Review: Moon Flower by Christina Lee
SYNOPSIS:
When Galen flees his home and travels to Lunar’s Reach, he does what he needs to survive. But trading his body for food in his belly is always a risky undertaking. After he’s found injured in an alleyway, his new friends take him to Moon Flower apothecary, where the madam in charge offers him the proposition of a lifetime.
Little does he know that the Moon Flower flourishes at night—in more ways than one. Gentlemen gather in secret, yearning for an evening with Galen and the others, where they offer pleasure willingly while exploring their desires.
But Galen’s eye is continually drawn to the most unassuming man in the room—Azriel, the resident healer, who has the most unusual aura Galen has ever seen. There’s an understated melancholy in him that Galen longs to soothe, and the more time they spend together, the more he craves to know Azriel’s touch.
But security is only a threadbare veneer for those like him, and soon danger is upon their doorstep. Galen has only ever needed to protect himself, but now he belongs to an ensemble of unlikely characters who’ve become the family he never had. So he’ll put himself on the line, along with his heart, if it means keeping them safe—especially Azriel, the man who quiets his restless soul.
REVIEW:
Talk about a completely unique and refreshing read. Historical settings always take me a moment to get into but once I was sucked into this captivating world, I didn’t want to leave. I really liked the whole spin on how ‘fated’ worked in this story, it was so different from anything I’ve read before but I especially loved how it wasn’t insta-love!
This gritty world set in the late 1800s is not for the faint of heart. Conditions are brutal and Galen is struggling to barely survive. But at Moon Flower, Galen finds a sanctuary where he learns to heal and better understand himself. Over the course of his healing, he always has an eye for Azriel. There is definitely an underlying chemistry between these two but over the course of the story, they genuinely form a deep, heartfelt bond and friendship.
We see touches of voyeurism as Moon Flower is part brothel and part apothecary. Each man is so comfortable in their sexuality but also safe from danger (well most dangers). And while Galen and Azriel’s journey to love was definitely the focal point of the story, I couldn’t help but fall in love with the secondary characters. The playful twins with their taboo relationship, Oscar with his elaborate fictional stories, Bellamy with his cool aloofness, I wanted to learn more about them all.
As a hidden variable tries to disrupt the peace that Galen has found at Moon Flower, he will do whatever it takes to protect Azriel. Watching how things played out had me on the edge of my seat, there were definitely some plot twists I didn’t see coming. But the true scene stealer in this story was Mr. Blackburn, as I closed the last page of the book, my heart was so full from this elusive man and his haunting life story. Simply a delightful historical fantasy read.
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