A really lovely story, enjoyed every minute of it. Thank you!

I love Jack and Nicholas so first chapter just felt so dense and the two characters seemed so similar when they were talking in the bar I was afraid I wouldn't be able to tell them apart. But they quickly diverged after that. Jack being rougher and Nicholas more proper. I really feel for both of them, Nicholas being kicked out under a horrible misunderstanding. (Ugh women...) And poor Jack, all he wants is to be loved, and just afraid or too proud to let himself be loved. It's too bad the two of them can't give each other everything they want in a partner but at least they are close. Morgan it seems is not as perfect as Nicholas' dreams. I swear I would have an inferiority complex if m partner was screaming someone else's name in the act. I hope Rafael hooks Jack, the poor guy needs some love. Toby and Jayden are great comic relief to break up the flow. Will continue to read more.

I just read all of this in like a day. I need a moment. Thank you for writing this though!

Absolutely lovely tale. I wish we had final conformation that Nicky got the kind of lovin he really wanted ; ) but with this ending, I at least feel it's safe to assume so.

Much enjoyed! _

Ffff like a cute baby snake! I can see it now!

Well, as you command, I shall post a review! Though you may not be coming here quite as often anymore...
No, no, it was really well constructed. I personally like a lot the Victorian era from famous books I've read and this story was SO detailed, it was perfect :) Obviously the end felt a bit unrealistic what with the two main characters, homosexuals in a period where it still wasn't accepted, finding love and living happily ever after, but you did spend about 35 chapters developing the relationships between the two couples, so a bad ending would have been very surprising and unsatisfactory! Every protagonist had their own problematic past but you didn't use that as an excuse to explain their difficulties in love, you made it part of who they are. I don't know how you actually think up your characters but, to the reader, it really seems it was the starting point of their creation.
But there is something that disturbed me and that is the 'submissive' nature of Nicholas and Jack (as if servants ought to be submissive and Lords are all dominants, you see) and especially of Jack. It just...it irks me that such a strong person wishes to be dominated. Loved, yes, but dominated as he was in the workhouse, as an apprentice carpenter..? While it might be seen as the ultimate proof of his trust toward Rafael that he let himself be bound during their sex scene, I actually found it really hard to swallow. I mean, it was their first night together..it seems too soon to me. As for Nicholas, I can accept his servitude as something ingrained by his environment since he was young, but his temperament is way too assertive in general to reflect in his bedroom habits. On the contrary even, deference would make it hard to imagine bedding a Lord as something appropriate...BUT, that is when I remember that this is not the world of Richardson's Pamela but that of Brontë's Jane Eyre, and it gets a bit more understandable ;)
Such a long story makes me want to write a long review but I'll stop here I think. Thank you for the good time :)

I still love this story. Had a hankering to come back and visit again and loved it. Again.

Great job on this epic slash tale! As my name suggests I read a lot of Original Slash, some better than others. Yours was lovely, but unfortunately I read it right after reading a very wonderful slash by DarkEmeralds called Restraint. You can look it up, as you might enjoy it and pick up a few pointers. I say unfortunately because DarkEmeralds wrote a story set in Regency England, which I believe is somewhere around the time you put your story in. If you look at her work, it is very much written in that style. The social conventions and the way the characters spoke and behaved is all very much in keeping with the Regency setting. If I had not read this story right before reading yours, I might not have felt or been bothered by the fact that you didn't observe these conventions in the same way. That said, I don't really like to criticize too much, because you did indeed have great character development and to have that many characters with their own fleshed out personalities is perhaps the hardest thing to achieve. Only one criticism on that point- I thought Jack kind of changed personalities from when he was in London to when he was in Plumley (sp?). I can't describe it completely, but there was a definite shift, even phsycally. At the beginning of the story Jack was the weakling, and then that shifted with Nicholas being the weaker of the two. Another bit I found confusing is the way you were shifting focus from one character to another. I originally expected Nicky to be the central protagonist, but then at times his story completely faded from the forefront.

I'm not really a writer, and I've never written anything quite as longs as what you have here. However, I do read a lot. I remember reading Stephen King's "On Writing" and he strongly advised writers to avoid dialects and such if they were not completely confident in how to do it. I would say that advice would greatly apply here. I know elements of the story, with the lords and the manor, and the servants, are all rooted in the 19th century (unless it was the late 18th century), but even so, the way it is written and the dialogue is firmly rooted in much more modern times. One example would be your use of the word "guy". "Guy" comes form Guy Fawkes, who attempted to blow up parliament in the beginning of the 17th century. Every year on the 5th of November, people would celebrate his failure by hanging and/or burning little Guy dolls. If you're from England, you'd know this as Bonfire night. So, while these days "guy" refers to a boy or a man, or in some cases a group of boys and girls, the word would not have been used like that in the time period you are writing about. I'm pretty sure on this. I know it's a nitpicky example, and not many people noticed it, but I did.

Also, I don't think kids called their father "Da", especially a Lord's child. In modern times they might, but back then "Father" was the most used, even if it sounds odd now.

Definitely your lords didn't speak in as refined a fashion as they surely would have at the time, even with their very lax take on lordly duties and the lord/servant relationship.

Last bit I would have a cirticism for is the fact that you sort of made the sexual act between Rafael and Jack the culmination of their relationship. I can't quite explain this better than that.

I know it seems like I am mostly criticizing, but I did enjoy your story. Thank you for writing it.

Ah god. I really wish my shift at work wasn't over so I could continue reading this.

:)

It's awesome!

XD

I can't wait to finish it dammit!

I absolutely loved this story! It had my three favourite five favourite things in it: History, romance, drama, love triangle (kinda) and best of all slash! You did a fantastic job on this and I read it until my eyes began hurting (no seriously, they kill right now. Its what I get for reading stories on my phone without my glasses). One think that bothered me though: how OLD are Morgan and Rafael? You threw around a few ages when they spoke of their past but I still don't have definite ages lol. also, is Nicholas twenty three like Jack or a year or so younger or older than him. The ages are all that bothered me though lol. Great job on this, I really enjoyed it! :D

Thanks for the read. I loved much about it, but what I loved especially well was your building and description of Nicholas' and Jack's friendship.

The angst is also very moving. :) Since you asked for constructive criticism, I must say that I kind of lost track of Nicholas growing anxiety, with his assault and everything that went with it (especially with Jack/Raphael stealing the spotlight), so his sudden departure was as surprising to me as it was to Morgan. You did convey the process with the explanations in the last chapters, but I feel like a scene or two of angsting on earlier stages would have kept Nicholas/Morgan more urgently in mind.

I also like your handle on Victorian England. It is obvious that you have put a lot of research into this, yet you never get preachy. I also love how you relate the characters relationship to their horses.

A problematic part in my view is their view of male/male relationship. I don't question that there were romantic relationships between males in the Georgian era, but your males are very comfortable with the physical side too, and I wonder if it really was that easy to "go with it" and not be even more terrorized by the thought of possible reprisals than what you describe, both for the males in question and their surroundings. But I guess it goes with the territory of writing m/m romance and it would also be a subjective experience, so I live well with my question going unanswered.

And the ending did work well. I don't think anyone reading this far wouldn't want to kick Morgan's ass for not riding after Nicholas earlier. Thanks again. :)

I loved the story! It was really good. I didn't know what to expect and at first I didn't really feel like reading it, but I'm glad I did. Good job :)

Absolutely fantastic. Though I'm sad it's the end I'm so very happy to have stumbled across this. Definitely looking forward to readong more from you! :D

Oh! Rafe was definitely my favorite.

Wheww! Just finished! WHAT an INCREDIBLE story! Am still on a high from the last two chapters, and keep smiling to myself like an idiot! I absolutely adored it! When I first read the summary it sounded good, but the actual story was nothing like I thought it would be like - I obviously assumed that Jack and Nicholas would get together, but boy am I glad they didnt!

I couldn't help falling in love with Nicholas straight away (I always adore the pretty boys), and then I adored Morgan, then Rafael (my favourite character by the way), and the Jack, the gorgeous little hellcat...! You made both couples fit so perfectly together... And the relief and excitement and woow when Jack and Rafael FINALLY got together was incredible. That sweet torturous suspense was worth it!

I also love the fact that you made it so believable. Living in england, I know quite a lot about this period of time etc. from my delightful history lessons and you really wrote it well (:

I also love Annie. oh and the two boys! Seriously, all of the characters just fit so perfectly and make it so special. make it work!

But I am waffling in excitement now.. Just - thankyou! Fabulous story, my new favourite!

Periidot

I read this story in two days because I couldn't stop. I love Jack, he was such a great character.