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The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee. Photo: Amazon UK
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An adventurous tale with a somewhat unlikeable main character.
The story set in the 1700s follows British lord Henry 'Monty' Montague as he embarks on a great European Tour with his best friend Percy. Along the way the pair find themselves chased around by thugs, the royal guard and Monty standing naked in the middle of an aristocratic party in Paris?!
It's full of unbelievable adventures and very witty remarks from a bit of an unlikeable main character who definitely has a drinking problem but overall enchants the reader with a bit of a 'will-they-wont-they' gay romance.
*SPOILER SECTION*
I can't decide whether Monty's personality is deep down noble or just straight up irritating. I thought it was cool that he was so comfortable with his bisexuality from the beginning of the book, but what added the edge was his not-so-innocent feelings for his best friend Percy.
However Lee decided to add an extra layer to their already forbidden love story by having Percy be mixed race. Having a mixed racial LGBT love story set in the 18th century is a sure doozy, but then to add the trope of friends to lovers is a real knock-out!
I really enjoyed Percy's character because in a way he was everything that Monty isn't and that may be why they work so well together. I had problems with Monty's excessive drinking and his somewhat blasé attitude about most important things - at some points I just wanted to grab him by his shoulders and shake him while telling him to stop acting like an entitled little shit. It took a while for me to look past Monty's horrible outward exterior and realize that he did have some honorable qualities and really did care deeply about his sister and Percy.
The adventure in this story is exciting and I found myself just wanting to drop everything and continue reading to find out what happened next. I listen to the majority of this story on audiobook and the narrator did a great job!
Between the action adventure and the LGBT love story this really is a stellar book. However, I know the second book in this series is about Monty's sister Felicity and I already know that I don't plan on reading that one. While this book was great - I know I would not be interested in reading any subsequent books in the series.
Rating: 4/5 stars
Buy The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue here.
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