Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - A Seditious Affair

Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

A Seditious Affair by KJ Charles

10 reviews

friends2lovers's review against another edition

emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.5

“Heaven preserve me from a man of principle.”
“Ah, you love it. Politics, pricks, and principle, that’s what you like most.”

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jess_justmaybeperfect's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny reflective tense fast-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

5.0

KJ Charles is a class differences master. Almost all my favorites of hers have this trope. Silas and Dominic may take the cake though. Silas is a semi retired republican (the English kind) now owner of a bookshop and also secret radical pamphlet printer. Dominic is an aristocrat and a Tory and like the kind of aristocrat who actually is an active member of the government, so active he works for the Home Office (English FBI). Anyway, these two are no names exchanged regular hookups but find out who the other is in a MOST uncomfortable way. It’s got HOT HOT HOT scenes and superb eat the rich energy and somehow you’ll end up loving Dominic??? I dunno, Charles is really good at her job.

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amris's review against another edition

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emotional

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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ajb24's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

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

3.5

I can appreciate this book for the craft, because for a romance novel there's a lot going on- intriguing plot with stakes, multiple complex relationships (between Dom/Silas and the other Ricardians.) I especially love that the sedition plot was taken right from real life, plus KJC clearly cares about historical accuracy (she shouts out a historical slang expert in the author's note, and I appreciate the dedication to accuracy.) HOWEVER. The actual Silas/Dom relationship just...doesn't work for me! The sex was hot but everything else I was kinda meh about.

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wardenred's review against another edition

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emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

“You call yourself a gentleman,” Silas said, very deliberately. “Breaking the law here, bending it there, making damn sure other people obey it, but it’s not for you and your sort, is it, Mr. Frey? You act as you will. It’s other people who have to face the laws and the gaols and the gallows. Other people who belong on their knees.”

I was honestly on the fence about continuing this series at all. I tend to very much enjoy K.J. Charles's historical for the way she pokes at the ugly parts of that "beautiful high society," but in this series, those ugly parts are so specifically showcased through the protagonists I'm supposed to root for that I just can't vibe with it. But I liked the political plot in the first book, and also I really, really loved Silas there—he was the one character who made my day whenever appeared on the page. So I picked up A Seditious Affair after all, for the sole reason that he's one of the MCs here.

I'm glad I chose to do so, because if the political plot in the first book was enjoyable, then here it was simply spectacular. So many chapters had me on the edge of my seat, and I was also super engrossed in the way the romance and the politics intertwined. The two storylines were constructed so well, constantly enriching each other and pushing the individual character arcs forward.

Silas didn't disappoint me at all, and Dom kind of grew on me compared to the previous book as I got to know him better. Their dynamic was really intriguing. I'm not a big fan of how kink was handled here, to be honest, but it definitely worked for these characters, and I enjoyed seeing their emotional connection grow in the spaces between established mutual attraction, the reveal of their identities, and their super conflicting convictions and beliefs.

As for the rest of the cast, I guess most of them irritated me a lot less this time around, not least because the most irritating aspects of their personalities and ways of life were explicitly discussed here. The only one who never stopped bugging me not even for a second, despite the personal growth he underwent over the course of the story, is Richard, so I'm probably not going to finish the series—the third installment is his book, and I'm not wishing much personal happiness on him, so I can't imagine getting invested in a romance with him at the center. Still, I'd like to note that while I dislike a lot of the characters here, I do still like how they're written/crafted. They're definitely fleshed out and recognizable and their actions and reactions consistently make sense in the context of their fictional lives. I just don't vibe with them, I guess.

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20sidedbi's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional informative reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0

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tinkeringcheck's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I have to hand it to the author for really commiting to having both main characters at opposite ends of the political divide, but something didn't sit right and I can't put my finger on it. Maybe it was just a bit unbelievable that two men who were so steadfast in their views could handwave their differing values for the sexual chemistry? It just didn't quite feel that they'd resolved that particular thorn outside the bedroom to me.

But the side cast! They were all delightful and made the decision to finish the book worth it, along with the neat tie-in to real historical events.

That said, I would've preferred a heads-up about the consenual noncon aspect of their dom/sub relationship ahead of time. Getting thrown into the middle of a scene in the first chapter without knowing that threw me.

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littlewishling's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

An adversarial romance that was gripping through out. I loved revisiting characters from the first novel in more depth but really struggled with some of the political views I didn’t agree with.

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rainbowobsidian's review against another edition

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4.5

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unwise_samwise's review against another edition

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emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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