This book has been one of the most talked about releases in early 2017. When I heard it was about two gentlemen traveling around Europe and finding love, even I got really excited. It's always nice to add more LGBT books in the aisles, and my shelves! But even as I turned the last page to read the historical information about Grand Tours and homosexuality, I found myself wanting more substance. 
 Monty is the son of an earl, and his father expects not only for Monty to take over the estate but to finally settle down and act like the gentleman he was raised to be. Monty, however, has no such plans for his future and only cares about one thing: his Grand Tour. He's ready to gamble and drink and maybe sleep around-not to mention spend all the time in the world with Percy-away from his father's watchful eye. Until his father throws several wrenches into his plans. And if Monty can't straighten up, his father warns him not to come home. 
 With a chaperone, Percy, and Monty's sister Felicity in tow, the Grand Tour begins. 
 Most of the traveling and the days spent in Paris are glanced over. While we still get beautiful descriptions of the scenery, Monty spends a paragraph or two listing events or places they've been. This is repeated several times through the book. It's double-edged sword: as readers we don't want to be bogged down by the mundane in Monty's high-profile life, but we also lose connection to him like this. 
 While in Paris, Monty snatches up a box from a duke who was recently dismissed from the king's service. And on their way to Marseilles they suddenly run into highwaymen. 
 Remember that double-edged sword? 
 The pace of this book could give anyone whiplash. Monty and crew are stumbling from one place to the next, from one incident into the next. There's no pause, there's no break. They get out of one situation and immediately are pulled into the next with no room for breathing. This is a problem because we only see the characters under stressful situations. Even when Monty flirts with Percy, it's immediately ruined by some chance. 
 Because they were constantly moving, and maybe it's just me, but there didn't feel like a solid plot in the middle of it all. They were stumbling into the next thing. They just happened to be here at this time. Someone just happened to know them. And even by the end, nothing is resolved. The characters involved just melt away, and no one spares them a thought, and everything is hunky-dory! 
 So while I had trouble following the plot, and I felt majorly disconnected from the characters, I did actually enjoy Monty. I have a soft spot for selfish a-holes. Monty narrates our story, and he has a wonderful voice that's both humorous and informative. He starts out as a totally self-centered noble (with PTSD from his father's abuse), and as they run into problem after problem he realizes he doesn't have a skill to bring in times of trouble. He can't figure out if that's something he needs to work on or not. 
 Percy is cardboard, which is odd considering he's the most important person in Monty's life, and since the story is through Monty's eyes we should feel most connected to Percy. He has two characteristics: his illness and his dark skin. That's about it. He was ragged on for not having a backbone, and even by the end he hadn't changed. The only difference we see is that instead of Monty making goo-goo eyes at Percy, Percy is the one making goo-goo eyes. 
 Felicity was... bad. While it was nice to have her around, it felt like she was a role more than a living character. She was too convenient. Whenever something went wrong, Felicity magically knew what to do, what to say, how to do it. It didn't feel like a girl who read too many books. There was no Hermione situation where she knew what to do in theory but something went wrong in practice. Felicity did it right, first try, every time. 
 Don't get me wrong, it was a fun read. There were times I was genuinely laughing and having a good time. But for every few times that happened, there were more times I was questioning, "Wait, what?" The book is already 500+ pages; I can't figure out what to trim or remove to slow down the constant stumbling and let us get to know and enjoy the characters more. One day I picked up a book with characters I thought I would enjoy, and the next I was setting it down with no memory of what they even did. I'm a fan of fast-paced plots; this was more like fast-paced fumbling.