Review: The Lawrence Browne Affair by Cat Sebastian (Turner #2)
Note: This ARC was provided by Avon Impulse via Edelweiss+ in exchange for an honest review.
Lawrence took hold of Georgie’s hand and trapped it on his chest, partly so Georgie could feel the way his heart pounded, partly because he hadn’t the faintest idea how else to respond. All he knew was that he needed to hold Georgie close and keep him safe and spend the rest of eternity enumerating his every quality. He realized with disorienting certainty that this was love. Judging by the bleak tenderness in Georgie’s dark eyes, he knew it too. But what they had felt so fragile and out of place, built of blown glass on unstable ground in the middle of a hurricane. Beautiful, but never meant to last.
The Lawrence Browne Affair is the second M/M Regency romance from author Cat Sebastian and it features Georgie Turner, who was a supporting character in the author’s debut release, The Soldier’s Scoundrel, said “scoundrel” being Jack Turner and Jack being Georgie’s brother. It’s possible that they’re standalones part of an unnamed series, or maybe the author doesn’t want them in a series. I’m just guessing here, folks. Either way, the second Sebastian-penned novel had a lot to live up to after I fell for Jack and Oliver Rivington’s story, and while it did take me a while to get into their story, I did find myself quite liking Georgie and Lawrence Browne’s tale as well.
Madness runs in the family, with his father and brother having fallen victim to it, and now Lawrence Browne, the Earl of Radnor, is believed to be on his merry way down that path as well. Maybe it’s because villagers listened to the rumors that seem to have a life of their own. Maybe it’s the fact that Lawrence prefers to lock himself up, working on his seemingly endless experiments. Maybe it’s because Penkellis is literally crumbling around him and Lawrence couldn’t be bothered to care. Or maybe it’s because he accosts his new secretary, thinking he was someone breaking into Penkellis, and then later ends up falling for the handsome Georgie Turner.
Outrunning his past isn’t as easy as it may seem, not for someone like Georgie Turner. In order to keep his brother and sister safe, he decides to step in as the secretary for the rumored mad Earl of Radnor. Georgie’s always been good at pretending to be someone he’s not, stepping into the shoes of someone else in order to get what he wants. That’s what being a con artist is all about, after all. But when Georgie stops thinking of the earl as “Radnor” and begins to think of him “Lawrence”, he can’t help but wonder if he could really have a different kind of life—a better one—with Lawrence. But in order to have a future together, Georgie will have to face his past one more time.
It took me quite a few chapters to become fully immersed into all things Georgie and Lawrence. After all, it wasn’t as if the two of them had this immediate connection. Attraction, yes, though a very unspoken type of attraction, but they were strangers and wary of each other. As their relationship progressed from employer and employee to hesitant friends and then on to lovers, it wasn’t difficult to become invested in them and how everything would work out. There’s also a good dose of humor added into the story, even with the heavier aspects of Georgie’s past and Lawrence’s complex family history. Overall, The Lawrence Browne Affair was yet another five-plus-starred read. ♥
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Read my reviews from the Turner series:
The Soldier's Scoundrel - five-plus stars - My Review
The Lawrence Browne Affair - five-plus stars - My Review (posted above)
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Date Read: 08 February 2017
Learn more about Cat Sebastian.
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