TL;DR: The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting is a great historical queer romance! I forgot how much I enjoy KJ Charles’ books, but I’m glad that this one reminded me. If you enjoy historical romances with great social commentary, explorations of what it means to be family, snarky swoony banter, and delightfully charged yet playfully sensual moments, I would recommend checking this out. Robin and Hart were wonderful MCs and I highly enjoyed their POVs. These two quickly wormed their way into my heart and I rooted so hard for them to get their HEA because they’re so deserving of the good things! I can’t wait to read the next book in the series.

Robin and Hart were written with so much care and I loved their layered backstories and how they undergo very satisfying journeys of growth individually and as a couple! They are opposites in almost every way from looks to personalities to station, but opposites very much attract even if reluctantly at first, because despite their initial enmity, their relationship evolves into one full of burning passion, safety, and long sought after understanding. Robin was quite literally the golden-haired, handsome, charming, and sprightly young sunshine to Hart’s older, grizzly, tall dark and thick thighed, and growly to the point of rudeness grump. Robin’s our fortune hunter and I loved his relationship with his sister, Marianne. Their backstory was heartbreaking and infuriating, and I really felt for these siblings. They were the best of the worst fortune hunters and I don’t mean that derogatorily. While Marianne certainly had a frostier and more cut-throat manner in her pursuit of wooing and wedding the filthy rich, Robin at his core was simply too kindhearted and prone to caring and emotional attachment to have ever made a good fortune hunter! I loved that about him so much.

Of our two MCs, it was Hart who surprised me the most. I thought he would be your typical grump who just couldn’t stand to be around people, but Hart knows all too well the cruel and capricious nature of the ton and his backstory really tugged at my heartstrings. I loved his relationship with his sister, Edwina, and his niece, Alice! He’s such a caring bear of a man who’s all about acts of service (even if sometimes it’s in a bullheaded way). His past experiences being shunned and ridiculed have led him to become very socially awkward, but I loved how that changed when Robin steps into the picture.

Despite these two being so opposite, they had similar upbringings that lacked in love, kindness and safety, which put into their minds that they were underserving of love and goodness. 🥺 I adored how safe and comfortable they felt in each other’s presence, and how it allowed them to be emotionally vulnerable and open with each other. The words of affirmation that they exchanged and the way they fought for each other to believe the good in themselves had me feeling all kinds of emotional! I think I was especially surprised by Hart because I thought he’d be the kind to refuse to speak about his past, but I was pleased by how open he was. He did make a few fumbles at the end but they were so communicative throughout their time together and it was clear that they really listened and absorbed what the other was saying. For all you romance girlies who love healthy communication, get excited because Robin and Hart do it so well! I also loved how it wasn’t “one rescuing the other” but them learning to step up for each other both in private and public and their dynamic was just so freaking good!

Overall, this was such a delight and has made me want to immediately read all of Charles’ books on my TBR because this is exactly the kind of positive and layered romance that I’ve been looking for, and I’m so happy that I found it!

Have you read The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting or is it on your TBR?

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