Welcome! This series is such a delight! You can check out my
review from a few weeks ago here, and read an excerpt below...
The Gentleman and the Thief
(Proper Romance Victorian #2)
By Sarah M. Eden
Adult Historical Romance
Paperback & ebook, 368 Pages
November 3rd 2020 by Shadow Mountain
Summary
A standalone novel in The Dread Penny Society set in 1865 London brimming with secrets, scandal, suspense, and romance.
From the moment Hollis Darby meets Ana Newport, he's smitten. Even though he's from a wealthy, established family and she isn't, he wishes he could have a life with her by his side. But Hollis has a secret: the deep coffers that have kept his family afloat for generations are bare, so he supports himself by writing penny dreadfuls under a pseudonym. If not for the income from his novels, he would be broke.
Ana Newport also has a secret. Though she once had a place in society thanks to her father's successful business, bankruptcy and scandal reduced his fortune to nothing more than a crumbling town house. So Ana teaches music during the day, and at night she assumes the identity of the "Phantom Fox." She breaks into the homes of the wealthy to reclaim trinkets and treasures she feels were unjustly stolen from her family when they were struggling.
When Hollis's brother needs to hire a music tutor for his daughter, Hollis recommends Ana, giving him a chance to spend time with her. Ana needs the income and is eager for the opportunity to get to know the enigmatic gentleman. What neither of them expects is how difficult it will be to keep their respective secrets from each other.
When a spree of robberies rocks the city, Ana and Hollis join forces to solve the crimes, discovering that working together deepens the affection between them. After all, who better to save the day than a gentleman and a thief?
From the moment Hollis Darby meets Ana Newport, he's smitten. Even though he's from a wealthy, established family and she isn't, he wishes he could have a life with her by his side. But Hollis has a secret: the deep coffers that have kept his family afloat for generations are bare, so he supports himself by writing penny dreadfuls under a pseudonym. If not for the income from his novels, he would be broke.
Ana Newport also has a secret. Though she once had a place in society thanks to her father's successful business, bankruptcy and scandal reduced his fortune to nothing more than a crumbling town house. So Ana teaches music during the day, and at night she assumes the identity of the "Phantom Fox." She breaks into the homes of the wealthy to reclaim trinkets and treasures she feels were unjustly stolen from her family when they were struggling.
When Hollis's brother needs to hire a music tutor for his daughter, Hollis recommends Ana, giving him a chance to spend time with her. Ana needs the income and is eager for the opportunity to get to know the enigmatic gentleman. What neither of them expects is how difficult it will be to keep their respective secrets from each other.
When a spree of robberies rocks the city, Ana and Hollis join forces to solve the crimes, discovering that working together deepens the affection between them. After all, who better to save the day than a gentleman and a thief?
Praise for the Book
"The real joy in Eden's follow-up to The Lady and the Highwayman (2019) is the furthering of the overarching crime story and the work of the Dread Penny Society as Hollis and Ana pursue a chaste romance. Eden excels at exploring the realities of Victorian life and class differences. Once again, chapters of penny dreadfuls written by the characters are interspersed throughout, with Hollis' story about a school for ghosts offering particular delight. Fans of Eden's smart series will be thrilled and impatient for the next installment."— Booklist, starred review
“Every time I thought my racing heart just couldn’t take the suspense anymore, I'd turn the page and smile.”— Bookconfessions
“Eden writes it well, so thoroughly researched that you’re transported and in Victoria England. Great suspense and romance.”— Leslie, Books and Socks Rock
“Undeniably clever, suspenseful, well-researched, and deftly written…”— Katie Jackson, RegencyProofreading.com
"Charming, suggestive, and featuring rich historical details, The Gentleman and the Thief has the elements of a gritty, juicy penny dreadful."— Foreword Reviews
Excerpt
Perhaps we should engage Mr. Walker’s help should fisticuffs be necessary. Miss Newport’s words from the evening before repeated in Hollis’s mind as he trudged down Garrick Street toward Covent Gardens. Boxing was not considered an ungentlemanly pursuit. Why, then, had Miss Newport assumed he would be inept at it? Fletcher was more obviously rough-and-tough, but Hollis could hold his own. Perhaps a round or two in the boxing salon at headquarters would put a bit of puff back in his pride. But first, he had a mission to undertake.
He spied Stone rounding the opposite corner. Hollis had bested Fletcher any number of times in the Dreadfuls’ boxing salon, but no one bested Stone.
Hollis and Stone came up even with one another.
“Fine day,” Hollis said.
“Care for a walk around the market?” Stone was not a man of many words. Speaking seven together at once was unusual for him.
“I’d fancy a stroll.” Hollis matched his stride.
This was not one of those missions which required the Dreadfuls to not be seen together. Stone had determined this particular task was best accomplished in as simple and direct a way as possible.
“After a late night, my legs could use a bit of a jaunt to finish waking up this morning,” Hollis said.
“Y’all shouldn’t stay out so late.”
“But if the evening is a fruitful one, the long hours are well worth it.”
They made an odd pair walking into the Covent Garden marketplace. London was not entirely without a diversity of appearances and accents, allowing Stone, despite his words heavily flavored with the sound of America’s South and his ancestry obvious at a glance, to not draw as much attention as he might have in a tiny hamlet tucked far from the roar of the metropolis. Yet, gentry coves—gentlemen of Hollis’s station—weren’t known for applauding that diversity.
“Was your evenin’ fruitful?” Stone asked.
“Not in the expected way,” Hollis said. “I’d hoped to see a couple of friends there, but they weren’t in attendance.”
The Dreadfuls were adept at discussing their secret activities without giving anything away. They could manage it even in a crowded marketplace.
“My friends’ absence seemed to strike most in attendance as odd,” Hollis added.
There was no verbal response; Hollis hadn’t expected one. Stone simply walked beside him, hands tucked in the pockets of his navy-blue tailcoat, eyes focused ahead, mouth drawn in a tight line.
“One was meant to attend with his wife, but she wasn’t there, either.”
Stone’s expression didn’t change even the tiniest bit, but Hollis knew he was listening.
“Our poor hostess was baffled,” Hollis said. “A few other people noted the absences as well.”
“Unfortunate for you,” Stone said.
From the other direction, Fletcher came walking toward them. The DPS generally avoided having three Dreadfuls out and about together, but fortunately, Hollis and Fletcher’s friendship was well-known, which would make their greeting one another unremarkable.
“Well met.” Hollis kept his tone light and unconcerned. Fletcher held up the small bouquet of slightly wilted flowers in his hand. “Thought I’d take this humble offering to my lady love. Bought it off a little one not far from here.”
Ah. One of Fletcher’s rescued children, no doubt. He’d dedicated himself to saving London’s urchins from the horrors he, himself, had lived through. In the process, he’d created a complex network of street children who kept their eyes open and their ears to the ground and told him anything he needed to know.
“Did you get your penny’s worth?” Hollis asked, nodding toward the flowers.
“Got myself a shilling’s worth.” Fletcher walked with them. “My flower girl spotted our good friend Alistair, who disappointed Mrs. Kennard last night.”
Hollis jumped in. “Another friend who was absent,” he told Stone in a low voice.
The term “friend” was, of course, code. Most patrons they sought were mere acquaintances. Alistair Headley fell more in the category of nuisance.
“Seems he’s been seen about with Four-Finger Mike again, still up to his neck in something rotten,” Fletcher continued. “That foozler has his fingers in a couple of rancid pies.”
“And I’d guess gambling is part of the putrid recipe,” Hollis said.
They’d discovered that gambling was not Headley’s only questionable activity. He fraternized with a known criminal, Four-Finger Mike, who added to his list of crimes on a daily basis and had escaped police custody repeatedly.
“Perhaps Headley missed the musicale because he was at one of Four-Finger’s gambling dens,” Hollis said.
“Or up to somethin’ worse.” Fletcher’s look was too pointed for the remark to have been offhand. “Monsieur Thorn-in-Our-Side is frequenting lower and lower places, but he ain’t making his jaunts all by his lonesome.”
“Who is he with?” Hollis asked.
“That’s the million-guinea question, ain’t it?”
Headley was connected to Four-Finger Mike, who was, in turn, connected to the notorious criminal mastermind, the Mastiff, a man even the police feared. Four-Finger’s associations made Headley a source of suspicion.
“Maybe we need to walk on the man’s heels a bit,” Hollis said.
Fletcher shook his head. “You keep an ear to the ground in your circles. Leave the tailing to us.”
“I think I’ve proven myself able to hold my own.” He was forever being relegated to the role of observer-at-a-distance. He knew he could be more, and it was time they let him.
“Headley frequents rungs on the Ladder of Importance above the rest of us,” Fletcher said. “You’re the only one with access.”
Yes, but that didn’t have to be the limit of his contribution. “In the meantime, though—”
“Flexing muscles don’t do us a lick of good if we cain’t follow through,” Fletcher said.
A frustrating answer. “Maybe I could make a suggestion to the Dread Master.”
Their organization was run behind-the-scenes by a man known only as the Dread Master. Fletcher alone knew his actual identity. He answered to the mysterious man—they all did—but he steadfastly refused to reveal who the Dread Master was. Hollis was Fletcher’s best friend in all the world, and even he’d not been let in on the secret.
“I’ll ask him,” Fletcher said. “Meanwhile, best snuggle up to the fine and fancy. See what you can learn.”
Excerpted from chapter 3, pages 26-30 from The Gentleman and the Thief by Sarah M Eden. Copyright © Sarah M. Eden. Published by Shadow Mountain.
Excerpted from chapter 3, pages 26-30 from The Gentleman and the Thief by Sarah M Eden. Copyright © Sarah M. Eden. Published by Shadow Mountain.
Other Books in the Series
The Lady and the Highwayman
(Proper Romance Victorian #1)
By Sarah M. Eden
Adult Historical Romance
Paperback, Audiobook & ebook, 384 Pages
September 3, 2019 by Shadow Mountain
Summary
Elizabeth Black is the headmistress of a girls school in 1865s Victorian London. She is also a well-respected author of silver-fork novels, stories written both for and about the upper-class ladies of Victorian society. But by night, she writes very different kinds of stories--the Penny Dreadfuls that are all the rage among the working-class men. Under the pseudonym Charles King, Elizabeth has written about dashing heroes fighting supernatural threats, intelligent detectives solving grisly murders, and dangerous outlaws romancing helpless women. They contain all the adventure and mystery that her real life lacks.
Fletcher Walker began life as a street urchin, but is now the most successful author in the Penny Dreadful market, that is until Charles King started taking all of his readers. No one knows who King is, including Fletcher s fellow members of the Dread Penny Society, a fraternity of authors dedicated to secretly fighting for the social and political causes of their working-class readers. The group knows King could be an asset with his obvious monetary success, or he could be the group s undoing as King s readership continues to cut into their profits.
Determined to find the elusive Mr. King, Fletcher approaches Miss Black. As a fellow-author, she is well-known among the high-class writers; perhaps she could be persuaded to make some inquiries as to Mr. King s whereabouts? Elizabeth agrees to help Fletcher, if only to insure her secret identity is never discovered. What neither author anticipated was the instant attraction, even though their social positions dictate the impossibility of a relationship.
For the first time Elizabeth experiences the thrill of a cat-and-mouse adventure reminiscent of one of her own novels as she tries to throw Fletcher off her scent. But the more time they spend together, the more she loses her heart. Its upper-class against working-class, author against author where readers, reputations, and romance are all on the line.
About the Author
Sarah M. Eden is a USA Today best-selling author of witty and charming historical romances, including 2019’s Foreword Reviews INDIE Awards Gold Winner for Romance, The Lady and the Highwayman, and 2020 Holt Medallion finalist, Healing Hearts. She is a two-time “Best of State” Gold Medal winner for fiction and a three-time Whitney Award winner. Combining her obsession with history and her affinity for tender love stories, Sarah loves crafting deep characters and heartfelt romances set against rich historical backdrops. She holds a bachelor’s degree in research and happily spends hours perusing the reference shelves of her local library.
Sarah is represented by Pam Howell at D4EO Literary Agency.
Sarah is represented by Pam Howell at D4EO Literary Agency.
Tour Schedule
Join the virtual online blog tour of THE GENTLEMAN AND THE THIEF, Sarah M. Eden’s highly acclaimed second novel in The Dread Penny Society Series, November 2 through November 29, 2020. Forty popular blogs specializing in historical mystery/suspense, historical romance, and inspirational fiction will join in the celebration of its release with exclusive excerpts, spotlights, or reviews of this new Victorian-era novel set in London, England.
Nov 02 Austenprose—A Jane Austen Blog (Review)
Nov 02 The Lit Bitch (Excerpt)
Nov 03 Getting Your Read On (Review)
Nov 03 Literary Time Out (Review)
Nov 03 Storybook Reviews (Review)
Nov 04 Heidi Reads (Review)
Nov 04 Encouraging Words from the Tea Queen (Spotlight)
Nov 05 Library of Clean Reads (Review)
Nov 06 Relz Reviewz (Review)
Nov 07 Probably at the Library (Spotlight)
Nov 08 The Christian Fiction Girl (Review)
Nov 09 So Little Time… (Spotlight)
Nov 09 Captivated Reading (Review)
Nov 10 Among the Reads (Review)
Nov 10 Bookworm Lisa (Review)
Nov 11 For Where Your Treasure Is (Spotlight)
Nov 11 Christian Chick's Thoughts (Review)
Nov 12 Books, Teacups & Reviews (Spotlight)
Nov 12 Fiction Aficionado (Review)
Nov 13 Randi Loves 2 Read (Spotlight)
Nov 14 The Book Diva's Reads (Spotlight)
Nov 15 My Jane Austen Book Club (Excerpt)
Nov 16 Gwendalyn's Books (Review)
Nov 17 Book Bustle (Review)
Nov 18 Jorie Loves a Story (Review)
Nov 18 An Historian About Town (Review)
Nov 19 Lu's Reviews (Review)
Nov 20 Reading with Emily (Review)
Nov 20 Books and Socks Rock (Review)
Nov 21 Bringing Up Books (Review)
Nov 21 Bookish Rantings (Review)
Nov 22 The Bibliophile Files (Review)
Nov 23 Impressions in Ink (Review)
Nov 23 A Bookish Way of Life (Review)
Nov 24 Bookfoolery (Review)
Nov 24 Wishful Endings (Excerpt)
Nov 25 Chicks, Rogues and Scandals (Review)
Nov 25 Joy of Reading (Review)
Nov 26 From Pemberley to Milton (Excerpt)
Nov 27 Fire and Ice (Review)
Nov 27 Austenesque Reviews (Review)
Nov 28 Impressions in Ink (Review)
Nov 28 Book Confessions of an Ex-Ballerina (Review)
Nov 29 Laura's Reviews (Review)
Have you read this series yet? I highly recommend it if you like historical romance with a bit of suspense and creative plots!!
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