Review: Dangerous Moonlight by Mel Keegan

Note: this review has been "rescued" from Rainbow Reviews which, after three marvellous years online, is closing, pending a from-scratch revamp in which the old reviews will be lost. We want to thank JM Snyder for a fantastic service, and we're so sorry to see the site  go.

Dangerous Moonlight by Mel Keegan

BOOK BLURB:
In the style and spirit of FORTUNES OF WAR comes this rollicking gay historical set in 1727 ... in the world of highwaymen, of duels fought over honor, fortunes won and lost at the gaming tables, and romance that fairly sizzles.

Our heroes come from vastly disparate backgrounds. Harry Trevellion was well bred and would have been a gentleman if his father’s estate had not been lost ... and Nicholas Grey is the favorite son of a wealthy man, who was born ‘on the wrong side of the blanket’ quite by chance! Nick’s brother, Paul, is a wastrel, a scoundrel who is only waiting for their frail old father to pass away. He’ll ruin the family ... and he scorns his illegitimate half-brother, though Nicholas is doing difficult, dangerous work for their father.

Nick’s job is to courier jewelry safely between manufacturer and client ... and it’s only a matter of time before he runs into the irresistible rogue, Harry Trevellion. The two share a stormy relationship until the day Paul Rosewarne has been waiting for arrives: the master of Rosewarne Hall passes on ... and the quirks of an old man’s last will and testament put Nicholas behind bars.

It’s a world of swords, pistol duels, midnight chases, deceit and sheer sensuality, in a time when fortunes could still be made ... and lost.

BOOK REVIEW:
I am always hesitant to read gay historical fiction but I am very glad I read this book. I thought it started out rather slow but then I couldn't stop reading it. I read it in a little over 2 days. Nick Gray is the bastard son of James Rosewarne, and Harry Trevellion is a Highwayman, or a thief, back in England in the 1700s. Harry robs the coach that Nick is in and instead of hurting him he kisses him, and thus starts the rocky romance. Harry is a thief with a heart of gold it seems. He really doesn't want to hurt anyone, he just likes to threaten them. Harry and Nick fall in love, but it takes some time and effort for that to happen. Always in Nick’s way is his half brother Paul Rosewarne who suffers an unfortunate fate after his father disinherits him.

The description of London during the 1700's was very vivid. I could smell the smoke coming out of the chimneys and I could smell the stench of the garbage and all of the ravages in London of that day. Mel Keegan described everything down to the minutest detail which I thought was awesome. I could feel the cold wind as it was blowing and the rain coming down as Nick got pelted with it.

One of the things I think would have been helpful relates to the fact that this being and English Novel, some of the words were foreign to me such as bailey, sod and a few others. It might have been nice to maybe put a page of some of the words so I might have known what the author was talking about. A lot of them I could tell by the context of the sentence.

I absolutely fell in love with Harry. One of the antagonists of the story turns into a protagonist. Mel did an excellent job with Paul's character. He painted him as a vile and evil person, bedding down any woman he could fine. The description really made me hate him all the more.

I loved this book and would recommend to anyone who likes gay historical fiction. I'm slowly becoming a fan of it myself.