Two Rogues Make a Right

Two Rogues Make a Right (2020) Cat Sebastian (Seducing the Sedgwicks)

Set in London ~1817-1818

Will Sedgwick’s best friend, Martin Easterbrook, had been found fevered and somewhat delusional in the attic of Hartley Sedgwick’s home (a home that by rights should have belonged to Martin). So Will stole him away to the country in the hopes the clean air might allow his lungs to recover. But Will has own struggles, and whether Martin knows it or not, caring for Martin is helping him keep it together.

Will had four shillings and a bottle of laudanum, and barely enough self-control not to drink it himself.

For his part, Martin blames himself for much of the trouble the Sedgwick brothers suffered.

Martin preferred not to think of Will’s time in the navy. He had a list as long as his arm of things to feel guilty about, and the only reason he could get by from day to day was to resolutely refuse to think about any of them.

One of the interesting things about Will and Martin is that each as far angrier at the other’s father than he is at his own. (Will’s father was not a good father; Martin’s father was objectively awful by any standard.) It’s fascinating how it’s sometimes easier to be enraged at the hurt people cause to those we love than the hurt that is caused to directly to us.

So Will and Martin are both a mess. And Martin is most likely gray ace, so doesn’t know how to go about being in love with his best friend. This aren’t insurmountable problems, but with Martin’s illness, they take some time to get over.

We never quite learn what happened to Will in the Navy, other than the fact it was awful and Will is physically scarred from it (and drowned his pains in opium for awhile) but we do know that Will kept others from mutiny which saved lives.

It was a good story, and oddly I ended up enjoying it far more than the conclusion to her other historical series I just finished.

Publisher : Avon Impulse
Rating: 8/10

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