Product Description

Gideon Frost is willing to do whatever it takes to earn enough money to save the printing shop that was left to him by his father. But when faced with the prospect of having to engage in acts society deems unnatural and the law declares punishable by death, he realized there are limits as to how far he’ll go. Then he meets the privileged and handsome Joshua Redfern, the one man who tempts Gideon to break his own rules. Joshua Redfern has no title or important relations, but his independent fortune allows him a life that is more than comfortable. And more importantly, it enables him to offer assistance to the unfortunate but beautiful Gideon just when the man needs it most. Joshua realizes his interest in Gideon is far more than charitable, but is the man similarly attracted or merely indebted? When the Thames freezes over and London hosts the great Frost Fair of 1814, trouble and necessity bring Gideon and Joshua together. But just as ice is destined to eventually crack, will the circumstances break these two men as they learn that life isn’t always fair?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #336293 in Books
• Published on: 2008-11-24
• Released on: 2008-11-24
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 196 pages

Customer Reviews

Do you know what the Frost Fair is?
Do you know what the Frost Fair is? I didn't, until I read this book. When the Thames would freeze, merchants set up their stalls on the ice, selling their wares during the festive "Frost Fair."

This wonderful novella takes place during the last Frost Fair in London, 1814. But it's not just about the fair...it's also about Gideon Frost, a printer who is barely managing to survive. As misfortunes pile up, you'll read with your heart in your throat wondering if--and how--everything will work out for him.

I enjoy Erastes' writing very much and this book does not disappoint. Rich with details and vivid characterizations, I read it quickly in one sitting and then went back to re-read, and savor.

Highly recommended.

A regency with icily vivid details
Erastes' third novel (second released but third written) may be short (about 40,000 words) but is certainly not lacking in content. Though I had never heard of them, the Frost Fairs on the Thames River were real-life events that occurred whenever the Thames River froze over, which was usually once every 10 to 20 years. 1814, this story's setting, was the very last time the river froze. FROST FAIR is the story of a struggling printer, Gideon Frost, who sets up business on the ice during the fair. Gideon is so far in debt that every so often he has to resort to prostitution in order to make ends meet. When an older, rich businessman, Joshua Redfern, commissions an engraving from him, Gideon is love-struck with the kind and timid man, but holds out little hope that he'd ever be so lucky as to be his lover. Redfern's best friend, Finbar Thouless, figuring out that Redfern is indeed taken with pretty, young Gideon, then finds out about Gideon's occasional side-job, and having a taste for pretty boys himself, tries to blackmail Gideon into servicing him. Thouless is a wonderfully drawn villain; endowed with charm and charisma while at the same time being despicably vile. He is just as interesting as the main characters, if not more. The way he pulls the strings to manipulate the other characters is sheer genius. The settings are lovingly detailed-the cold, slippery, slimy streets of London; the battered storefronts; the ragged clothing of the poor working-class citizens, contrasted to the plush, elegant styles in the homes of Redfern and Thouless. It's all a feast for the senses and on top of that a well-paced story that moves right along and really has you hanging on in anticipation of the outcome. Needless to say, I'm a fan of Miss Erastes, and in my opinion, her stories just keep getting better.

Mark R. Probst
The Filly

Frost Fair by Erastes
Erastes writes a classical Regency romance with some not so classical elements. First of all, the obvious, the main characters are two men, but the second not so obvious, is that the main characters are not the cream of the ton, or some destitute nobleman, but instead common men, even if wealthy or with a business of their own.

Gideon Frost is a printer, but he has not a thriving business, instead he can hardly arrived at the end of the month. And sometime, to make both ends meet, he "sells" himself to men in searching of a friendly hand or mouth; but he never arrived to sell all of himself, not ever for hunger. In his mind probably Gideon still hopes to find a companion, a man with whom share all of him, as an equal partner, not as a kept boy. Gideon, even if poor and with few chance to be better, is still proud to be a free man, a merchant, yes, maybe not noble, but independent.

Joshua Redfern is a wealthy man. His social status allows him to mingle with the Ton, but he is not like all those nobleman. Joshua has a noble "soul" if not a birth. When he meets Gideon, he has not a lot of interest in the skill of the man as printer, he is more interested in him as a possible lover, but he is reluctant to make clear his intentions, since he had a very bad experience in the past: his former lover, an officer, passed through the martial court and then executed for sodomy. It's not clear if Joshua is reluctant since he fears the clutches of law upon him or Gideon, but in a way or another, he probably would never made a move.

It's Gideon that gives him the chance he is waiting, when stirs up against himself the rage of a nobleman he sexually refused; without a job and support, Gideon accepts the apparently friendly hand of Joshua.

As I said it's a classical plot: the proud but poor hero (in a classical romance it would be an heroine), whose only value is now his beauty, but he refuses to sell it to the best offerer; the wealth man, gentle and caring, who judges himself not worthy of real love, since he is not noble (like only the noblemen are allowed to love...). They are perfect together, but obviously a villain will do all his best to part these starry lovers.

I like the use of the middle class as choice for the main characters, it gives a fresh perspective in a maybe worn plot. Plus in a way, Joshua being a not noble isolates him as much as being gay. Plus, as I said, one wonders why an historical romance always has to have noble characters, almost if all the other level of society didn't exist.

The historical details are obviously very accurate, you can always picture the nineteen century London in which is set the story, and I bet that you can still follow the steps of Gideon around the city still now and seeing the same view he saw. The nice description of the Frost Fair, an impromptu fair held on the frozen Thames, is the same you can see in some prints of the time. I'm not an expert, but I believe that also the details on the gay underworld of that age (where one can find sex, more or less dangerous, more or less expensive) are well researched and refuted.

Frost Fair is a nice romance, a bit less angst and less dark of the previous long novel by Erastes, Standish, and so maybe more cup of tea for a wider audience. Not that I sometime didn't like a good angst romance, but in a way, a Regency romance is expected to be lighter.