A Fashionable Indulgence

Society of Gentlemen, Book 1

By: KJ Charles

Narrated by: Matthew Lloyd Davies

Length: 8 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

In the first novel of an explosive new series from K. J. Charles, a young gentleman and his elegant mentor fight for love in a world of wealth, power, and manipulation. When he learns that he could be the heir to an unexpected fortune, Harry Vane rejects his past as a radical fighting for government reform and sets about wooing his lovely cousin. But his heart is captured instead by the most beautiful, chic man he’s ever met: the dandy tasked with instructing him in the manners and style of the ton. Harry’s new station demands conformity - yet the one thing he desires is a taste of the wrong pair of lips. After witnessing firsthand the horrors of Waterloo, Julius Norreys sought refuge behind the luxurious facade of the upper crust. Now he concerns himself exclusively with the cut of his coat and the quality of his boots. And yet his protégé is so unblemished by cynicism that he inspires the first flare of genuine desire Julius has felt in years. He cannot protect Harry from the worst excesses of society. But together they can withstand the high price of passion.

©2015 K. J. Charles (P)2015 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

“If one Regency rake isn’t enough for you, check out A Fashionable Indulgence, a rollicking tale from the deft pen of K. J. Charles. I’ll read anything she writes!” ( New York Times best-selling author Kate Pearce)

Best book in this series

I can't express how much I love Julius Norreys. What an amazingly nuanced, complex, beautifully broken character. I keep coming back to read this one again, just for him. I mean, the rest of the book is great, too, and there's a very interesting story, and Harry is an adorably well-meaning dumbass, but Julius is thorough perfection.

LOVE this narrator!

What does Matthew Lloyd Davies bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I would have enjoyed this book if I just read it, but having the awesome narration made me love it.

A Fashionable Indulgence, INDEED!!!

I am starting to wonder if I should simply create a form review for KJ Charles' writing. It would basically be me saying, "I LOVED THIS STORY AND THE CHARACTERS AND THE..." and so on and so forth.

The first book in the Society of Gentlemen series, "A Fashionable Indulgence" introduces us to Harry Vane, born of a noble father turned sedition-enthusiast and an educated by not well-born mother. He has nowhere to go, no way to get out of an existence of poverty and hunger, until he is found by his nobleman of a grandfather, and his entire world is tossed upside down. He's tossed into a world he never dreamed could be for him, and finds himself on the radar of one Julius Norreys.

What follows is a tale of romance, but it isn't without it's peaks and valleys of sedition, mixed loyalties, lies, deceit, and even -- dare I say -- no... no, I won't say it. I'll keep you in SUSPENSE. The who's and why's are yours to discover. What I can say is that this is another proof of Charles' ability to write engaging plots, compelling characters, well-thought-out development arcs, and the right amount of steam to keep it all together.

Brilliant

I'd already read the ebook version of this book and decided to give the audio book version a chasing it came with my membership.

Sade to say it was the best decision ever. The story was brought to light by the narrator and was sheer perfection in voice performance. I can't say anything else than say this is HIGHLY recommended.

Go get it.

Amazing!!

The Story: 4.5Pants Off

I loved the heck out of this! Can anyone else do regency gay romance like how KJ Charles does it?? This was a freaking gift and made my historical romance loving heart super happy.

Harry and Julius set the streets and the sheets of London on fire. Throw in all the political fighting, abundant wealth, and street walking poor. Where men fight for the poor and go against queen and country and others will fight just to shut them up.

A Fashionable Indulgence was a delight of epic proportions and I freaking loved it. Great characters, and a great story overall.

The Narration: 5 Pants Off

They couldn’t have found a better person to do this. Mathew Lloyd Davies was a treat for my ears and he just made everything so exciting. I went up in flames 🔥 at the sexy time. When he put that growl raspyness in the voice for Julius or Harry, a girl was deceased.

Mr Davies is up there as one of my fave narrators. He brought this book alive, and I’m looking forward to much more of his works.

good listen

lots of erotica, more than City of Sins which I didn't mind. Definitely here for the plot.
Very well defined main characters but kinda confusing on side characters. The ending I saw coming a bit because I know the author now, it was fun putting the clues together, I felt they were really laid out but I indulge in a lot mystery so it was easy. 😏
I would listen again at least 3 times, .. because of the plot.
I'm excited to see more about Richard in the other installment, i think I know who his pair is ☺️

Good! (If you are patient)

I ended up really liking this but I almost stopped listening to this about a 1/3 of the way in.

I like Davies, the narrator, though I am aware that he appears to be somewhat polarizing for listeners. I agree with other reviewers that he is not the very best at distinguishing voices, but he is still good at it. His naturally gravelly baritone is surprisingly flexible and I find his reading a pleasure. I like the set up too, the (as far as I know) accurate historical representation, the style of writing.

What I initially had trouble with was the characters. Julius, so vain and frigid that it was hard to conceive of him in a romantic or sexual light. The self-absorbed and cowardly Harry and his obviously selfish parents. The self-righteous Richard, the bitchy Varona, the tyrannical Gideon. Try as I might, I could not feel chemistry between Harry and Julius (which made the first sex scenes a little weird) and my sympathies lay entirely with the other side of the political questions being raised, which is a first for me in a book. I agreed politically with Silas, of course, but he's not a main character.

HOWEVER!!

What ultimately DOES make this book worth the listen is the growth and/or greater understanding of the characters. Yes, it's a little slow. It's not a huge book and I actually love slow, rambling reads so it took me a little thinking to decide why it bothered me almost enough to stop reading. I think it's because the first 1/3 of the book is isolated with these characters, none of whom are very appealing. Harry is supposed to be charming but you're told that, you don't see it. Julius is supposed to be beautiful and appealing but his ice makes him rather unbelievable in the romantic sense. BUT, they grow.

As the book goes on, Harry starts to grow up and into his charm. Julius begins to thaw. They begin to make sense. and I, at least, began to want them to be together and to win. I think it's worth the read and the patience, if you think the setting and plot is along your tastes. I began to cheer the characters, and was swept up in the plot

I will be trying the next book in the series because I'm curious how the currently rather unappealing Dominic will be salvaged, as I believe he will be.

I need more historical m/m in my life!

But seriously, why haven't I read or listened to more historical m/m books? I so enjoyed this story. I loved the story and the characters, I especially loved the prose! I got such a kick out of some of the sayings and the way they phrased things- so entertaining! I adored Harry adn thought Julius was wonderful. They had their ups and downs and bumps along the road, but everything worked out as it should.
The audiobook was awesome, but I definitely want to go back and read this as well. And I can't wait to move on to the next book.
Matthew Lloyd Davies narration was really outstanding.

***Borrowed through Audible Romance Package

Excellent story, bewildering performance

The reading wasn't neat. It feels the narrator wanted to force an English accent but ingloriously failed in the middle and totally gave up. The dynamic between the main characters was decently depicted though. Love the writer, so just gonna buy hte kindle edition of the last two books.

First time with this author

This was well written and a believable period piece for a tawdry romance. I enjoyed it immensely and highly recommend it. Definitely will listen to the rest of the series. I do wish there were some stronger female leads but understand that I'm not the target audience. Thanks to the author and narrator.