Jess Everlee - The Gentleman's Book of Vices

London, 1883
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…

Comment: I had seen this book being praised when it was published and I thought I might like it too, thus why I added it to my TBR. I've finally had the chance to pick it up, but I wasn't fully captivated...

Charlie Price is a young man who lives a life of vices but those will have to cease somehow, as he is betrothed to be married. Although he knows he can't fully love his future wife, she is a friend and someone he wants to take care of, but before his life changes completely, he decides to search the author of his favorite scandalous title, and get his autograph. 

Miles Montague is taking care of the shop his friend and lover Ethan had loved so much, but there is too much to pay and the shop isn't doing so well. He started writing titillating titles and most have sold incredibly well, which allows him his quiet and modest life and money to pay the shop's bills. He is wary when Charlie shows up out of nowhere to get his autograph and he sends him away. After some consideration, though, he decides to apologize and seeks Charlie at his house, thus starting a connection which becomes stronger the longer they are together... but Charlie is going to marry and Miles doesn't want to be a secret... will there be any future for them?

After reading some positive comments about this book - although not full reviews so I would not get influenced - I kind of created the expectation of a sweet and larger than life romance story. I thought the premise was quite original, Charlie trying to find the author of his favorite book, and was looking for to read about the characters but also about their love for books, even if the books were scandalous and not exactly literature.

From the start, however, I could feel this story would be more angsty than what I imagined. This doesn't have to be a problem and considering the time period and the fact Charlie and Miles could not openly be together as a couple, of course the HEA would need to include some kind of concession, but many authors have done it before and I was confident this romance would triumph as well. However, the angst was more heavily toned than what it looked it would at first and as I was reading, I kept having this feel that the overall vibe would not be as sweet and romantic as I expected. In fact, the main characters seem to interact in an environment which wasn't awful but wasn't truly comfortable either and I wasn't certain of what to think of it.

Charlie is  one of those characters that I think are meant to be much more complex than they appear. He is gay at a time where being such would not be accepted and marrying someone he cares for but knows won't love will be a sacrifice he will endure for his peace of mind, for the sake of his family and for financial reasons. He didn't plan on falling in love but, of course, he does, and when that happens, his life is suddenly at an impossible situation. I liked Charlie enough but considering my personal preferences, I'd say I wasn't too fond of his penchant for vices such as gambling and drinking.. the owning pornographic stories didn't seem as unappealing to me, though.

Miles is certainly more mature but he has had a relationship with someone he shouldn't and things didn't end well, thus why he is reluctant to be known as a writer (also for legal reasons). Charlie is like a breath of fresh air but he knows if he starts caring, he might get hurt again and he won't compromise his ideals by being with if he marries and they cheat on Charlie's wife. At the same time, Miles has this hidden persona which should make him seem more daring and vibrant but that was still not my impression of him.

Their romance is cute enough while they are in that stage of knowing one another and such. However, their personalities don't seem to really match and I failed to see the chemistry which would convince me otherwise. Plus, Charlie seems to act mostly on a high note, always showing his happy side and that got tiring after a while, as if he was too superficial. Miles was a good counterbalance in that regard, but his personality seemed to me was less developed, and he seemed less interesting by comparison.

I also didn't really connect with the secondary cast. I think charlie's group of friends were consistent enough in the role they had and how they helped him, but there were times it felt they just could not understand Charlie's conflict and why he struggled to make decisions. 

It is true that there were a few scenes I found more dramatic and emotional and I thought, what if it were me, but apart from this personal exercise, the story line itself wasn't always as cohesive as I think perhaps it should, for more situations to add the value they meant to have.

As one can expect, the whole impending marriage plot is a huge part of the book and I was still wondering how this could be solved, despite not feeling as dedicated to this story as things started to reach the end. I only hoped Charlie would not decide to marry Alma and they would talk and she would accept his love relationship with Miles because that is unfair for all parties. Still, how could this be solved, considered what we find about Alma'a reasons to accept the marriage with Charlie... well, we then uncover the identity of one or two characters who, shocking, like Miles, had another persona to them, and they help Charlie and Miles and Alma.

I guess this is an option to solve the problems, but... I will confess I wasn't impressed. I kind pf wanted Charlie to become more aware of his actions, for instance, and for the solution to follow other paths... I've read other gay historicals and some had HEAs that sounded more believable and romantic than what happens here. Therefore, while this book is good enough for what it aimed to be, I wasn't too fond of the author's general style nor of the plot choices entirely, and I think I won't read the next installments.

Grade: 6/10