The Gentleman Thief

Though seldom taken seriously due to her fair façade (golden curls and eyes often described as ‘limpid pools’), Georgiana Bellewether wishes for nothing more than to prove herself worthy of becoming a Bow Street Runner. When Lady Culpepper’s emeralds are stolen at a ball, she immediately sets herself the task of winning recognition by solving this baffling crime. There’s only one problem: One of her suspects, Johnathon Saxton, Marquis of Ashdowne, has offered his services as her assistant, but every time he comes near her, he has a most disconcerting effect on her powers of deduction.

I loved Georgie’s unpredictability and the bizarre scrapes she got herself into while investigating. Her clumsiness was a tad overdone, in my show more opinion, but not seriously distracting, and it made for some highly amusing scenes. I enjoyed the fact that one of Georgie’s main attractions was that she made Ashdowne laugh and feel like life was an adventure again rather than her beauty.

Some of the twists near the end were implausible, but for someone looking for a comic approach to investigative work in Regency Bath, this work is definitely recommended. show less

First off I just have to say I'll be damned if I can figure out why I liked this story. So I guess I am saying be prepared for a confusing review.
Haha I like how Georgiana says Ashdowne might be the "healthiest man she had ever seen". Is this the regency equivalent of "sexy"?
New word alert "Botheration". Ooooh I'm so excited to use this word in conversation now!
At the beginning I saw Georgiana as very immature in her actions and thoughts. So naïve. A little bit of "is she really that stupid?" But towards the end of the book, I felt a shift towards my feelings for this character. Georgiana still acted "blonde" many times but she became likeable. Sweetly naive maybe? I don't know but when I started to accept Georgiana for how she was I show more began to enjoy the book more. I definitely felt like there were times that Ashdowne was in over his head! I liked how Ashdowne accepted Georgiana for who she was and just rolled with the punches and her wild antics.
I said at the beginning I liked this book and really didn't know why. It is completely different from the dark books and characters I usually lean towards. This was very fanciful with sugary story and characters. However the last 60pgs or so of the story was really good and intense. I feel like I was kind of captured by the characters. I mean how can anyone not fall in love with how Ashdowne allowed Georgiana to be herself and helped her follow her dreams.
So anyway meh to the whole storyline of Georgiana searching for who stole Lady Culpepper's emeralds and bravo to the chemistry and relationship between Georgiana and Ashdowne. Definitely saved the story for me. They were fun characters to read about and played off each other spectacularly. This book is definitely a fun romp read, some funny situations but don't expect much of an engaging storyline. I wish Georgiana and Ashdowne were put into a more supporting story. However, as a couple they were a blast to read about.
I guess my final word is this book is a curiously charming story about how it is ok to be yourself and being lucky enough to find the hero to accept you just the way you are.
I realize I didn't say much about the story but really it's just Georgiana thinking she can become a Bow Street Runner and Ashdowne doing his damnedest to keep her out of trouble. I would probably compare this book to the movie "The Princess Bride" (loved that movie). Silly but romantic.

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