It Takes Two to Tumble by Cat SebastianMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Cat Sebastian has become an automatic buy for me, she is able to write characters that toe the line between being good, sweet people, and being so nice as to be unrealistic. Benedict Sedgwick is one such character, but Sebastian is able to temper his overall adorable goodness (there is a duckling scene, an honest to god duckling scene) with flights of anger and hinting at a bit of a darker backstory. I found myself a bit saddened by the fact that he felt he had to be responsible all the time, and by doing so he finds he may have overlooked somethings having to do with his siblings that will haunt him down the line.
Captain Dacre's character harkins back to the father in the Sound of Music, but only enough to get the feeling of a man out of his depth and fixated on Navel discipline across. His attempt at dealing with problems with in his life by either ignoring them or working around them without actually solving them unsurprisingly blows up in his face. What's nice is that we don't end up spending half the book having to watch him fighting to come to terms with the fact his normal coping methods won't work, instead he seems to thaw pretty quickly and, at least internally, admit his short comings.
There are quite a few different subplots that bump along, as this promises to be the start of a series that isn't surprising. Sedgwick's brother Heartly is set-up for the next story if I had to guess, which should be interesting as the hints dropped in this book are a bit worrying about his backstory.
However, the main plot of Sedgwick and the Captain is sweet, and actually deals well with the period typical homophobia and treatment of gay relationships. There are a few very good conversations between the character's about what one another 'deserve' which really lodged themselves behind my rib cage. I once read somewhere a romance author say that the story of a romance isn't about the two characters falling in love, but rather learning that they deserved love. I feel like that pretty much sums up Sedgwick and his Captain. Sure there are amusing kids, housekeepers and cooks who keep the world spinning, and best friends who understand love, but in the end it's a story of two people realizing that they deserve each other and all the happiness that will bring.
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