Unnatural (Enlightenment)

De: Joanna Chambers

Narrado por: Simon Goldhill

Captain Iain Sinclair has looks, charm, military honours—even the favour of the king himself. He has everything—everything, that is, except the friendship of the one man whose good opinion he has ever cared for, scientist, James Hart.

James has loved Iain all his life, but after the last disastrous encounter between them, he vowed to accept no more crumbs from Iain’s table. If Iain cannot be the lover James wants, then James will have no more to do with him.

Disenchanted with his career, and miserable without James in his life, Iain decides to leave military service and embark upon a new career in India. Before he leaves England behind, though, he is determined to try one last time to reconcile with his dearest friend.

An invitation to a country house party from James’s sister provides the perfect opportunity to pin James down and force him to finally listen to Iain’s apology. But when Iain discovers that an apology is not enough—that James is not willing settle for less than a lover—he is forced to reconsider everything: his life, his future career, and most of all, his feelings for James.

©2015, 2018 Joanna Chambers (P)2024 Joanna Chambers

Regency, m/m, second chances, friends-to-lovers .

I loved the alternation between past and present; it’s well done, always preceeded by the “then” and “now” and by the bate when a certain scene happens, so there’s no margin for confusion, and I loved that it doesn’t immediately introduce everything that’s happened between James and Iain before, but you learn it as you go on with the story.
I loved James, but I really wanted to throttle Iain, as it sometimes seemed he was stringing Jamie along, instead he was probably only oblivious.
The story is a really slow burn, the two MCs don’t get together until the very end, though the tension and pull between them is there from the beginning.
That being said, listening to this book made me want to go back and listen to the first three books in the series.

Historical Friends to Lovers

Now, this really shouldn't be compared to the epic three-part love story of David and Murdo, but because it is a related story in the same world, it also can't surpass their tale. It's a bit unfair, but there it is.

However, this is a lovely historical romance, elevated by an even lovelier narration by Simon Goldhill. Book is a solid 3.75, narration is 5 stars. I will likely revisit this audiobook when I need a soothing voice to tell me a hopeful tale.

Iain is a bit frustrating, James is a literal angel cinnamon roll, and I could have used an epilogue that gave us a glimpse of them in the future, but was still very enjoyable. Champing at the bit for the next book to be released on audio soon!

Fantastic addition to the series

Fantastic. Loved the story. Loved the narration. So excited to follow a different character from earlier in the series (one of my fav characters). It was great getting to hear his inner thoughts and motives, and the story between the two protagonists was *chef's kiss*.

A good performance of a pretty good book

This is a fairly enjoyable story, though I kind of ran out of patience with the older character. As I listened, I kept wondering whether the story would have been more effective if told in chronological order rather than going back and forth between "then" and "now." Still, it was pleasant to listen to, and the narrator did a good job with the content.

My thanks to Gay Romance Reviews for a complimentary copy of this audiobook.

Then and Now!

I actually read this a while back and I have to say the narration definitely enhanced the flow of the story. Simon's accents and the way he expressed all the different emotions was a bit breathtaking I must say! This story does a fantastic job of giving us the back story of Iain and James. I felt like this was easier to following with the narration. Lovely romance in a time when this type of romance was not accepted.