Book 2 in a new historical M/M series from award-winning author Isobel Starling. Word count 67,391 words.Tuesday 28th December 1897. Mr. Benedict Hannan, the owner of Hannan’s Auction House in Fitzrovia, London, receives an unexpected visitor at his Bloomsbury home. The man on his stoop sends Benedict’s heart into a flutter, and on inviting the mysterious stranger into his house, he is inviting … inviting mystery, adventure, and volcanic desire.
Sebastian Cavell—master thief, gives the impression he has sought out Benedict for the sake of business, but the kind of business Sebastian has in mind has nothing to do with making money!
Cavell has been tasked with finding the whereabouts of a missing German aristocrat. With Benedict’s society connections, Sebastian gains access to his Gentleman’s Club and to men whose behavior is not so gentlemanly!
Benedict is pulled into the circle of a dangerous secret society and he not only learns the truth about the mysterious Sebastian Cavell, but learns the truth about himself and all he truly desires.
FYI: This is historical Gay romance and contains scenes of a graphic sexual nature.
more
I’m so happy to be back with Benedict and Sebastian once again! In this second installment in the series we get an adventure and a mystery, but what’s most important to me is that we get a continuation of the relationship between Benedict and Sebastian. They are such delightful opposits that attract, Benedict being kind of repressed and cautious when it comes to his attraction to men in general and the free-spirited Sebastian in particular, and Sebastian being, well free-spirited, comfortable with who he is, and rather adventurous. I also love that Benedict is of a mature age.
The villains of this story are interesting and quite horrible and that side of the story is well thought out and interesting.
You don’t have to have read the first book in this series to enjoy this one, but I recommend that you do.
Gary Furlong’s narration is absolutely wonderful! His voice is so perfect for this book, his voices for everyone is great, but I especially love his voice for Benedict.
Audio review:
Overall – 5
Story – 5
Performance – 5
I loved this and I’m ready for more.
OMG – the voices that Gary Furlong does in this book! I adore his French accent and the others are pretty good, too.
The Gentleman’s Thief is told in first person by Benedict Hannan. It picks up where The Shooting Season left off but you don’t need to have read it to understand and enjoy this one. The author recaps all of the necessary details from that story so you won’t be lost at all.
The main characters have a bit of an opposites attract relationship. Benedict is ashamed of his desire to be with men. He is an upstanding businessman and has remained celibate for many years. Sebastian Cavell is a man of many faces and is sort of a Robin Hood; he is not ashamed of who he is or of desiring men. The two make a connection and things really start to sizzle by chapter six.
There is a lot of intrigue and mystery, as well as danger, in this captivating story. It does end on a bit of a cliffhanger but as much as I want to listen to the next book once it’s released, I wasn’t left with the overwhelming feeling that I was at the end of book one. This absolutely doesn’t mean that I didn’t love this story because I did; I think it was actually great writing on the author’s part. She left me wanting more but not wanting to strangle her. LOL
A complimentary copy of this audiobook was provided to me but my review was voluntary and not influenced by the author and/or narrator.
I read and listened to The Shooting Season at the end of last year, and knew I had to read this second book as soon as it came out. The continuation and growth of a relationship between Benedict and Sebastian is everything that I love, and is set against a backdrop that held my attention from the first page to the last. The language alone takes me right back to the end of the 19th Century and this is then combined with richly drawn descriptions of life at that time.
I love any narration by Gary Furlong, but his style definitely suits this author’s novels. The rather pompous voice of Benedict is amusing, but then his softer side begins to creep in more often, with an apt change in tone to go with this. I love the way Sebastian calls him “Dear Heart” and how Benedict just seems to melt. The different voices and accents continue to bring all of the characters to life and I particularly adored Leo.
A 5 star story and narration that leave me longing for Book 3 in this series.