2019/27: A Gentleman Never Keeps Score -- Cat Sebastian

Someone helpless needed aid, and he went out of his blasted way to assist them. ... [his brother] needed a commission, and Hartley went to bed with the only rich man he knew. It wasn’t self-sacrifice—that was for noble-minded decent sorts. Hartley didn’t even like people, much less want to sacrifice his comfort for them. [loc 705]

Hartley Sedgwick used to be a pillar of fashionable Regency London: then his godfather died and bequeathed him a mansion, and his godfather's son made it known that Hartley preferred men to women. Hartley is now the best-dressed recluse in Town.

Sam Fox is black and working-class: formerly a boxer, he now runs a successful pub. His friend and would-be sister-in-law, Kate (also black) is keen to recover a lewd painting of her, done when she was badly in need of money. The artist? Hartley Sedgwick's deceased godfather.

So naturally Sam sets out to steal back the painting ...

There was a lot to enjoy in this book: Hartley's desperate pride, sarcasm and spiky personality, Sam's good sense and gentleness, Kate's independence. Cat Sebastian's depiction of black working-class life in Regency London is excellent, though not the focus of the novel: so good, though, to read about men and women of colour who are neither slaves nor servants.

The romance was sweet, though it all seemed to happen rather easily despite Hartley's defensive vulnerability and Sam's justifiable distrust of 'gentry'.

I had one nitpick (pound coins in 1817? nope!) and one big problem with this novel. The big problem is that the villain shares a name with someone I know, and I couldn't help but think of him each time the name was mentioned ...