👍🏼 my first MM historical romance!

So this is not my first MM romance nor was it my first historical romance. But this was definitely my first MM historical romance.

And it did not disappoint!!

So this was definitely a situation where I was in the mood for historical romance, saw the cover on NetGalley, and immediately requested the title with no further investigation. And then I went through several life changes and forgot about NetGalley for months. Oops. This was the second of three books that I had 8 days left to read before they expired.

Fortunately, this round of impulsive NetGalley requests really paid off!!

If you love reading about men falling in love and/or historical romance, this book is for you.

Oh. And the most delightful grumpy/sunshine trope.

Charlie is the best kind of sunshine - eternally optimistic, certainly past the point of ruin, but who cares.

And sweet, grumpy Miles. Our bookish hermit has a heart of gold under his gruff exterior. And the filthiest of minds. So filthy he writes the 1880s version of smut.

As it turns out, Charlie is Miles’ biggest fan and quite proud of his secret smut collection.

This book has some serious moments (definitely check the trigger warnings if you need), but also pockets of pure joy.

I loved the way all of the characters came together in the end.

I voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I have received this book by NetGalley, Carina Adores (Harlequin), and I am voluntarily leaving an honest review. The Pub date of the book is November 29th . I will post this review on my Goodreads, Facebook page and Instagram.

I was surrendered to the author's writing and the universe created at the beginning of this book. It's the first in a series that promises to be wonderful and I don't want to lose any bits. There are some trigger warnings you might need before you can get on with the reading – but I think nothing too heavy.

I start by pointing out that I think it's a story for all kinds of people who - really - love the genre, given that there are some very different and much more crude and direct selections. For me, it was a wonderful surprise, and above all, very fun – except for the saddest and most worrying moments of a reality that unfortunately existed.

I think this book is the author's first, and I can point out that I have already surrendered to her writing; it is fluid, easy and addictive. The author managed to create unique characters, and both the main and secondary characters can warm our hearts.

Charlie Price is promised to marry a lovely woman, Alma. Marriage is not what he wants, but besides being his lifesaver, it is also with a woman who has everything to be adorable and a good friend. However, before marrying and closing his private collection of erotic tales away from the eyes of his future wife, Charlie has the desire to meet the author of the books he loves the most, and with some favours, has his chance.

Miles Montague aka Reginal Cox is secretly the author of erotic and tragic books, and also a simple bookseller in a clean and decent bookstore. He prefers solitude and protection of anonymity and fears going where men with his preference go to have fun. He's also in some financial problems because of the bookstore.

When the lives of these two men intersect, everything changes for both. The forbidden desire they feel for each other, the responsibilities that each one entails in his life, the fears, the willingness to risk for something better in the future... all this will be put to the test and the relationship of the two will change their lives, forever.

As I mentioned, in addition to Charlie and Miles, there are secondary characters that make us very happy and interested in continuing reading. I loved what the author did with the story, and for not turning the woman of the triangle into a villain or not being interested in her fate. I hope that in the future we can see even more of some characters and know where happiness has led them.

It's a book with a lot of realism and feelings.

I am quite happy to have read this ARC and contributed to my review. My paperback is already pre-ordered because I'll want this book on my bookshelf so I can visit it more often at times you want to reread Charles and Miles.

This historical romance centers around a banker’s son, Charlie, meeting and falling in love with his favorite erotic writer, Miles. I loved the development of the relationship between the two, and I especially love Charlie’s found family we meet at The Curious Fox. I think Everlee does a good job seeking up potential sequels.

We get a good mix of historical details and concerns about the real dangers of the couple being together without this being a stressful book.

My one caveat is the steam level was a bit confusing. I didn’t expect the sexy times to fade to black given all the build up in the early chapters and the references to the erotica Miles writes. Most everything he would write about happens off page. That doesn’t mean it’s not a sexy book, but it definitely promises more than it delivers.

If you enjoy historical mm romances, I definitely recommend reading this one. Everlee does an excellent job.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher.

I think The Gentleman's Book of Vices had a lot of ideas, but I'm not sure if it really delivered as a great M/M historical romance book. I believe this is Jess Everlee's first book, so I'm hopeful her next one is a bit of an improvement.

I read a LOT of historical romance, so my expectations are really, annoyingly high. I enjoyed the concept of this story and a lot of the plot, but I think it had some work to do with the chemistry of the MCs and the way everything magically came together neatly in the end. It was a "magic wand, all problems fixed" kind of ending, IMO, and I wanted more from the story.

There is nothing wrong with this book, but a lot of authors have delivered snappier, steamier, and more cohesive stories.

Set in Victorian London, Jess Everlee’s The Gentleman’s Book of Vices tells the story of a bookshop owner – whose super-secret alter-ego is the writer of some of the finest and most sought-after erotica currently to be found under counters and in back rooms – and the most devoted admirer of said erotica, a young gentleman whose dedication “to his vices” has finally landed him in the sort of financial trouble from which there is only one way to escape. The romance between these two polar opposites – one staid and rigidly controlled, the other vivacious and happy-go-lucky – is very well written, with emotions that leap off the page, two complex, well-crafted protagonists and a strongly written group of secondary characters. Taken as a whole, it’s a very impressive début novel – and it would have received a flat-out A grade had it not been for the ending, which is rushed, simplistic, and just doesn’t fit with the tone of the rest of the novel.

Charlie Price has sampled all the vices London has to offer, but his dissolute life is about to change. His usually indulgent parents have, in the past, helped him out of the financial trouble he’s got himself into, but they’re no longer prepared to do so without his agreeing to “take a respectable job and settle down like a ‘proper, healthy fellow’” and prove he’s changed his ways. An introduction to the Merriweather family – most particularly, their unwed daughter, Alma – swiftly followed, and Charlie now works at Merriweather’s bank and is to be married to Alma in eight weeks time. He’s resigned himself to having to lock away his box of scandalous little treasures – his erotic novels, nude sketches and sculptures of illicit lovemaking – possibly forever, and as a kind of last hurrah, he’s determined to get his favourite author of illicit smut – the incredibly elusive Reginald Cox – to autograph his favourite book. But those who write the kind of filth Cox specialises in must necessarily guard their identities, and Cox has proved very difficult to pin down.

Luck is on Charlie’s side, however, when his close friend, the mysterious Jo, comes up trumps with a name.

While running a bookshop really wouldn’t have been Miles Montague’s choice of career – and quite honestly, he’s not all that good at it – he inherited it from his dead lover and keeps it out of a sense of duty even as the bills mount up and he has to continually add to the business funds from the money he earns from his writring. He’s solitary by nature, which is probably just as well given his secret occupation, and has jealously guarded that secret, which is why he’s so panicked when a young man comes into the shop just after closing time one day, and makes it clear he knows exactly who ‘Reginald Cox’ really is. Immediately suspecting he’s about to be blackmailed, Miles curtly asks the man to name the price he wants for his silence – but Charlie (for of course, it is he!) quickly tries to correct that assumption and to calm him down. All he wants, he says, is for ‘Reginald’ to sign his (very well read) copy of the book, Immorality Plays. Stunned, disbelieving and furious, Miles refuses and tells Charlie to get out – which he does, but not before pulling Miles into a blistering kiss and slipping his card down the front of Miles’ trousers.

It’s only later, once Miles’ panic has receded, that he has a chance to think clearly and realises that the charming Mr. Price had been telling the truth – and that he’s given Miles plenty of information he could use against him if Miles wished to. Realising he over-reacted, Miles signs the book, and the next day, heads off to Charlie’s house carrying both the book (wrapped, of course) and a good bottle of wine by way of apology.

There’s an intense spark of lust between the pair from the get-go, and the very next day – after an amusing scene in which Miles is mistaken for a sommelier and ends up offering suggestions as to which wine and cake Charlie and Alma should have at their wedding (although in Victorian England, there would only have been one sort of wedding cake on offer – the traditional heavy fruit cake that’s still the norm today) – Charlie takes Miles upstairs to see his ‘collection’. One thing leads to another, but they’re disturbed by footsteps in the hallway before they can have sex on the floor – and Miles is spooked. He doesn’t do this, he isn’t this reckless – with very good reason – but there’s something about Charlie that is completely irresistible, and he doesn’t say no when Charlie says he’ll come to Miles’ place on Friday evening.

Miles and Charlie fall hard and fast for each other and very soon are engaged in a passionate affair. They’re open and honest from the start and don’t even try to hide the fact that there’s more to what’s happening between them than sex, so that what starts out as a mostly light-hearted sunshiny-rake-brings-love-and-life-back-to-grumpy-introvert-with-tragic-past romance quickly develops into a story that really tugs at the heartstrings. The conflict in the romance is both realistic and heartbreaking; in fact, it’s one of a handful of books I’ve read recently where I actually felt the relationship was in serious jepoardy in the final chapters (even though I knew there would be an HEA), and Ms. Everlee does a really good job of articulating the very real difficulties that Charlie and Alma – and Miles – are facing.

I have to applaud the author for the way she writes Alma, who is never demonised. Instead, she’s a clever and charming young woman who is caught between a rock and a hard place, just as Charlie is and, as a woman, has even fewer options open to her. She and Charlie obviously care a great deal for each other, and he wants to give her a good home and perhaps even children (if he can manage it), but like many well-to-do men of the time, doesn’t intend to give up his ‘other’ life. And the thing is, I couldn’t actually dislike Charlie for that; he genuinely likes Alma and wants her to be happy and secure, but also needs to to carve out a little time to be true to himself as well – and the sad thing is that he knows that ‘a little’ is all he’s ever going to be able to have. He wants to continue to see Miles after he’s married, but Miles refuses, not only because he doesn’t want to be a part of that sort of betrayal, but also because he knows that eventually Charlie will have less and less time for him and that such gradual dwindling will hurt much more than a clean break. He also clearly sees how this marriage will slowly kill Charlie, draining away his liveliness and humour and everything that makes him him - and can’t bear the thought of watching that happen.

Miles and Charlie are flawed, complicated individuals who come vividly to life, especially Charlie, who really is a ray of sunshine, so engaging and loveable that it’s easy to understand why people are so drawn to him. Their romance is beautifully written, with plenty of humour, affection and tenderness, and the sexual chemistry between them is scorching.

There’s a great cast of secondary characters, too, with a lovely found family element and sense of community in the group of friends at The Curious Fox, the molly house Charlie frequents.

As I said at the beginning, this would have been an A grade review if it weren’t for the book’s ending, which is just a little too pat. And while the author does a pretty good job of evoking a strong sense of time and place, there are a few things that jar, like the use of a street name without “Street” or “Road” (which is a dead giveaway that the author is American – we would say “Holywell Street” and not just “Holywell” for example), the way Charlie’s butler speaks to him and a few turns of phrase that feel too modern.

Still, The Gentleman’s Book of Vices is an extremely accomplished and throughly engrossing début novel and one I definitely recommend to anyone looking for a new voice in queer historical romance. I gather this is the first book in a series, and am looking forward to reading more from this talented author.

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Based on other reviews of this one, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but I definitely wasn’t disappointed. I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed Charlie and Miles as characters and their relationship arc. Some of the side characters I could have lived without, but I thought Charlie’s and Miles’ personal character arcs and relationship arc felt fairly realistic. I’m wasn’t sure how historically accurate some of the setting and verbiage featured was, but it wasn’t so jarring that it was hard to pay attention to the characters. If anything, it was all fairly intriguing and worth a little of my own research to learn more.

There’s one fade to black scene, but some of the reviews make this one out to be entirely closed door, and I can assure you that it’s not. I’d consider it to be fairly open door with a little kink thrown in, so keep that in mind if it’s important to you.

I also appreciated the level of communication between Charlie and Miles. No giant miscommunication tropes here. Just two people in what feels like an impossible to reconcile situation doing their best to talk it out and find a way through. We love some healthy relationship vibes.


Thank you to Carina Press and NetGalley for the advanced digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

I believe that this is a debut novel and for a first effort, this one is fairly strong.

Historicals can be tough. Characters in a period accurate historical are typically forced to confront homophobia, are limited to furtive relationships, and oftentimes live in fear as homosexuality was in many places a punishable offense. All that combined sometimes makes for a very angsty read. Here, however, while Charlie and Miles face impossible challenges (how can they make their relationship work when society requires them to keep it secret and when Charlie is set to marry a woman?), this one is such a romp with a jovial and lighthearted tone that the reader has no choice but to sit back with popcorn and enjoy the plot as it unfolds.

A bit comedic, and a bit serious, this one came down to the wire and we didn’t know until the very end how Miles and Charlie would ever achieve their HEA.

Again, this one is a great first effort and will be an enjoyable read for many.

This book is so fun, funny and well written. And I am overjoyed that Goodreads has just confirmed for me that there will be more in this series. The characters were a joy to read, and their conflicts felt actually real and not contrived to me which I loved. If you're looking for a tender, sweet story, I think this book will do it for you.

Finely dressed and finely drunk, Charlie Price is a man dedicated to his vices. Chief among them is his explicit novel collection, though his impending marriage to a woman he can’t love will force his carefully curated collection into hiding.
Before it does, Charlie is determined to have one last hurrah: meeting his favorite author in person.
Miles Montague is more gifted as a smut writer than a shopkeep and uses his royalties to keep his flagging bookstore afloat. So when a cheerful dandy appears out of the mist with Miles's highly secret pen name on his pretty lips, Miles assumes the worst. But Charlie Price is no blackmailer; he’s Miles's biggest fan.
A scribbled signature on a worn book page sets off an affair as scorching as anything Miles has ever written. But Miles is clinging to a troubled past, while Charlie’s future has spun entirely out of his control.
This is a gay romance book. I didn't realize it and I was intrigued.
I received this complimentary copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley. This in no way affects my opinion of this book which I read and reviewed voluntarily.

The Gentleman’s book of vices is an enjoyable m/m romance set in regency period. Charlie Price is a well off young man who had stretched his family’s patience and must now stop his wild ways and settle down into domestic bliss in order to keep the financial coffers open. The problem is that Charlie is happiest among his friends at a “molly” house where gay men form friendships and liaisons, ever mindful of the illegal nature of their romantic relationships. Charlie is determined to fulfill one last quest, to find his favorite pornographic writer and get his book signed. Gay pornography was highly illegal, and writers were shrouded in mystery, but Charlie’s connections lead him to Miles Montague, book shop owner and secret writer of gay erotica. When Charlie and Miles meet, sparks fly and the two are instantly attracted to one another. A spicy romance follows, but Charlie needs money, thus marriage and family duty call. On his side, Miles is attracted to Charlie, but his recklessness in owning his sexual identity (at least to the extent of frequently gay clubs) terrifies Miles in a world where gay men were imprisoned. But can either man give up a satisfying sexual relationship that might actually be love? honest review given in exchange for ecopy of the book

When Charlie Price, a dedicated dandy and hedonist gets the chance to meet his favorite author of male erotica, Reginald Cox, he jumps at the chance to get the man's signature on his favorite work before it gets locked away following his impending marriage. He wasn't expecting, however, for Mr. Cox to really be Miles Montague, the tall, dark, hermit-like owner of a failing bookshop. Nor was he expecting to have a connection with the man so different from himself, who seems to fill in all the places he is lacking.
I don't have a lot to say about this book, so I shall summarize:
The Good: Everlee knows how to craft good prose. There were some anachronistic turns of phrase, but nothing that strongly broke my immersion. The characters were well done and felt deep and troubled and joyful and heartbroken in turn. The peanut gallery of side characters added a lot of good flavor and depth to the world of the book.
The Bad/Baffling: The pacing left something to be desired, as did the the consistency of the tone. Most of the book was good but there were some points of out-of-place levity or quick biting twists into melancholy. The whole outcome of the narrative felt at once completely out of left field and glaringly obvious and over wrung. The conclusion of the novel is satisfying but baffling. ALSO why on earth was there an incredibly explicit blow job but then the actual sex was fade-to black? I think there should have been more graphic sex scenes frankly.

It felt like telling more than showing, and I wasn’t really getting into it. Pacing felt somewhat slow. I don’t see our usual visitors enjoying it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Carina press for the ARC.

The Gentleman’s Book of Vices was an alright read. Sadly, this is about as high praise as I can give it. It was alright, but nothing more. (A little side note to insert here: this doesn’t mean you won’t feel differently, etc etc, and so on and so forth.)

The story follows Charlie and Miles, who meet when Charlie comes to Miles to ask for an autograph as the author of a piece of fiction that might well lead to Miles’ being arrested. Believing himself to be being blackmailed, Miles throws Charlie out, but quickly reassesses and this is how the two of them strike up a relationship.

Let me start with what’s good about this book and that’s the writing. It’s very readable, and the story never drags. But equally, it’s poetic when it needs to be, and presents the characters in a way that makes them leap off the page. None of what I was less than enamoured by was down to the writing.

Probably, then, the major reason for my prevailing feelings over this book being “meh” was the fact that I just didn’t care enough about the characters. Perhaps I should have been able to anticipate this, when I reread the blurb and meet-cute, and thought, this doesn’t really grab me as a dynamic. It’s hard to say why, and it’s in no way an indictment of the book itself. But, for my enjoyment of this one, it was a killer.

I also thought that I couldn’t feel the tension between the two characters. You know, how the best romances make it almost tangible? That was missing here. Again, this could be down to my distinct lack of enthusiasm over the dynamic, maybe it was a genuine lack of it in the writing. Who can say? Not me.

Lastly, maybe all of this can be put down to the mood I was in while reading. Primarily, this is why I’d hesitate to draw any particular conclusions from this review. As ever, what doesn’t work for me may well work for you.

I was immediately drawn to this book by the “devoted fan meets and falls for favourite writer” plot point. I thought it was a really fun twist that I personally haven’t come across all too often. Not to mention it’s a clever way to play on the collective desire to meet the creators we admire. Add on the whole “the writer writes smut and the reader has himself a nice little collection” layer, and there was no way on God’s green Earth I could possibly resist this story.

The cast of characters is charming, and the story made for a fast and easy, entertaining read. The spots of heart-wrenching angst and tragedy do their job well, making the happy ending all the more satisfying; and I truthfully can’t help but love reading meddling friends and all their “because we love you” machinations. There’s no shortage of those here. In the end, The Gentlemen’s Book of Vices gave me what I’d wanted from it, and it’s made me interested in continuing the series. So, that’s a win, I’d say.

I greatly enjoyed this book. I started out a little hesitant fining Charlie’s attitude and Miles’ gruffness not 100% to my liking but together they sparkled. They have a wonderful grumpy/sunshine dynamic that is only amplified by the sexy BDSM undertones. It reminded me of some of my favorite moments in Cat Sebastian’s turners series. I thought that the way Jess Everlee managed to balance the romance with the themes is wickedness and depravity in a time that criminalized sexuality and homosexuality was very good. It never felt like the romance was secondary, even as the characters worked though and changed their worldviews.

My only minor quibble is that there were more then one moment that heavily implied of impending disaster. And while we get our HEA it just kinda messed with the vibe for me personally. That was probably the only thing that kept it from 5 stars for me.

Thank you netgalley and carina adores for an e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

I loved how this seemed to be written in very period-accurate verbiage, especially when it came to queer slang of the era. Some lines were just so breathtakingly beautiful, and they felt so fitting for the flowery language and emotional montages. There were slow moments and some moments that flew by too quickly, but still it’s a really fun read and very unlike anything I’ve read before.

*3.75 stars*
The Gentleman's Book of Vices is a queer historical romance following Charlie and Miles. Charlie is a fan of a writer, Reginald Cox who writes erotica. Before Charlie is married he wants an autograph from the author and decides to find out his true identity. He discovers the identity and goes to meet him. Miles is the owner of a Bookshop and erotic author. When he meets Charlie he's skeptical but eventually gives in to an autograph. Their lives become entwined and they have to decide the life they want for themselves.

This was a really solid romance. I liked both Charles and Miles and their relationship. Some of the smut was somewhat cringy however I got past it. Would recommend

True review- 4.5 stars

The Gentleman's Book of Vices is a historical MM romance set in Victorian England that is both sweet and spicy at the same time, wrapped up in a tale about community and finding your way, moving on after tragedy and loss.

I loved this book and the relationship between Miles and Charlie. They are both scoundrels and messes who find each other and help each other grow, without losing their old troublemaker ways, which I absolutely loved. This story also featured a rich cast of side characters who all made me smile and found their place in my heart, and who I can't wait to learn more about.

This book also had some spice to it, and the spice was very well written with a BDSM component, although that was never the central component of the story. I greatly enjoyed the spice in this story, however I was disappointed that many of the scenes were fast-forwarded through or had a fade to black. I would have absolutely liked to see more of these scenes play out.

There was a lot in this to like, in a "two characters who are trainwrecks who find each other" kind of fashion. I just wished it had decided better what it was going to be - a racy dom/sub affair between a fop and his favorite erotica author, or a charming queers-against-society romance. Because it tried, at points, to be both, it managed to be neither. While smutty, it was tame smutty, not fan-yourself-with-the pages steamy. (As I said in my mid-book review, don't leave us hanging with our fingers in a tea cup of olive oil and a ffwd to morning.) And there was too much heartbreak in the pages to make it truly cozy, in a starry-eyed, clouds coming off your mug of hot chocolate way.

What I loved the most, though, was how real the keep-the-characters apart final conflict was - something that feels contrived in many romances, even the good ones. You could see the agony in both Charlie and Miles as each did what they felt was right.

And to be fair, this is my favorite of recent historical m/m romances that I've attempted. I couldn't even get a third of the way through The Queer Principles of Kit Webb before abandoning it. Readable and with its fair share of scene-stealing moments, this will definitely find its audience. I'm just not sure who the audience will be

This was a fun historical with a great sense of queer friendship and community. It also has a grumpy/sunshine pairing that’s more like afraid of vulnerability/sunny on the outside but tumultuous on the inside, which worked really well. The way these characters fit together was my favorite part: I totally bought their immediate, intense connection.

There were a fair amount of ahistorical elements, though that’s pretty typical for historical romance and mostly didn’t bother me. It felt realistic enough to make the characters’ predicament (how to handle the arranged marriage) feel like a real challenge without an easy solution. On that note, I appreciated that the fiancee was treated kindly by the MCs but also wasn’t the “conveniently not interested in love or romance” trope that’s often used to “solve” an arranged marriage without making the engaged MC a jerk. The characters recognized that the fiancee’s needs and desires in life were just as important as theirs and acted accordingly.

Overall, this was enjoyable, if not exceptional, and I would read more from this author.