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    A Gentleman Undone
    A Gentleman Undone
    A Gentleman Undone
    Audiobook12 hours

    A Gentleman Undone

    Written by Cecilia Grant

    Narrated by Susan Ericksen

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Lydia Slaughter understands the games men play-both in and out of the bedroom. Not afraid to bend the rules to suit her needs, she fleeces Will Blackshear outright. The Waterloo hero had his own daring agenda for the gaming tables of London's gentlemen's clubs. But now he antes up for a wager of wits and desire with Lydia, the streetwise temptress who keeps him at arm's length.A kept woman in desperate straits, Lydia has a sharp mind and a head for numbers. She gambles on the sly, hoping to win enough to claim her independence. An alliance with Will at the tables may be a winning proposition for them both. But the arrangement involves dicey odds with rising stakes, sweetened with unspoken promise of fleshly delights. And any sleight of hand could find their hearts betting on something neither can afford to risk: love.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateMay 29, 2012
    ISBN9781452677682
    A Gentleman Undone

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    Reviews for A Gentleman Undone

    4/5

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    • 3/5
      Will Blackshear came back from the war unable to fit into his previous life. His understanding of morality and class has been utterly shaken, and he considers himself a murderer. Will has sworn to support the family of a fellow soldier killed in battle, and to do that he needs to make money, fast. While at the gaming tables he meets Lydia Slaughter, another man's mistress and a prodigiously gifted card sharp. She has a gift for logic and mathematics, and together they embark on a con to make their fortunes.

      Each of these characters felt completely individual and unique, and I could see why they were drawn to each other. What I found fascinating about this book was how different it was from the usual books about mistresses. In every other regency romance I've ever read, the "mistress" is actually a total innocent virgin, and she and the hero embark on a love affair and then get married. In this, Lydia has been a prostitute for years, continues to be another man's mistress while falling in love with Will, and has very enjoyable sex with men other than Will. And this is not like other books either, in that everyone knows Lydia's station in life, and marriage to her really would ruin Will and his entire family's reputation. They get married, and Will truly does have to drop out of Society, he does lose touch with members of his family, and he has to start working for a living. They're happy together, but it's not a fairy tale ending.
    • 4/5
      This book isn't quite as brilliant as A Lady Awakened, but it comes close. I love that Will's darkness and his nobility coexist so logically and so naturally. I love Lydia's strength and harshness. However, while we see some of Will's healing in that he takes on new obligations and finds new ways to meet old ones that bind him more to life than to his guilt, I would have liked to see more of Lydia's journey and see how she will be ok, rather than just the healing powers of sleeping next to Will to calm her nightmares.
    • 3/5
      way too long. little bit depressing. OK story.
    • 5/5
      Here after all was their condition, perched on their separate wind-whipped summits, in view of each other, but too distant to reach.

      I slowly made my way through the beginning of this book, realizing it's not your usual. Nor was the story for Martha, Will's older sister, so this came a no surprise, but somehow I was surprised. It's stunning how brilliant this series is. How quietly rich and subversive, how oddly fresh. How terribly difficult too.

      I'd tell you to expect plots more like Sherry Thomas than any other, and I think that's true. I don't want to compare either author, really.

      Will and Lydia were both incredible. Both full characters, consistent and challenging. Both able to hurt one another, to cause angst-completely understandable angst.

      Will repeatedly tries to rescue Lydia from her gentleman protector and is repeatedly told she's not in need of it. They forge friendship and intimacy through cards and probabilities, along with a shared goal of a good deal of money for their goals.

      There's this scene, barely matched in any novel for its intimacy, in which Lydia watches Will drink his coffee. It's incredible and one little example of how we feel intimacy as people but rarely ever find this level of everyday in relationships in our books.

      I'm running out of Cecilia Grant's novels, but I know I can happily reread them and I'll be gifted with more enjoyment and understanding of these rich plots and characters.
    • 4/5
      Will Blackshear survived the horror of Waterloo, haunted by his promise to a dying compatriot. A younger son with no inheritance and no fortune of his own, Will turns to the gaming tables to win money to provide for the widow and child of his dead comrade. Moderately successful, he becomes "A Gentleman Undone" when the mistress of a fellow gambler easily routs him at cards and takes the table's money pot. Will is quite unsettled by this woman, Lydia Slaughter, who sits stoically while the men at the table, including her benefactor, Edward Roanoke, casually discuss her most intimate matters. He is even more disturbed when he witnesses Lydia and Edward in a sexual embrace in the library of the gaming house. When Will offers Lydia a kind gesture in a time of need, she repays him at the gaming tables by allowing him to regain his previous loss, and then some. Will is fascinated by her skill and mysterious mien, and he is attracted by her unusual, unconventional beauty. Lydia tries her best not to drawn to Will's broad, muscular shoulders and smoky-coal eyes, and even more so, not to be affected by the hint of naughtiness behind his gentleman's manners. Both have a need for Fate and Fortune to favor them. She desperately wants to escape the life of a courtesan, and he wants enough money to ease his conscience over his friend's death and to become the business partner of another former soldier. Lydia and Will form a partnership of their own, taking great risk in order to gain what each is seeking. But as time passes, and they grow closer as they put their plan into play, will the greatest risk of all be their own hearts? "A Gentleman Undone" is an intriguing, surprising, and compelling historical romance from author Cecilia Grant. Review Copy Gratis Bantam Books

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      I did want to like this tale of a maths wiz who realises that she has an advantage over many other card players and uses that advantage, however when she fleeces Will Blackshear he decides to join with her to work together for both of their financial benefit, however they soon discover that they're more than just business partners and their lives are going to get very complicated by all of this.Interesting but there were moments where she risks a lot for very little gain which is not what expected from someone who is priding themselves on their hard-headed skills. It also felt like she was doing all of the sacrifice while he was getting all of the benefit.It just wasn't me.
    • 4/5
      3.5/4 starsA Gentleman Undone, is a tantalizing and entertaining second installment in the Blackshear Family Series by talented new author, Cecilia Grant. The story and its main characters are sophisticated, intelligent and sublimely sensual.Will is a complex and troubled hero. He's uneasy and burdened by dark secrets and deathbed promises. He feels unfit for polite society and has "lost all ability to enjoy himself carelessly". Will has "accounts to square, solemn trusts to keep, atonement of a sort to perform" before he can turn his thoughts to "the pursuit of pleasure." Immersed in his own darkness, Will doesn't realize that he, still, is the best of men. He has a pure steady goodness with the capacity to forgive and love unconditionally. He defends the weak, seeks to protect those he cares for and strives to right every wrong.Lydia is an extremely likeable heroine. She is unconventional and inspiring. A former prostitute before being plucked as a mistress, she describes her circumstance as: "Abandoned. Orphaned. Left barren. Tired and forelorn and long past rescue." From such bleakness Lydia has emerged heart hardened and defiant. She's determined, ruthless, clever and daring. She has a plan to gain financial independence, and she needs Will's help to achieve that end.Will feels an immediate awareness and electrifying attraction to Lydia. She dazzles and staggers him. He finds her to be striking, unique and challenging. She enlivens Will's spirit and awakens his body with a visceral carnal lust he never thought he'd feel again. He longs to bed her and tells her so, but holds his ardor in check. He vows to earn her trust before allowing anything physical to happen between them.Lydia is no "blushing virgin" She's refreshingly assertive and shamelessly sensual. Lydia boldly states that she'll have Will "begging for mercy and begging for more." She knows what she wants and commands it from her lover.Wildly attracted but emotionally scarred, Lydia confesses that she has no love left to give. Yet, Will still wants more from her. He dares to care for her and seeks to save her. Lydia doesn't want his heroics and chivalry and becomes increasingly annoyed with Will's "obstinate refusal" to put his erections to good use. But when he does.... It's crazy hot. He's so gloriously sexy! Will speaks with a depth of longing both plain and raw. His skills in the bedroom are masterful, expressive and lavishing. Will worships Lydia's body, mind and soul. Lydia meets his desire with "a coarse, impatient.. hunger." (I LOVE that description) The sex is overflowing with passion. Lydia is insatiable, all temper and fury. Will is strength and heart. He's a magnificent, sensual stallion.
    • 3/5
      What bravery it must have taken Grant to write this story in the face of the overpowering mountain of romance tropes. Lydia is a tough, tough cookie, at times repelling but always interesting and dark. Will is such a sweetie, although he can be a bit angsty and annoying with his constant moral dilemmas. This book definitely had a modernist tone and I almost felt like it should have taken place in the late victorian period or something rather than the regency. At any rate Grant overturns and redefines the tropes of the pollyana prostitute (a la mary balogh) and the "virgin prostitute" rather interestingly and with a lot of nuance. I liked that Will wasnt rich and all powerful but still adorable all the same. In all, for me it just can't compare to the a lady awakened because it lacked the humor that mr. mirkwood's character brought to that book. Here you have two dark angsty souls who have to deal with a lot of pain to find THEIR happily ever after which totally goes against the grain of the formulaic romance novel endings which I have seen in every single other one I have read.
    • 4/5
      This book isn't quite as brilliant as A Lady Awakened, but it comes close. I love that Will's darkness and his nobility coexist so logically and so naturally. I love Lydia's strength and harshness. However, while we see some of Will's healing in that he takes on new obligations and finds new ways to meet old ones that bind him more to life than to his guilt, I would have liked to see more of Lydia's journey and see how she will be ok, rather than just the healing powers of sleeping next to Will to calm her nightmares.
    • 4/5
      About the book: A seductive beauty turns the tables on a gentleman gaming for the guiltiest of pleasures in this rich and sensual Regency romance from beloved newcomer Cecilia Grant.Lydia Slaughter understands the games men play—both in and out of the bedroom. Not afraid to bend the rules to suit her needs, she fleeces Will Blackshear outright. The Waterloo hero had his own daring agenda for the gaming tables of London's gentlemen's clubs. But now he antes up for a wager of wits and desire with Lydia, the streetwise temptress who keeps him at arm's length.A kept woman in desperate straits, Lydia has a sharp mind with a head for numbers. She gambles on the sly, hoping to win enough to claim her independence. An alliance with Will at the tables may be a winning proposition for them both. But the arrangement involves dicey odds with rising stakes, sweetened with unspoken promise of fleshly delights. And any sleight of hand could find their hearts betting on something neither can afford to risk: love.Review: A historical with an intriguing twist. While I’m not normally a fan of historical, Ms. Grant managed to pull me into her world and get caught up in the whirlwind romance between Lydia and Will. Will was ever the gentleman throughout the book until he reached the point of no return. He humbles the readers by providing a different insight into just what happens when you care for someone and that someone tries like hell to fight just how they feel for you in return. These two are such a piece made to fit and you see it from the very beginning. The romance was on par between these two and even then there was suspense in uncovering just what would happen between the two of them and a mystery of resolve. Ms. Grant drew me in until I was caught up, tied into just what the characters were doing next. I would definitely recommend this read to anyone looking for a change in the industry and a bit of freshness to go along. It is unlike any other romance I’ve seen out there but written just as well. Four out of five stars for this sweet, scorching read.
    • 5/5
      Grant is able to be bring such realness to her characters. We can feel the emotions, the darkness, that pushes these characters to do what they do. I think it is also the way Grant writes. She has a such a unique voice. She has a way of putting you inside the characters' heads. It's pretty easy for me to immerse myself in a book, but Grant's writing pulled me in deeper.This book is harsher than A Lady Awakened. Theo had a sense of humor that lightened that book a little. In A Gentleman Undone, Will and Lydia are both very serious characters. They both have dark pasts and at present are both working on goals to establish themselves.I liked Will very much, but Lydia holds most of my praise. She's extremely smart. Grant likes to write very smart women, I think. She's very straightforward about what she wants when it comes to sex. She is a courtesan, and though not a conventional beauty, she's very good at what she does. I know some readers of romance have trouble with their hero or heroine having sex with anybody else after they meet each other. Lydia is another man's mistress and is with him for more than half the book. In this case it is realistic why Lydia would stay with her lover. Will and Lydia at first deny their attraction, and then once that comes out, neither feel they could realistically be together, even when that attraction runs much deeper. I usually do not have strong feelings, negative or positive, when it comes to epilogues. The last bit of conversation between the hero and heroine tends to be a bit sappy. But this one had the most brilliant final dialogue between Will and Lydia. I loved it.ARC provided through NetGalley.