Think of England

Once again I couldn't write up a review when I finished and this could all be a jumble of words which all translate to: I LOVED THIS. I knew [a:K.J. Charles 7123498 K.J. Charles https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1418032373p2/7123498.jpg] would be a favorite author and I haven't been let down. The anglophile in me is thrilled. I have always been a fan of historical, but when I started my career as a romance reader it was mostly Regency to early Victorians with a bit of Georgian and a dash of medieval. I'm really enjoying these Edwardians. I always read them with my heart in my throat, knowing the characters will soon be faced by the horror of WWI, and yet enjoying this waning days of the Empire kind of vibe. Like in [b:Proper English 44420645 Proper English K.J. Charles https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1554298689l/44420645.SY75.jpg 68974183] we have another Country House party hosted by some pretty unsavory characters. The guests are there for pleasure, except two. Archibald “Archie” Curtis, a former Captain in His Majesty's army is looking for answers as to who is responsible for the defective munitions that caused him to be injured & disabled, but more importantly lose friends and comrades under his command during the second Anglo-Boer war. The other is Daniel Da Silva, an effete Bloomsbury poet and aesthete, or is he? The two couldn't be more different temperamentally, physically, or anything else but they soon discover that they do have common ground. Quite a lot in fact.I won't get into the plot save to say that I loved how the author didn't make Archie's reactions anachronistically PC just because he's a decent man. His initial reactions to Daniel align with how many in “high society” viewed (and infuriatingly still do) an overtly mannered man, a Jew, and someone who's name proclaims them to be “foreign”. Upon first meeting Daniel Archie thinks of him as a pansy and an “unspeakable creature” (that one made me laugh). However he soon realizes there's more to him, that Daniel is like one of his poems, which Archie stumbles upon: “These poems were full of broken glass and water -which was not clean water - and scaly things that moved in the dark.” I also like that this was in no way a GFY scenario but more like Archie coming into his own and finally being able to honestly see what was before his eyes the whole time. What to say about Daniel Da Silva but that he's the bravest soul around. Never hiding his true self, but ever practical, and using his intellect to slice through societal hypocrisy and stricture. However he never envisioned a force like Archie, a man without guile or artifice. A person who means what he says and does what he means. What a novel concept. When Archie & Daniel come together sparks fly and they bring out the best in each other. Still I loved how the author left their relationship at a plausible stage given the time elapsed in the story. It's like the ending of Casablanca brimming with possibilities.If you read Proper English you'll be delighted to see Fen & Pat again and if not you'll be curious about them and should run and read their story. I paired the book with the AB by [a:Tom Carter 137976 Tom Carter https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] and I couldn't recommend it more. He perfectly captures the speech inflections of British public school boys and Daniel's range from party remarks used as a scalpel to when he's bared emotionally to Archie. My only problem now is nervous anticipation of the next book. Soon?