Title: The Queer Principles of Kit Webb Series: The Queer Principles of Kit Webb #1
Author: Cat Sebastian
Published: June 8, 2021
Genre(s): Romance: Historical
Page Count: 352
Rating:
Summary from Goodreads:Kit Webb has left his stand-and-deliver days behind him. But dreary days at his coffee shop have begun to make him pine for the heady rush of thievery. When a handsome yet arrogant aristocrat storms into his shop, Kit quickly realizes he may be unable to deny whatever this highborn man desires.
In order to save himself and a beloved friend, Percy, Lord Holland must go against every gentlemanly behavior he holds dear to gain what he needs most: a book that once belonged to his mother, a book his father never lets out of his sight and could be Percy’s savior. More comfortable in silk-filled ballrooms than coffee shops frequented by criminals, his attempts to hire the roughly hewn highwayman, formerly known as Gladhand Jack, proves equal parts frustrating and electrifying.
Kit refuses to participate in the robbery but agrees to teach Percy how to do the deed. Percy knows he has little choice but to submit and as the lessons in thievery begin, he discovers thievery isn’t the only crime he’s desperate to commit with Kit.
But when their careful plan goes dangerously wrong and shocking revelations threaten to tear them apart, can these stolen hearts withstand the impediments in their path?
The Queer Principles of Kit Webb is, as of this writing, the pinnacle of the Cat Sebastian brand. One part achingly tender love story, one part radical leftist historical commentary. Here, protagonists Kit and Percy are not merely satisfied to steal from the rich in order to feed the poor—rather, they want to burn the oppressive imperialistic power structure of the 18th century British government to the very ground. (And they would like to fuck, please, if there’s time.) BE GAY, DO CRIMES screams this book, with every fiber of its cutesy mint-colored cover. Indeed, the fact that Avon decided to put out Sebastian’s latest romance in the trendier illustrated-cover trade format is long overdue validation for this author’s worthiness for large-scale mainstream recognition.
This is the love story of Kit, disabled former criminal turned coffee shop owner, and Percy, a periwig-and-beauty-patch wearing aristo with a love of lavender silk and comfortable beds. What do these two men have in common? For one, they both hate Percy’s father, the Duke of Clare. For two, they both spend an embarrassing amount of time staring at each others’ butts. With that auspicious start, they start planning a robbery and also, ahem, practicing their hand-to-hand fighting in the coffee shop’s back room.
Sebastian is…well, she’s a terrific author. For a lot of reasons. But one thing I truly felt while reading this book was the yearning, the pining, the tension. The Queer Principles of Kit Webb tortures both its reader and its characters with heated glances, accidental skin-to-skin contact, and almost-kisses. Well before the time Kit and Percy do anything remotely sexual, the reader is one step away from tossing the entire book in the garbage because how very dare Sebastian do this. Here’s a writer who knows the power of unresolved sexual tension, who understands that a “slow burn” cannot be materialized at will. You have to nurture it. In summary, the unmitigated horniness of this novel is a thing of beauty. *chef’s kiss*
What’s also great about Kit Webb is that Sebastian’s characters put their money where their mouth is when it comes to dismantling inequitable social structures. I’m reminded of a (very well received!) recent release where the duke protagonist was lauded by all and sundry for failing to invest in Caribbean sugar plantations. That author went out of her way to make “not like other dukes” excuses for him, but to me it just felt like lip service—what else was the supposedly radical duke doing? Putting his unentailed land holdings directly into the hands of the laborers? Arguing in parliament for the abolition of the slave trade? Creating charitable foundations and/or educational endowments? Anything??? (Narrator: he was doing none of these things.)
I mean, I get it. Historical romance relies a lot on very specific fantasies. We don’t support oppression, but we aren’t willing to relinquish the velvets and diamonds and sprawling country estates which oppression gives to us. So we wave our hands and obfuscate the source of the characters’ riches. Because following the argument that all British aristocrats are complicit in systemic violence to its logical end leaves us with…something very like The Queer Principles of Kit Webb. And watching the son of a duke methodically destroy his family’s wealth and power, then retire to live in middle-class obscurity next to a second-rate coffee shop? Well, that simply doesn’t align with the pre-approved fantasy this genre frequently peddles.
Cat Sebastian doesn’t care, though. She doesn’t mind making you uncomfortably reexamine your political notions in between rounds of dirty, nasty sex.
We, the members of the online romance community, have spoken at great length about the transformative, empowering, and even political implications of a well-written love story. This truth could not be better emphasized in The Queer Principles of Kit Webb. Happily Ever After, especially for queer people, especially in 1700s England, especially among the middle/lower class, is always a triumph. It’s especially a triumph because our modern beliefs as to the viability of queer historical love have too often turned LGBTQ romance into a tragedy. In some corner of the Internet, romance fans are clutching their pearls about the alleged anachronism of two men finding safe and lasting happiness together—even as they drape themselves in rainbow paraphernalia every June. Romance novels have the ability to redraw our preconceptions as to who gets a love story, and what it looks like.
Traditionally published white authors of straight historical romance best pay attention. The Queer Principles of Kit Webb is the future of the genre, and Cat Sebastian and friends aren’t going to wait for everyone to exit the building before they start dismantling your pro-colonialist, heteronormative “but historical accuracy!” house of cards.
Anyway, I love this book.
Fabulous review!