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Transgressions: An M/M Romance
by Erastes
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$12.95 |
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Paperback
Publisher: Running Press
ISBN13: 9780762435739
Condition: NEW
Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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1642, England David Caverly's strict father has brought home the quiet, puritanical Jonathan Graie to help his dreamer of a son work the family forge. With war brewing in Parliament, the demand for metal work increases as armies are raised.
The indolent and deceitful David Caverly is bored by his father's farm and longs to escape, maybe to join the King's Army, mustering at Nottingham. David finds himself drawn to Jonathan, and after a passing cavalry trooper seduces the beautiful David and reveals his true nature, he determines to teach Jonathan what he's learned. When David is forced to leave the farm, and the boys are separated by mistrust and war, they learn the meaning of love and truth as they fight their way across a war-torn country, never thinking they'll ever see each other again.
| Customer Reviews: |
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| An unflinching, true-to-life historical romance |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
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TRANSGRESSIONS by Erastes is fine storytelling set against a backdrop of civil war and 17th century religious tyranny. David and Jonathan are two young men from very different backgrounds who fall in love and find strength in one another before unfortunate circumstances tear them apart and lead them upon separate paths, each having to survive the horrors of a war-torn and blood-thirsty country before they briefly meet again on the battlefield.
The writing in the first half of the novel is slightly less skilled than the second half, in that the POV shifting seems a bit awkward. However, once the Witchfinders enter the picture, you will be hooked to the very end. The attention to detail, and what I can only imagine to be a fairly accurate look at religious fanaticism and brainwashing through psychological abuse, make this novel so much deeper and richer than just a historical romance.
Mark R. Probst
Author of The Filly
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| sadism isn't sexy |
| Customer Rating: 2 out of 5 |
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I thought the first half of the book was fine but when the torture began it got tedious. The charaters were believeable and the historical era is interesting.
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| not as good as her first book |
| Customer Rating: 1 out of 5 |
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I was really disappointed. The plot was forced, the characters unbelievable, the sex not very sexy. Sad reaaly, since her first book was a great read.
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| transgressions will leave you begging for more |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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I just finished reading this book.I don't know who the author is but i believe she decieves an oscar award.This book is all in one.It has everything,history,adventure,sabotage,deception,fetish,true love,purity...you name it.It will keep you captivated for days.It's not a silly short story so,take your time.But just have your tissue beside you because there is a part that will break your heart so much that you may be crying for a long time.This book is magnificient.I wish i could give it ten stars.I won't tell you about the book but,all you have to know is that you won't regret it.This author's brilliance's is extreme.Transgressions deserves an oscar.MAGNIFICIENT.
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| Erastes does it again: this is a terrific book! |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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I discovered Erastes as an author about a year ago and she has earned a place on my list of favorites. Why? She writes beautifully, tells a great story, pays remarkable attention to historical details (I'm a stickler for that), and is realistic in her depiction of human emotions and relationships. As an author, she delivers the complete package. As a reader, that's what I want and to date, Erastes hasn't disappointed me.
Trangressions is Erates' second novel and is a worthy successor to her first, Standish. It tells the story of David Caverly and Jonathan Graie, set against the backdrop of the English Civil War. Over the course of the novel, they travel from heaven to hell (literally) and end up back on earth with the rest of us mere mortals. There is a sliver of hope that they may see heaven again--not to live there but to at least find a little bit of happiness in a world that seems largely devoid of it.
The story opens in 1642. David is a beautiful, golden boy, on the verge of becoming a man. He is dreamy, idealistic, self-centered, impetuous and restless. He is impatient with his life, living and working with his father Jacob, the blacksmith, confined by the size of their farm and small village. He is eager to get away from Kineton and find out what world holds for him--down the road, across the river, in the city. England is at war with herself but David, as so many boys before or since, sees this as a big exciting game and wants nothing more than to be part of the adventure.
Jonathan arrives at the farm to serve as an apprentice blacksmith to Jacob. He is everything David is not: tall, broad shouldered, dark-haired; a devout Puritan who prays on his knees and turns his eyes away from David's nakedness in their shared bedroom. They have nothing in common but their age. But David becomes the ying to Jonathan's yang and they bridge their differences, becoming friends, then lovers, pledging themselves to each other with a blood oath, vowing to be together for all time.
This would seem to be the foundation for a traditional romance but wait...maybe not. David had been initiated into the `ways of the flesh' by another man. On my first reading, it seemed this might have been a convenient way for David to learn "the ropes." But as I thought about it, maybe this was a subtle way to tell us that Jonathan is not David's "one true love."
Not his one true love? Wait a minute, isn't that sacrilege? In certain corners of the romance writing world, maybe it is. But what Erastes does, and skillfully, is turn the myth on its head that 'soulmate and true love' have to be the same person. Clearly Jonathan is David's soulmate. But is he David's true love? David is a very sensual--and sexual--man. He needs a man--a lover--at his side to survive and it is in the early part of the book that he realizes this. How this plays out, throughout the story, is interesting indeed. The fact that he figures it out--he needs a man, but doesn't love all of them--is even more interesting.
This is a book that can be read on many levels. As a war story/adventure with romance thrown in, it works. As a comment on the tragedy and morality of war, it works. Myself, I found myself reading this (and thinking about it afterwards) on a very symbolic level. Pay attention to scars, knives, rapiers, swords; metal in all its forms and the fact that the David, Jonathan and others are created against the background of a fire, forge and all that entails. (Sort of spoiler: read the book and then go back and re-read David's sexual initiation and where it occurs. See if you don't look at it differently after reading the whole book. I did.)
No doubt about it, this is David's story and as the book went on, I found myself wanting to read his parts and the other stuff--not so much. There is a subplot with Jonathan that was grim and could have been shortened. It went on just a little too long and in the big scheme of things, I'm not sure the level of excruciating detail that was given was needed. Readers who identify more with Jonathan might disagree with me, however.
This is the first of four books in a new male/male romance line being published by Running Press. I was thrilled that they released a Kindle version on the same day as the print version. On my Kindle, the book was nicely formatted and had the bonus of being able to navigate from chapter to chapter using the 5-way controller (I have a Kindle 2). That's a cool feature and came in handy as I wrote this review, allowing me to move quickly through the book to review certain sections--and re-read favorite passages.
For Running Press, this is terrific book to initiate their new series. As I said at the beginning, Transgressions has it all: great story, great writing, great characters. And for those of us who like our romance hot, but tasteful: Erastes hits the ball out of the park. Read this book. You won't be disappointed.
Five stars. Highly recommended.
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