R.W. Winton
Author of queer historical fiction
The books in the Revolution series can be read in any order, their place on the list only designates their writing/publishing order. Some characters do make brief appearances in multiple books. For a list of books by identity, click here. For a comprehensive content/trigger warning list, click here.
Let it Begin Here
One rash decision will lead him down the path toward revolution...
Nathaniel Hill, eldest son in a well-connected and respected English family, is offered two choices by his father after being caught in a compromising situation: public shame to force his good behavior, or to sever his family ties and leave on the first ship for the colonies in America. Rather than endure the life his father expects him to lead, he makes the choice to begin anew where he knows no one.
Landing in Boston, Massachusetts in 1772, he uses what money he has to purchase a tavern for a bargain price from a desperate seller, and sets about scraping together a life in a city he quickly realizes is on the verge of complete catastrophe. Though he attempts to remain neutral in the politics ripping at the city's foundations in the years that follow, he is destined to fail.
A musket, a British officer, a rebel spy network, and a dashing Frenchman are fated to disrupt his carefully-held neutrality.
Revolution is a queer historical fiction series set during the American Revolution in which all protagonists find happiness at the end of their harrowing journeys, regardless of whether their stories include romance or of which side of the war they are on. All books include content warnings for war and violence, and the characters are impacted by 18th century social norms, including those regarding gender, race, and sexuality, in various ways.
Where Cannons Roar
"You can't believe a letter of marque from a rebellious colony will be considered legal. You will be no better than a pirate."
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Miles Dunn was sailed the seas his entire life it seems. The moment he was old enough he learned the operations on his father's fishing ship, and as a youth he joined his father on a privateer that harassed French trade. Now he commands his own whaling vessel out of Nantucket and lives a comfortable life in Dunnstown, a town he and his family have built through the spoils of generations of smuggling and piracy. Miles is an honest man, though, and has no desire to engage in the smuggling so many on the coast are increasingly involved in as bitterness grows over taxes and British laws made so far away from the American lives they involve.
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That changes for Miles with the outbreak of war between England and the colonies. Miles is faced with a choice to relocate to England with his employer, or to become unemployed in the midst of a war that might soon end, or that might drag on for years. The timely meeting with a merchant whose family's wealth has been tied to the smugglers and pirates of Miles's own family presents Miles with a third option. It is an option that, once accepted, changes everything for Miles. It renders him a traitor to his king and the British navy's most wanted criminal. It sends him on his way to New York to locate an old friend in the service of the Royal Navy, and to incite a mutiny on a British ship of war.
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REVOLUTION is a queer historical fiction series set during the American Revolution in which all protagonists find happiness at the end of their harrowing journeys, regardless of whether or not their stories include romance or of which side of the war they are on. SERIES CONTENT WARNINGS: war and violence, 18th century social norms and prejudices (including those regarding gender, race, ethnicity, and sexuality)
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BOOK SPECIFIC CONTENT WARNINGS: mentions of whaling (no actual whaling scenes), mentions of sexual assault (no actual assault), one scene of torture (whipping - navy punishment)
Treasonous Practices
"We are all committing treason by supporting the rebel cause."
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Since war began outright in 1775, Bethiah Rogers has learned how military events may impact the everyday lives of those with no ties to the military at all. In addition to the rising tensions before the outbreak of the war, Bethiah has witnessed the recent occupation of Philadelphia by the British army. The war has also postponed her expected marriage to her longtime friend, Levi Finley, who has been establishing his role in his father's business interests in Boston with the expectation to move her there once settled. It is an arrangement that benefits both Bethiah and Levi, allowing Levi to remain with the man he loves and Bethiah to not endure the usual intimate expectations of a wife. As the war continues seemingly without end, Bethiah and Levi choose to cease postponing the wedding, allowing Bethiah to join Levi and his partner, Jasper, in Boston. There she takes up the operations of the shopfront where acquired goods are sold, and she becomes a partner in the ownership of a privateer known as the Scot.
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Yet, as Bethiah is enjoying her new life and the family they have created for themselves, it becomes clear that the war may disrupt their happiness yet again. Soon they are beset by those seeking to be paid the bounty for capturing Levi, a bounty put on him for his association with the Scot, a vessel that had been a ship in the British Royal Navy before being taken to serve as a privateer. By the time they discover the identity of the master behind the plot against them, it may be too late for Bethiah's family - both the family in Boston and the father she left behind in Philadelphia - and it may also prove too late for the Continental Congress and Washington's army.
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REVOLUTION is a queer historical fiction series set during the American Revolution in which all protagonists find happiness at the end of their harrowing journeys, regardless of whether or not their stories include romance or of which side of the war they are on. SERIES CONTENT WARNINGS: war and violence, 18th century social norms and prejudices (including those regarding gender, race, ethnicity, and sexuality)
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BOOK SPECIFIC CONTENT WARNINGS: references to non-monogamy, mentions of slavery (one of the major characters was previously enslaved), attempted kidnapping, references to death of a mother from childbirth complications, anticipated death of a parent (who does not die), housefire, creepy dudes who won't take no for an answer and keep writing letters even when they are ignored