I did think I might make you stand, and then deliver..."
Novella-length audiobook, narrated by James Joseph and Ryan Laughton.
Toby, the eponymous thief, encounters a gentleman named Miles Carteret in a rural inn. They like the look of one another, and repair to the shadowy alleyway behind the inn to act on that attraction. On parting, Toby helps himself to Miles' watch and pocketbook and congratulates himself on a very satisfactory evening. Sadly, whilst pretending to be a snooty valet some days later, he discovers -- a beat too late -- that his potential employer is none other than Miles, who turns out to be the impoverished Earl of Arvon. Miles is trying to clear out the family home after the death of his estranged father. It's possible that the key to the family fortune is hidden amid the hoarded bills and ephemera -- and that Miles' father had not, after all, given up on his son.
This was a pleasant romance with quite a slow burn, though the pace picked up massively in the last couple of chapters. Miles and Toby were both likeable, both flawed, both haunted: daddy issues, Toby's lost siblings (who are the protagonists of The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting), Miles' triumph over his gambling addiction. I'd have liked a bit more backstory for them both (more about Miles' time as Captain Carteret in the Peninsula, and Toby's previous escapades) but the story, and the romance, worked well without this.
I don't think audiobooks suit me at all well, though. I managed to finish this whilst recovering from my covid booster jab, when I felt too rough to read print, but kept losing track and restarting. I confess the dual narration didn't really work for me, either. Partly this was due to mispronunciations ('Miss Earliness' for miserliness; 'stifled' with a short 'i'; different pronunciations -- neither of which quite worked for me -- of 'Little Gilling', a fictional village), which jolted my attention and distracted me from the story. Partly, too, I didn't find the 'Toby' narrator's voice quite fitted the character: too young and submissive. I suspect I will have a different experience when I read the ebook, due in 2023.
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