his own story… someday. I’ve got another contemporary I need to finish first…!! LOL!!
Thanks for writing it Rowan 🙂
My historical loving self fell in love with this one – instant add to the favorites folder. I appreciate all the research 😮 Interesting settings and highly engaging main characters who undergo wonderful growth as they realize their romance and their future – had me up well into the night. I personally have background in the profession Tristan and Charles chose to study, so that was a bonus for me. 🙂 Must mention I thought the sex scenes between Tristan and Charles were well written and seemed especially fresh and authentic – actually ditto that to their whole relationship . (Total shallow comment, but I tend to have a soft spot for anyone named Tristan ever since reading James Herriot novels as a kid and first encountering the name :wink:) I would love more from these characters, but then I always want more of my favorites!
I am so happy you enjoyed this one Dianne, yes their whole relationship felt fresh and authentic to me, definitely. I was actually pleased that writer chose any profession for them, although to keep it true to the era, she had to pick one of the few gentlemen could study and still be gentlemen. I love this book and will be rereading it and rereading it I think.