Eduard is a depraved nineteen century Dutch nobleman who runs a plantation on the Isle of Java. Actually his wife runs the plantation and all Eduard seems to do his to harass all the men servant of the place. Since Eduard was banished from his native Denmark after a trial for homosexuality, a trial he survived only to the fake testimony of his wife. And now they live far from the high society, with the unspoken pact that his wife could be the real master of the house, and Eduard will lead the life as he likes.

In this apparently paradise arrives Reza, Eduard's former lover. Reza was a crewman on the ship that took Eduard on his new homeland, and it was also the first native lover of Eduard. After him, Eduard always sought men like Reza, probably never found one. But sincerely Eduard was not very sad to have to leave his former lover, and actually he even doesn't recognize him when Reza re-enters his life. But Eduard realizes that he was like a child in a candy store: he had in front of him an entire new world full of men who he could finally have without risking his life, but what he didn't understand years ago, is that Reza was his real love and he shouldn't never let him go.

Eduard is not the perfect hero of your usual romance. He is naughty and debauched, a man who is content to be order around by a woman, and actually not a man with a courage of his own: he becomes courageous when he is near Reza, he draws force by the silent man. Reza is a very difficult character to understand: he doesn't speak a lot and he, at first, seems strong and independent, but then you realize that he is a man in love and that he is not whole without Eduard, his first real love. In the end, Reza is a simpler man of what you thought.

A very interesting short historical romance, less than 75 pages, with two original characters... original since nor Eduard or Reza are romance heroes: usually a romance hero is so perfect that he really doesn't respect the reality of an historical character. In this romance instead, I think that both Eduard than Reza are pretty real: Eduard with his laziness and naughtiness and Reza with his simple soul.

http://amberquill.com/AmberAllure/AllShookUp.html

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