Unnatural

Title: Unnatural
Author: Joanna Chambers
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Release Date: November 24, 2015
Genre(s): Historical, Regency
Page Count: 230
Reviewed by: LenaLena
Heat Level: 2 flames out of 5
Rating: 3 stars out of 5
Blurb:

Captain Iain Sinclair. Perfect son, perfect soldier, hero of Waterloo. A man living a lie. The only person who really knows him is his childhood friend, scientist James Hart. But they’ve been estranged since Iain brutally destroyed their friendship following a passionate encounter.

Iain is poised to leave the King’s service to become an undercover agent in India. Before he leaves his old life behind, he’s determined to reconcile with James. An invitation to a country house party from James’s sister provides the perfect opportunity to pin the man down.

James has loved Iain all his life, but his years of accepting crumbs from Iain’s table are over. Forgiving Iain is one thing—restoring their friendship is quite another.

In the face of James’s determined resistance, Iain is forced to confront his reasons for mending the wounds between them. And accept the possibility that James holds the key to his heart’s desire—if only he has the courage to reach for it.

Unnatural is one of those books that are hard to say a whole lot about. It was good. It wasn’t great. The characters are likeable and reasonably well developed, the historic setting was well done. It was very sweet, a tad bland in my opinion, but if you like heart felt declarations of love I guess that can be overlooked.

I have to admit I never made it through that other series Chambers wrote (Enlightenment), I got stuck in the first chapter three times before I gave up, but that couple makes a cameo in this book and it is even relevant for Iain’s character development. So kudos for not having that be totally gratuitous.

The main thing that didn’t work for me here was the story structure. The ‘real time’ story only spanned a day or two and all the rest of it was told in flashbacks. This not only led to mild confusion (who knew what when and who was present for what events?), it made for an jerky reading experience. Some events were reflected on several times and that started to feel repetitive, too. So did Iain’s misgivings, repeated ad infinitum. I am not a big a fan of the flashback. I can handle a couple, but it was way overdone here.

Apart from that, there was nothing much wrong with the story or the characters and I enjoyed reading it well enough. I just never got real gung ho about it. If you’re looking for a solid historical and you don’t mind flashbacks, this one will suit you, I’m sure.

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