A review by thegreatmanda
A Gentleman Never Keeps Score by Cat Sebastian

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

Oh, Hartley. The way this poor kid spent the end of It Takes Two to Tumble trying to convince Ben he’s all right with the past, he almost had me convinced.

I don't particularly believe in hell, but I have to believe there's a reckoning of some kind for grown adults who use and abuse kids they should be protecting and watching over. 

Samuel Fox is a lovely man and exactly who Hartley needs, with his general sense for community caretaking and watching over people. I’m a sucker for a character who really sees people and perceives what they aren’t saying aloud, such as when Sam picks up on Hartley’s fear of physical touch during their first meeting, and understands it for what it is. Kate, Sadie, and Alf round out the cast of characters nicely, and of course we get a solid setup for the third Sedgwick novel as well.

I appreciate the way Hartley was set up to be a little bit of an unreliable narrator when it comes to his own isolation,

as we eventually find out that he has a pile of unread letters, and is imposing at least some of that isolation on himself

. It provides a window into his damaged self-worth and how strongly he believes he doesn't deserve anything or anyone good in his life.

I've also seen a couple of reviews that lamented the eventual PIA sex that Sam and Hartley work up to having, and I agree that other types of sex are just as valid and real. However, in this case, Hartley spends time wishing that he could have that with Sam, and thinking about how much he enjoyed the physical act itself, so I found it gratifying that he was able to get there. It was also just as big a deal to me that Hartley went into that experience genuinely believing that he'd come out OK on the other side of it, even if he had to stop or something went wrong. The fear of becoming afraid, and of spiraling in front of someone important to you, is often enough to make it happen, and it was very sweet to see just how much Hartley trusts Sam, in the end, with his heart and mind as well as his body.

Favorite Quotes:

Sam wasn't in the habit of turning away people who needed warmth and rest, certainly not people he was growing rather troublingly fond of. But Hartley seemed to accept as his due that he would be cast out, alone, into the cold.

Sam had never been with anyone with this amount of haggling beforehand, but it turned out he liked it. He liked knowing that they were both doing what pleased the other. He also liked knowing that he was keeping Hartley safe, and that Hartley trusted him with his safety.

"Can you trust me to keep loving you? No matter what?"