[ARC Review] Charles by Con Riley

Release date: 7/22/21
Format: eARC
eARC provided by: Con Riley via Gay Romance Reviews

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All his life, Charles has been struggling to find his place. The third son of an earl, Charles is expected to be honorable and do his duty, but all he wants is to help young children learn and grow. Of course, being dyslexic means Charles struggled through school and it’s hard to find a permanent school willing to hire someone like him. Being very promiscuous hasn’t helped his image, either. Finding a temp job wasn’t ideal, but then Charles met Hugo. Injured while trying to rescue children from a war-torn city in Syria, Hugo had been on the path to ordination but now isn’t so sure that’s the path for him. Rethinking their plans and feeling lost, Charles and Hugo might be just what the other needed to find love and true happiness in life.

I thought Charles was a really sweet story with a side of spice. Con Riley’s writing was really well done; the British snark was ever present and flowed off the page. Even as an American, I could clearly hear that customary humor and sarcasm through the dialogue. I found the plot itself to be unique and not a situation I run into in other romances. Both Charles and Hugo were wonderfully fleshed out characters; both men had internal and external conflict to work through, both with and without the other’s help, and it was great to see all these perceived weaknesses play out amongst the male sex. I thought Riley handled Charles’ dyslexia very well, and used Charles’ inner dialogue to both address the learning disability and show that Charles isn’t any less of a person for having it. Hugo, in that regard, was the perfect foil for Charles. Hugo held himself back due to physical disabilities while Charles was held back by others due to his invisible disabilities. Charles and Hugo made for a great couple. And Riley threw in just the right amount of external conflict on Hugo and Charles’ road to a happily ever after. The writing was well done, the plot was unique, and the chemistry between Charles and Hugo was perfect. This is the first book in Con Riley’s Learning to Love series, and I can’t wait to see what comes next.