Review: Brookstreet: Thief by Ava March

Publisher: Carina Press
Where did you get the book: e-ARC from publisher
Release date: March 19th

London, 1822

It was only supposed to be one night. One night to determine once and for all if he truly preferred men. But the last thing Lord Benjamin Parker expected to find in a questionable gambling hall in Cheapside is a gorgeous young man who steals his heart.

It was only supposed to be a job. Cavin Fox has done it many times-select a prime mark, distract him with lust, and leave his pockets empty. Yet when Cavin slips away under the cover of darkness, the only part of Benjamin he leaves untouched is his pockets.

With a taste of his fantasies fulfilled, Benjamin wants more than one night with Cavin. But convincing the elusive young man to give them a chance proves difficult. Cavin lives with a band of thieves in the worst area of London, and he knows there’s no place for him in a gentleman’s life. Yet Benjamin isn’t about to let Cavin-and love-continue to slip away from him.
*blurb taken from Netgalley*

I might have mentioned before that I’m a sucker for characters that are thieves in romances, so when I saw this title at Netgalley I was like, woo hoo!

Brookstreet: Thief is an enjoyable read where it has both POV’s from Ben and Cavin. Ben, for all of his inexperience (read, none) with men, is very pragmatic and accepting of his sexuality. He tells himself if he is gay, then he’ll deal with it. So Ben goes off to a gambling house where he wants to meet a man, someone he can connect with to see if he really does prefer men, and to act out some of his fantasies. And it’s there that Ben meets Cavin, where they both share one incredible night of sex and passion before Cavin sneaks off into the night.

If there is one thing that bugged me about that scene, it’s Ben going off with Cavin. Cavin is a stranger, and Ben lets Cavin take him someplace unknown. Even though I know that Cavin is the hero, realism came in for me and started screaming, that’s a daft thing to do Ben. Man or woman, going off with a stranger to a unknown place is just daft and dangerous. So I had to hush that part of myself off, and I’m glad I did because the sex that Cavin and Ben have that night was full of such raw passion that it nearly made my ears burn red.

Even though we get to know quite a bit about Cavin and Ben individually through their POV’s, they don’t learn a lot about each other, but the chemistry between them was incredibly strong. Cavin’s situation so far in life had been very depressing, and his situation living in a sort of pimp house where he endured sexual abuse as a youngster was very sad. Cavin lives deep in the East end where there are no pretty sights to be seen, and the difference between Ben’s life and Cavin’s life were shown quite frequently through scenes describing the coarseness of Cavin’s clothing, and the fineness of Ben’s.

Whilst I did enjoy the story, I didn’t feel as if the characters really got to know each other, other than sexually, and it’s not until the end of the book that Ben finds out that Cavin is a thief, who chooses marks that are wealthy, and he would have sex with them and then rob them of their belongings afterwards. Ben really doesn’t have to grow as a character throughout the book, and it was Cavin who had to deal with all these hardships.

Cavin, oh how my heart hurt for him after what life had thrown at him. It was Cavin that I was rooting for throughout the book, and even though the scenes between him and Ben were very sexy and sweet, there’s a development in the book that just showed just loyal and loving Cavin was. Cavin makes the ultimate sacrifice for his brother, and he has to endure even more pain so that his brother would have a better life, and that he would be safe from what Cavin had to endure. And Ben comes along, and yes, saves Cavin. Ben is Cavin’s night in shining armour, and even though the ending wrapped up quite neatly, I was happy knowing that Cavin got his HEA.

All in all I enjoyed Brookstreet: Thief. It features strong sexual chemistry between Ben and Cavin, but I wished that there was more of a emotional connection of the non sexual variety between them.

I give Brookstreet: Thief a B-.

Kindle eBook