Review: Gambling on a Gentleman by Brenna Jacobs

My rating: 3 stars / I liked it

Synopsis

A society gentleman with a secret. An art expert who can expose him. An attraction neither of them can deny.
 
Alice Donnelly prefers paintings of medieval people to actual people, and classical art to the nonsense coming from contemporary artists. She also has a healthy disdain for the rich and ignorant who hire her to curate their collections, obsessed with valuing their financial worth without ever understanding the art. But her family depends on her paychecks, and so she reluctantly accepts a commission to assess the collection of one of Britain's most venerable aristocratic families.
When she meets the handsome and charismatic Geoffrey on her flight to London, she makes it clear she's immune to his charms. She has no time for romance. Not when she's starting the biggest job of her career.

Except it turns out that it's Geoffrey's family who has hired her, and now she must spend all her working hours trying not to fall for his charms. But much like a master painting, Geoffrey's layers draw her in against her better judgment.

As Geoffrey's secrets unravel, can Alice trust the privileged aristocrat with an artist's soul to see past her own baggage? Or is she just another way for him to rebel against his family?

My Review

First of all, isn't that the cutest cover?? I'm an art major so I enjoyed the plot and details about curating and discovering masterpieces. The setting in England was my fave! I traveled abroad for the first time last summer and now I enjoy books with European settings even more. The meet-cute seemed too coincidental for me, but it made for a fun setup as Alice and Geoffrey embark on restoring his family's financial situation and saving the estate. For some reason the chemistry fell flat for me- I think it had to do with not enough anticipation and romantic tension. There was also more telling than showing when it came to analyzing and reassessing their feelings for each other. Overall it was a pleasant diversion to read and see how the complicated family dynamics throw wrenches into both their relationship and professional goals.

(I received a complimentary copy of the book; all opinions in this review are my own)

---

Be sure to check out the other books in the ABC's of Love series . . .