False Colors: An M/M Romance

This is part of a longer review. [...] False Colors is a novel that's half a poignant story of ships-passing-in-the-night male love, and half rip-roaring, swashbuckling, cannon-exploding, pirate fighting, iceberg-ramming Age of Sail adventure. Beecroft puts her characters through physical torture--literally--with stomach-turning details, and through psychological torture just as excruciating. This is one female author who can write convincingly of men at sea and men in lust and love. The erotic scenes are well done, and worked seamlessly into the story. But the characters of John Cavendish and Alfie Donwell are finely drawn and the story so compelling that the sex scenes could be taken out and I wouldn't miss them. The heart and the sinews of this book are not in scenes of physical sex but in the tormented souls of two young naval officers drawn inexorably to each other in a time when such love could put them both on a gallows. John and Alfie are separated through much of the book, but are never far from one another's thoughts, though often the thoughts are bitter. And when they are together, they are at cross purposes. The last chapter is one of the most truly erotic scenes I've ever seen, because it has everything--physical sensation, humor, tenderness, impatience--the works. Beecroft's research, as always, has been exhaustive; every sentence throbs with authenticity. She immerses you in research and detail so neatly that you don't even think about it. You don't read about bloody decks, splintered masts, and pirates burning men alive; you experience them. You can feel the manacles tear John's wrists down to the bone. You can smell the roasting flesh and hear the screams. You feel the unbearable cold of the Arctic ice and feel the fear of every man aboard, knowing a certain death waits as their ship fills with icy water as the deadly beauty of an iceberg towers over them. Beecroft's skills have advanced amazingly since Captain's Surrender. I can only wonder what she has in store for us next. Want a great story with both adventure and romance? Get this one! Reviewer: Ruth Sims author of The Phoenix (Lethe Press)

I just finished this book and found it to be very satisfying. Very romantic, sometimes brutally graphic, but well written and enjoyable. The erotic scenes are very tasteful, so even the prudish shouldn't be too offended. If you enjoy gay romantic period piece novels, this one should be near the top of your wish list.

Beecroft, Alex. "False Colors: An M/M Romance, Running Press, 2009. What A Read! Amos Lassen John Cavendish has just taken the command of HMS Meteor. He is a strong man and his aspiration to make his first mission a success despite his mediocre crew. It is 1762 and Cavendish leads his crew into battle having to stop the slave trade off of the coast of Algeria. His lieutenant Alfred (Alfie) Donwell feels the mission will come to no good and that those back in London will have a chance to use what happens as a reason to go to war with the Ottoman Empire. However, Alfie has a secret--he is infatuated with John and at this time that was a crime for which he could be put to death. When Alfie's former lover and captain come on to the scene of the mission, Alfie finds himself torn between his past relationship and the promise of a future with John. This is a story of war, danger and betrayal that will keep you riveted from cover to cover. Alfie is not as serious as is John but the two have amazing chemistry and when they are together, we get a feeling of discomfort. Alfie constantly tempts John bit even with the chemistry, John keeps his guard up and does not allow Alfie to see another side of him. We do get to see a soft side to Alfie when his former lover appears. Beecroft handles historical fiction like it is the most natural thing in the world and this is a novel that is, above all, entertaining. It has a certain intensity that is hard to define. She has built characters that are people that we care for. The two men struggle for their places in society and life and they are concerned about their reputations and careers. The novel is filled with realism and there is something for everyone. Details abound here and there is a lot of action, erotic and otherwise.

There are certain writers who have the capacity to make me want to smash my keyboard into tiny pieces and not write again. When I finished Alex Beecroft's new book, False Colors, I had that feeling this morning. There are a very few books on my list of 'essential reads' for anyone interested in Gay Historical Fiction. The Charioteer, At Swim Two Boys, As Meat Loves Salt and now False Colors. Yes, it's that good. If you are interested in the genre at all, or are planning to write the genre in future I hold up False Colors and say 'this is how it should be done.' To say that FC isn't a romance would be doing it an injustice because it is-in the modern and the old-fashioned sense of the word. But Beecroft takes that mixes it up with adventure to die for (literally) moral dilemmas popping up like mushrooms, earthy realistic 18th century figures and heart stopping action'and of course romance. At the core it's about two young men who struggle with their places in life and have to weigh up those places, and their reputations- and ruin thereof-against their duty. Many authors would take a book about gay sailors and have most of it having the protagonists either shagging like bunnies or leaning attractively on the quarter-deck pining for the colour of his love's eyes but Beecroft knows the navy and the men within. She knows despite how much tumescence is going on in the fine linen of a sailor's drawers sailors need to work the ship, take watches, men need to be fed, watered, entertained, repel boarders, fight the enemy. If they tend to forget their lover's fine eyes while they are fighting for their lives, one has to forgive them.' This is after all a historical novel and quite aside from the wonderful story of John and Alfie, it is a a book that reeks of the sea ' and one that would grace any naval enthusiast's shelves. Ms Beecroft, as anyone who has read Captain's Surrender will know, does not shy from the realism of her chosen era. The bodycount in this book could rival any Hollywood blockbuster and she doesn't spare the reader the details of the horrors that life in His Majesty's navy can bring, not in sight or sound or taste or smell. Scurvy and yellowjack, torture and shipwreck, the details are always crisp, and convincing. This is what raises her work above the heads of her peers and what makes this great gay romantic fiction. If I have any quibbles with this very fine piece of work-quite the best Ms Beecroft has produced-it's perhaps that the first sixty pages are so crammed with action (making it utterly unputdownable) that it's the tiniest bit jumpy. This doesn't do any detriment to the story though, other than perhaps to take the shine off one of the big fat shiny five stars this book very deservedly gets from me.