Review: The Gentleman and the Rogue by Bonnie Dee and Summer Devon

I really enjoyed the last historical story, Seducing Stephen (reviewed here), by this talented pair of authors and so I was looking forward to this book especially since it contains one of my favourite themes of the gentleman who falls in love with the prostitute.  I'm glad to say that this story didn't disappoint in the slightest.

Male whore, Jem, is picked up one evening by a mysterious gentleman and take to the man's house.  The man in question is Alan, who has returned from the Peninsula war a broken man both mentally and physically after being injured in the battle for Badajoz.  Alan can't bear the lonely life he is living or the horrific memories of the battle and its bloody aftermath, so he has decided to have one last night of pleasure before doing away with himself the next day.  Fortunately for Alan, Jem cottons onto his plans and successfully thwarts them.  Having become oddly attached to Jem, Alan then offers him a job as his valet and Jem accepts.  Things are not smooth sailing for the pair as their stations in life are so different and it takes a trip away from London before Alan realises how much his 'valet' means to him.

The strength of this book lies mostly in the character of Jem who is irrepressible.  He's lived a tough life as the unwanted babe of a prostitute and having been brought up on the harsh streets of London.  Despite this he has an optimistic attitude to life and a cheerful acceptance of all that life throws at him.  It is this optimism which Alan finds so attractive and which helps to bring him out of the funk he's in.  At one point Alan marvels at this fact:

How could this youth live the rough life he did and be so unblemished? And Alan didn't mean that in a purely physical way. There was a lightness, a sense of a soul untouched by the vagaries of life, that imbued Jem's very being. Cheerful. Buoyant. As if his terrible circumstances hadn't stolen his hope yet. What was his secret?

One of the highlights for me were the numerous humorous stories which Jem told about so called friends and members of his family which were scattered about the book and had me laughing along with Jem and Alan.  Jem is also quick witted with a delightful pragmatism.  When Alan offers him the job of valet, he knows that really it's just a ruse to keep Jem in his bed, and yet instead of being offended, he grasps at the chance to escape from the slums and better his situation.  Despite finding it difficult to adjust to the confines of life 'below stairs' Jem tells himself constantly that he may be bored but at least he's warm and well fed reminding himself and the reader of where he's come from.  This constant reference to the differences in social status between Alan and Jem, added a tension to the story and the relationship.  I liked that this side of their relationship was addressed because it fit in well with the historical setting where it was very unusual for those from the slums to mix even with servants, never mind Baronets like Alan.  I also liked that this book didn't turn out to be an 'Eliza Doolittle' story for Jem.  He's still the same at the end of the book as he is at the beginning. This means that the relationship focus is on the strength of Jem's personality changing Alan, or at least improving Alan's life, for the better, rather than Alan influencing and changing Jem.

Another part which worked well in the book was the change in pacing and plot as the book progresses.  The first part is focused on Alan and Jem meeting and getting to know each other; on Jem fitting in with life as a valet; and on Alan's gradually pulling away from his depression.  It's quite a static setting with the majority of the time being spent in Alan's house.  However, about half way through the book the pace changes from quite a slow, but steady build up of feeling between the pair, to a much faster paced story as Alan and Jem take a road trip to Sheffield.  This change of pace added a freshness to the story and helped to prevent any sort of 'mid book slump' which can occur in some books.  Instead the swift pace carried me through to the end of the book.  I like how Jem and Alan's relationship continued to develop whilst on the road and that the problems with their social differences were also still explored.  The move away from the house and into the country meant that Jem is taken out of his comfort zone but also allowed Jem to show some of the streetsmart cunning  that he'd developed growing up on the streets.

Overall, I was completely hooked by this story.  The character of Jem was an absolute delight and his exuberant personality was nicely counterbalanced by the more thoughtful and, at times, melancholic Alan.  The other minor characters were well fleshed out and I forgave the fact that the bad guy was a little too much the 'mad doctor' cliché.  The story took the old m/f historical romance plot of the whore and the gentleman and turned it into something new and exciting with the m/m twist.  I highly recommend The Gentleman and the Rogue to all those who love historical romance.  I'm hoping that there're going to be more historicals from this pair of authors because I've certainly liked what I've read so far.  Highly recommended with a grade of 'Excellent'.

Buy this book HERE.