3.5 stars

Interestingly, I was still not sure, halfway into the book, whether it was intended to be a capital-r romance or not, and, unfortunately, this lack of clarity about what this book wanted (was supposed?) to be affected my experience with and enjoyment of it. The cover calls it a "Georgian Era Romp," and it certainly is that. Lawrence's writing style is wry, self-aware, and more than occasionally outright funny. It definitely succeeds as a queer historical romp, and I recommend it for readers who want that. I, however, am a Romance Reader and cannot help but view it through that lens. As such, the romance did not work for me: there is no build-up to their feelings for each other, in large part because they actually spend very little time together. It's very insta-lovey. There is a line halfway through that claims "[t]here had been moments at the ball and in his home which seemed like openings to a private joke or a pet name." If so, all of those moments happened off-page. It's a shame because I think more on-page development of the burgeoning relationship central to the story could have made this an outright delight of a book. I did enjoy the romance aspect more after about 60% in, when it starts to treat the romance with a bit more earnestness. Truthfully, Mr. Collins may have been my favorite part. Overall, I mostly enjoyed the fun ride, and I'd be willing to give Lawrence's other books a shot.

I received an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Amazing plot line, well-written. I was reading it and AMAZING. A page turner and I think the author did a great job.

Thank you NetGalley and Broadbound Publishing for the ARC of Blackmailer's Delight by David Lawrence. Set in 1795 this book broaches the topic of time specific homophobia and the men and women you fight to have the relationships they want outside of societies standards.

Blackmailer's Delight starts with the rather spectacular breakup of Daniel and Clarence prior to Daniel moving back to Grantham to care for his ailing uncle. There he meets Luke who is a younger man seeking to understand his sexual orientation. After a night of partying Daniel receives a letter blackmailing him about his sexual orientation. Daniel believes the blackmailer to be Luke and uses this to his advantage.

The characters in this book where really well developed and written. Daniel is definitely a person who while he may seem selfish he truly cares about those around him. He worries that if his uncle finds out the truth about himself that he may lose the closest family member he has. Luke starts off as a really innocent character who doesn't know much about the world. Throughout the book I just wanted to hug and protect him. Clarence is 100% what happens to spoil children who have overbearing parents. He does develop a lot as a character throughout the book but he frustrated me so much during it.

I loved the open communication of what it is to be a queer person in this time period and how one must protect themselves. I think the ending was pure perfection and was the only way for everyone to have a happy ending. I also think this was one of the best versions of a misunderstanding/miscommunication trope I have read. The misunderstanding does go for a while in the book but once it is solved there is such wonderful and open communication between all characters.

I highly recommend this for a good and quick read. If you enjoy historical fiction books this is the one for you. Content warnings are period specific homophobia.

3.5 stars

This book had a lot of the tropes I enjoy in a historical romance. I enjoyed the character's perspectives but I found the shifting POV to be a little jarring at times. This is my first experience reading David Lawrence but I'll be inclined to check out other work by the author.

I'd definitely recommend giving this a try if you enjoy Georgian era romance, age gaps, and grumpy/sunshine.

Thank you to the author and the publisher for this ARC to review!

I enjoyed this queer historical fiction. I think those who love historical domestic fiction and are looking for a queer romance that they will love this tale. The whole premise of this novel is a miscommunication trope, but I found that there was a little too much of it for my liking. I still thought the book was enjoying to read and read it in a day!

** 3.5 Stars **

This is my first time reading something from David Lawrence and I liked it! I think he is eloquent and well written, and I haven't read any of his other works so IDK if this is just his writing style but I also liked how it was written as almost old-timey, the language felt like it fit the period. I felt like I was reading a romance straight out of Bridgerton. It wasn't today's common language used to describe events happening in a different time period, but both the dialogue and text fit that of the time period.

First of all, TW - there is an age gap of about 15ish years between the love interests. I personally am not the biggest fan of age gaps because I think it can lead to a lot of manipulation of the younger party even if they are all consenting adults. The age gap isn't enough to stop me from reading a book (unless it is poorly written then I would DNF but that is not the case with this book), however it is something that will always nag in the back of my head no matter how well or healthy the characters' relationship seems to be. With that being said, I think Daniel does abuse this maturity gap a bit when he thinks it was Luke who wrote him a blackmail note. I'm glad it worked out for them but this is an unhealthy dynamic IMHO, even if it is appropriate to the historical time period.

Apart from the age gap, I wish there was more time spent developing Daniel & Luke's relationship. They eye each other from afar, and barely have any time together before the blackmail note comes in to play and puts a wrench in their budding relationship. There's some steamy scenes, but they don't have a lot of one on one time to just get to know each other before the i-love-yous come out. Mind you, a bulk of the events of this novel happen in just about a week or so. Their whole relationship seems to be built out of lust & infatuation, and I think this could have been a great precursor to a series about these men instead of just a one off.

Now for my favorite part - the spice. I enjoyed most of the scenes, but still had a little nagging sense that Daniel was abusing his power over Luke to get to gratification (at least while he thought Luke was the blackmailer). My favorite scene was towards the end when the Blackmailer's identity was revealed and all was forgiven - makeup sex FTW. The sex was well written and not too explicit or corny.

I also really enjoyed the twist at the end - I didn't see it coming and I think it sets us up for a great resolution for all parties. Super cute and lighthearted way to end this story, and give everyone a happy ending. Even for characters you wouldn't expect it for.

Would I re-read? Probably not. I'm very picky with the books I re-read and while I enjoyed this the first time, I don't see myself picking it up again.
Would I read more from this author? Sure! Depends on where I am with my TBR, but I could see myself picking up another book by Lawrence.

Huge thank you to NetGalley, Broadbound Publishing, & David Lawrence for this eARC! I had a great time :)


** Please note that Amazon doesn't allow review prior to publication date, but I will be posting my review there as well come 2/13 once this book is officially published.

I understand that 34 year olds dating 18 year olds during this time period was probably about as common place as marrying your cousin but c'mon. There was a wide array of ages to pick from and you just HAD to make the 18 year old learn to explore his sexuality with the 34 year old.

Blackmailer's Delight is an authentic rendition of an era where inequality was prevalent and soceity intolerant. This gives rise to the premise of the book.

Going into it, I would recommend to readers to have an open mind and keep in mind that those were different times which we evolved (and learned) from. On to the plot

Daniel and Clarence have an epic breakup, Daniel returns to England and falls for a yournger man (Luke). Daniel is of the rich gentry and Luke working class. Friendships of this type were scorned and anything more was unheard of, in fact prosecutable in those times. Therefore, the relationship is rife for backmail

There are multiple POV's which can be difficult to follow at times, but begin to entwine as we learn more about the families involved.

An interesting read from the historical/ cultural perspective. Well-researched and elgant plot

I was kindly given an arc for free and leave my review voluntarily

I was given a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair review, thanks to Net Galley and the publisher.

DNF @ 40%

Blackmailer's Delight is a historical LGBTQ+ romance about a man Daniel Thornton (who seems to be in the landed gentry/old money) who has recently come to the country after breaking up with his lover Clarence, and who falls for a tradesman's (new money) son, Luke Morley. It started off strong with a great breakup scene between Clarence and Daniel.

One thing that got to me early is the huge age gap: Daniel is in his mid 30s and Luke is about 20 years old. Daniel also is the more powerful character. Luke is a golden retriever, and Daniel is a grump, and I would hope that there would be a bit more equality between them.

The pacing is also off: the characters don't spend much time on the falling for each other bit before the complication is introduced, and actually they don't really spend much time together at all. Or thinking about each other. A lot of the book is spent talking about their families which would be fine, but we don't really get much character development to care about those families.

The PoV also jumps around at times in weird ways where it's hard to keep track of who we're following. The first Luke chapter seemed to be more from his mother's PoV.

So at 40% when things didn't really seem to be picking up much, I am giving this a DNF.

You might like this book if you're super into blackmail plots and don't mind the age gap or the inequality of feelings.