A grumpy retired highway meets a happy, frivolous Lord. Except this needs the highwayman to help him commit a crime. Kit Webb left that life behind, but that doesn't mean he can't help Percy learn what he needs to do to pull off the heist. As criminal lessons commence can the two contain the simmering tension between them? We're feeling the sizzle with The Queer Principles of Kit Webb by Cat Sebastian.
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We include our synopses as a semi-transcription of the episode in our blog posts. You can learn more about how we compose these by reading this article. As a reminder though, our synopses are FULL of spoilers. Read ahead at your own risk :)
The Queer Principles of Kit Webb Synopsis:
Edward Percy Talbot, has just found out he is not in fact Edward Percy Talbot, Lord Holland and future Duke. He is just Edward Percy, future nothing. It turns out that his mother was actually the second wife of his father the Duke, which makes him a bastard.
He finds this out from his childhood friend and current step-mother Marian Hayes. He still does not know why Marian agreed to marry his father but she has and now her daughter is being threatened by this secret from the Duke’s past.
The blackmailer wrote directly to Marian and asked for five hundred pounds by January 1st, otherwise they will make details of the Duke’s secret first marriage public.
For all Percy hates the Duke, he does love Marian and his younger sister. So he is determined to help them out of this mess.
Together Percy and Marian have decided that they will go public with the information rather than live with a sword hanging over their heads, but before they do, they must rob the duke of the 500 pounds in order to live securely once they no longer have claim to the duchy.
They get the idea to hire a highwayman to help them rob the Duke.
Kit Webb is a famous, former highwayman. His last robbery went poorly and he ended up shot in the leg and it did not heal correctly, so now he lives a life above the law running a coffee house.
Percy gets Kit’s name from Marian, so he attempts to hire Kit for the job.
Kit tells him absolutely not, but after he learns that the target is the Duke, a man he hates, he agrees to help Percy learn how to do the robbery himself.
On a romance note: Percy has always known he prefers men, and he makes no secret that he is very into Kit.
Kit’s backstory is a little different. He was married at 20 and had a child. Unfortunately when his daughter was 6 months old, his wife was caught poaching and the duke personally saw she was transported for her crimes. She died on the ship and his daughter died shortly after.
He then spent his years drinking away his grief and robbing the rich. After the events that led to his injury and the death of his best friend, he got sober and decided to live a life on the right side of the law. He’s bored senseless.
Percy, for all his frivolous, lordly ways, surprises Kit and he in turn finds himself more and more attracted to Percy. While he has from time to time found men attractive, he has never acted on the impulse to pursue a romantic relationship.
Eventually, the sexual tension comes to a head and we go from nothing (expect maybe a teasing kiss) to a full encounter.
Our heroes continue exploring this feeling between them and when the robbery goes poorly and ends up with Percy shot and the Duke dead, they try to determine what a future would look like between the two of them.
They hide out at a nearby barn so they can properly treat Percy’s bullet wound (it’s not fatal, just painful) and Percy learns about Kit’s past, including his wife and daughter and how he got wrapped up in a life of crime.
The next day, the two determine a plan that will take them back to London. Percy needs to know what happened to the Duke and if he was wanted for patricide.
The two return to town and Percy goes to the Duke’s town house. He is informed that the Duke is dead and Marian is gone.
While no one is questioning that Percy is the Duke, he does not want to take the risk that another person will find out he is, in fact, a bastard. Also the life of a Duke will not allow him to have a life with Kit. So he begins to take measures to safeguard the Dukedom for the potential rightful heir that they are sure to find.
Kit is back at the coffee shop and is convinced that Percy is lost to him. Why would he not choose to be the Duke he always expected to be?
Percy then surprises Kit by turning up and telling him that he is thinking of buying the house next door to the coffee shop. This will allow them to discreetly traverse between the properties, while Percy can set up a household in which to raise his half sister.
Kit is overwhelmed by the gesture and is excited by the prospect of a new life with Percy.
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