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He didn't think he had a heart. Until he lost it. Cambridge Fellows Mysteries, Book 1 St. Bride's College, Cambridge, England, 1905. Jonty Stewart is handsome and outgoing, with blood as blue as his eyes. When he takes up a teaching post at the college where he studied, his dynamic style acts as an agent for change within the archaic institution. He also has a catalytic effect on Orlando Coppersmith. Orlando is a brilliant, introverted mathematician with very little experience of life outside the university walls. He strikes up an alliance with Jonty and soon finds himself heart-deep in feelings he's never experienced. Before long their friendship blossoms into more than either man had hoped. Then a student is murdered within St. Bride's. Then another...and another. All the victims have one thing in common: a penchant for men. Asked by the police to serve as their eyes and ears within the college, Jonty and Orlando risk exposing a love affair that could make them the killer's next target. Warning: Contains sensual m/m lovemaking and men in punts.… (more)
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Most of the story’s charm lies in the romance, which is allowed to take its sweet time to come to fruition. Both men are acutely aware of the dangers and in Orlando’s case he needs the “lessons in love” that Jonty tenderly provides to assuage his guilt over what he doesn’t understand.
Cochrane does a good job weaving the romance and mystery together in a way that felt comfortable and the nail-biting conclusion to the mystery had me hooked clear through to the climax. The writing style is so beautifully simple and straightforward that it is effortless to read. I should also mention that I was pleasantly surprised to find that the sex in the book is romanticized and not explicit – Linden Bay, shame on you for lying about the heat rating!
I heartily recommend this breezy historical romance and look forward to spending more time with the adorable Cambridge Fellows in the next installment: Lessons in Desire.
An enjoyable mystery, with some engaging characters. Hopefully the series will have more mystery than romance.