The Backlot Gay Book Forum discussion

am over halfway through and am thoroughly like it - with one quibble. If you're going to play with British titles and aristocratic tempers, you really have to get the terminology right - or it sound phoney. The authors consistently get it wrong - not Jamie's personality, but his title, his mother's title, the way people would address them - it's one thing the Brits have never let go of.

It's gotten so a "3" seems like a bad review, so I won't go there. I liked this book; I cared about both of the MCs - Jamie Mainwaring and Colt Remington. I have my disappointments, but they didn't keep me from anticipating keenly the next in the series...

The coming together of an emerging group of apparent abductions across two continents triggers the unlikely pairing of a renegade Texan known as Remy and a rebellious British aristocrat known as Jamie. The romantic sparks they strike off each other prove to be a distraction in a complicated case that becomes increasingly disturbing and politically explosive as the truth behind all of the disappearing boys begins to become clear.

I thoroughly enjoyed the way two cultural stereotypes - the butch American cowboy and the effete British nob - break down each other's resistance as they (not entirely successfully) try to deal with unfamiliar emotions in the context of a difficult and dangerous undercover mission.

My own frustration at the romantic cliffhanger of and ending is tempered by my love of Josh Lanyon's Adrian English series, which inured me to suffering through a lot of sturm und drang to get the romantic payoff, even if it means several books. OK, I can deal with that.

For me, the most annoying flaw - and annoying particularly because it was so unnecessary - was the constant mishandling of Jamie's identity. Jamie is a sort of 21st-century avatar of Dorothy L. Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey. But the authors consistently get titles wrong - something no British author should ever do. If you're going to present a plausible aristocrat as a character - one who eschews his title to live as a "regular" person - then you need to make sure you get it right. James Mainwaring ("Mannering") is Lord Fordham, the Earl of Fordham. His mother, then, would be the Dowager Countess of Fordham. Or Lady Fordham. Before his father died, Jamie would have been Lord James Mainwaring (an honorary title accord to sons of earls) - and he would then have been Lord James, NOT Lord Mainwaring. Neither he nor his mother nor his father would EVER have been called "your Grace," which is strictly reserved for Dukes, Duchesses and Archbishops. Got it? Sloppy details spoil the story for me, and make Jamie's whole story less authentic.

But perhaps, I am bitching all alone...no matter, it's worth reading.

Sounds good Ulysses - I've placed this on my TBR list.