Reviews with content warning for Homophobia - It Takes Two to Tumble

This novel follows the developing love of Ben Sedgewick and Phillip Dacre. It’s the first in the Seducing the Sedgewicks series. Ben is a country vicar, Phillip a successful, disciplined naval officer. They meet because Ben has been caring for Phillip’s children (their mother died several years ago) and the children have run off a number of tutors and other caregivers. Sebastian describes it as a “Sound of Music” plot and it very much is that kind of dynamic. Ben wants a comfortable life raising a family and caring for his community, Phillip wants to return to his ship where he is comfortable with being in control and knowing the routines. They fall in love, which explodes all of their plans - Ben realizes that he cannot marry his best friend/fiancée Alice because he really is not attracted to her, Phillip develops a relationship with his children that’s not based on bossing them around. Like most of Sebastian’s books that I’ve read, this one does not have a huge number of plot points and is more focused on the character’s inner emotional experience and growth, which suits me perfectly.

Sexiness quotient: I’d say medium steam? I’m still pretty new to this, so I’m not sure my steam levels are well calibrated (this has a variety of sexual acts, fairly well detailed).

CW: Author’s content warnings on this are very thorough: “past parental neglect, MC who deals with internalized shame of his dyslexia, explicit sex, secondary character with an illness similar to MS, period typical ableist attitudes regarding a disabled woman’s marriageability.” I would add that a secondary character alludes to previous sexual abuse, and a homophobic culture.

I love the way Ben explores his relationship with his vocation as a vicar in light of both his free-thinking father’s disapproval and the homophobia of the Church of England, and how he connects with his faith outside of what the Church says. I love when religion is important to characters but they actually wrestle with what it means for them personally, think about why it’s important to them, and find ways to be at peace both with themselves and with their beliefs. I also am a huge fan of quiet stories that focus mostly on people spending time together, lovely side characters, personal growth, etc. The inclusion of discussion of neurodiversity + learning disability with Phillip’s children and Phillip’s own dyslexia was great as well, really well done I thought. I really loved this book! Bonus: The audiobook with Joel Leslie’s narration was excellent.

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werewolvesnotswearwolves's review against another edition

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3.25

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natcat's review against another edition

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lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

A light fluffy romance, with some very sweet characters and, of course, the requisite happy ending.

I could have done with a bit more substance, honestly, the book made vague waves at some serious issues and concerns but was in no way interested with dealing with them, because it was very committed to being a light fluffy romance. Which is fine, but I think I would have preferred it if it hadn’t even dropped hints about those darker concerns and emotions, because I was just left thinking that it would have been much more interesting if the author actually had committed to them.

The main characters fell in love incredibly quickly, as is often the way in romance. I did mostly buy that they liked each other a lot, I wasn’t entirely convinced by the whole thing given that one characters perception of the other seems completely out of step with that character’s perception of themselves, and not in a way I thought was deliberate.

Philip seems to see Ben as being sweetness and light all the time, whereas Ben’s POV reveals he he has a lot of doubts and works hard at being kind to people. It seemed an uneven sort of relationship to me.

I think that goes back to my main dislike of this book, though, in that it just wants to be a sweet romance with no major obstacles or concerns, and I wasn’t quite in the mood for that. But I did finish it, and I did like the characters (particularly the side characters).

So, recommended if you want a frothy sweet romance, not recommended if you want a romance with more emotional depth.

As a minor note I was also irritated by the fact that the setting is introduced very vaguely as being somewhere in ‘the North of England’ and then absolutely nothing about it as described bears any relation to the North of England in any way, shape, or form.

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rey_therese07's review

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emotional lighthearted tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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emily_mh's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This was such a delight to read. I was genuinely looking forward to picking this book back up every time I put it down. It was just so wholesome and bucolic, and full of love - romantic, platonic and familial. Ben and Phillip were simply perfect for each other and it was a joy to watch them fall in love. The resolution to their story felt so fitting.

There were a couple of reasons I didn't rate this book more highly. I felt that it needed a touch more plot and more of the family element - with those two things, I think it would have truly blown me away. Regardless, I really enjoyed this read and cannot wait to pick up the second instalment in the series.

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water_violin's review against another edition

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emotional slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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