Provoked, the first in Joanna Chambers’ Enlightenment trilogy, is set in Regency Scotland, at a time of much political and social unrest. The author immediately evokes a strong sense of time and place with the opening of the story in which two young men – weavers accused of treason – are publicly executed. Present in the crowd is David Lauriston, a twenty-four year-old advocate who had defended the men in court, even though their fate was a foregone conclusion.

David is a hard-working and diligent young man, but the fact that his sympathies lie with the oppressed and downtrodden are perhaps at odds with his aspirations to a profession typically practiced by the upper classes.

On his way back to Edinburgh, David meets and dines with a tall, handsome man who introduces himself as Murdo Balfour. David instantly feels a spark of interest – interest he doesn’t want to feel but is unable to dispel. Surprised to discover that the attraction he’s feeling appears to be mutual, and after carefully dancing around the subject to gauge interest, the two men act on that attraction, not expecting to see each other again – which suits David. He’s always full of self-loathing after he “lapses”, and prefers to keep his rare sexual encounters with other men as brief and impersonal as possible. But sex with Murdo was something out of David’s range of limited experience; for the first time he experienced more than just sexual gratification, and as much as he’d like to forget it and move on, he can’t stop thinking about it – and Murdo himself.

An unexpected meeting months later propels David and Murdo into the same social orbit at the same time as David is trying to help track down the English government agent responsible for betraying the weavers who were executed. Much as David wants to disbelieve it, there’s the possibility that Murdo may have been involved somehow, as it turns out that the reasons he has given for being in Edinburgh may not be entirely truthful.

Unlike Murdo, David comes from humble origins, and while he doesn’t hate himself for being homosexual or try to deny it or change it, he’s yet to find a way to live with it. As a result, he seems to wallow in self-denial, which is a continual source of conflict with Murdo, who is his opposite in practically every way. Titled, rich and comfortable with his sexuality, Murdo believes he’s perfectly entitled to take his pleasure as he wishes while following the pattern laid out for him as a member of the nobility and taking a wife and fathering children, something which David, with his clearly defined sense of honour, could never contemplate.

The burgeoning romance between the pair is both sweet and hot, although their struggle to understand each other’s point of view means they are often at odds, which adds a real dollop of realism to their personalities and their story. David is the more well-defined character of the two, a good-hearted man with a backbone of steel and very highly defined sense of honour. Murdo, at this stage, comes across as not much more than a privileged man with a strong sense of self-entitlement, but there’s the sense that, as he and David become closer, he’s starting to allow David to see the man he truly is underneath the aristocratic veneer. I’m sure that as the trilogy progresses, we’ll get to know the true Murdo Balfour.

Provoked is an enjoyable, well-written story in which the author has strongly established the central relationship and in which there are clearly some interesting plotlines laid out for future development. The immediate conflict in the story – the search for the government spy – is resolved, but the book ends with David and Murdo parting, possibly permanently. I knew going in that this is book one of a trilogy in which the story is ongoing, so I didn’t expect there to be an HEA. There is clearly much more to be said, and I’ll certainly be seeking out the other books in the trilogy.