[Book Review] Sharp Love By Ava March & Groundwork Coffee Lucky Jack

Title: Sharp Love
Series: Gambling On Love, #2
Author: Ava March
Publisher: Carina Press
Publication date: June 9th 2014
Page Count: 199 pages
Age Rating: Adult (explicit sexual scenes, language, and violence)
How I got my hot little hands on it: Received a copy to review
Publisher’s page: Sharp Love

London, 1822

William Drake has lived among thieves, bastards and beggars all his life, doing what’s necessary to survive. As a young orphan, that included looking after his best friend, Jack Morgan. But as they grew older, Jack took the honest path, leaving Will behind to fend for himself the only ways he knows how.

When an unsavory errand for his employer brings Jack back to London’s underbelly, he needs Will’s help. It’s there, among the alleys they ran through as children, that the love he’s always felt for Will returns. As their nights together grow hotter, Will discovers something new about his old friend—Jack’s need to serve extends into the bedchamber.

Will has never fully abandoned his dream of escaping London with Jack. But what could the Duke’s driver want with a dishonest cheat like him, beyond a bit of rough sex? It takes the gamble of Will’s life to find out if he can win Jack’s heart…

My Review

*Dreamy Sigh*

Oh, how I do love a good romance. Sharp Love is a historical, Regency era friends-to-lovers romance that simply knocked my socks off. With the combination of friendship, love, and hot intimacy – I just couldn’t but this one down and read it all in one sitting (and into the wee hours of the morning).

Will and Jack have known each other since they were six years old. The two men grew up in a workhouse together and helped each other to survive through adolescence, but adulthood saw them parting ways. Will stayed in the stews of London, earning money in less than honorable ways as he saved every penny towards his dream of leaving London behind. Jack found honest employment with a Duke, only returning to London when his employer bids him to, and only seeking out Will when he needs his particular help completing his errands. It’s on an extended errand for the Duke that Jack seeks out Will again and the two find themselves spending more time together than they have in years, both realizing how much they missed each other and the closeness they’ve always shared. Each tries try to hide the more-than-friends attraction they feel for the other, but fail when it becomes obvious how mutual their desires are. Companionable days and passionate nights follow, but Jack’s disapproval of Will’s lifestyle and his single-minded devotion to the Duke’s service continue to be large, seemingly insurmountable, roadblocks on the couple’s road to happiness.

I loved the main characters in this and could really feel that they were MFEO from the beginning. They are very different, but they fit together perfectly in their differences. Will is quick-witted, clearly having both book and street smarts, with an easy, teasing nature. Jack is a big strong man, not as smart as his friend, but loyal to the core and honorable as the day is long. The two complement each other well in temperament, and in the bedroom as well – Will is a take charge kind of guy and Jack gets a lot of satisfaction from following his directions.

I would absolutely recommend Sharp Love to lovers of historical romances and/or relationships with a bit of a power imbalance (in a safe, sane, consensual kind of way of course). Although this is book two in a series, it stands on it own, but now I really want to read the first one since it’s apparently between the Duke and his “temperamental bit” (as Will calls him) – sounds amazing to me!

Will’s life has always been dependent a lot on luck. Luck at the card tables (that he doesn’t get caught cheating) and luck that he doesn’t ending up dead in an alley as he wanders into less savory areas of town doing less than savory things. In the end, Will comes to realize that the luckiest aspect of his life is having Jack – to have and to hold and share his life with. I’m recommending Groundwork Coffee Lucky Jack – it’s a medium roast, a bit acidic, with slight molasses and caramel sweetness and some citrus bite.

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