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A review by thisistaylort
Gentleman Jim by Mimi Matthews
4.5
Gentleman Jim is another A+ from Mimi Matthews. She is fast becoming one of my favorite HR romance authors.
If you'd asked me before, I wouldn't have said that friends to lovers is one of my top tropes. But Gentleman Jim may have just changed my mind. Plus, when it's childhood friends to lovers, there’s a history there that comes with such a deep level of unspoken understanding. The yearning is top notch, obviously. And this time we get a high born heroine and a commoner hero. So sprinkle in even more angst.
There were a lot of similarities to The Highwayman - childhood friends violently separated, only later to be reunited, with the MMC going under an assumed identity. I'm embarrassed to say how long it took me to realize that both this book and The Highwayman are basically the romance versions of The Count of Monte Cristo. I mean there was literally a quote in the beginning of the book from The Count of Monte Cristo.
This book really did it for me in the angst and yearning department.When she got all dressed up for the ball, only to be disappointed when he didn’t show, then to be crushed when he made an appearance but with another woman. Only for him to dance with her later on the terrace. Then to ride to her rescue in the dead of the night and get shot. And she thinking that he was lying on the side of the road bleeding out but couldn’t say anything lest she give him away. But she has to know if he’s okay so she risks her reputation and visits his hotel. Where he’s wounded, half naked, fully drunk, and has lost any semblance of self control. He finally admits that he’s her childhood friend. Thanks to the scar reveal (which I totally called). But now there’s gossip about their relationship and his enemies are coming closer to the truth of his real identity. He’s willing to give up his inheritance to be with her, and she’s willing to give him up for his bright future. So they separate and trust they find their way back to each other. Gah, it's just so good!
I think Maggie and Nicholas are one of my favorite Mimi couples -childhood loves wretched apart, waited ten years to find each other again, never giving up hope. That's, like, true love. Plus, they had amazing chemistry so you know the sex was hot.
Thank goodness I have more of Mimi's backlist to get me through until Return to Satterthwaite Court comes out!
If you'd asked me before, I wouldn't have said that friends to lovers is one of my top tropes. But Gentleman Jim may have just changed my mind. Plus, when it's childhood friends to lovers, there’s a history there that comes with such a deep level of unspoken understanding. The yearning is top notch, obviously. And this time we get a high born heroine and a commoner hero. So sprinkle in even more angst.
There were a lot of similarities to The Highwayman - childhood friends violently separated, only later to be reunited, with the MMC going under an assumed identity. I'm embarrassed to say how long it took me to realize that both this book and The Highwayman are basically the romance versions of The Count of Monte Cristo. I mean there was literally a quote in the beginning of the book from The Count of Monte Cristo.
This book really did it for me in the angst and yearning department.
I think Maggie and Nicholas are one of my favorite Mimi couples -childhood loves wretched apart, waited ten years to find each other again, never giving up hope. That's, like, true love. Plus, they had amazing chemistry so you know the sex was hot.
Thank goodness I have more of Mimi's backlist to get me through until Return to Satterthwaite Court comes out!