Wendy reviews The Innocent Betrayal (Innocents Book 2) by Victoria Sue. Self published June 20, 2016, 157 pages.
London 1811
Can love withstand the ultimate betrayal?
William was running. Running from his father, running from his arranged marriage, and running from himself. He’d never wanted to manage his father’s vast empire. He would have been quite happy to find some small corner of England and read and paint. He knew it would be too much to ask for the company of a man to go with that. Too dangerous. His only hope for escape is to hide who and what he is and pretend to be a servant.
Alex was barely surviving after the fight with Napoleon’s armies. Riddled with guilt, he buried the knowledge of his wife’s death, and his crippled body, at the bottom of whatever brandy bottle he could find.
Two broken souls. One so damaged he thinks he doesn’t deserve love, and one so convinced he would never find it he has stopped looking.
Danger, lies, and espionage. The fate of hundreds of English soldier’s lives depending on them to trust each other, to work together.
Alex is forced to make a choice, unable to swallow his pride and rejects Will and their chance of happiness. Will is heartbroken, and Alex is destroyed. Will Alex realize his mistake in time? Can he learn to trust Will, but more importantly himself, and would Will ever forgive him if he did? And finally, would love ever survive a betrayal – even if it is an innocent one?
This weeks theme is Award Winning Books. I had been meaning to read this book ever since I saw the gorgeous cover and was thrilled when I saw that it had won the second place 2016 Rainbow Award for Historical Gay story. It was like fate had stepped in for me. DONE DEAL!
The thing that struck me most about this book was how frightening it must have been for men and I assume women who were gay during this time. Not that there isn’t still an issue, especially in some parts of the world where being gay might mean an instant death sentence. But at a time when so much importance was placed on appearances, these poor people had to work doubly hard to hide who they were and in most cases believed themselves to be abominations and facing the certainty of hell. I can’t imagine how hard life must have been to someone who just wanted to love who they loved. Victoria Sue captured these feelings perfectly. I felt like I was right inside the MC’s heads, and that’s quite the trick for an author.
This was such a great story, full of intrigue and adventure, mystery and suspense while at the same time growing a romance between two men that you would think couldn’t be more wrong for each other. I said earlier that I felt like I was in the characters’ heads, that was true, but I also felt like I was able to see everything Victoria Sue described. From the dust on the furniture to the food in the pantry, my heart was in my throat when Will had to help treat Alex’s wound and these are just a few examples.
While this isn’t full of sex between the sheets and any other place that people find 😉 it doesn’t have to be, it’s not meant to be. It’s a romance. A beautiful romance between two people when little things like a look or a soft brush of a hand while passing meant something and was noticed, cherished, treasured. When people who found love made an art out of the showing of it and feeling it with their whole hearts.
I can absolutely see why Victoria Sue got an award for this book. It’s very well written and I highly recommend it.
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Victoria Sue… Wrote her first book on a dare from her hubby two years ago and he says he has regretted it every day since. Loves writing about gorgeous boys loving each other the best—especially with either a paranormal or a historical twist. Had a try at writing contemporary but failed spectacularly when it grew four legs and a tail. Loves her wolves! Is an English northern lass but is currently serving twenty to life in Florida—unfortunately, she spends more time chained to her computer than on a beach. Loves to hear from her readers and can be found most days lurking on Facebook.
Rainbow Gold Reviews 