REVIEW: Gentleman Jim by Mimi Matthews

She couldn’t forget… Wealthy squire’s daughter Margaret Honeywell was always meant to marry her neighbor, Frederick Burton-Smythe, but it’s bastard-born Nicholas Seaton who has her heart. Raised alongside her on her father’s estate, Nicholas is the rumored son of notorious highwayman Gentleman Jim. When Fred frames him for theft, Nicholas escapes into the night, vowing to find his legendary sire. But Nicholas never returns. A decade later, he’s long been presumed dead. He wouldn’t forgive… After years spent on the continent, John Beresford, Viscount St. Clare has finally come home to England. Tall, blond, and dangerous, he’s on a mission to restore his family’s honor. If he can mete out a bit of revenge along the way, so much the better. But he hasn’t reckoned for Maggie Honeywell. She’s bold and beautiful—and entirely convinced he’s someone else. As danger closes in, St. Clare is torn between love and vengeance. Will he sacrifice one to gain the other? Or with a little luck—and a lot of daring—will he find a way to have them both?

Review by Christina Boyd

A forbidden love between the young stable boy and daughter of a country squire is never to be when young Nicholas Seaton is wrongly accused of stealing Maggie's jewels and must run for his life. But not before she promises to wait for his return. After ten years of no word from him, and years of loss and other strife, her father’s will was drawn in such a way to give all her rights to the untrustworthy Frederick Burton-Smythe unless she is married and Fred must approve the marriage, Margaret Honeywell heads for London to find a husband—and aid from her own friend, Miss Jane Trimble. But when Fred, the very man who has control of her property and monies—and the last man in the world she wishes to marry despite his intentions—finds he has an appointment with Viscount St. Clare for pistols at dawn, she takes it upon herself to stop the duel. (She only fears what will happen to her inheritance if he is killed!) But what happens when Maggie meets this handsome viscount, newly returned from the continent, and recognizes the grown man as someone she used to know...?

Well, all this happens within the first few pages! And the fast pace does not stop.

From start to finish, my heart was in my throat, cheering for Maggie, hoping for Viscount St. Clare to triumph, and wishing Fred would just go away. “Gentleman Jim” is a charismatic combination of drama, historical saga, and romantic intrigue that you must read sooner than later! Outstanding!