Reviewed by Larissa
TITLE: The Gentleman
AUTHOR: Dianna Roman
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 261 pages
RELEASE DATE: March 5, 2024
BLURB:
Cameron Fairway has a secret.
Before he shares it with the world, he’s determined to build the confidence he wants to live life as a gay man and the experience he’ll need to snag Mr. Right. For that, he requires a mentor–someone experienced. Someone with manners. Someone discreet enough to be able to mix business with pleasure under the watchful eye of his father’s empire–a gentleman. Pete Carver is without a doubt that man.
Pete Carver has a problem.
Pete doesn’t mix business with pleasure because there is no pleasure in business. There’s only order and discipline if you want to succeed. When the boss’ youngest son approaches him with a proposition that rattles every one of his sensibilities, Pete is determined to get to the bottom of the ploy. Because that’s all it can possibly be–why else would the ruthless John Fairway’s son proposition a straight man in his father’s company? The apple can’t fall far from the tree.
* This story contains the following elements: slow burn, hurt/comfort, awakening, homophobic/racist parent, familial emotional abuse, obsessive compulsive disorder
REVIEW:
Sorcery? Magic? Whatever you call it, Dianna Roman’s got it. She again delivers a mesmerizing romance packed with realism and hard-hitting emotions, yet with a fantastical edge. While this is no fantasy – it’s a contemporary MM romance that should be tropey but is so very much … not – Roman sets up the most implausible of scenarios and effortlessly spins a story from it that is completely believable. Seriously, the boss’s son, Cameron, propositions a very straight, emotionally unavailable, older man, Pete, to help him experience all of his gay “firsts”. But Pete, a successful manager in the company, doesn’t know Cameron at all, and is very, very straight. Cameron picks Pete to be his sexual mentor because he believes Pete is gay and a gentleman who will treat him right. He gets it half right, although Pete has less faith in him being a gentleman than Cam does. But it’s the colossal misunderstanding about Pete’s sexuality plus some serendipity that leads to a slow burn that will make you melt. I’ll tell you this: whether Pete believes he’s a gentleman or not, whether we believe it or not, undeniably, he’s perfect for Cam. And Roman gets us invested in their journey, makes us believe every word, every twist, every turn. We fall hook, line and sinker for Cam and Pete.
Roman tackles some sensitive topics here like emotional abuse and OCD, and handles them sensitively. They are important aspects of Cameron and Pete, but they don’t become all they are. Roman creates Cam and Pete as rich, textured, complex, endearing characters. And there’s found family and so much swoon. Be still my heart. I adore these men and couldn’t look away from their love story for a minute.
The Gentleman is a special story from a special author. Highly recommended.
RATING: 
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