Lindsay Evans, $2.99, ISBN 979-8215821817
Historical Romance, 2018

It’s interesting how Lindsay Evans’s A Delicate Affair first came out when the Kimani line was in its ignoble death throes, and it’s everything that her Kimani offerings of that time period aren’t. Perhaps, free from the shackles of the editorial tyranny of Kimani, the author could definitely serve up some unexpectedly solid stories.

This one sees the author bringing back the torrid goodness that was in her first few Kimani stories, and I’m not talking about the actual boinkum moments alone. The sexual tension and the atmosphere also coalesce here to make this a moody, immersive, hot read.

It’s a historical romance, because it’s set in the early 1900s. 

Musician Golden Worth left his hometown of Opal for Washington, DC due to some serious troubles stemming from an unwanted advances of a white girl. That was seven months ago. He’s settled in nicely as the resident musician at a juke joint. 

Trouble walks into his life in the form of Leonie Harper, a socialite whose wealthy parents certainly don’t approve of their daughter messing around with someone with a lowly pedigree, even if he and they have the skin color. There goes the more peaceful existence that our hero is hoping to find in this town…

Golden is an appealing hero, as he’s the embodiment of the working class bloke that is trying to the make the most out of life—a tall glass of water from all those boring hot billionaires and their petty first world problems. Here, our hero has to face genuine issues involving racism as well as classism, and it’s nice that the author doesn’t try too hard to wave away all these issues toward the end for the hero to have an implausible perfect fairy tale ending. 

Of course, it helps like he has a wry sense of humor and is a generally nice guy that will still push back if he felt that he is copping crap from other people. 

Leonie is a more familiar heroine, the boo-boo poor little rich girl that is living inside a golden cage. In fact, the author spends far more time developing Golden as a character that this poor dear has to settle for being the less developed character as a result. Still, she isn’t the passive sort; she can be quite resourceful at times and this makes her alright with me.

My issue here is the romance. I don’t buy it. The lust is certainly convincing, but I’d like something more than just heavy panting in a romance story. What I get feels more like wanting something unattainable on Golden’s part and an act of rebellion on Leone’s part. If you ask me to bet on the happily ever after of these two, I’d really hesitate to do so because I am not convinced that these two have anything concrete outside of their mutual lust of one another!

Still, this story is a very absorbing and engaging read. This atmosphere is very evocative, and really, all that sexual tension is hot and fun to read. Too bad the romance isn’t any stronger, or else this one would have an easy four-oogie recommendation.