Wanted, a Gentleman

Though he's now a free man and successful merchant, Martin is suddenly called upon by the family by whom he was enslaved his entire childhood to assist with the recovery of their naïve daughter Jennifer who's run off to elope. Making a living (barely) printing advertisements for lonely hearts seeking relationships, Theo is surprised when Martin asks for his help tracking Jennifer and her would-be husband before it's too late. It is a race to the Scottish border, and the close proximity of Martin and Theo's small carriage means they have no choice but to get to know one another better (wink, wink). More of a novella than a fully fleshed-out book, this is a quick, fun, sweet and hopeful palate cleanser.

First, a disclosure: I really, really like Theo, even when I know I shouldn't. He's such a shady character from most of the book! And you should despise him, and yet... And yet! My faith in his weasely-self was rewarded at the end :P

This, to me, read more as an adventure than a romance, and I'm perfectly okay with that. I like that Theo and Martin get their deserved HEA, but what got me listening no-end was the thrill of the adventure, wanting to know if they'd be able to save the stubborn and romantic heiress from her own notions of love and happiness.

A very, very compelling story, but then, it's K.J. Charles, so no surprise here :P

KJ Charles is amazing at packing so much into a novella. I first read this over five years ago before I fell into my romance renaissance (so I can’t remember how I found it—it’s likely I read some fanfic and went in search of queer Regency), and so this reread was fun to remember how Martin and Theo came together. It had a road trip, secret author, sexy times, and lots of secrets; so much goodness without filler here.

** spoiler alert **

KJ Charles has a gift for writing characters that are easy to identify with quickly yet still have a real depth to them; Theo and Martin of Wanted, a Gentleman are no exception. The story starts simply with a lonely hearts advertiser, Theo, and whirls into a runaway adventure (heh) when Martin enters Theo's world of scribbling for help. They set off to return the daughter of Martin's former owners as she elopes to Scotland. There are some really tricky issues here--slavery and what it means to be a slave, regardless of how one is treated. The conversations Theo and Martin have about this are really well done and interesting. Their friendship/relationship is a very real one--they can _talk_ to each other. I loved how show more Theo's writing Gothic fiction under the name Dorothea Swann and his plotting mind was what saved the day, but I also loved that Martin was reading one of his books. I would be hard pressed to name my favorite KJ Charles book, but having gotten my graduate degree with an emphasis in Gothic Fiction and being quite familiar with Mrs. Radcliffe, this one has a special little place in my heart. And I did love Theo and Martin's relationship. show less

Loved the twist whereby the romance writer who struggles to write decent heroes flips the situation to enact the scenario with himself as villain (thwarting the elopement plot and getting the guy).

It's been a while since I've read romance (unless we count my ongoing fanfiction-binge *cough*), and it felt a bit... lukewarm. I'd like to say I'm getting over the genre, but the insane number of slash fics I've been consuming seems to contradict this idea.

That being said, the couple in the book has great chemistry. Or rather, the audio narrator has done a great job portraying said chemistry. I appreciated some decent one-liners, including the funny ones.

Now with this book being more of a novella, rather than a full-fledged novel, I was not too keen on some of the plot-twists. While I'm not a big fan of slow-burn progressions, I still expect to have SOME development before having a plot-twist thrown my way. As it was, things felt a bit show more artificial. As a matter of fact, a whole lot of the book felt a bit over top. Perhaps intentionally so, making it all into a parody?

Score: 3/5 stars

One of my biggest pet-peeves these days, are the in-your-face diverse cast, which appears more as a result of someone going through the diversity questionnaire, rather than a genuine desire to reflect a realistic society. I'm looking at you Netflix book adaptations.

Wanted, A Gentleman however doesn't feel the need to have a 90% non-white cast, and makes the protagonist's plight quite believable, including his problematic friendship with his former slave owner. I just wish the story had been a bit more... fleshed out. show less

Really a 4.75

Marvelous and unique plot. I had a harder time engaging in this work than the others I’ve read by the author but I think that’s just down to being shorter than the others with less in depth internal examination of motives and emotions. I feel like the discussion surrounding slavery was done well but alas, I am not the person to examine that. And again, I love that the ‘nave’ MC wasn’t immediately forgiven because ‘love’. I would love to see more about how their lives have developed being together and I hope the free epilogue indulges me!