A forbidden love… Lucas Kemp’s twin sister died last year. He’s put aside his mourning clothes, but not his heartache. If Lucas ever needed a friend, it’s now—and who should walk in his door but Lieutenant Thomas Matlock…Lucas and Tom are more than just best friends; they’ve been in love with each other for years. In love with each other—and pretending not to know it.But this time, Tom’s not … know it.
But this time, Tom’s not going to ignore the attraction between them. This time, he’s going to push the issue.
He’s going to teach Lucas how to laugh again—and he’s going to take Lucas as his lover…
“Heartbreakingly gorgeous. Tom is the most incredible hero – patient, understanding, passionate, sensitive. Lucas is so proper and stiff, his struggles so very real and poignant. I love Larkin’s stories but this one is exquisite.”
~ M.C.E. Top 500 reviewer
Length: A shorter length novel of 48,000 words
Sensuality level: A hot Regency male-male romance with sensual love scenes
Q & A with the author
Why did you write this book?
When Tom and Lucas walked onto the page in Trusting Miss Trentham (the third book in the Baleful Godmother series) I fell in love with them both. I really wanted to know their story—so I decided to write it. I’m very glad I did, because it was so much fun! Lucas is my first ever virgin hero, and I really enjoyed writing his scenes.
Claiming Mister Kemp was meant to be a novella, but it grew and grew and grew, until finally I had to admit defeat and call it a (short) novel.
How would you describe this book?
At its most basic, Claiming Mister Kemp is a friends to lovers romance, but it’s also a story about grief, and about two men finding the courage to love one another in a time when this was punishable by death. I think it’s the most emotional book I’ve ever written. Readers have told me that some scenes make them cry, which I take as a compliment!
Claiming Mister Kemp is a Baleful Godmother novel, so both Tom and Lucas have brushes with magic—even if they don’t realize it. And although this book is a companion novel to Trusting Miss Trentham it can be read as a standalone.
How would you describe your writing?
Several reviewers have likened my writing to Georgette Heyer, which is the hugest compliment ever. I adore Georgette Heyer! She’s why I write historical romance, and I reread her books over and over. (If you’ve not read The Grand Sophy, please do so!) I’ve also had readers compare my writing to Courtney Milan and Mary Balogh, which are also massive compliments.
Who would like this book?
This book will appeal to readers who love male-male romances, Regency romances, or both. Fans of KJ Charles, Joanna Chambers and Cat Sebastian should particularly enjoy it.
What order should I read the series in?
Each book, whether a novel or novella, can be read as a standalone, but many readers prefer to read them in order. And although the series is set in Regency England, a quartet of medieval novellas form the prequel.
The ideal reading order would be:
The Fey Quartet (series prequel)
Maythorn’s Wish
Hazel’s Promise
Ivy’s Choice
Larkspur’s Quest
The Baleful Godmother series
Unmasking Miss Appleby
Resisting Miss Merryweather
Trusting Miss Trentham
Claiming Mister Kemp
Ruining Miss Wrotham
Discovering Miss Dalrymple
Plus three more interlinked Baleful Godmother series to come.
Happy reading!more
I was already introduced to this world in the first book of this series, and that was enough to have me wanting to see how they did a gay romance in this setting.
I wasn’t very disappointed, but at times I had to remind myself that just because they didn’t go as far as I would like or learned what I wanted them to learn, that didn’t mean that something was wrong with their relationship. Of course, they were happy. This is a happy ever after book/story.
This was an odd way for me to remember that not everyone was like me. You would think reading a gay romance would be enough, but it wasn’t.
Now since I jumped over most of the series to get to this story, I had a few surprises near the end of the book. Good surprises that made me think of reading the others in the set. Even if they are all straight couples. 🙂
A solid m/m romance that inspired me to jump into the entire series, which is proving very entertaining
This is a story of forbidden love kept at bay for over a decade. It’s fairly dramatic, and rightfully so. The cost of this kind of love in given time period might be death, but the characters still find a way to accept themselves, their situation and manage to find a way to be together after quite a few stumbles. Both main heroes are interesting and very different in character, which causes most of the strife. The love is destined, though, and even if there are sex scenes, the main focus is still on love, not sex.
I recommend it because of the honest love story and a great world built around it. This book persuaded me to buy another of the authr’s books.
Audiobook review
Overall – 5
Story – 5
Performance – 5
A nice surprise…
Note: Claiming Mister Kemp is the 4th book in the Baleful Godmother series but it can be read as a standalone. I have not read the other books in this story and I enjoyed it very much!
I love Hamish Long’s audiobook performances. He’s one of my favorites for MM audiobooks. I say that this audiobook was a nice surprise because when I requested a review copy of the audiobook from the author, I had totally forgotten that I reviewed the ebook back in 2017. As I started listening, the story seemed familiar. I’m kind of obsessive about keeping copies of book reviews that I’ve written and, sure enough, I found a copy of what I wrote back then.
As has happened to me in the past, listening to the audiobook increased my appreciation of the story. Because it’s been over four years since I read the book, listening to the audiobook was like it was my first time experiencing the story.
This is a touching story about Tom, who knows what he wants and goes after it, and his friend Lucas who’s afraid to take a chance at happiness with Tom. Their story is a tender one and I very much enjoyed reading how Lucas was finally able to come to terms with what he wanted. The support of his family and staff was wonderful and instrumental in his coming to terms with the love he felt for Tom.
In the past 4 years I’ve read over 500 books and I think I can safely say that 95% of those have been MM books. Claiming Mister Kemp stands up well against the other historical MM books I’ve read.
A complimentary copy of this audiobook was provided to me at my request but my review was voluntary and not influenced by the author and/or narrator.
Tom and Lucas have been friends since childhood, but Tom has been away at war and has experienced things that make him realize that there is more to them than just friendship. When he comes back to London he confronts Lucas with his feelings, and Lucas is reluctant, to say the least, to take things further. Tom does, however, push, someting that I feel the author has placed comfortably on the right side of too pushy. Tom has the benefit of experience and he’s comfortable with who he is and what he wants. Lucas is not.
I find that this is a very realistic portrayal of the Regency era, Lucas is very affraid of his feelings and very aware of how it’s illegal and he’s understandably carful and tries to deny his feelings, their feelings. I actually think that he comes across as demi, perhaps, he needed Tom to be able to fall in love. Not sure if this is intentional, I’m sure it wasn’t unusaual for men who liked other men to be very cautious indeed, as it was necessary for them.
Regardless of this a troubled but charming love continnues to grow, and we get to see how true love finally conquers all.
The side characters are delightful, I especially love the families of both MCs, they’re simply wonderful.
This book is part of a series where the other books are M/F. The other books do also have a dash of magic, which is present to a lesser extent in this book, though neither of the MCs have any magical abilities. This is still very much more a historical book than a paranormal. You do not have to read the other books in this series to enjoy this one.
I listened to the audio book and as usual Hamish Long is amazing! I love how he voices Tom and Lucas, but all the characters comes alive in his charming narration, it gives this book an extra dimention and it’s a pure delight to listen to it.
I really enjoyed this touching story of m/m love; the author conveys beautifully the sense of fear that must have prevailed at the time for being ‘different’. The characters were believable and the historical setting well researched. Like all the other books by this author that I have read, this was well written and nicely plotted.
Emily Larkin has written another moving story. I was drawn into the story from the start. From Trusting Miss Trentham this reader knew Lucas and Tom would be lovers. This story reverts in time to a scene, wherein Tom arrives from the continent to save his grieving and depressed best friend.Tom is torn with doubt if he should reveal his feelings, risking rejection and losing Lucas’ friendship. His relief when he realizes his feelings are returned is palpable.
This is the first of the Baleful Godmother series that I could not read in one sitting. Not because it was boring or tedious, but because the latent danger of discovery of the two lovers and the possibly dire consequences made me put this away for a day. It moved me to tears but also made me laugh.
This is a story of a forbidden love that tore at my heartstrings. It is filled with the unusual love between two people who find out what their strengths and weaknesses really are. The sex scenes are quite explicit and some might take offense at them – so be warned.
The story itself is well written and it certainly held my attention with its interesting and fast-paced tempo. I loved Emily Larkin’s ‘chutzpah’ and the way she bravely and very cleverly tackled this controversial subject matter.