Hellion was a fun historical read.



The author did a good job at world building. The characters, Oliver Fitzwilliam, the country estate owner, and Simon Cavendish, Sir Oliver's ward, who lives on the estate. They can't stand each other.

Poor Simon wants Sir Oliver to notice him and be proud of Simon's accomplishments. What he's not aware of is that he is also searching for a mentor and a partner.

Sir Oliver, well he has a stick stuck far up his derriere. He doesn't like vacationing at the summer estate and wishes he were back in London. He's rude and condescending to anyone not of his station or who doesn't share his viewpoint, but especially to poor Simon. Only when Sir Oliver realizes that there's a reason for Simon's behavior that correlates with his own onnery disposition, do they come to a mutual meeting of minds and bodies.

Fast and fun read, but sadly too short. I wish we could've learned more about the characters, especially Simon.

I give this 4 Stars

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Could have been a little longer. The end felt a bit rushed but I really liked the story. ( )

A delightful historical, set in Regency England in the late 19th century, this is the story of Oliver, who inherits a title, some land, and the responsibility for a boy from a great-uncle. The boy, one Simon Cavendish, seems to be more trouble than he is worth, and I loved his antics as much as Oliver’s state of confusion and uncertainty about what to do about his ward. These two rub each other in entirely the wrong way, and their banter was appropriately sharp and aggressive. The language is perfectly suited to the historical setting, and I enjoyed the wording as much as the content of this short story tremendously.

Oliver is unmarried and not exactly poor, so he is very much in demand in London society. Not that he is interested in any of the ladies “on offer”, but he mostly enjoys the balls and social life. Living the other six months on his estate, with the “confounding” Simon not behaving himself and the local reverend badgering him to attend church, Oliver is truly caught between a rock and a hard place.

Simon is a wild child who feels ignored and left to his own devices. He has been sent off to school, which was a useless exercise as far as he is concerned, and now that Oliver lives at the estate for half the year and still ignores him, even though he is nineteen, Simon is disappointed and angry. He is interested in breeding dogs, but nobody else, certainly not his guardian who’d need to lend him the money for expansion, seems willing to listen to his plans.

If you like enemies-to-lovers stories, if two men of different backgrounds and preferences trying to figure out how to relate to each other pique your interest, and if you’re looking for an entertaining read with lots of sarcastic sparkle and some wonderfully naughty heat, then you will probably like this free short story.
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3.5 ( )