Book Review of
The Gentleman and the Thief
Set in Victorian London, The Gentleman and the Thief is book two in the Dread Penny Society books by Sarah M. Eden. It features author Hollis Darby meeting Ana Newport.
Even though Hollis is from a wealthy, established family, and she is not, he longs for a life with her. Hollis has a secret, though the money that he has kept his family afloat for generations is now gone, so he supports himself by writing penny dreadfuls under a pseudonym. If it were not for the income from his novels, he would have no money.
Ana Newport also has a secret. Her father was once a successful businessman, but bankruptcy and scandal reduced his family to nothing. So Ana teaches music during the day, and at night she breaks into the homes of the wealthy to reclaim trinkets and treasures she feels were unjustly stolen from her family when they were struggling.
When Hollis’s brother is looking for a music tutor for his daughter, Hollis recommends Ana, so that he can spend time with her. Ana needs the income and is also looking forward to getting to know Hollis. Neither of them realizes how hard it will be to keep their respective secrets from each other.
Lynn's Review
The Gentleman and the Thief by Sarah M. Eden is considered a proper romance book. I didn’t even know that was a category until I started reading more books like this. I love the idea of a proper romance because I like clean romance books. I like to read romance occasionally, but I prefer it without the “steamy” details.
However, a lot of proper romance books are super cheesy and are hard for me to get through. I recently quit two of them because I just couldn’t take the sappy unrealistic storyline.
I enjoyed the first book in this series, The Lady and the Highwayman, so I knew I wanted to read the other books.
The storyline in this book was different and fun. Both books are set in London in 1865. I do not think this series has to be read in order, but there is character information in The Lady and the Highwayman that is helpful to know.
About the Author
Sarah M. Eden is the author of over eighty books. She writes clean romance books, many of which are set during the Victorian Era.