The Masterpiece

By: Bonnie Dee

Narrated by: Mark James

Length: 6 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

Built from the bottom up: one perfect gentleman.

Man about town Arthur Lawton spends his days pursuing entertainment while shoeshine Joe Sprat labors to better his family’s lives. When an argument about nature versus nurture sparks a wager, Arthur swears to a friend he can turn this working man into a gentleman who will pass at a society function.

Joe is happy to participate in the experiment for a fee, but receives more than he bargained for after moving into Lawton’s house. Arthur is determined Joe won’t merely wear a veneer of sophistication, but educates him in every way. As he creates his new and improved man, Arthur grows more deeply infatuated with him, while Joe falls equally hard for his charismatic mentor.

Underneath a growing friendship, desire simmers, and one day explodes. After their relationship escalates, the pair exists in a dream bubble until the threat of exposure sharply reminds them they belong in different worlds. When the ball is over, each must resume his own life, changed by their encounter but destined for different courses.

Find out if love is strong enough to bridge the gap between peer and pauper in this twist on the tale of My Fair Lady.

©2019 Bonnie Dee (P)2019 Bonnie Dee

A Wonderful Spin on an Old Tale

In the interest of transparency, I was given an Audible credit for this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Joe is a bootblack who works on the streets of London with no higher hopes than to one day own his own fine shoe shop. Arthur is a dreadfully bored second son of a lord who is seeking something to keep him occupied lest he waste his life of luxury. When Arthur and his friend (Granville? I haven't seen the print edition, so I'm guessing the spelling here) make a wager, Joe's life gets turned on its head.

Arthur has six weeks to polish up the bootblack into a proper gentleman, and it is exactly what he needs to keep his interest. Not only is Joe a quick study, he's positively tasty, and Arthur is pretty sure Joe likes him just as much. Lucky Arthur, he's not wrong.

The book follows Joe and Arthur as they work together over the course of six weeks before Granville's party; the idea is that Joe must receive invitations to other social events following the party for Arthur to win his bet.

I really enjoyed this book, having read the original story it's based on; I thought it was a refreshing (and gay, so gay) take on a classic. I found the romance well-paced and satisfying, hitting all the beats at the right time to keep my interest. There's a lot of character commentary on the chasm between classes at this time period, and I found that to be especially poignant for today.

The narrator for the audiobook was wonderful, as well; I was fully engaged listening to the book on my work commute all week, and I was bummed that it was over so soon.

I will definitely be on the lookout for more historicals by Bonnie Dee!

Entertaining bet

This was an entertaining version of My Fair Lady and Trading Places (with Eddie Murphy). I enjoyed seeing Joe and Arthur growing closer and expanding their friendship to other pleasures. So glad they both realized they should be together after Arthur's trip to India. Sweet e6. I enjoyed the narrator.

A Masterpiece!

I absolutely loved this story about a Joe the bootblack and Author the gentlemen. The two are wonderful together and really touched my heart. Their story was engaging, and I found myself rooting for both of them. Not only for Joe to pass and Author to win, but also for the two to get their HEA.

Mark James does an exquisite job and brought the story to a whole new level. I love is voice and could listen to him all day.

I really enjoyed this m/m take on My Fair Lady.

I really enjoyed this m/m take on My Fair Lady.

Gentleman Arthur takes on shoe shine Joe after a bet with a friend to transform Joe as someone who will fit into high society.

The story was interesting and engaging. I became invested in their story, keen to see how it turns out for both of them, wanting them both to succeed.

I think the narrator did a fantastic job of bringing these men to life. His tone and accents seemed spot on to me, really enhancing the story.

Great story, I love Mark James performance.

The Masterpiece takes a classic story and flips it with a man in the role of Eliza Doolittle and I loved it. Joe is a simple working man, shining shoes for a living. He dreams of one day owning his own shop where he would sell fancy shoes to society gentlemen.

Arthur is a man about town whose friend goads him into making a wager. The bet is that Arthur can't teach Joe to speak correctly and pass for a gentleman among their high society friends.

As Arthur and Joe work together to win the bet they soon discover that they have more things in common than one would think and a romance develops.

This was a very enjoyable book with the performance by Mark James turning it into something quite wonderful to listen to. I love his voice and the various accents he does for this story. He kept me entertained during what would normally be a boring day of doing laundry and other housework.

The author of the book provided me with a free Audible code but no review was required and the gift did not influence my review of the story.

Loving

It’s sweet and loving. The two men from different sides of the tracks. It’s a good story with love and a happy ending.

Another great turn of the century romance

4.5 🌟

Forgetting the similarities between this book and a classic musical, I'm simply going to focus on The Masterpiece.

From the moment Arthur is introduced, it is obvious he is not a typical aristocratic gentleman. While Joe is shining his and his friend's shoes, and his friend is prattling on, Arthur is asking Joe questions about his day and such. When his friend, who is a typical aristocratic snob, suggests a wager, Arthur wavers until Joe unexpectedly says he'll do it.

Joe is a shoe shiner with a family to support and a dream. If he's able to pull this off, and help Arthur win the bet, he will be paid enough to possibly start the business he has been dreaming of.

As Arthur and Joe work together, they develop a friendship with the undertones of desire. Because neither knows for sure what the other feels, the desire is allowed to build into a blazing inferno until they can resist temptation no longer.

As the lessons progress, and casual tests happen from time to time, their physical relationship grows into more than just lust. Unfortunately, Arthur's friend is bound and determined that Joe will not succeed in his task, which only puts more pressure on Joe and upsets Arthur.

Just when things are starting to change for the MCs personally, unexpected guests arrive that basically put an end to their physical affair. However, Joe is able to pass his test. Unfortunately, it only brings more clarity to the feelings he has been harboring about his role in the wager for a while.

Arthur is surprised and dismayed by the way things turn out, but he must capitulate. The story plays out, and the MCs are reunited, so of course we get our HEA.

I thought the narrator did a fantastic job. His character differentiation is spot on and his pace was quite good.

* I received a free copy of this audiobook and I am leaving my honest review. *

Amazing!

One of my favorite movies is My Fair Lady. So I am loving this twisted. Joe and Arthur's story is definitely something I loved. Then Mark James did an amazing job in bring this story to life. I especially love that when Joe is talking proper he had a different voice. It just give the story more.

Heartwarming, sweet and humorous!

🌟🌟🌟🌟 4.5 stars
🔥🔥🔥 Heat Level: 4
🎧🎧🎧🎧 Narration: 4.5 (Love an English accent)

I loved Joe and Arthur. Heartwarming, sweet and humorous.

An interesting journey of remaking a lower class shoe shine into a noble gentleman. The connection sparks between Joe and Arthur and I love Arthur's lack of classism in this story. Their connection is so sweet, then hot, and caring. Very dynamic and surprisingly loved the historical setting.

Joe is so funny, with his sass and desire to learn, but his truth and dislike of being dishonest plays really well with Arthur and his feelings, as they change for the man Joe is and has become. I loved how Joe tries (and succeeds) to change his speech. He's a great character and I love watching him become refined but not losing his unique sass or big, honest heart. His desire for Arthur was sweet and hot. I loved the journey these two men take to become better people and eventually find their way back to each other. 

A great historical romance with heart and heat! I thoroughly enjoyed the journey!

Thanks for reading!

a very good story

the book was good and very nicely written I liked it as a story but I would probably liked it even more if the narrator kept some emotion to his voice The Voice itself was nice but I couldn't feel the characters it's the first time I'm listening to this author and narrator and I believe it will get better in some pain but it wasn't bad overall the book was very solid as a story