The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting by K.J. Charles

Robin Loxleigh and his sister Marianne are the hit of the Season, so attractive and delightful that nobody looks behind their pretty faces.Until Robin sets his sights on Sir John Hartlebury's heiress niece. The notoriously graceless baronet isn't impressed by good looks, or fooled by false charm. He's sure Robin is a liar--a fortune hunter, a card sharp, and a heartless, greedy fraud--and he'll protect his niece, whatever it takes.Then, just when Hart thinks he has Robin at his mercy, things take a sharp left turn. And as the grumpy baronet and the glib fortune hunter start to understand each other, they also find themselves starting to care--more than either of them thought possible.But Robin's cheated and lied and let people down for money. Can a professional rogue earn an honest happy ever after?

Charles is a master of the regency MM romance and they've done it again with this one. I absolutely adored all the characters and, while the premise itself isn't that unique in the genre, it was a really fun read that I didn't want to put down but also didn't want to finish. Robin is such a loveable character even while his intentions are less than savory.

This is somewhere between four and five stars for me. I really like the overall structure of the book. Both main characters believe that kindness and love can't be real, and they prove each other wrong. That's a great romance plot! I also love several of the book's relationships: Robin and Hart, Robin and Marianne, and Robin and Alice. We don't see as much of Hart and James together, or Hart and Lady Wintour, but I enjoyed both of those too.

However, Robin and Hart spend most of their time together discussing their relationship and not really having that relationship. The sex scenes were good, but I wanted more domesticity and cuteness between them. I felt those things were happening off-page, for the most part. I also missed seeing Marianne and Alice forming a friendship. We heard about them being friends but didn't see much of them together.

Maybe my opinion will change when I listen to the audiobook. I did do a lot of highlighting, and I absolutely love the way that Robin brings Hart's emotions out, and shows him he's worthy of love. Overall this is a good read and I enjoyed it a lot, but not quite as much as I usually enjoy KJC's books.

I need a sequel where Marianne and Alice fall in love in Germany

A fun read! I was afraid there was going to be some gross manipulation between Robin and Hart, especially after a debt is produced but no! They were in fact very sweet and cute together. I also like what the author's done with Marianne.