Convincing Leopold, from Ava March (London Legal #2)

Hi, there! Good afternoon to you 🙂 I’d like to start this post apologizing to Ava. Convincing Leopold was re-released today, so I had promised my review for Feb. 8^th and failed miserably. I’m so so sorry 😦 But better a bit later than never 😉

As said once or twice, Ava is re-releasing the London Legal series and adding up a third book to it on 2016. Reviews for book one and book three are already available ❤ Both 5 stars, btw!

And yes, another Ava March book review, sorry not sorry, haha!

from my Instagram 🙂

The Story

Arthur couldn’t be happier with his lover, Leopold. Without the threat of coming home to an empty and cold apartment, Arthur is refreshed and working even harder than usual. Except that Leopold seems to be restless of late and just won’t let Arthur rest at all during the night… And not in a pleasant way.

Leopold couldn’t be happier with his lover, Arthur. Without the threat of losing him again to some other more respectable gentleman, Leopold is refreshed and sober as he never has been. Except that Arthur’s hours at the office seem to only increase and Arthur just hired a new secretary… And a beautiful man, nevertheless.

Will Arthur and Leopold work out their differences or prove that they weren’t ever suited at all?

The Analysis

Just remembering that those were my impressions and opinion as a reader 🙂

I like Convincing Leopold even better than Convincing Arthur. As I mentioned on the review for book one, Leopold is one of my favorite Ava March’s males. He is so exotic, beautiful and adorable, ugh! I wanna hug him.

Ahem.

This book was a re-read and I lost count of times that I did so since buying it, so it’s another case of over analyzing something that I’m deeply familiarized with. Not a bad thing, just means that you’ll have to bear with me for a while longer, haha! This book was more dramatic than the last and left me with my heart in tiny pieces on my bedroom floor. I cried hard on the first read and, sometimes, I still do. I just can’t stand what Arthur did to Leopold. But we’ll get there. Important thing is that this book is an excellent sequel and a five stars book 🙂

The narrative in all March’s books so far is third person styled with switching points of view between the couple (a.k.a. my favorite kind), so once again we are able to see what goes on with Arthur and Leopold. And that only makes the reader’s heart more broken when they start to fall apart. You know how much they love each other and you can’t do anything to help them or assure them how perfect for each other than they are.

Honestly, you have no idea how I felt when I couldn’t show this line to Leopold:

Yet being with Thorn felt right. More than right, in fact. Thorn felt like home.

Okay, I’m okay. I think.

The plot was simple and straightforward: a couple having adjusting problems on their relationship thanks to lack of proper communication. The innovations? Arthur and Leopold are a gay couple on the Regency era, a time were you could be hanged for sodomy. And just like that, a simple plot becomes something exciting, haha! Oh, and of course that no matter the complexity of the plot if it isn’t well executed. March is my queen in plot executions ❤ (I have to say that Jacqueline E. Smith is hard competition. Maybe if Luke and Chase started a romance in Lost Souls…).

Now, let’s talk about my sweet darling Leopold. Yes, I know, there is Arthur and Jones, but they can wait, hunf. I usually like top guys best in gay couples, but Leopold just caught me hard. His subtle arrogance and insecurity did the trick, I guess. A quick quote from Arthur for you to catch my meaning:

“You do realize you are the very embodiment of temptation?”

Thorn arched a knowing brow.

Yes, of course he knew.

And Leopold is so right. #justsaying

Also, he has a condition that made me relate a lot with him. I already experienced similar crisis and there is nothing you can do besides waiting for it to pass. He said himself that two days in bed weren’t that bad and he was right. Last year, I had a break down and was abed for two weeks. I barely looked up on internet, wouldn’t personally talk to my parents or do much besides stay tucked in my bed. For two weeks, I couldn’t attend my college classes or get out of my bedroom at all. Add this to the knowledge that Arthur was a freaking selfish bastard that couldn’t bother to just be honest with Leopold and then you have all my reasons to like Leopold better, haha!

However, of course, I have to give Arthur credit. In the moment he realized how big of a mess he had made, he chased after Leopold like a blind hellhound. That was really cute. And creepy.

Once again, I was captured by March’s beautiful way of building and portraying of a relationship trying to work. Convincing Leopold is all about how communication is vital for a health commitment. And all about how perfect Leopold and Arthur are for each other ❤

To close the characters’ section, I’d like to acknowledge Jones, Leopold’s butler. His devotion and loyalty to Leopold were touching, especially on a time were employees were almost slaves on the hands of the royal and the wealth. I wanted to hug him too, haha!

As always, I can’t treat March’s sex scenes as a bonus point, as they are present on ever book that she writes please never change and they are always smoking hot. I will say this on every single review: March knows her business. I still get impressed with the overflow of feeling during her character’s most intimate moments. They may be mad at each other or just not care at all for each other, but when it comes to the bed, you feel that there is nothing outside in the world besides them and their play. This is magical. I think it’s fair enough to say that all March’s characters make love ❤

Of course, I also need to express how much I loved the new cover! I have the old edition and trust me, this one is way better ❤

Overall, this book made me laugh, made me cry and made me love Leopold even more ❤ This is one of the best sequels that I have read and I don’t think I’ll even stop re-reading this book.

That’s it, thank you for bearing with me! The best part is that you can read an excerpt of Convincing Leopold here and find the ebook on the usual places:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Kobo

Samhain

iBooks

All Romance Ebooks