A Right Honorable Gentleman

by Courtney Milan

Miss Catherine Hooks is one of the best governesses in all of England; her employer, the Right Honorable Edward Glennon, is one of the busiest men. The fact that they’ve fallen in love is immaterial. Honorable people in their situation do not mention such things. But Edward’s son is on the verge of leaving for school, and when Cat asks for the only thing she can demand under the circumstances—a reference and help finding a new position—she discovers that even a right honorable gentleman has his limits…

Note: A Right Honorable Gentleman is a short story of about 7,000 words, and it was previously published in the anthology Premiere.

Genres: Romance, Historical Romance, Historical, Historical Fiction, Short Stories, Novella, Fiction

30 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 9, 2016

About the author

Courtney Milan writes books about carriages, corsets, and smartwatches. Her books have received starred reviews in Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, and Booklist. She is a New York Times and a USA Today Bestseller.

Courtney pens a weekly newsletter about tea, books, and basically anything and everything else. Sign up for it here: https://bit.ly/CourtneysTea

Before she started writing romance, Courtney got a graduate degree in theoretical physical chemistry from UC Berkeley. After that, just to shake things up, she went to law school at the University of Michigan and graduated summa cum laude. Then she did a handful of clerkships. She was a law professor for a while. She now writes full-time.

Courtney is represented by Kristin Nelson of the Nelson Literary Agency.

Reviews

[Nenia ✨ I yeet my books back and forth ✨ Campbell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Instagram || Twitter || Facebook || Amazon || Pinterest


So disclaimer, I got A RIGHT HONORABLE GENTLEMAN for free from the author because I subscribed to her newsletter (I think a "neener, neener, neener" is in order). I was looking forward to this book a lot, but then life got in the way, and I lost the email with my free copy (!) and several weeks after the fact, I'm only just now getting around to it because I am a bad person.



I don't think it's exactly a secret that I like Courtney Milan's work. She's an author - a romance author - who takes a lot of risks. I like that she's working to write historical romances about men and women of color, to tell the sides of stories that are often overlooked or white-washed. I like that she tries to include LGBT characters in her historical fiction, for the same reasons; the status quo writes history, and everything else tends to be...well, erased.



A RIGHT HONORABLE GENTLEMAN doesn't have any PoCs in it, but I'm bringing that up because I want to talk about why Milan is a favorite of mine, and why I was so excited to read this book. Another thing she does well are her short stories. I think the last story I read that was under thirty pages was THE INITIATION by Jena Cryer - don't ask (it was a different time, okay - there was loads of free erotica to be had, and I was bored, and my followers are terrible enablers). Honestly, with most other authors, I would have passed, but given what I knew Milan could do in a short time, I said, "Okay, bring it, short-stuff!"



This book is a romance between a governess and the head of the household (I believe he's Chancellor of the Exchequer?). He's a hard-ass, for lack of a better word, living a severe life, ruling his household with an iron hand, and sending his help scurrying for the shadows from the moment he darkens the front step in a cloud of ill-humor. Even though Cat's duties are primarily with his son, she isn't afraid to keep his father in line, either, reminding him with a kind but stern word that he should ease up on the staff and make sure his son learns how to treat those who are in his employ right.



As stories like this go, the two feel more for each other than an employer and an employee should, and Cat decides, for the sake of honor, that it's best for her to leave in a state of grace. Edward does not like that one bit, and thinks he can cow her into obeying him the way he does his staff. But he is wrong. And when he realizes why he's wrong, he panics, because he thinks he's driven her away forever with his harsh and stubborn ways.



A RIGHT HONORABLE GENTLEMAN is a very sweet story, and romantic despite the utter lack of sexual content. I said before that I'm impressed with what Milan can do in a short amount of pages, and that sentiment holds true here, too. That said, I feel like this story was too short, even for me, even for Milan. It felt like I was reading the last chapter of a very long (but good) story, and it left me wondering, "What happened before? Where's the character development? The gradual dawning awareness of love?" Looking through the reviews, I noticed that I was not the only person who felt this way. I'm a sucker for a good governess story. I would have loved this as a novel!



This wasn't a bad book, but she has so many better books under her belt that I really can't rate it anything higher than a two because of how it compares to her other works. I'm a bit biased because I got this book for free. I think if I shelled out money for a book just shy of 30 pages and ended up with A RIGHT HONORABLE GENTLEMAN, I'd be very disappointed, so I kept that in mind, as well.



2 to 2.5 stars!

[Wollstonecrafthomegirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

How do you do it, Courtney Milan?! How do you weave these magic words?! Did you sacrifice a virgin to the Gods of Writing? Sell your soul to the devil?

This book is 30 pages long and, yet, the story packs more of a punch than many books ten times that length. A hardy dose of repressed Victorian passion. A strong-willed governess heroine and a restrained, hassled Chancellor of the Exchequer. Employer and employee, honest friends and in love for years, and unable to admit it, or talk about it.

There’s not much plot here, obviously, but it’s just wonderful. The sudden acknowledgment of their feelings and then them splitting apart. Followed by the hero, in particular, realising just how important the heroine is to his life.

It cannot be five stars, because that would be crazy for a book this length which inevitably left me wanting more (not to mention it entirely lacked sex scenes). It wraps up ludicrously quickly. I would criticise the pacing, but, I return to the fact it's thirty freaking pages, so it would seem a bit unfair to examine the structure too closely.

Ultimately though, this is a lovely, compact, little slice of joy.

[Maria Dimitrova · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and sweet and the perfect way to pass the time while waiting in line at the pharmacy. What I really liked was the lack of artificial drama and the reasonableness of it all.

[Ananya · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love Courtney Milan, yes, I do. I think it's astounding how well she can flesh out a story even in less than 50 pages. The novelette was sweet, but it compares nowhere near the rest of Milan's works which I have read and adored. It was pretty short, so no regrets.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Too short!

[Luli]

¿Eh?
No tengo ni idea de qué es esto que acabo de leer… No creo que la señora Milan deba cobrar un pavo por este, este… ¿Este capítulo?
Siendo como soy una amante incondicional de las historias cortas tengo que decir que ésta ha sido demasiado corta como para llamarla así.
No puedo ni recomendarla ni escribir una reseña, así que no puntúo.
Mejor me olvido de que la he leído…


Uh?
I don´t know what exactly just read… I don´t think Ms. Milan should charge for this, this… This chapter? I neither know how to call it…
Being like I am an unconditional lover of short stories I have to tell that this one has been too short to call it such.
I can´t recommend it. I can´t review it. So I won´t rate it.
I´ll better forget I read at all…

[Lo · Rating 5 out of 5]

courtney <3___<3 (ok at this point i think im physically unable to rate her books less than 5 stars i'm sorry, except i'm not, i probably should give it 4 stars bc i wish it had been novel-long but w/e!!!! i don't care!!!)

[Lisa - (Aussie Girl) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing what a good author can do in 30 pages. Romantic little story, told well.

[Kristin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was perfection!

Free when you sign up for the authors newsletter.

[Chi · Rating 4 out of 5]

That was a rather short, and sweet story. Bound by rules of propriety, it was sometimes hard to get a handle of why they were doing what they were doing, but it made sense in the end.

[Smutty19 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Incredibly short read. Like 30 minutes.
Catherine is the governess in Mr. Glennon’s house. She’s worked there for years and the two tip toe around their affection for each other. But now his son is going off to school and she must find a new position. When he won’t admit his feelings she says it’s best if they cut contact and gives him a fake address. Of course he tracks her down.
Overall book ⭐️⭐️
Spice 🙅🏼‍♀️

[Gwen (The Gwendolyn Reading Method) · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very short, short story. Cute enough. But too short to really be even interesting.

[lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 - 3 stars

Too short to make an impact, eep

[Tracy Emro · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars

A totally charming little read!

Edward and Catherine are perfect for each other and I really liked that they were both older.

[Marianne (Boricuan Bookworms) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short and sweet. The hero is a grumpy workaholic while the heroine is opinionated and headstrong. I wanted to see more development, but I can't complain for 30 pages.

[Renae · Rating 2 out of 5]

For a 30-page love story...not bad.

But a good love story really needs longer to develop, so it wasn't, like, The Best.

[Tinnean · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a real pleasure. Not nearly long enough--I'd have loved to read more of Catherine and Edward--but a lovely story that reminded me of the stories included in Georgette Heyer's Pistols for Two. A fun way to spend an hour or so.

[Aoi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Courtney Milan packs a punch in just 30 pages! I am totally in awe of how she managed to address so many issues in a Victorian employer - employee relationship and still put in dollops of heart melting romance..

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leave it to Courtney Milan to address every issue I could have with an uneven employer-employee relationship...and make it a super sweet, heart-meltingly right romance. Brava!

[Angie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very short and very sweet.

[Margo Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great short story

I love the way Milan is able to create an entire back-story within such a short piece. Great characters & story!

[Blackjack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and sweet story from Milan that she made available free to readers this month, with emphasis on "short." I'm always pleasantly surprised by how much Milan can do with shorter works, and sometimes I think she may even be a better novella and short story writer than a novelist. Here though the story is just a tad too brief for me to get emotionally invested enough to give it a higher grade. Nevertheless, I really like the conflict of how a widowed upper-class man can find a way to turn his governess into his life partner given that marriage is considered out of the realm of possibility and anything else would be either disrespectful to both of them or heart-breaking. That marriage is the ultimate outcome is not surprising in a romance, but I think a longer length here would allow the author to work through the tensions and challenges for both characters to take that step. I also really love that the hero and heroine are an older couple, by romance standards. Milan consistently tackles all sorts of social obstacles in her writing, and ageism is definitely one of those I'd like to see her develop in future writing (as I would other authors too). I read so many romances with twenty-somethings that it feels new and inventive for couples to be in their late thirties and older.

[Christina (A Reader of Fictions) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Frankly, calling this a novella is a bit of a stretch even. While the concept of a A Right Honorable Gentleman is fine and there's nothing hateful within its pages particularly, there just isn't sufficient story here. It feels like I read the middle chapters of a story rather than a whole one. You're thrown in to a chemistry already grown and apparently long-standing with dynamics that don't make much sense because you didn't see the evolution. As a result, the whole thing feels very telling rather than showing. Then, the novella also ends before anything really seems decided.

I love Milan but, even at 99 cents, I'm not convinced this partial tale is worth the money.

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute and tantalizing short story

This is a VERY brief short story, but it achieves the goal of all the best short stories to set up a believable setting and to capture enough of the personalities of the two main characters to enable the reader to see them -- and to imagine both their past and their future. Excellent!

[heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A satisfying little short story about two people who can't be in love but obviously are, and what they do to deal with it. It's not one of her more carefully researched novels, but it does have all the right emotional beats and I felt like cheering at the end.

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story was very short but worth the read. It was charming.

[Liv · Rating 3 out of 5]

i love courtney milan sm

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wish it was longer!

Delightful! Like Tracy and Hepburn sparring their way through love. These are interesting characters and I'd love to have read more.

[Jessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good for being such a short novella.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun but too short to really get going.