The Pleasure of Reading Today: #ReviewTour: Gentleman Nine by Penelope Ward

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Blurb

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.

Review

I honestly don't know how to start this review, not because I didn't like the book, but because I loved it so, so much.

Have you ever had that feeling that someone is squeezing your heart to the point that you feel it could burst? That's just what mine felt like while reading this beautiful story. Penelope took me to new hights with this story. Three friends who were inseparable throughout their teenage years, two boys attracted to the same girl who made a pack to never let their feelings show, until one of them breaks that pack and friendships change and life as they knew it would never be the same. But life happens and when Channing, the boy that was left behind, comes back into a heartbroken Amber's life new feelings develop and once again destiny will show them that even the best laid plans can change in a heartbeat.

The friendship between Channing and Amber was so pure despite the sexual desire they had for each other, the respect that they showed not only between them but to Rory was admirable. It also filled my heart with joy that the author included two characters as beautiful as Milo and Christine, I cried reading some of their parts, not because they saddened me but because she treated them with so much respect and love, just the way it should be.

There are so many emotions embossed in this story, one moment you could be laughing and the next crying. This is a love story, an incredibly well crafted love story with ups and downs and a few surprises along the way, with characters you want to get to know, you want to be friends with, with situations that could happen to any of us. It is a story with a bit of humor, a bit of sadness, a lot of joy and so much heart. My heart was happy by the end of the book, my soul was flying high.

This might be Penelope's best book yet.

About the Author

Penelope Ward is a New York Times, USA Today, and #1 Wall Street Journal Bestselling author. She’s a seventeen-time New York Times bestseller. Her novels are published in over a dozen languages and can be found in bookstores around the world. Having grown up in Boston with five older brothers, she 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 13-year-old girl with autism and a 12-year-old boy. Penelope and her family reside in Rhode Island.

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