No surprise, I liked this! It's probably the most emotionally intense of Sebastian's novels that I've read so far—and what can I say, I have a thing for vicars. I was satisfied by the delivery of a sweet and optimistic love story that still acknowledges heavier issues—a soupçon of realism without devolving into queer tragedy.

I guess I'm now a person who reads romance novels? I'll probably have to switch authors for my next read, since it will be interesting to see which constraints hold true across the genre. Sebastian's seem to be: relatively little character development for supporting characters (I especially wanted more attention to Hartley and poor Alice) and not much description (to be fair, it's hard to capture a landscape that looks like this). In exchange, we get a book that you can read in a long afternoon, so I can't honestly complain. ( )

Ben Sedgwick, after an unconventional upbringing, is a country vicar in Regency England. He doesn't find this dull; he finds it comfortable and reassuring, allowing him to bring some order into the lives of the villagers he serves. Providing both spiritual comfort, and practical assistance and guidance when needed, gives a stability and a sense of usefulness to his life that life in his father's home didn't provide. He's also betrothed to his very good friend, Alice, who is lively, interesting, kind, helpful, and, since a bout of scarlet fever in the spring, unable to walk. This is a concern.

It does somewhat disrupt the peace and order of his life when the latest tutor of the three Dacre children does what so many have before over the last two years--abruptly leaves because he can't stand it anymore. The children have been hellions since their mother died two years ago. Captain Phillip Dacre, their father, will be back in England, for two months ashore while his ship is being refitted. Ben is recruited to stand in as the children's tutor till the captain's return.

Phillip Dacre is not at all happy about being back in England. Life on his ship is very, very orderly, because that's how he runs things. He's a good officer, a good teacher of young midshipmen. He was very fond of his wife, Caroline, and she was very good at running and orderly household. He hasn't been back home since her death, and he barely knows his children. He has no idea what to expect, or what to do about it.

Dacre and Sedgwick's first meeting doesn't go well, because Ben's approach to keeping the children from causing chaos in the community (something they have been very good at the last two years) has not been to keep them locked up in the schoolroom. That never worked for the other tutors, so he takes a more relaxed, and tricky, approach to education. They're outside a lot, and learning happens somewhat organically. Ben and the three children--Ned, the oldest, and Jamie and Peg, the twins--are up in a tree when he finds them. Phillip is shocked.

It's not long before Sedgwick and Dacre, both of whom have had discreet relationships with men in the past, discover that their attraction to each other is beyond casual. Each is alarmed, and determine to keep the other from noticing.

We all know how that's going to work out; this is a Regency romance, if a slightly atypical one.

While the two men are getting acquainted with each other, Ben is also encouraging Phillip to actually get to know his children. There's also the problem of figuring out why they've been running off every tutor they've had.

Without giving too much away, there are two characters in this book who are dyslexic, though of course that word isn't used. Two of the children are protecting the third from being discovered as absolutely unable to read, even though he's very good with math.

Meanwhile, as Ben realizes how attracted he is to Phillip, he also realizes he can't marry Alice. But he can't call it off, either, because her parents are unable to leave her enough to live on for the remainder of her life.

The local baronet, whose father left him barely enough to keep the family home physically intact, is very hostile to the Sedgwick family (which, other than Ben and his lawyer brother, is fairly scandalous), and has been unearthing evidence from his father's papers that would at the very least cause enough scandal regarding the family that Ben's career in the church would be ended. Even a country vicarage would no longer be possible.

Ben's father is, if you don't look at him from Ben's viewpoint, a delight. A scandal, but a delight, and much kinder and thoughtful than Ben realizes. Phillip's shipboard friends have their own good traits, and Alice has her own surprises. I'm not even mentioning the cooks in the vicarage and the Dacre home, or the groundskeeper, or others around the village.

And yes, the author pulls a happy ending out of this, as happy as possible in this time and place, and very nicely done.

It's a fun book, and I bought it. ( )

Captain Dacre isn’t looking forward to shore leave & facing his children who have been left to run wild in the wake of his wife’s death. But as he gets to know his kids, & the vicar Ben, he finds it might be even harder to go back to sea ( )

FAVORITE HISTORICAL ROMANCE! I had others, but this one wins! I couldn't click all five stars fast enough for this book!

Ben is the kind of solid, sweet man we all wish we knew, or treasure if we have someone like him in our lives. Captain Dacre's arrival disrupts... Well. Everything, and it's a difficult attraction to manage around children and other complications. I will absolutely read every book in this series! ( )

This was a story that had as it's conflict the law as it stood. Philip and Ben are two characters who appear at first to be opposites but as time goes on you can see that they complement each other well. It's a Regency Romance so they're in a period of time where being gay is an issue and could have both of them at the very least exiled and at worst hung. Their lives as a Sea Captain and vicar would be over and it would ruin things. Philip has children from his marriage, but his relationship with them is strained and he needs to fix that. Ben is fighting his family's disreputable past and doing the service that sings to him by being a vicar. He plans to marry his childhood friend but her health is not good after an illness and he can feel that maybe he wants more than just friendship (and Lavender marriages were a thing) I found it sweet and the two came across as really caring for each other.
Yes it's a romantic fantasy that they would be happy ever after and that they wouldn't have problems or issues but it would have been nice. ( )