Review: The Making of a Gentleman by Shana Galen

The Making of a Gentleman (Sons of the Revolution #2) by Shana Galen
Synopsis (Goodreads):

Twelve years in prison has stripped him of his humanity...

Armand, Comte de Valère has lost the ability to interact with polite society, until his family hires him a beautiful tutor, and he starts to come alive again...

Saving him is her only chance to escape a terrible fate...

Felicity Bennett vows she'll do whatever it takes to help Armand fight back the demons that have held him captive for so long...

With Felicity's help, Armand begins to heal, until a buried secret threatens to destroy their growing passion...

My Thoughts: It's been quite a while since I read book 1 but I had no problem sliding back into this world and settling in with the characters. I'm a sucker for a hero that is as damaged as Armand is. His thought processes, his lack of social skills, his inability to stand being touched all combined to make him irresistible to me. That it was music that began his breakthrough was lovely. That the woman playing the music turned out to be his perfect foil was even lovelier. His completely inappropriate questions as he struggled to learn all the rules of polite society were hilarious.

I honestly loved the way Armand came back to life. I wasn't thrilled with the way his family often spoke about him as if he wasn't there -- especially because he understood they were talking about him, even though he couldn't always follow along -- but given how he would ignore them most of the time, I can understand it. I did like that Felicity was never afraid of him despite his wild appearance and the fact that he howled the first time he ever saw her. For the most part, though, it was Armand's journey back to himself that drew me. His anger, fear, desire to protect his family, his love of the fresh air and stars, his occasional disconnect from the things going on around him all combined to make him a powerful character.

The inclusion of a man from Felicity's past wasn't my favorite part of the story but that was mostly because I wanted her to come clean with the family and let them help her. Instead she frets and worries and ends up in a deeper mess than she would have if she had told everyone what was going on. Still, it didn't distract too much from the Armand/Felicity romance and her hemming and hawing ended up breaking down a few barriers that might have otherwise stayed up.

Overall, this was a fun, sassy, sometimes sad, sometimes hilarious historical. Armand's family is slowly coming back together and all signs point toward a happy reunion with brother #3 in the next book. *thumbs up*

Books in this series
1. The Making of a Duchess
2. The Making of a Gentleman - Paperback | Kindle
3. The Rogue Pirate's Bride

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