Loved this book and looked forward to the next one! Usually I don't enjoy Regency/Victorian Romances by American authors, (they come across as too modern and American), but this one surprised me. A great Victorian Romance/Mystery.

I got this book having never read anything by the author before and was pleasantly surprised. While not the steamy, adult historical book I somehow thought it would be, I found myself not minding how chaste it was. This is a very appropriate YA book.

This has some of my favorite tropes which include a gentleman and a more morally dubious heroine, and story within a story ie the penny dreadfuls. Ana and Hollis really work very well together and the book was very charming and filled with good character development.

I recommend it.

Thanks netgalley for the ARC

I love how Sarah Eden weaves together the story-within-a-story aspect of this novel. It's fun and charming and the whole premise of this series in general is delightful. Though I prefer her other family series—such as the Jonquils and the Lancasters (oh and her Irish series too!)—this series is a fun showcase of her talents!

What I Loved:

The Mystery. In Gentleman and the Thief, there is a mysterious string of robberies by children who are all too afraid of their handler to name him, and a rich man’s gambling den that no one can pinpoint and leaves men destitute. The Penny Dreadful gang knows there is something up, but can’t get their finger on it because of the society. Enter Hollis, the one of their order who is of higher birth and can get them in. I thought the mystery was pretty compelling, and tied in a lot of the great elements from the first book (social justice, access to education, etc). It also showed a different side of the society we came to enjoy in Highwayman.

Hollis and Ana. While a lot of other reviewers were disappointed by the lack of romance and build up from Hollis and Ana, I thought Hollis’ love for her from the very beginning to be really sweet, and I enjoyed that the mystery and their personal lives were just as important as their budding romance. Ana, a thief trying to steal back her family’s wrongfully taken possessions, is a flawed and compelling character, and Hollis’ yearning to fit in and dry sense of humor make both of them relatable and fun to read about. They also have a very different dynamic from Highwayman’s mains Fletcher and Elizabeth, but I liked that.

The Higglebottom’s School for the Dead Interlude. The penny dreadful that Hollis is writing under nom de plume Lafayette Jones was really fun, about boy ghosts learning how to haunt properly who stumble upon a living boy. Unlike Elizabeth’s Mr. King story, which is much more parallel to the story at hand, this was light and unrelated to the rest of the plot. While the format is inconvenient (see below), Higglebottom’s was good in its own right.

What Didn’t Work So Well:

The Broken Format. I touched on this a little with the last book, but I really don’t love the way the penny dreadful stories are interspersed with the main body of the book. Both Mr. King and Lafayette Jones stories seem to begin right at a “cliffhanger” in the middle of the main story, and it ends up just being a distraction. I personally think the reading would be easier if the stories were at the end as an excerpt, but I know other readers enjoy the parallels made in the King penny dreadful.

That is really all as far as overarching complaints. I have some minor complaints about the pacing, but overall, Gentleman and the Thief exceeded expectations for the second book in this series.

Conclusion

All in all, I am so happy with how Gentleman and a Thief turned out! I think a lot of issues other readers had with it was (a) the lesser romance than in the first book, Lady and the Highwayman, and (b) the fact that this wasn’t really properly marketed as a sequel to Lady and the Highwayman. So, as someone who read both, I highly recommend reading Lady and the Highwayman first.

I have read both books in this series and, while I liked the first one, I enjoyed this one far more. If you haven't read the first book in the series, I highly recommend you do so in order to understand the background of everything happening as there is a storyline running throughout the series.

Hollis and Ana are a sweet couple that fit well together in the daylight as their public persona and work even better in the shadows with their secret selves. I always love a story where the characters are completely comfortable with and accepting of each other. This is one of those stories. The more secrets that are revealed, the more devoted they become.

As always with this series, the supporting cast is superb. They are all unique and I look forward to getting to know them better in future books.

The "penny dreadful" stories interspersed within the novel are also a unique addition and worth reading all on their own.

When I first read The Lady and the Highwayman, I was completely enthralled with Ms. Eden's new Victorian book and hoped that she would make it a series...and thank heavens she did because The Gentleman and the Thief is just as delightful!! I was so happy to return to the world of penny dreadfuls and the society that helps save children from the cruel world around them. Hollis and Ana were wonderful supporting characters in the first novel and they really shined in this second novel. I love how Hollis wanted to do more to help than the Dreadfuls originally thought he could and how Ana is anything but the prim and proper music teacher. Honestly, there isn't a thing I would change about this novel, it was an absolute delight from beginning to end.

Thank you NetGalley and Shadow Mountain Publishing for the eARC!

Though he is the son of a wealthy and established family, Hollis Darby pens penny dreadfuls to support himself and keep the secret that his father and grandfather drained the family fortune. He uses his influence to help rescue children off the street, but doesn't feel like he belongs. He and his friends are on the trail of the "Phantom Fox", hoping to get the young thief off the streets but the truth might just be more fantastical than a penny dreadful tale.

While I adored the first book, I felt a little let down by this one. Hollis was an enjoyable character. His plight as a gentleman secretly supporting himself was sympathetic as was his desire to help improve the lives of children on the street. I understood his initial attraction to the talented Miss Ana Newport, but she was less interesting. Their romance seemed a bit flat.

I found it difficult to believe she was the talented and secretive thief. Her motivation seemed weak and did not help me understand her better. Stealing from the rich to feed the poor a la Robin Hood would have been interesting, thieving to retrieve items of sentimental value that were "stolen" from her family made her seem selfish. And reckless. I was left wondering how she learned to be a thief. She couldn't have been naturally good at it.

The story is well written, as I have come to expect from this author. I did not enjoy the serial stories that came in between chapters, since supernatural elements are not my thing.

I would recommend this to fans of Sarah M. Eden and historical reads.

This is the second in a series. I absolutely loved the first!! This one is still a great read, but it didn't quite hit the mark for me that the first one did. There is a lot of carryover of characters, with two minor characters from the first book now playing a prominent role as romance develops between the two. As with the first book, this book also shifts not only perspective between the main love interests (Ana and Hollis) but shifts between the serialization of two separate Penny Dreadful stories interspersed throughout the book. While I do appreciate what the Penny Dreadfuls add to the story line and how they parallel somewhat what is going on in the main characters' lives, I did find it hard at times to shift back into each of the two Penny Dreadful stories between the action of the main story line. The book ends with a bit of an open ending as far as the "bad guys" are concerned and we still have no identity for the Dread Master, so it makes me believe that Eden is planning to continue on with more in this series and more romances for the Dread Penny Society's members.

Content: Clean

I'm a long time fan of Sarah M Eden. This new series she has started is fun and different from her usual books.
I really like Hollis Darby's character. His insistence that he could be more than just a gentleman. And I always like a character who steps out of their social norms and does what they want.
Ana was sweet and clever. Her story is a sad one but I loved how well she continued to look after her father and didn't let her situation turn her bitter.
As always the book is well written and the story is good. The thing about it that I don't really like is the Penny stories that are included in the book. GASP! I know! But not the stories themselves, just having them included in general. It takes away too much book space for the relationships between characters to really build. And let's be honest, if you are reading Sarah M Eden you are in it at least in some part for the romance and there just really isn't any in these books. But I still do like the story lines and I'll continue to read this series.

The Gentleman and the Thief is the second in the series, and holds to the format established in the first book, where you get the book you are reading and a bonus Penny Dreadful. In this case you get two Penny Dreadfuls included! Elizabeth is a support character in this installment as we learn more about another Penny Dreadful author and his life. Hollis Darby writing unter the name Lafayette Jones has his secret society and the secret that he authors these books. While Ana has a secret about her past that is causing some interesting situations in the present. I have enjoyed this series so far. Thank you #NetGalley for the chance to offer my honest opinion on #TheGentlemanandtheThief

This is a sweet Victorian romance with some daring adventures worthy of the penny dreadfuls. Ana Newport, a music teacher by day and thief by night, and Hollis Darby, a secret penny dreadful author, work together to discover a gambling ring that is threatening Hollis's brother.

It's a very good sequel to The Lady and the Highwayman. And like the first book, the penny dreadfuls by Mr. King and Hollis Darby's nom de plume, Lafayette Plume are interspersed throughout the book.

I received a copy of this book from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a fun story. We follow Hollis, a peer of the realm that writes penny dreadfuls in secret, and Ana, a fallen peer of the realm that now teaches music by day and steals as the Phantom Fox by night. As they get to know one another they also uncover a sinister plot marking those of the ton and taking advantage of helpless youth. The Dreadpenny Society has been on the hunt for the Mastiff, an unknown person that controls many of the street youth and is a criminal mastermind that is greatly feared. With the help of Ana and Hollis they are able to get further in their quest to ferret out who this mastermind is and they are able to thwart one of his schemes.
Hollis and Ana work well together and with those of the society. Their strengths quickly make them invaluable to the team and it sets them up to be of more use in further down the line. I’m looking forward to more from the dread penny society and I do so hope they unmask the Mastiff before he hurts more people or ruins for lives. This was a fun clean story with lots of action and intrigue with just the right amount of romance to make it sweet.

Sarah Eden is hands down one of my favorite authors. She has an amazing talent to balance tension and humor. Every time I thought my racing heart just could't take the suspense anymore I'd turn the page and smile at Mr. Higglebottom's school for the Undead, or a witty remark from a character. Her pacing flows the story from one page to the next so you just can't put it down!  

Her writing consistently impresses me. A master of character development. I'm repeatedly invested in her characters; Hollis and Ana were no exception. There was a moment near the end of the book where I thought I knew what was coming next, and I desperately didn't want it to. I didn't want Ana to become the stereotypical damsel in distress. I should've known better. The anticipated plot point never came to be and I smiled even bigger at the strength of her characters and her ability to weave a tale. Even her stories in a story were well crafted and had me quickly turning the page. This is quickly becoming one of my new favorite series'.

Sarah Eden has been my favorite author for quite awhile now and I always look forward to stepping into one of her worlds. This Victorian novel is the second in the series but can be read as a stand alone.
One of the fantastic things about this series is the penny dreadful tales that take place throughout the story. They are so much fun and you get three stories in one.

Hollis was my favorite side character in The Lady and the Highwayman so I was delighted to find out he’d be the main character of this one.
I loved getting to really know and understand his character.
I love that Ana was the “Phantom Fox” a role you would not expect from her and nor do they.
The banter and chemistry between Ana and Hollis is delightful. I love their pairing and that we got to see plenty of Fletcher and Elizabeth as well.
Sarah does a great job of bringing attention to the hardships of this time period. The villains she has written are just the right amount of despicable and I love when the DPS, with Anas help, interrupt and break apart their dastardly plans.
Filled with plenty of action, mystery, and romance this story takes you on quite a thrilling ride. Thanks to Shadow Mountain for sending me a copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

The characters were charming in this romantic novel. I loved this author's ability to help her readers understand the trials that society was facing during that era. Her characters allowed you the ability to sympathize and cheer them to success. The story line was complex enough to keep all readers engaged. The inserting of the penny dreadful stories didn't feel as smooth of a transition as the first book could claim but it was still enjoyable.

I will admit that I love Sarah Eden's books! I have never been disappointed. I was excited to read this one, but felt a little lost with the characters. It was then I realized this was book two of a series. I quickly borrowed the first book from a library, and then all the pieces fell together. This is a different genre for her, and I loved it! I lived the intrigue, the side stories happening in between. This was so much fun! I can't wait for the next one!

Good book and good plot. Not what we are looking to include at this time. A very intriguing tale and I personally look forward to reading more from this author.

I love this book! This is the second of the second of the penny dreadful society books and they are so very enjoyable. The inclusion of the characters' penny dreadful stories make it that much more fun. Hope there will be more!

Posted to Goodreads on 6/30

Although I didn't realize until about halfway through that this was the second book in a series, I truly enjoyed this book! The author does an incredible job developing characters as well as engaging in world building that feels authentic to the time period. The Gentleman and the Thief was an incredibly fun read, with a good mix of romance, action and mystery! I am excited to go back and read the first book!!

Note: Despite being a part of a series, this worked perfectly well as a standalone, and I had no trouble feeling engaged and excited about the characters and the plot line!

Another fun Dread Penny Society novel. I love how Sarah M Eden writes in such a way that the novel and the two penny dreadfuls in the book play off of each other so it isn't hard to follow each story. I love Hollis Darby and Ana Newports characters in this book. They both have secrets to hide. I know I am in for a treat each time I open the pages of a Sarah M Eden book. I would definitely recommend.