Unwanted. Three boys grew up in an orphanage, abandoned and despised by those who should have taken care of them. They were starved, hit, and abandoned for years.
But they are men now. Gentlemen, so to speak. A little broken, a little damaged and a little destroyed by life, but they hide it behind toughness, money, amazingly folded cravats and, in some cases, illegal activities. Their main strength is each other: they are best friends, partners in crime, a found family.
And then comes the one battle that every gentleman, no matter how brooding, haughty or handsome, must face alone. These are the stories of how they each fight, and lose, the battle against love.
Hooked: Wendy and Lord Darlington
When Wendy Hooke was a little girl, she saved a boy from starvation. The boy, Peter, taught her how to fly. Now the boy is a man, a gorgeous man, and he has forgotten all about her. She watches him take London’s ballrooms by storm, pursued by every designing mama, but Peter doesn’t even glance at her. Because it’s not ‘Peter’ now, it’s Lord Darlington.
Peter hasn’t forgotten the girl who saved his life, but his secrets hold him back. The webs of his secret gang that fights crime on the streets of London are closing in on the greatest criminal of all time, the Viscount Hooke. And Wendy…well, she is his daughter.
Caged: Zella and Pirate Charmont
Zella isn’t crazy. She knows that, but no one else does. And, she has to admit, maybe she does look crazy, locked up here in the madhouse, with hair so long and wild it can practically become a rope.
And it does. One day, she lets her hair down from the tiny window, and someone rudely grabs it like a rope. Like a rope thrown to a drowning man.
“I’m not crazy, you know,” she tells the rugged-looking young man who climbs up, panting as if he is running for his life.
“Sweetheart,” he replies, “I don’t care. If they catch me, I’ll get hanged.”
“Oh. Why?”
“Because, m’ dear. I’m a pirate.”
Seduced: Poppy and Lord Hades
Lord Hades owns a gaming hell that sprawls underneath the city of London like the underworld. It is no secret: the Hell Club is notorious all over Europe. Peers and millionaires travel from Vienna and Paris to enjoy the Turkish baths or play cards with the great political leaders of other countries.
Money and power exchange hands nightly underneath the sparkling ballrooms and gentlemen’s clubs, and no one knows. Until Hades discovers a boy sent to spy on him. But the boy is not a boy.
And she will pay.
Retold includes three dark and sparkling romantic stories inspired by myths, folklore and fairytales, as well as by the glittering world and the roguish gentlemen of Regency London.
I received an early reader copy so I won't comment on editing. I'll also do my best to avoid spoilers. This was a surprisingly good read. Regency isn't my first choice for reading, but I found myself immersed in the stories and in the lives of the characters. These stories revolve around three boys who had to depend on each other for survival in more ways than one. At the heart of things, the books are about how physical, mental, and emotional abuse shape who we are, and how love can break us into pieces and reform us into something new. Often into something stronger, better, and exactly what we always hoped and wished we could be. The process isn't always pleasant though.
I enjoyed the nod to Peter Pan, the twisted take on Rapunzel, and the descent into Hell with Hades and Persephone. Each story is uncomfortable with its look at abuse and the affects it has on individuals and our communities. It's time we made ourselves look at things like this. I say well done to M.C. Frank for being brave enough to show the ugly underbelly of society.
I give Untold a solid 4.5 stars and a PG rating.
1-5 scale and what it means:
1: I couldn’t even finish it / just plain bad
2: I hope I didn’t pay for this / disappointing
3: I didn’t hate it, but it was still missing something / forgettable but inoffensive
3.5: On the line between good and ok / like, not love
4: Solid mind candy / worth reading
4.5: So very close to perfection! / must read
5: I could not put it down and I’m still thinking about it! / a true treasure
Movie Ratings in relation to my review:
Clean--Hallmark movies, some kissing, no nudity, no intimacy on or off "screen"
PG--Some innuendo but nothing kids don't hear every day, intimacy is all closed door
PG-13--some language (swear words not related to intimacy), more talk about intimacy, heavy petting, removal of clothing on screen, but intimacy is closed door.
PG-14—somewhere between PG-13 and R. Not erotica, but at least a paragraph of on-screen intimacy
R--swearing (F-bomb, on “screen” intimacy, sometimes feels like the whole story is about the intimacy and not the relationship or some other plot, but not always
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