The Gentleman and the Spy by Neil S. Plakcy

John and Raoul struggle to keep their feelings for each other hidden while becoming ensnared in a web of international intrigue that threatens to ruin their careers and endanger their lives.

But when he meets dashing French diplomat Raoul Desjardins at a soirée arranged by a politically-connected gay couple, he finds himself inexplicably drawn to the man despite the risks of their forbidden love. In the opulent courts of Victorian England, John Seales, Lord Therkenwell, is a man of wealth and privilege, expected to marry a woman of his own social standing and produce an heir. Two wounded men discover true love and a found family in Victorian England The Lord and the Frenchman: Ormond Yard #2 Love blossoms between them-but can it survive against the stigmas of the Victorian era? One of my beta readers wrote, “I was completely taken with Magnus and Toby and their personal back stories.” I hope you will be, too! Then an unusual summons arrives, which will put him in close quarters with Magnus. When the book opens, he’s struggling to make a living as a freelance tutor in Cambridge. Unfortunately, the senior Marsh dies before Toby can finish his degree, and he’s forced to serve as a valet slash tutor to his wealthy dissolute roommate. One of the ways a young man could succeed back then was by education, and Toby Marsh’s father, a wealthy manufacturer, sends him to King’s College and then to Cambridge. The book begins with the Duke’s death, and Magnus realizing he will soon be cut off and needs to find a way to make a living. Magnus’s father bought him a military commission, but when the Duke became ill, Magnus sold his commission to look after his dying dad. His oldest brother will inherit, while the second son has been set up with a tea plantation in in Ceylon. Lord Magnus Dawson is the third son of a duke. I set out to incorporate those tropes into an MM romance. Younger sons were left to find their own way in the world once their father died. Class differences were also big, and the idea of an upstairs/downstairs romance was frowned upon. Inheritance is a big one, because many of the grand estates were entailed-they were often tied to a title, and the property could only be inherited by the holder of the title. I began by with research on the common tropes. But I read a lot of Victorian literature in college and graduate school, so I felt familiar with the era. When I decided to try my hand at one, I wanted to focus on the Victorian era-specifically December, 1872.

Charles, Merry Farmer, and Cat Sebastian, among others.

I'm a huge fan of British historical gay romance, like that written by K.J. The Gentleman and the Spy: Ormond Yard #1Ĭan a lord and valet find love together in Victorian England?

The Gentleman and the Spy by Neil S. Plakcy