Trilogy No. 111: Speak Its Name (Paperback)

by Charlie Cochrane (Contributor), Lee Rowan (Contributor), Erastes (Contributor)

Editorial Reviews

Review
From Josh Lanyon, author of Adrien English Mysteries
"Dashing spies, bold Regency bucks, and the flower of English manhood vie for readers' attention in this smart, original and engaging trilogy.This is not your mother's historical romance!" --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Product Description

Expectations riding on a generation of young Englishmen are immense; for those who’ve something to hide, those expectations could prove overwhelming.

Aftermath
When shy Edward Easterby first sees the popular Hugo Lamont, he’s both envious of the man’s social skills and ashamed of finding him so attractive. But two awful secrets weigh Lamont down. One is that he fancies Easterby, at a time when the expression of such desires is strictly illegal. The second is that an earlier, disastrous encounter with a young gigolo has left him unwilling to enter into a relationship with anyone. Hugo feels torn apart by the conflict between what he wants and what he feels is “right”. Will Edward find that time and patience are enough to change Hugo’s mind?

Gentleman’s Gentleman
Lord Robert Scoville has lived in a reasonably comfortable Victorian closet, without hope of real love, or any notion that it’s right there in front of him if he would only open his eyes and take notice of his right-hand man, Jack Darling. Jack has done his best to be satisfied with the lesser intimacy of caring for the man he loves, but his feigned role as a below-stairs ladies’ man leaves his heart empty. When a simple diplomatic errand turns dangerous and a man from their past raises unanswerable questions, both men find themselves endangered by the secrets between them. Can they untangle the web of misunderstanding before an unknown attacker parts them forever?

Hard and Fast:
Major Geoffrey Chaloner has returned, relatively unscathed, from the Napoleonic War, and England is at peace for the first time in years. Unable to set up his own establishment, he is forced to live with his irascible father who has very clear views on just about everything—including exactly whom Geoffrey will marry and why. The trouble is that Geoffrey isn’t particularly keen on the idea, and even less so when he meets Adam Heyward, the enigmatic cousin of the lady his father has picked out for him... As Geoffrey says himself: “I have never been taught what I should do if I fell in love with someone of a sex that was not, as I expected it would be, opposite to my own.”

Product Details

• Paperback: 232 pages
• Publisher: Linden Bay Romance (June 26, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1602021244
• ISBN-13: 978-1602021242
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #367,554 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Speak Its Name by Charlie Cochrane, Lee Rowan & Erastes, June 30, 2008

By	Elisa (Italy) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

Three historical novella setting in three different moment of English history. There is a strange parallelism, from the first story by Cochrane, passing through Rowan's ones, till Erastes', the time goes back and the sensuality rate goes up.

Aftermath: Edward and Hugo are two young students at Oxford. The time is soon after the end of the WWI and England, and the little world of Oxford in particular, seems to not have fully recovered yet from the war. Edward is from a wealthy family, but he is not a nobleman. Money allows him to enter the college, an unthinkable event before the war, but now, the lack of youth and probably the times changing, set him among the few remaining sons of English aristocracy. But Edward is a shy and naivee man, innocent of life and experiences. He feels like an intruder among the others, more when he is near Hugo, the perfect epitome of a nobleman. Hugo is popular and loved, always among the right circle, always behaving in the right way. Nothing seems to link them if not something that no one of them has the courage to reveal: they are attracted to men, and in this moment they are attracted to each other. But where Edward has never experienced love, nor with women or men, and so he sees at it with wide and eager eyes, Hugo has had a disastrous experience that left him with a bitter taste in mouth and a disenchanted perspective.

Charlie Cochrane wrote a very tender and sweet novella. It reminds me a lot two of my favourite movies (and one of my favourite book): Chariots of Fire for the setting and Maurice (both movie and book) for the characters. Also like in Maurice there is the dilemma of one of the two characters if loving another man could be only limited to a spiritual sharing of minds, quite the idea that sex will taint a pure love, almost the feeling that for a noble soul, sex is something dirty. But when there is love, true love, can two lovers nurturing themself only with a sharing of minds and not of bodies?

Gentleman's Gentleman: Lord Robert is a Victorian nobleman, content with his ordinary life. He has served as Major and he still complies his duty for the Queen, here and there. And he has two sisters that kindly gave birth to more possible heirs to the title. So he is free to live as he likes, and he likes to be a bachelor and to be pampered by his man, Jack Darling. Former sergeant at Robert's command, Jack chose to leave the army with Lord Robert and now he is the perfect... wife. Yes, cause all he does for Robert is what a very good wife would do: attending to the house and to the master of the house as well. Only in one thing Jack is not like a wife: he doesn't share his master's bed. And not because Robert would not be interested, au contraire, Robert inside the private walls of his house makes not secret to prefer a male companionship. But not one time he proposes Jack and not one time Jack seemed interested in taking also that position. But not always what it seems is what it is.

Lee Rowan's novella has a lighter tone in comparison to the other two. Nor Robert or Jack have guilty feelings for what they are or what they feel. Obviously they are not open and careless with their inclinations. Probably their attitude and their apparently inability to share their feelings is due to their military extraction: men of actions more than of words. But when they arrive to the decision point, they are ready and willing to take the right decision, without regrets.

Hard and Fast:: Geoffrey is the third child of a wealthy family. Former Major, soon after the Napoleonic War, being in health and without apparently problems, he is expected to marry. The chosen bride, chosen by his father, not by him, is Miss Pelham, a rather shy but not unpleasant young girl. Unfortunately Geoffrey seems more drawn to Miss Pelham's cousin, Adam, a mourning young man. Geoffrey is not used to the feelings he has, not since they are toward a man, but since they are love feelings: he is not used to love. And discovering that his interest is awakened by a man and not by a woman is unsettling. Plus he doesn't understand Adam, who at once seems to draw him nearer and soon after to drive back him both from his cousin than from himself.

The most tormented between the three novella and yet the most sensual, it's also the one with the most unpredictable end. Erastes plays with the classical romance elements, the mother in search of a suitable husband for her almost spinster daughter, the unrepentant rake (even if it's a second line character without own scenes), the mourning but handsome gentleman, with a secret and unspeakable past, the former officer with a dislike for the social events... but then he turns the tables and the couples are not what you will expect, not at all, and not in the end... It's like a Georgette Heyer's novel (more since the Bath setting), where the main hero at once, decides to ravish not the virgin maid, but the debauched cousin! And the "breeches rippers" tag in this case is very worthy: indeed there are a pair of breeches which are ripped and in a scene that would be very right in a savage romance of the '70, even if the attacker is more the man with the breeches ripped than the man who rips them.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Speak Its Name - A Wonderful Historical Trilogy, November 16, 2008

By	Jessewave (Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews

AFTERMATH (1920's Oxford) by Charlie Cochrane

When shy Edward Easterby first sees the popular Hugo Lamont, he's both envious of the man's social skills and ashamed of finding him so attractive.

Edward is a very shy young man who is miserable in his first year at university and he would do anything to switch places with the popular Hugo who seems to tower above him. Their first meeting is disastrous and does not augur well for any future friendship let alone an intimate relationship.

This turns out to be a tender story about two young men just finding their way who are uncertain about their feelings for someone of the same sex and concerned about how any expression of these feelings could impact their future. There is quite a bit of angst as they seem to go over the same ground amidst the tea and crumpets and a bit of cricket but they eventually figure out that "To thine own self be true" is more than just a platitude. Although there wasn't much sex in this tale I found it quite entertaining.

GENTLEMAN'S GENTLEMAN (Victorian) by Lee Rowan

Lord Robert Scoville has lived in a reasonably comfortable Victorian closet, without hope of real love, or any notion that it's right there in front of him if he would only open his eyes and take notice of his right-hand man, Jack Darling. Jack has done his best to be satisfied with the lesser intimacy of caring for the man he loves, but his feigned role as a below-stairs ladies' man leaves his heart empty.

This is such a beautifully told story. The level of detail in the background was so well done I felt that I lived it. The intrigue and espionage in the plot and pace of the action built up my anticipation for what would surely come next.

The main difference between a contemporary and historical story is, I believe, the ability of the historical writer to immerse the reader in a world that is purely imaginary but described in such loving detail that you feel you're actually living in the period and Lee Rowan does this very successfully in Gentleman's Gentleman. The characterizations are bang on from Jack and his Robert to the smaller role occupied by Captain Cecil McDonald; they were all well drawn for such a short story. The dialogue was so full of euphemisms that I laughed out loud on occasion - very upper class English society. The hint of espionage and criminal wrongdoings add spice to the story and help to throw Jack and Robert together. Imagine living together for 10 years in close quarters with no moves by either one to test the waters!

HARD AND FAST (Regency) by Erastes

Major Geoffrey Chaloner, recently returned from the Napoleonic war is the impoverished third son of a wealthy father who wants to improve his own social status by marrying Geoffrey off to a young lady, The Honourable Emily Pelham who is from a very noble family that could use a bit of cash. However, standing in the way of this very suitable match is the fact that the potential groom is not the slightest bit interested in marriage and is much more attracted to Emily's cousin, Adam Heyward.

Geoffrey's character is big and muscular and he struggles with his feelings for Adam who is physically the weaker of the two, partially crippled by a club foot, but who is the stronger one in the relationship and is more experienced in the ways of the world. Adam makes life extremely difficult for Geoffrey by questioning his motives for wanting to marry his cousin. The two men are driven by an emotion neither has felt before and they become more and more involved with no way out until a solution is provided from a completely unexpected source.

I was entranced by the passion between Geoffrey and Adam and the shifts in power between them as their very short dalliance progressed. I thought that this was by far the most sensuous of the three novellas and Erastes certainly knows how to keep the reader's interest at peak level throughout the story. I was totally engaged until the very last page.

SPEAK ITS NAME: Trilogy No. III is a wonderful anthology as it covers three different historical periods which added to the appeal of the stories and characters. This book was a delight and it was easy to immerse myself in the prose and characters as well as the leisurely pace. In my opinion this book is a credit to its genre and I highly recommend it as one that readers would definitely want to have on their bookshelves.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, August 26, 2008

By	Calen Crate "cr8er15" (Melbourne, Florida) - See all my reviews

This book was excellent. I opened it and didn't put it down till it was finished. All three stories were very different, but shared a common theme of true love. They weren't overdone or predictable, and I loved how the characters fell in love; the journeys of each couple were so well written. If your looking for beautiful historical romances between men, this is your book.