Oh my word, this was everything delectable in a story. Mimi Matthews is already one of my favourite historical romance authors, but this is now one of my favourite novels of hers to boot. That makes it a favourite of a favourite! It has intrigue, a bit of derring-do, a hero and heroine I absolutely adore, and oh, so much passion—and I don’t mean the explicit kind. It’s a restrained and carefully controlled passion more often than not, both in the characters and the writing—though it’s certainly given free rein when the time is right. But it’s that sense of leashed energy that gives this story its potency. Oh, the potency!

Do I even need to say anything else after that gushing opening? The plot was wonderfully engaging, because even if you were sure of one element of the plot, it only raised more questions in its place. And I truly did have a jaw-drop moment at about fifty percent of the way through the novel, which was when I began to see how the pieces may fit together. But even then, there was a question as to how everything would turn out and a vastly enjoyable journey to get there.

Much like in the novel Rebecca, the eponymous Gentleman Jim plays his central role posthumously, but make no mistake, it is certainly a central role. Also, while Matthews’ writing style differs somewhat from Heyer (to neither author’s detriment), there was a very Heyer-esque feeling to the overall story.

Truly, Matthews is an historical romance author par excellence!