The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting

The inestimable K.J. Charles takes a break from the pulpy post-WWI Will Darling adventures ([b:Slippery Creatures 52237989 Slippery Creatures (The Will Darling Adventures #1) K.J. Charles https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1587519719l/52237989.SY75.jpg 77319427] and [b:The Sugared Game 52237997 The Sugared Game (The Will Darling Adventures #2) K.J. Charles https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1595250042l/52237997.SY75.jpg 77319499]) to provide this Regency era romp with nary a dead body. In fact, the villain of the piece barely makes an actual appearance until the climactic scene. Instead KJC uses the pages to provide a lively romance between two very different men, several heartwarming examples of siblings looking out for each other, and a scathing excoriation of white privilege. Robin and Marianne Loxleigh of Nottinghamshire have come to London as unapologetic fortune hunters (their names are apt; this Robin and Maid Marian are planning to “steal” positions from the rich and give them to the poor, namely themselves). Through the circumstances of their birth, and the limitations forced on them by poverty, they have reached the point where this feels like their only option. Robin sets his sights on a plain, shy heiress while Marianne plots a campaign to win a wealthy but “self-regarding, vindictive, pompous fool” of a marquess (well, you can't have everything I guess.) But when the heiress' uncle, Sir John Hartlebury, steps in to prevent his niece from being fleeced by this immoral fortune hunter, he finds himself furiously angry and of course unwittingly attracted to the charming, handsome Robin. “Hart,” a grumpy misanthrope with a face that only a mother could love (and sadly, his did not) and a fiercely protective nature towards his family, starts the book with a clear sense of right and wrong. Fortunately both his sister Edwina and Robin are able to educate him about life in the grays, especially for women and those who don't have the luxury of judging from the lofty position on their high horse. (Robin, speaking of his sister): She's devastated.(Hart): Why? She has exactly what she wants.(Robin): And you think she is happy about it?(Hart): Satisfied, at least. She has made her choice, and she must be aware that money doesn't buy happiness.(Robin): She also knows that happiness doesn't buy food.(Hart): Your character and conduct are nothing to do with your birth, and you can control those.(Robin): Conduct depends on your options. Yes, you can be poor but honest, except I don't want to be poor. I've tried it and I didn't like it. And if I had the best character in the world, I still wouldn't be a gentleman.Hart eventually realizes that that there's little to no difference between the regular machinations of the Marriage Mart, where society's women try to secure their futures while hopefully finding at least affection and respect, and the duplicitous fortune hunting that he accuses Robin and Marianne of engaging in. And then it's up to him to figure out a way to both use and break society's rules so that he and Robin can be together. As always, the journey to HEA is enhanced by that patented KJC wit, slyly inserted into scenes like this: The entertainment on offer was a chamber orchestra. Wonderful. Robin sat and listened to music for several hours, and was disappointed to learn that only forty minutes had passed on the clock.One of Miss Marianne Loxleigh's most admired features, at least by the kind of people who catalogued beauty rather than reacting to it, was her noble and lofty forehead. She usually emphasised it in the way she dressed her hair. Currently she was emphasising it by banging it on the breakfast table.I haven't said much about the relationship between Hart and Robin, primarily because I don't want to get into spoiler territory about how it evolves. But I enjoyed them together tremendously, and as Hart grows in both confidence about his attractiveness (hint: it's the thighs) and humility in his position, Robin learns to trust someone besides his sister, and realizes he too has value beyond his looks and charm. For KJC fans familiar with her earlier work, they reminded me of a combination of Richard Vane from [b:A Gentleman's Position 25893424 A Gentleman's Position (Society of Gentlemen, #3) K.J. Charles https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1444981863l/25893424.SY75.jpg 45775597] (minus a little priggishness) and Justin Lazarus from [b:An Unnatural Vice 32161804 An Unnatural Vice (Sins of the Cities, #2) K.J. Charles https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1480582018l/32161804.SY75.jpg 52798546] (plus a little more conscience). Charles has “apologized” to her readers for writing this book instead of the conclusion of the Will Darling adventures, as if she owes us a given book at a certain time. I'm not at all surprised that the events of the past year have made it harder for her to write; the fact that she can gift us with this charming, relatively light-hearted romp with so many pointed statements that are applicable to our world today evinces sheer gratitude from this reader.ARC received from the author in exchange for honest review.