Life for gay men in Victorian London is dangerous and potentially heartbreaking, but David has made the Fox, the gentleman's club he runs, into a sanctuary for his community. Despite the occasional need to clear out before a raid, David manages to keep his patrons both safe and comfortable. When an impending raid results in the owner threatening to sell the Fox, David is ready to travel to the owner's country home to plead his case. He just needs a "wife" to advert suspicion concerning his relationship to the Fox's dangerous and noble owner. David's best friend, Noah, has promised to stay by David's side no matter what, but would much rather talk Davide out the visit all together.

Readers will not only be rooting for David, and impatiently waiting for the development of David and Noah's relationship, but want to settle in for an evening at the Fox with its gay (in all senses) denizens.

Davy and Noah truly are a pair of restless rogues! The duo and their friends (including a suspiciously quiet valet) absolutely capture the best elements of found family. I enjoyed returning to the Curious Fox and learning so much more about its proprietor, David. Noah, however stole the show in this story for me - he is bold, kind, funny, and brave. We recommend this one if you enjoy a friends to lovers moment, larger than life characters, and a perfect ending.

I read the first book in this series and was excited for the second book. Unfortunately, while this wasn't the worst book I've read, it just fell a little flat. I liked the characters, the setting, and the story, but the pacing was honestly the biggest deal-breaker. Maybe had I been in a different mood I could've handled the slower pacing, but I found myself skimming and really only reading the dialogue about 40% into the book and I still got the story. I really liked the heroes and found their love story to be so cute. However, I really cannot emphasize enough how the pacing just seemed so slow and made this book feel like a bit of a chore. I don't know what could've been adjusted to pick up the pacing, but I found that reading the dialogue and only skimming the rest gave me a pretty good impression of the story and was pretty enjoyable.

Thank you to Jess Everlee, Carnina Press & Carina Adores, and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for my honest opinion. A Rulebook for Restless Rogues comes out July 11, 2023.

A Rulebook for Restless Rogues is a fun and heartwarming books about queer men in a historical romance setting. While we are aware that the exploration of sexuality Noah and David go through and even the drag that Noah explored would have been excuses for arrest and even execution, I still think this story has merit and it was lovely to explore the storyline that we aren't able to because stories like this weren't told in that time period. Also, while I'm not the biggest fan of friends-to-lovers I thought that Noah and David's story was really good because of that. The book was fast paced and well-written, and I thought the characters went through well written character development. If you are looking for a fun queer story filled with humor, heart and spice The Rulebook for Restless Rogues is for you!

In this sweet Victorian romance, David and Noah are childhood friends from their days at a dysfunctional boarding school who now continue their friendship as members of London's queer nightlife. David, whose family's fortune took a downturn, has been making it work managing the local queer club, the Furious Fox for an aloof member of the gentry. Noah, who sunk beneath his family's expectations when he refused to become a doctor (so relatable) is a successful London menswear tailor who wears his own fantastical dresses as his alter ego, Miss Penelope. When financial trouble threatens their community at the Furious Fox, David and Noah are thrust on an adventure (featuring dapper lesbians) and might discover that their childhood romance isn't over yet...

Ah, this book hit me right in my favorite trope, childhood friends to lovers! And a main character who is a tailor! I think the way the writer wrote about Noah's relationship to drag and gender was really refreshing. I loved how these two friends supported each other even when they questioned their romantic and sexual connection. I loved the themes of found family! Definitely recommend this for a cozy afternoon.

Thanks for the ARC!

*I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for the free book.*

"A Rulebook for Restless Rogues" is about two childhood friends who have been in love since they were teens and are too stupid to admit or see it. One is now a tailor and drag queen, the other runs a molly club in the most disrepectable part of Soho. While I like queer stories set in the past, this one did not really work for me as I found the characters to be somewhat flat and overly dramatic at the same time. The explicit sex or near sex scenes felt rushed and interchangable. The resolve/plottwist at the end was unbelievable and unrealistic (again this book does not try to be historically accurate but still). I don't know, I rooted way more for the two men in the first book. Also well done introducing at least some female characters but sadly they're all stock characters as well.

2 stars

Read ARC for NetGalley. It was a fun sequel, mentioning some characters from the first volume, b the focusing on Noah and David. It was short and compact, so the storyline was tight. That being said, the dialogue felt cumbersome at times and strained. It lacked the smooth flow and polish of other more practices writers. It takes skill for a writer to use dialogue that advances the story while deftly holding things back so they build slowly. The author was to overt in having the dialogue express that the characters misunderstand each other or are reluctant to give over their hearts.

Reading Jess Everlee feels like watching the genre evolve in real time. I enjoyed her first book, which was a light slice of fluff that did exactly what it set out to do; this one is more ambitious, and while not every aspect completely works, the whole is far greater than the sum of its parts.

Noah Clarke and David Forrester are longtime friends/former lovers, in the British boarding school tradition of "lovers." As adults, David operates a molly house that was gifted to him (with strings attached) by a shady former lover, and Noah is a tailor by day, drag queen by night. That's the premise. There's not a lot of solid plot to this book - barring one major event that gets the ball rolling, almost all of the conflict springs from Noah and David's relationship with each other, with the Clarke family (Noah's disapproving father and sister), and David's former lover/current landlord. And it's great!

One aspect of this novel I really loved was the tension between Noah, David, and the Clarkes - Noah comes from a family of Unitarians, who are nominally accepting of their son's sexuality, but disapprove of David for running a molly house because, in David's words:

"The world Noah had been born into was very hostile to David's sort. [i]Certainly] they thought he should have gotten help rather than fines from the Crown after the fire. [i]Of course[/i] they believed he and Noah ought to live and love in freedom. But it was temperance, education, and transcendental prayer that would see these causes through, while David's [i]lascivious, frivolous lifestyle[/i] would only set the whole country back worse than ever. The way they saw it, David was personally responsible for the degradation of society itself."

I've found that m/m romance histroms struggle a lot with this; they want to take place in an idealized past where sure, the wider world is homophobic, but the bubble that the leads live in would never be anything less than 100% loving, affirming, and accepting. I understand the impulse - romance is an escapist genre, after all - but after awhile, it starts to feel like a whitewash. I thought the way this book handled this conflict threaded the needle very well. The Clarkes and their church would be horrified to hear themselves called intolerant, but they still carry an implicit bias against gay men who are, you know, [i]too[/i] gay. Everlee doesn't attempt to resolve this; she has Noah stand up to his family and make it clear that his presence in their lives is contingent on their acceptance of David, and they agree to the terms. It's the kind of complicated, messy dynamic you don't see a lot in this genre, and I'm glad to see Everlee shifting that window.

The other plot point I really enjoyed was David's relationship with his ex, Lord Belleville is a cruel, capricious nobleman whose bad behaviour is handled with a light touch - there are no scenes of physical violence, although there are hints that those familiar with the period might pick up on (it's implied that his activities were part of the impetus for the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885, which - if you know, you know) but David's inability to extricate himself from the relationship speaks for itself. Romances where half of the main couple rescue their love interest from a bad partner never really work for me, but that's not really what's happening here - David needs to grow into himself enough to recognize that he deserves better, and while Noah is partially the impetus for this, it comes from David's own growth. Really, the main thing I want from a romance is the characters growing and changing over the course of the relationship, and this book delivered completely.

My only criticisms is that 1) the book is quite slow - as I said, the plot is minimal, and the first half drags as a result - and Noah, who studied in Italy, has an irritating habit of dropping Italian words and phrases into conversation like your annoying co-worker who went to Spain for a month and came back with an affected lisp. But these are fairly minor points in the grand scheme, and overall I'm happy to recommend this title. I can't wait to see what Everlee does next.

A Rulebook for Restless Rogues, stole my heart title alone. It was such a beautifully written book and the premise was so sweet and cute. Overall, it was heartwarming, funny, and sweet. The characters were written quite well, making me really fall in love with both of them despite sometimes driving me crazy with their choices.

The ending was tied up fairly quickly and I felt by the end I was still wanting more from them, just for a little longer. Kudos to the author for making me want more! It was a really well paced book, which made the reading experience so much better than I thought & really made me dive into the world with the characters!

Such a great read! Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I think Jess Everlee did the "friends to lovers" trope well with A Ruleboko for Restless Rogues! The comfort with which the two interact with each other really sells the friendship and the ease with which they fall back into a romatic relationship. The only thing I didn't love was that I thought there were a couple conflicts that got resolved too soon or too conveniently. Would recommend to anyone who loves M/M historical romance for sure!

In the standalone sequel to The Gentleman's Book of Vices, we return to The Curious Fox, with the narrative focus now on the proprietor David and his old friend Noah. I really love those series that take a group of loveable characters and shift the core pairing focus for each book. One of the strengths of the first book in the series was the atmosphere and warmth of The Curious Fox, not only in how it's described but also the emphasis on providing a place of safety, friendship and more that David was adamant to give to Charlie and Miles in TGBOV. Here that motivation is front and centre, as his beloved club is at risk of being shut down by an unscrupulous landlord. There's high angst as the relationship between David and Noah blossoms from friendship to more, and an emotive kind of desperation in the chemistry between the two leads. While I personally related to/enjoyed the relationship between Charlie and Miles more than the relationship focus in this book, what stands out to me is the enormity of feeling, which manages to avoid the melodramatic while sustaining an incredibly strong, passionate drive.

I am grateful to have received an ARC of this book from the author via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I tried to give this book an honesty chance, but the story just didnt connect with me emotionally. The characters and plot fell flat to me. This is however a sweet best-friends-to-lovers story, that didnt feel too heavy.

Two lifelong best friends find themselves exploring their relationship when one of them finds their underground queer club being in danger and the other finds themselves feeling that their feelings are not so friendly anymore. David Forester and Noah Clarke have been best friends ever since they went to boarding school together. Now years later, Noah is a promising young tailor and David runs an underground queer club. When David’s club is threatened, Noah wants to do everything in his power to help him, even if it means risking his career. David and Noah also find themselves crossing more lines and finally facing their feelings for each other, something that has only grown throughout the years they’ve known each other. But are they willing to risk it all and finally take the leap from friendship to an actual relationship? Can David save his club and can Noah and David finally be together? This was a sweet and fun read, I loved the friends to lovers trope in this one, especially because of how it is clearly established that Noah and David have always had feelings for each other, constantly toeing the line between just a kiss and actually feeling emotions for one another. They’re relationship was so sweet. They wanted to protect and do whatever was possible to take care of the other, and I just had a fun time reading this.

*Thanks Netgalley and Carina Press & Carina Adores (Harlequin), Carina Adores for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest reciew*

Thank you to Harper Collins and NetGalley for the eArc of <i>A Rulebook for Restless Rogues</i>. All opinions are my own.

There's nothing about this book that I didn't love (except for some pacing and plot quibbles, which I'll share below). Boarding school besties Noah and David are all grown up and pursuing their...well, not quite dreams, but they're living life in the most authentic way two queer London gentlemen can in the 19th century. Noah has a promising career as a Saville Row tailor, while David caters to the underground queer population of London gentlemen at his club The Curious Fox. Like all historical novels with queer men, the tension and fears of being caught, exposed, and punished for homosexuality are generally one of the main plot points, and <i>A Rulebook for Restless Rogues</i> is no exception. It's an undercurrent in nearly every conflict Noah and David experience in this book.

But the best part, aside from this extreme societal tension, is the absolute oblivious besties who, it's clear from the start, belong together. Each of them has a beautifully quirky personality (Noah dresses in drag and assumes a different persona altogether when he's at the club, and David is tender and generous with his clientele). Their relationship is so real, their friendship tender and beautiful, and when they find themselves having to work together to save the Curious Fox and David's reputation, something like a real romance finally begins to kindle.

The tension and build-up of Noah and David's relationship was perfection. My pacing and plot quibble is due to a lack of any real climactic scene. The conflict just kind of....fizzles out? It was a bit disappointing. I was hoping for more of a showdown, a takedown, or...something that could more satisfyingly resolve the conflict with the book's default villain.

I have not read Jess Everlee's first book, but there weren't any parts of this one that confused me, so I think it can be read as a stand-alone.

If you're a fan of KJ Charles of Cat Sebastian, you'll probably love this book! It was a fast, fun read.

I really enjoyed reading this book by Jess Everlee. I'm a huge fan of historical romance novels and thought this was well-written and enjoyable.

An excellent new read from Everlee.

David and Noah are complex and interesting characters and there's great tension between them. The story is well paced, with bonkers plan after bonkers plan to save the Curious Fox.

I was a bit surprised that despite the sense of overwork and impending deadlines of Noah's job initially, that part of the story was almost dropped completely until the very end. Additionally the ending was tied up just a bit too neatly for my liking.

Overall a really funny and heartwarming read. Loved the characters amd wanted to yell at them when they were at their worst and cheering when they got out of their own way for the HEA.

"A Rulebook For Restless Rogues" is the companion novel to "The Gentleman's Book of Vices", however this can be read as a stand alone seeing as it follows two different characters seen in the first book, David and Noah.
This was very cute. Noah and David had great chemistry throughout the book and I enjoyed their dynamic and relationship. While I enjoyed "The Gentleman's Book of Vices" this book quite clearly shows the authors development in writing which as a reader is fun to notice. I am definitely interested in what Jesse Everlee writes next.
*Plot Summary*
David Forester runs the bar "The Curious Fox" and his long term best friend, Noah visits nightly under the persona of Penelope. They have danced around their feelings for eachother since boarding School and Noah finally realizes how deep his feelings go. As they're figuring out their relationship, The Curious Fox has problems with its technical owner, which disrupts Noah's and David's lives.

Fun, charming and lighthearted this book is very easy to read. Definitely recommend!

A Rulebook for Restless Rogues is a sweet tale of two men saving their beloved safe space in a time when prejudices run rampant. While period-typical homophobia is a factor in the book, it isn’t a main plot point, which I appreciated. Instead, it felt like the problems they had to overcome were within their community, which was refreshing and offered a fun peek into Victorian counterculture.

4.5! This was such a fun read! I read this book without reading the other book in the series, so if you pick up this book first- go for it! I’m generally not a fan of any type of historical fiction but I loved how the setting moved this story along. If you’re in a reading slump and want something fun and sweet that will fill you with hope and love, this is the book to pick up. I definitely didn’t doubt the characters’ feelings for each other and I’m satisfied with the way their relationship progressed. I was glad to see drag as something completely normalized that something people simply like to do! It was a breath of fresh air and I would definitely recommend this!

Love the fact that there was gay representation in a different time period showing that the LGBTQIA community has been around for a long time and that their love stories need to be told and cherished like every one else. Was a five star read.