C.C. Humphreys' reading of scenes from Jack Absolute (2004) not only convinced me I had to buy the book right away, it made me read it right away. And it's a good, well-researched adventure story that kept me turning the pages, though it's not quite as well-written as the Sharpe series. Also, and I'm not quite sure how to say this without going into spoiler territory...but let's just say that while I intend to become a good historical adventure writer who buckles swash with the best of them, I'm still romance writer enough that I intend being a bit kinder to my heroes' love interests than male adventure writers tend to be. (Which is not to say Humphreys comes across, either on the page or in person, as even remotely misogynistic--he just caught me by surprise when I was expecting a more optimistic resolution to the romance part of the plot. And I don't like unhappy surprises.)
Anyway, the book is set in 1777, during the Saratoga campaign of the American Revolution. And the hero is a British officer, so his side loses. It seems a bit unusual to read a swashbuckling adventure where the hero loses, but for the most part it works. I definitely plan to continue reading the series.
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Your comments pretty much echo my dh's on the book. And yeah, he mentioned to me about the way Humphreys treats the love interests. Men really do see the world differently. Vive la difference!
I'm not sure it's a male vs. female thing so much as genre expectations. I really thought the love interest was set up to be an ongoing character he'd maybe eventually marry a few books down the line, so what actually happened to her caught me by surprise.
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