BOOK REVIEW - Lord Byron's Secret Obsession [Net Galley]

I shall be posting my Net Galley reviews up on Sundays to keep the separate from other reviews (and because adding them to the queue may back them up too much). This shall not be posted every Sunday, only when I have an NG book finished.

Author: H.C. Brown - http://www.hcbrown-author.com/
Format: Kindle eBook from Net Galley [I received a complimentary copy from the publisher thru Net Galley for an honest review.]
Did it feel like a full novel: yes
Cliffhanger: no
Genre: romance, gay, erotica
Dates Read: July 28-31, 2015

• Publication Date: August 27, 2015

Official Blurb: Lord Byron Wilton leaves England for the Americas after a public argument with his secret lover, Lord David Litchfield. On his return, he finds, Lord David has become an unwilling sex partner for the reprobate Mr. Hale and his cohorts, due to unpaid gambling debts. After Mr. Hale refuses his offer to settle the debts, Lord Byron makes an outlandish and dangerous plan to outwit the trio. He must use every trick in the book, and a considerable amount of his fortune, in an effort to regain his lover's freedom.

Hadn't gotten much chance to read historical fiction of any type, though my m/m reading experience is from various fanfictions since I was a teen, heh heh. This started out with a super hot scene, totally grabbed my attention. The way the story developed was nice, and the ambiance with the vocabulary, clothing, and such was pretty realistic. Two small complaints though: 1) “bunghole” makes me giggle, not blush, so that kinda brought down scenes where it was mentioned a touch; 2) some of the vocab was not something I could easily look up and had to pick up from context, such as rake, chit, etc. Context is good, but sometimes I had no clue, bleh. The rest was written well, with a good variety of dialogue, sex, and plot advancement.

There were some very nice naughty bits, written with enough detail and diversity to keep sexy. The relationship between Byron and David was rich with a bit of drama but not too much. More like obstacles to overcome so they can be together (other people and David's having to get past some stuff too). I wasn't so sure that Byron really loved David at first though, I kinda figured he just desired his body, but later you feel they equally care for each other. It's probably bad of me, but I wanted more detailed scenes with David and Hale (plus his buddies). The way the blurb was written, I thought there was going to be more of that *snicker*. Had a nice end with most everything wrapped up in a nice bow except I had thought John had found a special someone, but perhaps that was a red herring, or maybe there'll be another book later? If so I really hope Brown will consider him and Joe getting together :D

Rating: 4 stars