Book Review: The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting by KJ Charles

The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting (Gentlemen of Uncertain Fortune #1)
Publisher: Orion
Pub Date: 25 January 2024
Genre: Historical Romance

Panda Rating:

(4.5 pandas)

📖 SYNOPSIS

Robin Loxleigh and his sister Marianne are the hit of the Season, so attractive and delightful that nobody looks behind their pretty faces.

Until Robin sets his sights on Sir John Hartlebury’s heiress niece. The notoriously graceless baronet isn’t impressed by good looks or fooled by false charm. He’s sure Robin is a liar, a fortune hunter, and a heartless, greedy fraud – and he’ll protect his niece, whatever it takes.

Then, just when Hart thinks he has Robin at his mercy, things take a sharp left turn. And as the grumpy baronet and the glib fortune hunter start to understand each other, they also find themselves starting to care – more than either of them thought possible.

But Robin’s cheated and lied and let people down for money. Can a professional rogue earn an honest happy ever after?

⚠️ CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS

Previously enslaved character and mention of enslavement, references to emotional and financial abuse of spouses and children, vomiting

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.

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Book Review: Subtle Blood by K.J. Charles

Goodreads: Subtle Blood (The Will Darling Adventures #3)
Publisher: KJC Books
Published: 23 June 2021
Genre: Historical Romance, Mystery/Thriller

Panda Rating:

(4.5 pandas)

Will Darling is all right. His business is doing well, and so is his illicit relationship with Kim Secretan–disgraced aristocrat, ex-spy, amateur book-dealer. It’s starting to feel like he’s got his life under control.

And then a brutal murder in a gentleman’s club plunges them back into the shadow world of crime, deception, and the power of privilege. Worse, it brings them up against Kim’s noble, hostile family, and his upper-class life where Will can never belong.

With old and new enemies against them, and secrets on every side, Will and Kim have to fight for each other harder than ever—or be torn apart for good.

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Book Review: The Sugared Game by K.J. Charles

Goodreads: The Sugared Game (The Will Darling Adventures #2)
Publisher: KJC Books
Published: 26 August 2020
Genre: Historical Romance, Mystery

Panda Rating:

(4.5 pandas)

It’s been two months since Will Darling saw Kim Secretan, and he doesn’t expect to see him again. What do a rough and ready soldier-turned-bookseller and a disgraced shady aristocrat have to do with each other anyway?

But when Will encounters a face from the past in a disreputable nightclub, Kim turns up, as shifty, unreliable, and irresistible as ever. And before Will knows it, he’s been dragged back into Kim’s shadowy world of secrets, criminal conspiracies, and underhand dealings.

This time, though, things are underhanded even by Kim standards. This time, the danger is too close to home. And if Will and Kim can’t find common ground against unseen enemies, they risk losing everything.

A 1920s m/m romance trilogy in the spirit of Golden Age pulp fiction.

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