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    Standish
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    Standish
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    Standish
    Ebook351 pages5 hours

    Standish

    By Erastes

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    “Everything that makes good Regency drama is here—high society, duels, romantic locations, and of course, a look at the underbelly of the Regency world, including a very harsh and realistic look at Newgate prison. Highly recommended if you love Regencies, gay fiction, or just plain romance.”
    —R.W. Day, author of A Strong and Sudden Thaw

    A great house. A family dispossessed. A sensitive young man. A powerful landowner. An epic love that springs up between two men.

    Set in the post-Napoleonic years of the 1820s, Standish is a tale of two men—one man discovering his sexuality and the other struggling to overcome his traumatic past. Ambrose Standish, a studious and fragile young man, has dreams of regaining the great house his grandfather lost in a card game. When Rafe Goshawk returns from the continent to claim the estate, their meeting sets them on a path of desire and betrayal which threatens to tear both of their worlds apart. Painting a picture of homosexuality in Georgian England, Standish is a love story of how the decisions of two men affect their journey through Europe and through life.

    Second edition, newly revised by the author.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherLethe Press
    Release dateFeb 6, 2013
    ISBN9781301016877
    Unavailable
    Standish

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    Reviews for Standish

    3.5/5

    13 ratings10 reviews

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    • 1/5
      I like my romances - gay, straight, or otherwise - romantic. This is grim and nasty. To Oxfam with it!
    • 4/5
      Standish is a beautiful manor house that looms large in the minds of the remnants of the Standish family who now live almost in its shadow. Ambrose Standish has grown up knowing only of the loss of Standish by his grandfather in a game of cards. His father raised him to be a gentleman-scholar with knowledge of no trade or profession, so now Ambrose and his sisters are struggling to survive. When he hears that the descendant of the evil Goshawk family who 'stole' the house and living from him is finally coming to live in the manor, he's prepared to hate him. Unfortunately, Rafe Goshawk is in need of a tutor for his young son and Ambrose is qualified for nearly nothing else and desperately needs the income.Ambrose, young and sheltered and innocent, is also unprepared to resist the worldly, powerful, wealthy, sardonic Rafe Goshawk, who attracts male lovers easily and is determined to conquer the unsuspecting Ambrose. Rafe, a man who seems to have everything and who is at the top of his game, has a dark and troubled past that still rears its head in nightmares and will affect his future life and relationships. And, indeed, trouble is ahead, through travel to the Continent and back to the depths of an English prison.The setting is the Regency, but this is far from a comedy of manners. The tone and the style of the writing feels very old fashioned. Ambrose is sometimes a bit too much the Victorian woman in peril, but his character does mature, thankfully. Rafe is a compelling hero, almost a romantic stereotype of an alpha-male rake, but with tragic flaws. His emotional story actually makes internal sense, his actions understandable in some ways, but also incomprehensible in other respects. The style and the characterization have their appeal if you like darker, somewhat gothic, tales and drama between emotionally damaged characters. I don't mind this, but it did seem to put the story and the characters at a distance and keep me from becoming wholly sympathetic to them. The tale does remain enough of an interesting page-turner, particularly to those who love a nineteenth-century sensibility, along with the more modern inclusion of sex scenes-- and can stand some non-consenting sex-- all male/male, and a fair bit of angst.
    • 5/5
      STANDISH by Erastes is a book that mislead me! At least to begin with. I spent the first few chapters banging my head repeatadly againt the cover going: "What the Fuck! WTF!! WISKEY TANGO FOXTROT!!!"The plot seemed to rush at you in the speed of galoping crazed horses and the love affair bloomed so fast and so frivolously that I was wondering if the novel will have any steam left by page 50! As it was - IT DID.The tale of Ambrose an impoverished gentlemen from a disinheritted noble family and Rafe whose father is more or less responsible for the downfall of the aformentioned young man, starts with rivalary as Ambose finds himself pressed into the possition of a tutor for Rafe's son. A few short confrontation and then a horse related accident leads to all consuming passion that manifest so blatantly I was wondering if servants in Georgian England had no eyes .Well ... they had plenty as the plot proves.As our besotted and not so careful lovers take on Europe (someone should have warned them that if things go wrong they would ALWAYS go wrong on holliday!) Ambrose get himself raped by a jealous rival to Rafe heart, Rafe gets frustrated by Ambrose angsty self loathing and then hops into the bed of the first devilish gorgeous Italian who takes possesion of his soul (the one in his breeches) and drives our traumatised tutor to England and straight to the hands of the law.Blonde, sensitive and with a tendency for illness , the beautiful Ambrose ends up in jail with the charge of sodomy. Oh yes ladies and gentefops - we have a jailbait in Newgate... ok... How many people manage to spot the million and one little things that makes Lamasu love this book so far?Yeah - I stopped banging my head and shouting WTF by now because, thankfully, the begining was a bit confusing and pretended cliche but still gripping enough to carry you on to the point when you realise that our protagonists were living in the same regency romance fantasy ou brain escaped to. The reality turned out to be a hell of a lot more gritty (yes I said GRITTY! Now you really know I like it ^_^). As one character finds new love in the squallor and degredation of prison, the second tries to make amends for all the wrongs he has done in his life.From this point it all turns dark and dramatic with much mental and phisical torment, yet it manages to capture that measure of escapism of a good romance novel and carry you along a lovely emotional rollercoaster. Remember - this is STILL primarily a romance novel but one with characters that are flawed enough to be real. They make the wrong decisions, behave in ways that show their weaknesses and pay for it dearly. The side characters are also quit lovely. Notable of most is Fluery - The best happy go lucky rogue I have ever encountered... he could probably steal the carpet from under the main characters feet but he was not given enough stage time sadly XDThe most amazing thing about this book in my opinion is the ending. I am not going to give it away, this books twists in unexpected direction but I must say: This is the best example of how the last twist is left for the last line... and I mean THE LAST LINE!What can I say - it has duels and spectacualar villains, plenty of sex and declarations of love and melodrama enough to satisfy the angst whore within.Might not be a masterpiece but it is well written, thrilling, gipping and groping and I loved it.
    • 1/5
      This is the type of messed up relationship you help your friends escape. Complementary pathologies have this couple ruining each other's lives. In misery ever after...
    • 4/5
      A wonderful read, though, filled with anger, despair, disbelief & pain. Of course it came with its happy moments but overall, a tragic love story.
      4 stars due to the fact that I couldn't put the book down to save my life.
    • 3/5
      I had high hopes for this one and for the first thirty pages I thought I had found a gem. The writing was great the descriptions perfect the characters loveable if a little under developed. But then it went downhill. So much so that it suddenly felt like a different book. I could not phantom what was going on at first, I thought the events must be a dream and at any time the character was going to wake up and the book would go on being like it was before. But... no. I have no idea what happened but the abrupt falling in love in the course of a sentence or two was way out of character for either of the two men. Where the hell did that come from. Out of nowhere, that’s where. It did pick up a little later on but overall the story was a little too ridiculous for me to really appreciate it.
    • 4/5
      What a terific story...A great house, a family dispossessed. A sensitive young man comes to tutor the master's son ...and epic love grows. Set in the post-Naploeonic years of the 1820's--STANDISH is the name of the great house and the young man who yearns to re-claim it. One man discovering his sexuality and the other, struggling to overcome his traumatic past. Well written with characters that are beautifully developed. It is the passioned story of Ambrose Standish, who has dreams of living in the great house his grandfather lost in a card game, who meets Rafe Goshawk the new landowner, and their greatlove story begins. Their meeting sets them on a path of desire, betrayal and heartbrake. I loved this book, Highly recommended.
    • 2/5
      Ambrose Standish still lives on the land of the great house his grandfather lost in a card game, dreaming of one day taking it back. The house is owned now by the Goshawk family, however they have left it empty till, of course, now. Rafe Goshawk moves in with his son, much to the ire of Ambrose. He proceeds to hate Rafe, despite having to accept a job as the son's tutor, while Rafe becomes enamored with Ambrose's physical beauty and the challenge presented by the man's clear hatred for him and decides to seduce him.From the beginning clearly this book was not incredibly substantial stuff, but with all the raving reviews on Amazon, I was hoping it would at least be some nice entertainment. Clearly it is for many, but unfortunately I'm finding reception my vary greatly depending on what kinds of things you find entertaining.I can be a bit of a sucker for hate turning to love stories, so that path had some potential for me, though I found Rafe's desire to seduce a man who hates him just for the fun of it rather unappealing. I was willing to wait it out till his feelings became a little less tainted, though. As it turns out, I did not have to wait long, though the outcome was not exactly desirable, either.Rafe and Ambrose meet I believe around the 25 page mark. By 30 pages later, they are madly in love with one another. This comes about when Rafe is injured falling off a horse, through a hurt/comfort sequence of such unimaginative and rushed execution I would have sworn it was stolen from fanfiction (even if the prose is perhaps a little more detailed than what you might find in such things). Almost instantaneously, Ambrose comes to realize that he loves Rafe (who I believe must have done something besides lay in bed looking vulnerable in order to make Ambrose change his feelings towards him, like, say, TALK TO THE GUY, thought the actual exposition does nothing to suggest this), whilst Rafe's desire for wicked seduction is replaced by real love.The two come to an understanding quickly, and for the rest of the book I read (I got half way through), the two spend their time being sappy and spouting lines like, “I adore you. What we have is nothing that anyone has had before. Divine. Eternal. Nothing, nothing shall part us. I swear to you.” There are complications in the form of the former lovers of Rafe, one of which is simply a villain and the other who I suppose could have made things interesting, but I get the feeling will not be allowed to.If you enjoy reading fanfiction (or any stories, I suppose) where characters are nothing but concentrated balls of love, devotion, sap, and jealousy and where all plot developments are simply vehicles by which the characters may be made to feel any or all of these emotions to even higher extremes, you'll probably adore this. ...I know you're out there, so have at it. ^_^ Otherwise, there's probably nothing here for you.
    • 3/5
      A really decent romance novel. This one had a few twists and turns that I hadn't expected, some parts of which actually made this closer to a "proper" novel than other romance I have read. The characters are well-rounded and believable, although the Italian Count seems like something out of a Byronic nightmare and not entirely human. Of course it ends happily, surprisingly not in the happily-ever-after sense, but in a rather human way. I wouldn't have minded seeing the end of the last scene, though - Erastes just gives us a hint of it. I do appreciate that the author sees the importance of his genre (even though I don't always) and didn't just throw away the characters to some clichéd plot, and also that he took the time and care to make them 3D characters with flaws and very believable emotions.
    • 5/5
      Standish, a Regal, Historical Romance Standish is a well conceived historical gay novel set in England during the Regency. It is evocative of a Brontё novel and reading it, I felt like I was part of a Merchant-Ivory production with the addition of sex. Ambrose Standish and his elder sisters are nearly destitute living in the cottage next to the Standish mansion which was lost in a bet by their grandfather before any of them were born. He dreams of regaining his heritage when the current heir to the mansion, Rafe Goshawk comes to live there with his young son. Rafe offers Ambrose a position as his son’s tutor and Ambrose accepts despite the contempt he feels for this arrogant man. Rafe is immediately drawn to Ambrose and vows to eventually seduce him. Before that can happen, he suffers a tragic riding accident and Ambrose becomes his nursemaid during which he falls hopelessly in love with the unconscious man. Upon recovery a romance ensues and the two of them with Rafe’s son go on a tour of the continent. Complications arise that I won’t go into, and their relationship is destroyed, sending them along separate paths. The rest you will just have to read for yourself. As I’ve said in other reviews, I’m not partial to erotica per se, but I have no problem with it if it is integral to the plot, (I’m not a prude, really!) If it is realistically portrayed and essential to the story, I’m fine with it, but if not, then I find it to be obtrusive. Standish walked a fine line for me, but in the end I’m coming down on the side of its being integral and realistic. One area where I must be forgiving is the language. Writers of historical fiction with an erotic element have a unique challenge in describing explicit sexuality in historical terms. This is because frank sexuality was not openly discussed in 1820 and certainly not present in the literature of the time. So modernisms tend to pop up here and there in the erotic sections of the book and usually in phallic references such as “rod” or “member.” It’s also refreshing to come across a couple of characters who are Christian in the true sense of the word and not relegated to villainous roles. So, overall I was swept up in the high drama and experienced moments of agony, triumph, and joy. The final chapter was especially rewarding. As I closed the book, I just had to sit quietly and contemplate on it for a while.--------Post Script - Well folks, my ignorance is showing. It turns out I was mistaken about what I thought to be "modernisms" in the text. I found on further research that "rod" and "member" in that context do indeed date back to that era. My apologies.