Heat Factor: The get it on a couple times

Character Chemistry: I would have liked to care more about these guys’ relationship

Plot: Earl’s son runs away from arranged marriage to another Earl’s daughter, so that Earl’s son has to chase after him, but he doesn’t try very hard when he finds a mysterious cute guy in the woods (who wants to hide from Earl 1 but is definitely not his son)

Overall: I really wanted to like this book, but I’m left one part disappointed and one part annoyed

This was the longest road trip in history. Snuggling under cloaks while camping outside in the winter is great and all, but there was just no urgency to the middle 50% of the book. Actually, there wasn’t much urgency to any of the book, now that I think of it. I’ll recap the situation for you:

Raff’s family has traveled to Oxfordshire to deliver his sister in marriage to the son of Earl Marcus de Foucart—

Tangential rant: Look, technically, if an earl’s title is derived from his surname, one does not use the “Earl of…” that we might be accustomed to hearing. Okay. BUT. Both Earl Marcus de Foucart and Earl Griffin Barden are somehow earls (Barden being an earl from a long and distinguished lineage) unassociated with lands. Which is weird, because after Billy the Conq started creating earls, he used them as land managers for all his shires. Furthermore, medieval kings used earldoms as political chips, including withholding permission to transfer the title, but usually including the title with a land grant because what good is a title with nothing behind it? Also, I looked briefly, and I only found ONE earl with a title based on his surname EVER, but here we somehow have two? It smacks of a lack of research, rather than such a depth of understanding that would entail so much research that my (not insubstantial) background knowledge and cursory research disprove it. /end rant

—and while both parties are willing to go through with the marriage, neither is particularly excited about it. Upon discovering that his father is so unsure of his following through on the marriage that he’s locked the bedroom door, Penn—

(whose given name is William and…did no one consider the (absolutely enormous) American market in editing this book at all? William Penn? Really?)

(Also, maybe the British internets are different, but I poked around online a little and Penn didn’t even come up as a proposed nickname—but Reggie did—for Peregrine, which is the source of Penn’s nickname because he’s a falconer. I feel like there were other options here.)

—escapes into the night through a secret passage in his room—

(that apparently literally no one knows about because it is behind a tapestry? No one? Really? Servants do clean tapestries…)

—where he runs across Raff, who has also decided to take a stroll to clear his head in Hartswood forest. They share a kiss, and apparently this is the impetus for Penn finally deciding that he just has to lead his own life. He runs away into the forest with, like, absolutely nothing (even though all his meager belongings are packed to go to his new home upon his marriage), in the winter, with absolutely no life skills. Honestly, it is kind of impressive that he didn’t freeze to death the first night.

So, Raff, who is an awesome tracker (as one is), is sent out to look for the missing William. William/Penn’s dad is apparently such a self-absorbed doofus that he doesn’t describe Penn’s appearance, and is also apparently literally the only person that Raff talks to even though there’s a whole-ass castle full of people who have known Penn his whole life, so Raff doesn’t know what William looks like. Naturally, when he finds Penn shivering in the forest outside the castle, he’s like, “Oh hey! It’s you! And you’re running away from the castle? And you have literally no idea how to survive? ThIs iS NoT SuSpIcIoUs aT aLL.”

Side rant: So, my issue here is this: Penn is the son an heir of an earl, and he has no idea how to use weapons, and he can only hunt with falcons, and his primary skill is social manipulation (because Court, obvi), but when Raff assumes Penn is a servant, Penn is like, “Yep, that’s me!” And their plan is to get him work in another noble house as a servant, and, like…he doesn’t know how to servant? He has not considered his position enough to wear warm clothes in the winter, but he thinks he’s going to be able to go from pampered (albeit abused) son to answering to a lord whom he cannot leave…ever? (Because one thing this book did acknowledge that isn’t usually acknowledged was that there really wasn’t a lot of social mobility for people. Which really makes Penn’s plan worse, if you think about it.) I honestly couldn’t get over this plan. At all. /end rant

And off they go on their long and meandering road trip that seems exclusively designed for snuggling together in the cold and Raff teaching Penn to fight. Not gonna lie, after a while I started to wonder just where we were going with the story, because emotional intimacy is not exclusively developed from snuggling and the same unrequited feelings over and over.

Because this is a double deception plot, the dark moment obviously stems from the discovery of the deception. They’re both pretending not to be the earls’ sons, so I’ll let you guess which one is the more problematic lie. Grand gestures ensue and just, like, couple things:

Gangrene in the shoulder? Really? Who TF is going to survive that in 1360?
There is no way that the wife of an earl would not know that her son would be sent off to serve in another household. That was the standard operating procedure for medieval nobility because then their sons would both learn the art of, like, knighting under the guidance of (hopefully) a competent and successful noble and also they would help cement alliances between noble families. This lady would have probably had to say goodbye to her son when he was still a single digits age. But sure, she can add the drama that allows for the hostage agreement instead.

Side note: Did you know hostages were different in the medieval period? Check this out.

And finally, a note on the writing.

This story is very competently written. There were a couple weird turns of phrase (“Raff took a sharp intake of breath”? What?), but I was never wondering what on earth I was trying to read. That said, there also wasn’t a lot of…oomph? Energy? A unique voice? To this story. I mentioned in my opening that there wasn’t much urgency to this book, and what I mean by that is that the writing is almost too refined. At one point, Penn refers to his deception as a “poison, slowly destroying him,” but poison is a strong, dramatic thing, and this is the first time that we’re getting any sense of that dramatic energy from Penn. He sometimes thinks about how he shouldn’t be lying to Raff, but it’s not dragging him down or eating him from the inside—

(because he’s too busy snuggling and flirting)

—so when it suddenly becomes a poison, it doesn’t quite hit the level of drama that it should. Likewise, that whole gangrene in the shoulder situation I mentioned at the end of the book… Sorry if this enters spoilery territory, I’ll try to be mostly vague, but Penn’s dad is portrayed as a tyrant for the entire book, then all of a sudden Penn’s whole personality changes—

(which I was honestly expecting to happen a little earlier considering his whole “journey of self discovery” situation on his trek north with Raff)

—and there are no consequences. He’s not even worried about consequences. Where is my angst? WhErE ThE tYrAnT gO?

I really thought I was going to have fun reading this book. I’m honestly astonished at how annoyed I am now that I’m getting this all out on paper. Win some, lose some, I guess. Maybe if you don’t know or care about, like, ANY medieval history—

(I mean, we don’t even get into the fact that the Black Death ended less than a decade earlier. Or that we’re in the early stages of the Little Ice Age. Or that Raff is spectacularly unconcerned about being caught poaching.)

—and you like very low angst romances, this one could work for you.

Additional side note: This book is written in 3rd person with a dual POV, and the audiobook is a dual narration. Why? Seems spectacularly unnecessary for a 3rd person book in which both protagonists are men and both narrators are perfectly competent at creating different accents/voices. But whatever. I’m fine. I’m over it. I promise.

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. We disclose this in accordance with 16 CFR §255.

This review is also available at The Smut Report.

Oh wow, I couldn't put this one down! I haven't read a lot of historical romance, much less MM historical romance, but One Night in Hartswood by Emma Denny is a GREAT one. It kind of reminded me of a Cat Sebastian book - low angst, lots of feelings, and vivid characters. Add in the fact that it's set in 14th century Britain, and I was absolutely hooked. Definitely check this one out!

The son and heir of a powerful earl, Penn is desperate to escape his marriage to the daughter of an old noble family. To clear his head, he decides to take a walk through the Hartswood forest. There he happens upon an intriguing stranger, assuming him to be a tracker for the visiting wedding party. The men end up spending the entire night together walking in the woods, aware of a growing spark between them. The night before the wedding, Penn decides to run away for good. When the man, Raff, once again runs into him, he assumes Penn to be a wayward servant seeking freedom from a cruel master. They decide to journey together to Raff's home to find a place for Penn to settle, but they never reveal their true identities. As they get closer and can no longer deny their attraction, their secrets become harder to hide. Will they ruin their burgeoning relationship when they both finally tell the truth?

This book is primarily a journey story, and everything about it is subtle, yet I was completely mesmerized from page one. I loved that BOTH guys have hidden identities, so they really get to know each other without pretense from the start. The story switches POV's often, so we get frequent glimpses into Penn and Raff's thoughts, and, while it's obvious from the start that they are attracted to each other, the slow burn is just delicious. We also get some very cleverly done forced proximity ("oh no, it's cold, we have to share a bed roll!"), "who did this to you", and beautiful hurt/comfort scenes (the only real source of serious angst in the story, despite the direness of Penn's situation). Not a ton happens until the end, but while I loved getting to see their relationship develop, the emotional ending gave me all the feels.

I think this book just lit a fire under me to seek out more queer hisrom, I really forget how much I love this subgenre until I read it. If you are looking for something refreshing and unique, this book is it. I'm very grateful to NetGalley for the ARC, it's an amazing new release.

Queer historical romance is just about the only sort of historical romance I find enjoyable. I felt immediately sucked into this book. Love the unique road trip story. I felt like both characters were developed & had plenty of depth.

Thank you to the publisher, author, & NetGalley for a copy of the arc.

A sweet LGBTQIA+ historical love story! Especially love that tit takes place during Medieval times! A very unique period to be able to read about, and such a romantic story with lovable and well-written characters

I don't read historical stories very often, but this was a simple fun read for anyone that likes queer romance books. It had a little bit of everything, trauma, secrets, betrayal and the sharing a bed because its "cold" trope. The book was 80% road trip and 20% angst. As much as I like a good road trip, my favorite part was toward the climax when the angst and drama started happening. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing a different side of Penn, and how he manipulated his fathers allies now that someone he love is in danger. The only problem I had with the book was that sometimes the POV switched very suddenly and I would get confused for a second on whose talking or viewing the situation, but otherwise I recommend this book for anyone who likes simple romance. .

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

This book has a lot of potential but isn't currently holding my attention. I set it aside around a fourth of the way through.

3.5 ⭐️
The first 75% of this book I was VIBING. It was fast paced and cute and swooony. I still liked it over all but things got a little messy at the end. I also feel like maybe this is very loosely historical but again, I was here for the vibes. Very cute spin on the age of keeps, castles, nobility, and proper society with an LGBTQ+ representation.
The book definitely covers some heavier topics at times. Penn felt more developed that Raff overall. I loved their little adventure and trists in the woods. Very cute book

Not a bad story by any means, but I found it a little boring—I was much more interested in the two hinted past/potential love stories of one main character's siblings than in the actual relationship depicted in this book, which is a bit sad.

I'm not a huge cataloger of historical inaccuracies, but this book had a lot of things that struck me as probably historically iffy. Even beyond that though, a lot of the setup, world, and plot events of the book don't much hold up to plain logical examination. It was a bit distracting! Also distracting, to me anyway: sex scenes in which the characters involved have, canonically, not bathed in several weeks—if you're going to be historically inaccurate, why not choose to be so with *that*, yikes!

A cozy queer love story traipsing the landscape of 14th century England - great characters, incredible tension, and enough steamy to make this the perfect weekend read.

queer love | bi and gay main characters | romance | historical fiction | spicy

This book was a very slow burn, but that was OK. I really felt the author took the time to make the relationship more believable and wholesome. The romance was the best part of this book.
I admit I did struggle with the first half because it was really slow, but I still found myself enjoying the writing
and the story that was being told. The traveling bits were a little boring, but the interactions were really what made the story, or rather, backstory we would get on Penn.
There wasn't a whole lot of world building but that didn't bother me too much since the focus was the characters.
This was also my first spicy m/m book where I didn't feel like the spice held back, and it was done in a way that was beautiful.
I do wish we had spent a little more time on Raff there were parts about his story I wanted to know more. I would like to see more on his brother and sister.
Raff is bisexual with a close relationship with his sister. He once was close with his brother, but after Ash lost his lover Oliver he was never the same losing. But towards the end we saw a bit of Ash begin to soften, especially when he met Penn.
The whole story is about Penn, born William, being an earl and having to marry Raff's sister, Raff was also of noble birth but since they had never met they both had no idea who the other was.
Raff saves Penn from dying in the woods, and thinks he is the servant/lover to William. Penn, on the other hand, just believes that Raff is a tracker trying to find him. Raff and Penn share a kiss in the woods of Hartswood and both feel a connection.
Raff is scared that something will happen to Penn, and also wants to not be tied down to a role that will happen once his sister marries William. However, his sister does not want to marry and asks Raff not to find William.
William was trying to escape his cruel father and the life he has been born into.
They both go on this trip and Raff promises to protect this stranger he has just met and get him to safety. Meanwhile, they are both keeping secrets from one another.

Towards the end i really empathized with Penn and his story.
He was abused by his father and treated as a thing instead of a person all his life. All he truly wanted was to be his true self. When he meets Raff he sees an opportunity but is also attracted to him and slowly starts to see a bit of himself in this man.
When Penn leaves and Raff finds out who Penn actually is that was devastating to read.
I really liked how Raff, his family Penn, and his sister plotted to free Penn from his father.
I felt this was clever.

I really enjoyed the interactions between not just with the main characters but with the side characters as well.
I found a lot of this story to be entertaining and had a fun time throughout it.

There was a lot of snuggling for warmth and romantic tension before the spice actually happened, which was nice. Sometimes instant loves stories can hard to believe, but there wasn't a second I doubted these two men were falling in love.
I didn't mind the whole bit about them keeping secrets, but I think after the secret was out was when the story really began to pick up and hard to put down.
I really enjoyed this story and if you are looking for a lighthearted read with some LGBT+ romance, a slow burn, and happy end then you should check this book out.
As always thank you to NetGalley for this Arc, these are my honest thoughts.

[I received a digital arc for an honest review]

One Night in Hartswood is the debut novel by Emma Denny. William ‘Penn’ du Foucart is destined to marry a woman he doesn’t know to try and appease a father who can’t stand him. He understands it’s his duty even if his heart isn’t in it. Raff Barden isn’t thrilled about his sister’s arranged marriage and is even less thrilled to find William has run off. When tasked to find William, Raff finds Penn instead, not realizing they are the same man. The two start off on a winter adventure to freedom without realizing that the lies they’ve been telling may come back to hurt them in the long run.

Penn has lived a life of fear and disappointment. He has never been able to live up to his father’s expectations and has paid the price. It isn’t until he meets Raff unexpectedly in the woods that he feels a bit of freedom and relief from the pressure of familial expectations. He knows it’s dangerous to fall for the surly northerner but can’t help himself. Raff finds himself in a similar predicament because Penn shows Raff that he can still care about his family while not feeling stifled by the role he has to play.

I enjoyed One Night in Hartswood overall. Historical queer fiction is something that interests me because I like to see the balance of realism with hiding a character's true self because of the time period and the fantasy of the romance growing between the MCs. This book was long and it felt long. I understood the need to develop the relationship between the MCs but that didn’t change how long it felt like it took to get where we were heading. At times Penn and Raff’s connection was strong and at other times it sort of fizzled.

3 stars for Penn and Raff’s winter adventure towards freedom.

Review at Smexy Books:

One Night in Hartswood begins with both main characters lying to one another about who they are. William de Foucart, aka Penn, is fleeing an oppressive marriage arranged by his abusive father who needs this alliance and is repulsed by his son’s preference for men. Penn is posing as a servant. Raff Barden, who is supposed to be hunting his sister’s fleeing fiancé, meets Penn in the woods and claims to be a simple tracker, capable of escorting Penn to safety far away from Hartswood. Such a premise starts us off with immediate tension: who will learn the truth first?  And when they learn it, what will happen?  Harwood is a historical romance in the loosest of sense. It doesn’t feel anchored in 14th century England, except for a few scenes and historical references. If I hadn’t read the description, I would have thought I was reading a fantasy (minus the fantastic) That didn’t bother me, but I imagine readers who are more versed in history might find it annoying.

What did bother me was the pacing. I love stories of journeys, whether they are escapes like Hartwood or travels toward a singular goal. However, this section of the book plodded on for too long with no real purpose than to draw out the development of the relationship between Penn and Raff. Their early instant attraction is replaced by a sturdier love, but this in turn is frustrated by their need to continue their lies and ponder about the lies to themselves as they get closer to Raff’s homeland. It was great stuff, in moderation, but the length of this section attenuated it for too long. In my opinion, it would have worked better if the journey had felt less blow by blow and the conflict between the two lovers, when it finally came, was given more time.

One of the best characters in the novel is Raff’s older brother, Ash. Both Raff and Penn are earnest, “good” characters. Their skills even complement one another, as they learn on the road. Ash, on the other hand, is a little broken, a little defective, and I think that makes him stick out like a glittering diamond. I hope he appears in a sequel.

One Night in Hartswood is a debut novel by Emma Denny.  I look forward to her next book!

Oh my gosh, the feelings! This M/M historical romance is deeply emotional, achingly romantic, beautifully written, and rooted firmly in Medieval times. From the first few pages, I found myself completely immersed in Raff's and Penn's journey, reading their entire book in one day. They captured my heart and hold it still. When I turned the final page of their book, I wanted nothing more than to return to page one and experience their heart-tugging story all over again. I'll be happily queuing up to buy anything Emma Denny writes.

Advance copy received from publisher via NetGalley. Fair and unbiased review.

One Night in Hartswood is a delightful, swoony mistaken-identity historical romance about Raff and Penn, who are each searching for their own freedom. This book is incredibly entertaining and compulsively readable. I loved the tension, build-up, and chemistry in Raff and Penn’s romance. I also really appreciated the dynamics each had with their siblings. My only gripe with this book is the last 15% starts to drag a little bit, but overall this is a very sweet, fun romance, and I look forward to whatever’s next from Emma Denny.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper 360 for this arc

This is about Penn and Raff who have a run in one night in Hartswood forest and their instant chemistry. Though the next day Penn is on the run from his abusive father and a marriage to a woman he’s never met and Raff is sent to find the man who was supposed to marry his sister and is now on the run. They end up running into each other in Hartswood yet again, Raff not knowing that Penn is the one who was supposed to marry his sister and Penn not knowing Raff’s relation to his betrothed.

This book was fine. I did find myself putting the book down and rarely picking it back up which made reading a slog but the main issue was the lying/false identities. Neither Raff nor Penn tell the other one who they really are. They are both outed (in that aspect) by other people which leads to a fight both times and they both happen over halfway through. That is a lot of a relationship and a book based on lies. I get Penn’s desire to be free from his father's abuse and fear of what Raff will do if he knows the truth but why did it have to take up three-quarters of the book?

The writing was fine, and I liked the main characters enough (though I’m still on the fence about some of the side ones and I’m pretty sure I was supposed to like them). I just wish the false identity plotline took up less of the book and then maybe I’d have more of an incentive to pick up the book when I was supposed to instead rewatching old shows (again).

One Night in Hartswood was such a delightful story full of small intimate moments that built into a beautiful romance. The pace was steady, and the writing was accessible and easy to read, even though there were the occasional odd turns of phrase. The plot was easy to follow, with most of it just being the two men traveling together and attempting to avoid discovery as their relationship grew.

I loved both of the main characters in One Night in Hartswood. They were both searching for freedom and found it in one another. Raff wanted to do something for himself, but his sense of duty always kept him tethered to his family and providing help to anyone who needed it. Penn was trapped into a marriage he didn't want by the controlling father who abused him for his entire life. He had internalized feelings of helplessness and worthlessness, which he worked to overcome over the course of his journey with Raff. Both of their arcs were very heartfelt, and they deserved the whole world.

The romance between Raff and Penn was the best thing about One Night in Hartswood. It was insta-lust at first sight, but their relationship didn't take a major physical turn until halfway into the book. This allowed them to develop a base of friendship and emotional intimacy that eventually exploded in a very hot way when they couldn't avoid their physical attraction anymore. There were so many soft moments with just the two of them as they traveled, and I loved every minute of it. Their relationship was built on secrets and mistaken identities, though. So, there was also plenty of drama once they learned the truth about one another and how their love complicated so many things.

The major drawback of One Night in Hartswood was its lack of any historical world-building. The story supposedly takes place in 1360, but there really aren't any details that would alert the reader to that fact. The world felt pretty generic, and I wish it would have incorporated more actual history from the time period. I get that the focus was on the romance, but a little bit more context would have been nice. If you are looking for a historically accurate story, this probably isn't the one for you. If you can look past the world-building and just enjoy the relationship dynamics, though, I definitely recommend this book.

One Night in Hartswood was a wonderful romance with lovable characters whose relationship was soft and intimate while also creating all kinds of drama. The lack of historical details held it back a bit for me, but I still enjoyed the plot and finished the story in less than 24 hours. Therefore, I rate One Night in Hartswood 3.25 out of 5 stars.

This was a DNF for me. As a member of the alphabet mafia, I love queer romance, but this didn't hit for me. I kept trying to power through, but the first quarter of the book just read like a series of loosely assembled tropes and I just didn't care about the "romance," which at 25% was mostly them lying to each other and making assumptions that would allow the lie to continue.

Maybe it's partly the headspace that I'm in, but the "woe is me, I'm so wealthy but I'm trapped by duty, what *IS* freedom to one such as myself" is... it's a tough sell me on if that's the central conflict. Like, you have servants and staff and you've forbidden people to hunt for their own food and it's the 1400s and you have the apex of privilege and wealth in your society, but sure. On top of that, the miscommunication/mistaken identity element is a slog here (to be fair, it usually is), because it requires the characters to ignore the obvious clues and spend a bunch of time lying to each other, and doesn't leave a lot of time for them to get to know each other as people. There's also an instalust component that didn't really fit with the rest of the story.

Basically, I was bored. I don't like giving a low rating to a queer book by an openly queer author, but this one lost me. It's got major Shakespeare vibes, though, so maybe that will work for some people. I may come back to it later and try again.

Thank you to the publisher who was kind enough to let me read this book as an ARC. I'm glad that there are starting to be enough mainstream queer romances that I feel okay DNFing one, and I hope this book finds its way into the right hands. <3

This book was so sweet and romantic, with lots of angst, which is just how I like it. The writing is beautiful, and the story is engaging and surprising. I love the characters and how they come together.

This is a period that doesn't get a lot of romance books, especially gay romance, so I especially liked seeing a book in this setting. I was wary going in, not sure how the author would handle the time period, but it was done beautifully.

This book was perfection, one I couldn't help racing through and then was sorry when it was over.

Raff and Penn were cute. I kind of liked that it seemed as though them being gay wasn't really an issue at all, it was nice. I do wish that each chapter was a different pov. It was a little bit confusing switching povs in the middle. I kind of want a second book about their sisters getting together.

I received an arc through netgalley.

Raff is asked to help find his sister's betrothed after he goes missing, but all he finds is Penn, the servant that he met on his first night on de Foucart's land. Penn and Raff had kissed before they were interrupted, but now Penn asks, and Raff offers, to take Penn away from de Foucart. Neither of them know who the other is: Raff is a lord, and Penn happens to be William de Foucart, his sister's fiancé. Neither of them are living the lives they want, though: Raff has been stuck acting as the oldest son while Ash is away, and Penn's father is horribly abusive. It doesn't help that both of them are attracted to men in a world where they're expected to marry a woman and produce heirs.

I'm not the biggest fan of Friend of Masked Self/Mistaken Identity tropes, but I still appreciated how well-written this book was: the plot was interesting and the characters were lovely. It was a little slow for my taste, but if you're looking for a queer romance set in the 14th century with lingering looks and pining, this is the book for you!