Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting

An absolute delight of a Regency romp with excellent banter. I just loved how Robin and Hart came to accept and love each other. If you like secretly soft characters who actually communicate with each other, this book has that in spades.

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the_vegan_bookworm's review

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emotional funny fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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nickoliver's review

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funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump recently. The book I’m technically currently reading really isn’t interesting me right now (there’s nothing wrong with it, I’m only 17 pages into it, but I think I’m not really into that particular genre right now?), yet I oh-so-desperately wanted to read something . On top of that, I was kind of in the mood for a queer romance. Recently, I’d gotten “The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting” as an ebook from the library, and since I wasn’t sure what other queer romance I had and didn’t have the energy to properly look for one - and this one was less than 300 pages -, I was determined to take a few hours for myself to finish it in one go.

Overall, this was exactly what I was looking for - something quick and fun that didn’t require too many brain cells or emotions for me to invest. I had a good time reading and was generally very satisfied with the story. However, at the same time, I wasn’t knocked off my feet by this one. It was very forgettable - I wouldn’t have been able to tell you the plot even a few days later. I have noticed that I tend to be like this with historical romance, so it might just be a me thing, but I genuinely had to skim-read it quickly before writing this review, or else I wouldn’t have been able to tell you anything about it.

No matter how forgettable it was, though, it was fun to read for the time being. The characters were fleshed-out, entertaining, and had a nice banter going between them - and especially the two main characters were surprisingly good at communicating, which was a nice surprise for a romance book. I chuckled a lot and just really liked following Robin and Hart’s relationship. I did sometimes think that the romance part developed a bit too quickly; I would’ve liked to see the progression from distrust to attraction more clearly at times. But it didn’t bother me that much.

What I found a bit interesting was that Hart read older than his thirty-two years, despite the fact that his lack of relationship experience should’ve done the opposite. The dynamic between him and Robin, with Robin being described as his “incubus” and his “fantasy” and Hart acting like a blushing virgin, was unusual and intriguing, considering Robin was several years younger than him. The start of Hart and Robin’s sexual relationship did make me a bit uncomfortable, because it felt a bit iffy to me. Later in the book, Charles liked to act as if it had been Robin’s idea and he had been on board with their arrangement from the start, but that’s not how it felt like to me at first. Thankfully, Hart was very big on consent, so the smut never read like it only happened unwillingly.

Concerning side characters, I would have liked to see more of Marianne in particular; her person was very important to the plot and had an especially strong influence on Robin’s actions, yet Charles didn’t delve into her too much. Her thoughts and feelings were mostly talked about and not shown, which was a bit of a pity. Though I did really like the way her story line progressed; there was some development, especially where a love interest was concerned, that I found pleasantly surprising.

Lastly, I appreciated the constant discussions that people had with each other about various topics. Especially the way Charles approached privilege and the role of women that they often didn’t get to choose stood out to me in a good way. The fact that the male characters didn’t understand women’s struggles, particularly the struggles of poor women - sometimes just at first, sometimes all the time - was authentic and gave them the opportunity to grow.

For the most part, like I said, this book didn’t really have a long-lasting impact on me, but it was fun to read for the time being.

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doogle's review

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funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

i really wanted to love this book, but with the way the plot progressed + a few unexplored ideas that were mentioned +

the very (in my honest opinion) unnecessary explicit sexual content

, as well as the feeling i can't shake off of this being a product of mlm fetishization, i can't give it more than 1/5.

i love the characters. i love marianne and her entire character and everything related to her. but i wish she was a bigger focus.

this is coming from someone who does not like explicit, or any, sexual content in literature, so i don't really think it's my place to review this. hoWever, this book is really just the closest thing to porn in book format, and the fact that this story was not written by a gay man doesn't sit right with me. especially considering the explicit sex. i skipped over these parts of the book.

there's a common pattern of female authors who write only mlm relationships in their novels. there is a difference between a non-mlm person writing mlm relationships healthily and respectfully, and fetishization. k.j. charles is a straight white woman with children writing about historical mlm relationships. this is a mlm book written by a straight woman for straight women.

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