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Unnatural (Enlightenment)

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Unnatural (Enlightenment)

By: Joanna Chambers
Narrated by: Simon Goldhill
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About this listen

Captain Iain Sinclair has looks, charm, military honours—even the favour of the king himself. He has everything—everything, that is, except the friendship of the one man whose good opinion he has ever cared for, scientist, James Hart.

James has loved Iain all his life, but after the last disastrous encounter between them, he vowed to accept no more crumbs from Iain’s table. If Iain cannot be the lover James wants, then James will have no more to do with him.

Disenchanted with his career, and miserable without James in his life, Iain decides to leave military service and embark upon a new career in India. Before he leaves England behind, though, he is determined to try one last time to reconcile with his dearest friend.

An invitation to a country house party from James’s sister provides the perfect opportunity to pin James down and force him to finally listen to Iain’s apology. But when Iain discovers that an apology is not enough—that James is not willing settle for less than a lover—he is forced to reconsider everything: his life, his future career, and most of all, his feelings for James.

©2015, 2018 Joanna Chambers (P)2024 Joanna Chambers Historical Historical Fiction Romance Military

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All stars
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Listener received this title free

Amazing! I've had Joanna Chambers' Unnatural on my tbr shelf for ages, and it was such a treat to listen to the audio version.

Simon Goldhill delivers a superb performance in the audiobook, creating a uniqe voice for each character, and adding emotion to this moving tale.

Fans of Chambers' Enlightenment series know each book can be enjoyed as a standalone, and I highly recommend each and every one of these wonderful historic romance novels.

Amazing Story, Wonderful Performance by Goldhill!

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Listener received this title free

The narrator has a lovely calm voice, which fits the writing style and time period beautifully.
Story - nice and unhurried story without a lot of plot. I don't think I would have liked it so much in ebook form, as the relationship between the MCs kept being the same push and pull for most of the book - James really deserved so much more. For me, it would have been nicer if there had been more examples of positive times between them to offset the negative.

very pleasant listen

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Listener received this title free

I have had the ebook of Unnatural for quite awhile but never made time to read it. When offered the chance for a review copy of the audiobook I was very happy to be gifted one.

This story made my heart hurt at times for how Jamie pined for Iain. I knew they would get their HEA but it didn’t come without heartache first.

The timeline goes back and forth between the past and present but it was never confusing. It’s stories like these that made me fall in love with historical MM romance and Joanna Chambers has written several that I’ve enjoyed.

Simon Goldhill did a wonderful job conveying all of the emotions contained in this wonderful story.

So much pining; I loved it!

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Listener received this title free

A wonderful story about someone standing up and asking for what they want firmly and resolutely. James and Iain are long-time friends but James wants more and to Iain's surprise, refuses to accept less. This forces Iain to do some hard thinking about who he is and what he wants for the rest of his life. Really enjoyed the Master and Commander vibe here and seeing James understand his own worth. Simon Goldhill does a wonderful job with these characters showing both their strength and vulnerability.

Standing strong

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Listener received this title free

I loved this slow burning friends to lovers story. I really enjoy reading historical novels in between and the author was new to me too, so I was curious about Iain and James' story.
Iain has a homophobic father for whom nothing Iain achieved could ever be good enough. My poor heart bled for Iain.
James on the other hand knows exactly what he wants and that is Iain.
I loved how the two of them grew closer and yet there were always societal pressures. In the end, Iain has to decide if true love is worth the risk or has he rejected Jamie one too many times?
The story is very well written and I quickly took the two characters to my heart. The backstory was also interesting and the story was very emotional.

Simon Goldhill did a brilliant job. He portrayed the characters and emotions well and I was able to tell the protagonists apart.

Historical romance

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Listener received this title free

Unnatural is a childhood-friends-to-lovers story featuring Iain Sinclair and James Hart, whose years-long friendship goes disastrously wrong and causes them to spend several years deliberately avoiding each other.

It’s 1824, and Iain has just resigned his army commission and accepted a post as a government agent in India. He will be leaving in a matter of weeks, and realises he needs to see James one last time – and make peace with him if he can – before he goes.

The story is told in both the ‘now’ and the ‘then’, as we witness various key events in the lives of these men and are shown how two such firm friends have reached a point at which they are so dreadfully estranged. Their path back to each other is not an easy one and not without heartbreak, and I will admit that Iain’s guilt over his sexuality and his continual refrain of “I don’t want to ruin our friendship” is somewhat repetitive. But despite that, I enjoyed the story; the characters are well-rounded and engaging – even if Iain is a bit of a prick at times – and the romance is nicely done, with sensual and emotional love scenes which fit the overall tone of the story very nicely.

This new audio version of the book is narrated by Simon Goldhill, who has also narrated the author’s A Gathering Storm and her co-authored Creative Types series, so I knew I’d be able to kick back and enjoy the story without worrying about there being any narrator faux-pas. Mr. Goldhill has a very smooth, pleasant voice, and I enjoyed his performance overall, although there are a few places where his character differentiation is a bit too understated; most of the time James and Iain are easy to identify aurally, but not always, and I would have liked to have been able to hear the differences in their dialogue more obviously. But that’s a minor point – the dialogue tags helped avoid any confusion and all in all, it’s an excellent performance.

Unnatural is a gently-paced character-driven story in which the relationship between the protagonists evolves slowly but satisfyingly, and Simon Goldhill’s narration makes a definite case for experiencing it in audio.

4.5 stars for the narraton/3.5 stars for the story

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Listener received this title free

Oh, Iain, you broke my heart over and over.

This was lovely. A best friends to lovers romance with many Iain-shaped obstacles to overcome. And even though Iain was self destructive, especially in his relationship with James, he was still endearingly charming. It was impossible not to root for him. James was easy to like, a progressive thinker with little concerns for 'society'.
I enjoyed the format, switching between their present and various important points in their relationship.
The narrator was excellent.
Highly recommended.

Glorious historical Romance

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Listener received this title free

I adored the slow burn of James and Ian's best friends-to-lovers romance. Theirs was a story full of pining and false starts, a historical romance with period accurate public sentiment about men who loved men that didn't shy away from depicting the additional challenges those men faced in finding lasting love. For James and Ian, their relationship started out as a boyhood friendship that evolved with time into something neither of them were prepared for. I enjoyed the way the chapters of their story were broken up into past and present--it gave me a way to efficiently see how the passage of time changed their feelings for one another without distracting from the present-day storyline of Ian reconnecting with James while on the brink of a major career turning point. I found it easy to get invested in both of the lead characters, and it was interesting to see how the different career paths they ended up in affected their views on pursuing a forbidden relationship. Ian was much more cautious and practical than James, who believed that with enough love any romance could flourish, and it did make my heart hurt to see them turn away from each other multiple times out of fear of discovery. Outside of a handful of kisses and touches there was almost no steam in this book until the very end, but the buildup of romantic love was worth so much more to me than any physical chemistry that would have just been a fun release. Ian was absolutely the one pumping the brakes the hardest on anything resembling love, and while I hated how that strained his and James's friendship I understood where he was coming from based on the father he grew up with. In the end it was Ian who had to decide if the potential for true love and happiness was worth the risk, but he also had to win back James who was fed up after feeling rejected and undesired by Ian. I'm so happy with the way things worked out for the two of them, and it really made all the hard times and pining feel worth it in the end. I enjoyed this book so much I want to go back and read the rest of the series!

A historical romance full of pining

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Listener received this title free


I rarely read historical romances, but I enjoyed this one a lot. This book is set over many years, starting with a childhood friendship and going back and forth quite a bit, not so much that you need to remember which timeline you are in. This is a slow burn and a decade or two of pining from James.

The storytelling was so balanced. The two main characters and the background story merged well, keeping me emotionally invested at every turn. The two main characters, Iain and James, had good character depth and solid backstories, and there were some great side characters, like the annoying Rev Potts.

It's well worth a read/listen, and I recommend it.

Simon Goldhill did a brilliant job. His narration was very clear and easy to listen to. However, like usual, I did speed up the audio to 1.20 on audible to match my reading pace and maintain the momentum of the story.

Unnatural (Enlightenment)
By: Joanna Chambers
Narrated by: Simon Goldhill
Series: Enlightenment, Book 4
Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins

❤❤❤❤ Overall
🎧🎧🎧🎧🎧 Narration
📚📚📚📚 Story
Read at 1.20 speed on Audible

I received this audiobook for free from GRR at my request. My review is my opinion and an honest review - neither the author nor GRR influenced my opinion.

MM Historical Romance

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Listener received this title free

This is the first audio by this author I’ve listened to.

It is a low angst romance. What was a friendship as kids changed over time. At least for Iain who seems to be trying to ignore his attraction to James. Iain’s father and his surroundings lend to his ignoring who he really is.

James knows who he is and he knows who he wants but when Iain goes back and forth on any feelings James is left frustrated.

This is a solid romance that moves right along. It focuses on the two guys and their relationship path.

I really enjoyed the narration by Simon Goldhill. He brought the story to life.

Solid romance

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