REVIEW: It Takes Two to Tumble by Cat Sebastian

Stevie‘s review of It Takes Two to Tumble (Seducing the Sedgwicks, Book 1) by Cat Sebastian
Historical Gay Romance published by Avon Impulse 12 Dec 17

When this book first came up for review, I wasn’t particularly taken with the blurb. Fast forward a few months, however, and the blurb for the second book in the series implied that it would be very much my kind of thing. Not wanting to be left wondering who all the characters were, I went back and picked up a copy of this one in order to bring myself up to speed. Now, I’m very glad I did.

Philip Dacre returns home on leave from the Royal Navy to find his household in uproar, which is hardly unexpected since his three children – thirteen year old Edward and the eight year old twins, Peggy and Jamie – have been running wild ever since his wife died. This time, however, they have a new ‘tutor’ in the form of the local vicar, Ben Sedgwick. Although Ben seems as incapable as his predecessors at keeping the children inside and at their studies, he does at least seem to understand them; although his methods, such as following them up trees, tend to irritate the staid and conventional Philip.

Philip is in mourning and not at all equipped to deal with a trio of delinquent children. On his last voyage, his Lieutenant – and lover – died, unaware of the depth of Philip’s feelings for him. Now Philip is lost, unable to properly grieve, both since the relationship cannot be acknowledged to those around him and because he has no idea whether his love was reciprocated. To further add to his problems, another local landowner has been making life difficult for his tenants – and for many of Philip’s tenants and employees – ever since he inherited the property.

Ben, meanwhile, is determined to get to the bottom of what is troubling Philip – since the children need an attentive father – and to find out why the children are so keen not to learn, when all three are obviously intelligent. All without neglecting his duty to his parishioners. An added complication comes once again in the form of the landowner whose property adjoins Philip’s, and whose father was a friend to Ben’s father: a scandalous but acclaimed poet, who still lives in the area. The landowner blames Ben and his brothers – one in particular – for the fact that his father left him his estate in a penurious state and intends to blackmail the family by means of incriminating letters exchanged between his father and the oldest of Ben’s brothers.

All these complications lead to Philip and Ben spending a lot of time together and slowly discovering that each of them is a lot more complex than the other had ever imagined. The relationship that develops between them is overshadowed by the fact that Philip wants to return to the sea, and Ben is engaged to a local girl – the daughter of a couple he considers to be more like parents to him than his father has ever been – who is unlikely to find another husband due to her chronic ill health. Matters come to a head when Jamie runs away, and Ben and Philip discover just why the children are so keen to avoid school.

I liked the way that all the various plot threads were woven together, and while Ben and Philip’s problems had no easy solutions, the compromises they made felt very satisfactory. Some loose ends remain to be continued in subsequent books in the series, but not in any cliffhanger type of way. On a less positive note, there were a couple of minor details that felt wrong for the setting and had me grumbling about how sheep farming on northern English hills doesn’t generally work like that now and wouldn’t have worked like that back then. Overall, a mostly satisfying read and a good introduction to the series.

Grade: B

Summary:

Some of Ben Sedgwick’s favorite things:

Helping his poor parishioners
Baby animals
Shamelessly flirting with the handsome Captain Phillip Dacre

After an unconventional upbringing, Ben is perfectly content with the quiet, predictable life of a country vicar, free of strife or turmoil. When he’s asked to look after an absent naval captain’s three wild children, he reluctantly agrees, but instantly falls for the hellions. And when their stern but gloriously handsome father arrives, Ben is tempted in ways that make him doubt everything.

Some of Phillip Dacre’s favorite things:

His ship
People doing precisely as they’re told
Touching the irresistible vicar at every opportunity

Phillip can’t wait to leave England’s shores and be back on his ship, away from the grief that haunts him. But his children have driven off a succession of governesses and tutors and he must set things right. The unexpected presence of the cheerful, adorable vicar sets his world on its head and now he can’t seem to live without Ben’s winning smiles or devastating kisses.

In the midst of runaway children, a plot to blackmail Ben’s family, and torturous nights of pleasure, Ben and Phillip must decide if a safe life is worth losing the one thing that makes them come alive.

No excerpt available.

Other books in this series: