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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
THE GENTLEMAN'S BOOK OF VICES has a good start, an enjoyable middle, and an ending that is in turns stressful and anticlimactic. While ultimately not one I care for, it might appeal to those who don't mind oddly convenient resolutions to problems the characters can't quite find their way out of.
The biggest tension is that Charlie is engaged to marry a woman he likes but does not love (or at least is not interested in, sexually), since's he's gay and would rather be a confirmed bachelor if the choice had been afforded to him. He's marrying as part of a scheme between their parents to get the two of them married and Charlie's debts settled. The problem is that, around a month before the wedding, Charlie meets and is infatuated with Miles, a pornographer who runs a bookshop. Miles won't sleep with a married man, so if Charlie wants to keep seeing Miles for longer than a fling, he'll have to call the wedding off. For a long while it seemed like everything revolved around whatever Charlie was going to decide, with Miles having made his position clear but not able to control whether or not Charlie got married.
I think I like my books with a bit more stress but not this kind of stress. I dislike lying in relationships and am rarely able to handle them in fiction, and this manages to have a lot of that stress without most of the actual lies, which doesn't soothe things for me as much as it could have. I'd prefer a book where it feels like the characters worked for the ending, like something is different by the end because they have changed in a meaningful way. Miles may have, but so much of the narrative focus in terms of agency is on Charlie that I'm not even totally certain of that. The resolution seems to be just handed to them, and in a way that changes my thoughts about the beginning as well. It's likely too sexually explicit to work for those who prefer their romances closed-door or fade-to-black, while dodging explicit detail once things really get going. It's not for me, though I had a good time in parts.
The biggest tension is that Charlie is engaged to marry a woman he likes but does not love (or at least is not interested in, sexually), since's he's gay and would rather be a confirmed bachelor if the choice had been afforded to him. He's marrying as part of a scheme between their parents to get the two of them married and Charlie's debts settled. The problem is that, around a month before the wedding, Charlie meets and is infatuated with Miles, a pornographer who runs a bookshop. Miles won't sleep with a married man, so if Charlie wants to keep seeing Miles for longer than a fling, he'll have to call the wedding off. For a long while it seemed like everything revolved around whatever Charlie was going to decide, with Miles having made his position clear but not able to control whether or not Charlie got married.
I think I like my books with a bit more stress but not this kind of stress. I dislike lying in relationships and am rarely able to handle them in fiction, and this manages to have a lot of that stress without most of the actual lies, which doesn't soothe things for me as much as it could have. I'd prefer a book where it feels like the characters worked for the ending, like something is different by the end because they have changed in a meaningful way. Miles may have, but so much of the narrative focus in terms of agency is on Charlie that I'm not even totally certain of that. The resolution seems to be just handed to them, and in a way that changes my thoughts about the beginning as well. It's likely too sexually explicit to work for those who prefer their romances closed-door or fade-to-black, while dodging explicit detail once things really get going. It's not for me, though I had a good time in parts.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Grief
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Alcohol
Minor: Terminal illness, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Sexual harassment
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-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
When I say that I love m/m historical romance, i mean something exactly like this, the characters are so well written and the story between them too. It makes is so enjoyable to read.
Charlie's life is about to change. Despite his preference for men, he's engaged to a woman whose dowry will settle his debts. Determined to become a devoted husband, he sets about on his last hurrah as a bachelor: tracking down the author of his favorite erotic literature to get his signature. Finding Miles turns his life upside-down as their passionate affair turns to love. In a battle between honor and his very soul, which will Charlie choose?
This is a novel of surprising depth and passion. More than a love story, it's about the struggle to fit in to a rigid society with strict definitions of acceptable behavior. Charlie and Miles are both lovable, sympathetic characters. The strong supporting cast add to the fun.
Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.
This is a novel of surprising depth and passion. More than a love story, it's about the struggle to fit in to a rigid society with strict definitions of acceptable behavior. Charlie and Miles are both lovable, sympathetic characters. The strong supporting cast add to the fun.
Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.
Full review to come... enjoyed that the two characters were so different, including their personal coping strategies for living in 19th c England with all the potential persecution of gay men that entailed. When they come together in that small, drafty apartment upstairs it is such a lovely moment, but heated too - like suddenly a lid has been removed off a steaming pot.
*** edited to add full review that appeared at Smexy Books
This debut novel by Jess Everlee is about a young man who has trapped himself into marriage by living a profligate but not degenerate life. He needs to pay off his debt, and his father has arranged this if he marries Alma, a sweet young woman. Charlie is an amiable guy, loyal, and though there may not be anything super-remarkable about him, I really grew to like him within a few chapters. One of his pastimes, one he will have to conceal from his future wife, is collecting “pornographic” writings, art, and figurines. The novel is set in the late 19th century, and Charlie is a gay man, though the word “gay” did not come into use that way for several decades.
At the beginning of the novel, Charlie’s friend Miss Jo meets him at his favorite molly house, the Curious Fox. A fascinating character on her own, Jo is married to “the Beast” but hangs with the Sophists and seems to be able to move in out of various societies with ease. She has somehow procured the real name and address of his favorite pornographic writer Reginald Fox. No one knows who Fox is, and so Charlie is rightfully suspicious of where Jo got the information, but he barrels ahead in his efforts to secure the signature of Fox, aka Miles Montague, the gruff proprietor of a bookstore on Fleet Street. Sunshine/grumpy here we go!
Jess Everlee does a good job of situating us in the precariousness that was being LGBTQ in the 19th century. For one, despite his precautions to remain anonymous, every story that the celebrated Reginald Fox writes must end in tragedy. A real romance, with an HEA would set up any writer of gay or lesbian love for harsher prosecution, because they would be failing to show the characters getting their “comeuppance” and restoring the homophobic world order. Reginald Fox needs plausible deniability. We also learn the lengths to which the molly house proprietor goes to secure the space of The Curious Fox from onlookers and police. Finally, Miles himself lives in a state of constant low-level paranoia because his ex-lover, Ethan, died in prison one year into a prison term for a reduced sodomy charge. He knows the risks of blackmail and exposure. Ethan had willed Miles the bookstore, and though Miles is a terrible shop owner, it has hung around his neck like a millstone for years.
I was white knuckling my Kindle as I read this book because the tension feels real. Sometimes m/m historical fiction can blunt the disturbing homophobia of 18th or 19th century England by using wealth, or secret societies, or ninja-like defenses to protect the main characters. In The Gentleman’s Book of Vices, Charlie is not rich enough or aristocratic enough to be protected from anti-sodomy laws, and so it is into protected spaces he and Miles must go. One of those spaces is Miles’ apartment above the bookstore. “Small and drafty,” this is the place where Miles writes, surrounded by candles and lamps. Once the door is closed, the two of them are freer. And the scenes in that apartment, fierce and tender, are all the more erotic because the two men can be themselves.
My main criticism of this novel is in the pacing. There was a lot to get through in the novel, and the falling in love section was wonderful. Then, and without giving anything away, Charlie must deal with his impending marriage and what it means for him and Miles, which is a surprising and tear-worthy section. But the conclusion felt like a bullet-train combined with an Agatha Christie conclusion, and I was a bit disappointed it had to end like that.
Grade: A-
*** edited to add full review that appeared at Smexy Books
This debut novel by Jess Everlee is about a young man who has trapped himself into marriage by living a profligate but not degenerate life. He needs to pay off his debt, and his father has arranged this if he marries Alma, a sweet young woman. Charlie is an amiable guy, loyal, and though there may not be anything super-remarkable about him, I really grew to like him within a few chapters. One of his pastimes, one he will have to conceal from his future wife, is collecting “pornographic” writings, art, and figurines. The novel is set in the late 19th century, and Charlie is a gay man, though the word “gay” did not come into use that way for several decades.
At the beginning of the novel, Charlie’s friend Miss Jo meets him at his favorite molly house, the Curious Fox. A fascinating character on her own, Jo is married to “the Beast” but hangs with the Sophists and seems to be able to move in out of various societies with ease. She has somehow procured the real name and address of his favorite pornographic writer Reginald Fox. No one knows who Fox is, and so Charlie is rightfully suspicious of where Jo got the information, but he barrels ahead in his efforts to secure the signature of Fox, aka Miles Montague, the gruff proprietor of a bookstore on Fleet Street. Sunshine/grumpy here we go!
Jess Everlee does a good job of situating us in the precariousness that was being LGBTQ in the 19th century. For one, despite his precautions to remain anonymous, every story that the celebrated Reginald Fox writes must end in tragedy. A real romance, with an HEA would set up any writer of gay or lesbian love for harsher prosecution, because they would be failing to show the characters getting their “comeuppance” and restoring the homophobic world order. Reginald Fox needs plausible deniability. We also learn the lengths to which the molly house proprietor goes to secure the space of The Curious Fox from onlookers and police. Finally, Miles himself lives in a state of constant low-level paranoia because his ex-lover, Ethan, died in prison one year into a prison term for a reduced sodomy charge. He knows the risks of blackmail and exposure. Ethan had willed Miles the bookstore, and though Miles is a terrible shop owner, it has hung around his neck like a millstone for years.
I was white knuckling my Kindle as I read this book because the tension feels real. Sometimes m/m historical fiction can blunt the disturbing homophobia of 18th or 19th century England by using wealth, or secret societies, or ninja-like defenses to protect the main characters. In The Gentleman’s Book of Vices, Charlie is not rich enough or aristocratic enough to be protected from anti-sodomy laws, and so it is into protected spaces he and Miles must go. One of those spaces is Miles’ apartment above the bookstore. “Small and drafty,” this is the place where Miles writes, surrounded by candles and lamps. Once the door is closed, the two of them are freer. And the scenes in that apartment, fierce and tender, are all the more erotic because the two men can be themselves.
My main criticism of this novel is in the pacing. There was a lot to get through in the novel, and the falling in love section was wonderful. Then, and without giving anything away, Charlie must deal with his impending marriage and what it means for him and Miles, which is a surprising and tear-worthy section. But the conclusion felt like a bullet-train combined with an Agatha Christie conclusion, and I was a bit disappointed it had to end like that.
Grade: A-
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
SERIES REVIEW:
Am I glad I read it? Absolutely! Overall, I had an excellent time with this series and definitely recommend it to fans of queer historical romance.
What stands out most to me now that I have finished the series is how Everlee entangles her couples in particularly snarly situations, where the threat of legal, financial, and social repercussions for the characters’ relationships and activities loom particularly close - even more so for the MM couples in books 1 and 2 - lending a compelling sense of tension to the stories. Though the tone of book 3 is decidedly lighter than the others, all of our characters, are pushed into corners where they feel they have no recourse but to do the thing they desperately don’t want to when their safety and survival are threatened.
BUT - and this is what makes this series special, I think - Everlee subverts expectations by insisting that the extreme solution - a marriage of convenience; returning to the grasp of your wealthy, abusive ex-lover; running away (again!) to start a new life - to a complicated problem is not the only option when you allow yourself to rely on your community, on the people who love you. Each couple learns this lesson, and oh! I loved it.
Jo and The Beast play important roles in aiding Miles/Charlie and Noah/David, and it was so satisfying to see the story come full circle in book 3 with Jo being the recipient of her community’s support. I may have clutched my chest a time or two. So while these books can definitely be read out of order, I do think the series is best appreciated if they’re read in order for this reason.
Love. Love love love LOVE everything about this book. It's witty, it has heart, it has humorous twists and turns and a main character with some serious Algernon Moncrieff vibes.
I would follow Charlie Price into battle.
I would follow Charlie Price into battle.
Read the first 1/3. Skipped around. Read the last 1/4.
Just sort of not great. Dragged and felt a bit like pick me. I won’t read another.
Just sort of not great. Dragged and felt a bit like pick me. I won’t read another.
lighthearted
medium-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