The Queer Principles of Kit Webb by Cat Sebastian

Kit Webb has left his stand-and-deliver days behind him. But dreary days at his coffee shop have begun to make him pine for the heady rush of thievery. When a handsome yet arrogant aristocrat storms into his shop, Kit quickly realizes he may be unable to deny whatever this highborn man desires.

In order to save himself and a beloved friend, Percy, Lord Holland must go against every gentlemanly behavior he holds dear to gain what he needs most: a book that once belonged to his mother, a book his father never lets out of his sight and could be Percy’s savior. More comfortable in silk-filled ballrooms than coffee shops frequented by criminals, his attempts to hire the roughly hewn highwayman, formerly known as Gladhand Jack, proves equal parts frustrating and electrifying. Kit refuses to participate in the robbery but agrees to teach Percy how to do the deed. Percy knows he has little choice but to submit and as the lessons in thievery begin, he discovers thievery isn’t the only crime he’s desperate to commit with Kit. But when their careful plan goes dangerously wrong and shocking revelations threaten to tear them apart, can these stolen hearts overcome the impediments in their path?

Slow-ish burn M/M historical romance set in the 1750s or so. I liked it a lot, but there was much less highwayman training than I expected from the blurb. The whole inheritance plot seemed weirdly paced and even after reading it, I'm not quite sure how that all got wrapped up. Since the female lead of the next book is Marian, I expect that'll all be cleared up further in that one, but while I liked this, don't read it for the highway robbery.

Really enjoyed listening to this one. The characters were fun, the writing was good. The ending was sooo sweet and cute

Sebastian hasn't been a hit with me but I'm a sucker for M/M historical romance so I was still excited to read this one, especially with its cute cover (rather than the usual horrible photoshop Fabio-esque covers on most M/M romance). However, I was again disappointed.
I didn't really get any chemistry between the two leads - it plays on the enemies to lovers trope but their eventual fondness for each other doesn't read organic and the eventual sex scene seemed forced, like the author threw it in as an afterthought to appease her audience. Especially the fact that it ends on a bit of a sour note (not a euphemism) and is then never really mentioned again.
There was also a lot of buildup in the highway robbery/revenge plot that went out on a super anticlimactic ending then a cliffhanger. There should have been a lot more focus on the development of that instead of all the coffeeshop scenes. It didn't feel believable or historically accurate at all.

This was a fast, sometimes cute read but overall unmemorable. The second book in the series is also going to focus on the M/F relationship that was barely a background blip in this story, so it seems pointless to continue with the series. If this is your first foray into M/M and/or historical romance, there are better places to start.

A fun historical romance. Lots of glancing at each other and tension which is my favorite part of historicals. Slow burn, which is my favorite type of romance.
The overall plot doesn't wrap up since this is going to be a series but the character story wraps up nicely so who cares what those other side characters were up to.