BJ's Book Blog: ✤ Penelope Ward ✤ GENTLEMAN NINE ✤ Blog Tour ✤

• A sexy standalone Romance

• 19 February 2018
• Cover Model: Lucas Garcez

★★★★
4 Stars

From New York Times bestselling author Penelope Ward, comes a new, sexy standalone novel.

Growing up, the three of us were friends.

He was the nerd.

I was the playboy.

She was the beauty.

Deep down, I only ever wanted her. I kept it inside because Rory and I made a pact that our friend, Amber, was off-limits.

He lied.

I went off to college, and he got the girl.

Amber never knew how I felt.

They were together for years—before he broke her heart.

Through it all and across the miles, she and I casually stayed in touch.

When my job sent me to Boston for a three-month contract position, Amber let me stay in her spare room.

Still reeling from her breakup, she’d sworn off men.

One night, I opened her computer to find the shock of my life. She’d hesitantly contacted a male escort company. Afraid to date and get her heart broken again, she was looking for sex with no strings.

Every emotion imaginable ran through me: protectiveness, jealousy—curiosity.

Amber had chosen Gentleman Number Nine and sent him a message.

She opened up to him, confessing, among other things, her physical attraction to her friend—me. But she considered me off-limits—and she thought I was a manwhore. (Ironic, considering the circumstances.)

Eventually, she set up a date to meet Gentleman Nine at a hotel.

When she showed up several nights later to meet him, she got the surprise of her life to see me standing there—with an offer I hoped she wouldn’t refuse.

ARC received for an honest review

Firstly, let me say that I am not usually one to really look at covers, but hot damn, do I LOVE this cover! I licked it, it's mine!

Channing and Amber (ugh, such stripper names!) have a lovely second chance-ish story going on and I couldn't help but want them to finally pull their finger out.

It did take me a while to feel the connection between them though I eventually did. They did feel more like acquaintances than potential lovers. But that might just be me.

If you have read any of Ms Ward's previous works, you will probably remember that there is this "thing" that always happens in her books... reading along and BAM there it was again!

I am not sure what it is about Gentleman Nine, but there was just some of the usual oomph missing for me. Don't get me wrong, I liked it but it was just lacking something. Again, this is probably just me.

So whilst this wasn't a favourite Penelope Ward book for me, it may be just your cup of tea.

Can't wait to see what she brings us next.

Amber and Channing were best friends as teenagers. They bonded after Amber's best friend - Channing's sister - died. And always with them was Rory. Both Rory and Channing were interested in Amber, but they made a pact to not go there. Ever. But when Channing came back from college his best friends were suddenly a couple.

Now, nine years later, Rory left Amber to sow some wild oats.
And poor Amber is heartbroken.
Enter Channing - he moves into her guestroom, because work takes him to Boston for a few months.
But nothing can ever happen between them, right?

But what happens when Channing finds out that Amber is about to hire an escort to do a little oats-sowing on her own?

What will happen to Amber & Channing?

Will there be a HEA?

READ THE BOOK TO FIND OUT!

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I was so looking forward to reading this!
Because I fell in love with a Penelope Ward cover ... again!

And just like with the last cover, I love that Penelope really wrote Channing after Lucas on the cover. Perfect!
Many covers these days suck!

The story beyond the cover though .... it wasn't my kind of story.
I don't know what it was. I didn't love the book from the very beginning. The writing was weird. They used words in conversations that two lawyers would use when writing letters to each other. No 25 year old would talk like that. So weird.
I couldn't find any sparks or any kind of blooming romantic connection between Channing and Amber in the beginning. And don't get me started on the names!!! Were all the other stripper names already booked? I really had a hard time picturing Lucas from the cover as Channing, because this other Channing always wanted to get in my head. Ugh.
I just didn't fall for the hero and the heroine. And I have to love them to love the book. I kinda liked Channing, because I wanted to so badly, but he still was way too meh for my tastes.
It was all so emotionless and unfunny. I only laughed once in the whole first half of the book!
Yes, there were some sad and moving and sweet moments and I liked the story here and there. But then Penelope goes and turns it back into a love triangle or even a love fourangle and I HATE those. I HATE THOSE!!!! And then the constant bla bla about how in love with their exes they still are?? WHY? Why come into our romance and be our hero and heroine when you want to be the star of another book with another partner?
No - soooo sorry Penelope - I love your books, but this one just didn't work for me.
This would be a 2-3 star thing for me, but the I loved the cover and a few parts of the story - so it'll be 3.9 or 4 stars. I don't want to chase away potential readers because of my reading weirdness. Other readers will LOVE Amber & Channing and their story!

I think, now that a couple of days have gone by since I've read the book and written this review .... maybe the book wasn't so bad? But maybe it was and I'm only trying to find something positive to say because I feel so bad for talking bad about the book. Ugh - no idea. PLEASE READ IT AND MAKE UP YOUR OWN MIND - which is really what you should ALWAYS do - you should NEVER listen to what I say about anything! ☺☺☺

GENTLEMAN NINE was a really sweet friends-to-lovers-second-chance-romance! Run to your nearest amazon for your own Channing - this one is MINE!!!

and I mean Channing in the book and Lucas on the cover!!! ☺

↓ LiNKS TO THE BOOK AND AUTHOR ↓

Penelope Ward is a New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal Bestselling author. She grew up in Boston with five older brothers and spent most of her twenties as a television news anchor, before switching to a more family-friendly career. She is the proud mother of a beautiful 11-year-old girl with autism and a 9-year-old boy. Penelope and her family reside in Rhode Island.