Blackmailer's Delight

** 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.