Elin Gregory

It’s been a good week for reading – my laptop had a problem and writing hasn’t been possible so I’ve been comfort reading and picking at some recommendations. So this week I have not one but TWO books for you.

First of all I had best come clean that my first rec is a brand new release from one of my dearest friends – a book that I read in first draft mode – but I still think that I Knew Him by Erastes is superb and very unusual, as you will see.

Young Harry Bircham, up at Cambridge, seems at first sight to be our traditional historical hero. He’s handsome, intelligent and is desperately in love with his best friend. But there’s SO much more to Harry than that. Perhaps his wit is a little vicious? Well it was the fashion of the time. Perhaps he’s a little possessive? One can excuse his anxiety when one reflects that the object of his devotion doesn’t seem quite as into Harry as Harry is into him. Maybe he’s inclined to cut corners to get what he wants? But then Harry is moving in top drawer circles without a lot of family money to back him up. Harry does what he has to and is always going to come out on top – unless it’s his whim to be on the bottom. Pushy? I should say so.

The book is filled with delicious 1920s set pieces, from Cambridge student life, to country house parties to polo matches and Harry sails through it all, doing his own thing. What his thing is would be a spoiler, and I don’t want to do that, but I remember when I first read it that my eyes got wider and wider.

This is absolutely NOT a M/M romance so shouldn’t be read as such, but it is a riveting and exciting story – one that you’ll read alternately cheering Harry on, then saying “Oh no he DIDN’T!” I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

And I promised another, didn’t I? I saw this book recommended by S. A. Meade, whose work I think is cracking, so I took a chance.

So what if you’re a retired spy, a faithful servant of your masters, now out to grass and enjoying a quiet coffee in a cafe in Britanny? What if, as you tussle with the cross word and look out across the street to the sea, a man sits down at your table – a man you were sure was dead and who you know has every reason to want to end your life in the most painful way possible.

That’s the premise of In the Presence of Mine Enemy by Helena Maeve. I’m wondering why I’ve never read anything by this author before but I fear that it’s because her work is labelled as erotica. Yes, the sex in this book is explicit, but there was some point to most of it and the bits that didn’t seem to have much point plotwise showed character development.

This is another strong, exciting and edgy book that’s not at all run of the mill romance. Give it a go.