Review – A Private Gentleman by Heidi Cullinan

This is just how I like my M/M books – a strong love story where mindless sex isn’t the focus of the book or thrown in every few pages. Don’t get me wrong – I do love some mindless sex from time to time – but I’ll take a book full of  characters with depth, emotions, and great dialogue over anything else. Thankfully Heidi Cullinan delivers just that. Oh I devoured this book and had to reach for my kleenex from time to time as something about the heroes just pulled at my heart-strings and wouldn’t let me go.

Set in London in 1844, Lord George Albert Westin spends his time in his cherished gardens and not much time in any social settings due to his severe stammering. Wes also has a bit of an opiate problem as he uses them to soothe his nerves when he’s about to be in any kind of social setting. Michael Vallant is a male prostitute and has lived and worked in a brothel from a young age when he was rescued from a very abusive and horrifying situation. A surprise erotic encounter between Wes and Michael at a party one evening startles them both into new emotions and possibly leads them each down a new path. But it’s a tough one and there’s so much to work out. And this is where Heidi Cullinan’s writing starts to excel in this book – she gives each character such quality page time with each other and we watch them grow and figure each other out while coming to terms with their own needs and emotions. Even the sex takes a bit of a back seat, and I’m not going to go into why as that’s a major part of the plot that I think should be left for the reader to discover but things are still very romantic and satisfying.

But there’s also some strong and traumatic subject matter in this book. I appreciate how Cullinan doesn’t gloss over anything. She’s lays it all out right there on the pages and it only makes Michael and Wes’ pain feel more real. I did have a few issues with Wes’s characters handling of the “big reveal” as it felt a bit forced to create some angst in the story. But on the other hand how Michael handled the situation showed there was true love to be had. The secondary characters of  Penny and Roger had a valuable presence in the book and both helped the story and development of the main heroes unfold. The use of a few words like ”bunghole” didn’t’ seem to fit in with the rest of the writing and jarred me a bit for a moment but with such great characters and a strong story, I can overlook it.

I really enjoyed this book and couldn’t put it down. I especially enjoyed the moments when Wes and Michael scribbled notes to each other because it was faster for Wes to say what he wanted due to his sever stammering. I was so captivated with both Wes and Michael and the time they spent getting to know each other that I turned those pages as fast as I could. It should be noted for one of my favorite lines from the book that Michael actually calls Wes by the name Albert…but you’ll have to read the book to find out why.

Favorite Quote:

Michael: “I think I just need Roger to hold me down a few times. Desensitize me. Or perhaps I should drink. Something to – Oh, heavens. You’re scribbling again.”

And another:

He left the notebook in Michael’s lap, their twin confessions laid bare. When the porter came by, Michael shut the book, but he held it close, remembering the look of those sentences together, in his handwriting and in Albert’s own. Those words, so simple, so dear.

Rating: B+
A Private Gentleman by Heidi Cullinan
February 14th 2012 by Samhain
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