Pride continueth!
What I thought this book was about and what it is about are two very different things! And not in a bad way, just in a “oh that’s not what I was expecting!” type of way.
Kit reminds me of Katherine from The Witch of Blackbird Pond, so I though that Kit Webb was a female character, but since this has “Queer” in the cover I assumed that the other blonde one on the cover was also female and they were both either androgynous or dressing as men for some sort of Plot Relevant reasons. Needless to say, none of that is true nor relevant but I wanted to tell SOMEONE.
I like historical romances, but it’s also true that they focus on wealthy characters who’ve come by their wealth through definitely unethical means. Are there any ways to amass huge amounts of wealth without subjugating the means of production and taking more than what you can ethically consume? UnLiKeLyyyyy.
It’s not a spoiler per se, but I’m not sure I’ve ever read a book in which the wealthy character’s wealth starts and stays a point of moral contention with the other character. I have Catch a Falling Duke on my TBR which is apparently also concerned with the source of inheritances.
Nothing drove it quite as home as when Percy is taking Kit around his ancestral home and pointing out the various structures with a sort of insouciance but Kit still doesn’t care. He manages to make that point very clear as well–there’s no part of the glamor that he can get behind, because every last gilded edge is a reminder of all the people who’ve suffered and been exploited in the quest for wealth.
I also appreciated the cadence of their romance, which takes place over a significant amount of time (and multiple sweaty hand to hand situations…) before the denouement!