First, y'all should click over to see the larger version of the cover so you can see our heroine Susan's face. It is the most non-swoony face I have eFirst, y'all should click over to see the larger version of the cover so you can see our heroine Susan's face. It is the most non-swoony face I have ever, ever seen on a romance novel cover, and that is so true to her character, I love it. Even the arms are folded! Susan Lazarus is not fucking around.
This is the second book in the Lilywhite Boys series, which follows two con men and thieves in late Victorian London. This series is actually connected to Charles's prior series, Sins of the Cities, as Susan is the adoptive daughter of Justin Lazarus, the former spiritualist (and scammer) turned enquiry agent. Now it's about twenty years later, and Susan herself has taken up the family business, making a name for herself by being tough as nails, and very, very good at her job. Her former lover is one of the Lilywhite boys himself, Templeton Lane (formerly James Vane, confirming this also takes place in the same universe as her first series, Society of Gentleman). They were sort of childhood sweethearts, but their relationship ended with a terrible break between them that left Templeton on a boat to do hard labor in Australia, and with Susan as an enemy.
Years later, they are on opposite sides of the law. Templeton is nearly killed when a jewel theft goes wrong. He finds the body of the owner when he breaks in, and he in turn is found standing over the body of the owner, at which point he makes a run for it. Having clearly been framed and not wanting to drag his only two friends (and criminal associates) down with him, the only person he knows who might possibly believe him innocent of the murders (the valet was killed, too) and also might be able to help clear his name, is one Susan Lazarus.
This is a second chance romance, with elements of enemies to lovers near the beginning, so it's a twofer. Also, it's a murder mystery! And historical fiction. And it's very well written. And the way that Susan and Templeton come back together is so very good. They're both such emotionally complex people with such different personalities, but their chemistry feels effortless, and their conflicts and struggles poignant. Susan is a badass, and Templeton is some sort of gentle bear/puppy combo with criminal tendencies mostly to do with thieving. As both puppies and bears are known for stealing shit that doesn't belong to them (mostly to eat), I feel my comparison is apt.
I really can't emphasize enough how much it upsets me that y'all still aren't reading K.J. Charles as much as she deserves. She deserves to be a bestselling author with awards threatening to collapse her shelves. I think I'm finally going to have to do a deep dive and finish out the books in her back catalogue I haven't gotten to yet, because I don't know when she's publishing her next book and it's making me anxious.
Merged review:
First, y'all should click over to see the larger version of the cover so you can see our heroine Susan's face. It is the most non-swoony face I have ever, ever seen on a romance novel cover, and that is so true to her character, I love it. Even the arms are folded! Susan Lazarus is not fucking around.
This is the second book in the Lilywhite Boys series, which follows two con men and thieves in late Victorian London. This series is actually connected to Charles's prior series, Sins of the Cities, as Susan is the adoptive daughter of Justin Lazarus, the former spiritualist (and scammer) turned enquiry agent. Now it's about twenty years later, and Susan herself has taken up the family business, making a name for herself by being tough as nails, and very, very good at her job. Her former lover is one of the Lilywhite boys himself, Templeton Lane (formerly James Vane, confirming this also takes place in the same universe as her first series, Society of Gentleman). They were sort of childhood sweethearts, but their relationship ended with a terrible break between them that left Templeton on a boat to do hard labor in Australia, and with Susan as an enemy.
Years later, they are on opposite sides of the law. Templeton is nearly killed when a jewel theft goes wrong. He finds the body of the owner when he breaks in, and he in turn is found standing over the body of the owner, at which point he makes a run for it. Having clearly been framed and not wanting to drag his only two friends (and criminal associates) down with him, the only person he knows who might possibly believe him innocent of the murders (the valet was killed, too) and also might be able to help clear his name, is one Susan Lazarus.
This is a second chance romance, with elements of enemies to lovers near the beginning, so it's a twofer. Also, it's a murder mystery! And historical fiction. And it's very well written. And the way that Susan and Templeton come back together is so very good. They're both such emotionally complex people with such different personalities, but their chemistry feels effortless, and their conflicts and struggles poignant. Susan is a badass, and Templeton is some sort of gentle bear/puppy combo with criminal tendencies mostly to do with thieving. As both puppies and bears are known for stealing shit that doesn't belong to them (mostly to eat), I feel my comparison is apt.
I really can't emphasize enough how much it upsets me that y'all still aren't reading K.J. Charles as much as she deserves. She deserves to be a bestselling author with awards threatening to collapse her shelves. I think I'm finally going to have to do a deep dive and finish out the books in her back catalogue I haven't gotten to yet, because I don't know when she's publishing her next book and it's making me anxious....more
This honestly might be five stars on re-read, but I've been handing out five star ratings like they're candy, and I've come off my book high now. ThisThis honestly might be five stars on re-read, but I've been handing out five star ratings like they're candy, and I've come off my book high now. This is a strong 4.5 stars for now.
Firstly, this is a retelling of The Prisoner of Zenda, a Ruritanian Romance/Adventure/Swashbuckler from the late 1800s, written by Anthony Hope. I've never read the original, but before diving into this I did read the detailed summary of the book and I'm really glad I did that, because it was fun seeing what Charles changed and tweaked, although our narrator, Jasper Detchard, also informs us of the big things that the original "got wrong" (in this book, the original is played off as a memoir of the "player-king" Rudolf Rassendyll, a distant cousin of the king of Ruritania who is called upon to impersonate said king).
You can tell that Charles just had an incredibly amount of fun, not only with reworking a book that she obviously has great affection for (and criticism of), but also writing a different kind of romance, one where the heroes are morally grey at best, villains at worst, and who don't hold to monogamy. There are plots and swashbuckling and schemes ahoy in this book, and it was an incredible amount of fun to read. It's a relatively short book, but she really packs a whole bunch in here. There is not a dull moment to be found.
Highly recommend! Just know you're not getting a traditional romance, but more of an adventure story and you'll have a grand old time.
Merged review:
This honestly might be five stars on re-read, but I've been handing out five star ratings like they're candy, and I've come off my book high now. This is a strong 4.5 stars for now.
Firstly, this is a retelling of The Prisoner of Zenda, a Ruritanian Romance/Adventure/Swashbuckler from the late 1800s, written by Anthony Hope. I've never read the original, but before diving into this I did read the detailed summary of the book and I'm really glad I did that, because it was fun seeing what Charles changed and tweaked, although our narrator, Jasper Detchard, also informs us of the big things that the original "got wrong" (in this book, the original is played off as a memoir of the "player-king" Rudolf Rassendyll, a distant cousin of the king of Ruritania who is called upon to impersonate said king).
You can tell that Charles just had an incredibly amount of fun, not only with reworking a book that she obviously has great affection for (and criticism of), but also writing a different kind of romance, one where the heroes are morally grey at best, villains at worst, and who don't hold to monogamy. There are plots and swashbuckling and schemes ahoy in this book, and it was an incredible amount of fun to read. It's a relatively short book, but she really packs a whole bunch in here. There is not a dull moment to be found.
Highly recommend! Just know you're not getting a traditional romance, but more of an adventure story and you'll have a grand old time....more
This was a bit rough, but charming in its roughness. It's my favorite of Sebastian's Regency Imposters books. At the beginning of the book especially This was a bit rough, but charming in its roughness. It's my favorite of Sebastian's Regency Imposters books. At the beginning of the book especially when the lovers are in the "enemies" phase of "enemies to lovers," the banter and the narration both are very biting and witty, but in a gentle, non-threatening way for my emotions.
Amelia is our heroine, and I will admit it took me an embarrassingly long time to realize she was in both prior books in the series. She has retreated to the countryside to a life of solitude with her former governess. She has decided it is ultimately futile to try and participate in a society that doesn't want her, at the expense of her identity. The mental and emotional toll trying to fit in was too high. This is where our hero, Sydney, finds her. Through a series of tragic, flukish circumstances, he has found himself the owner of an estate, the ancestral lands of his friend, the Duke. It is to these lands that Amelia has fled, renting a cottage near the edge of the grounds. She has no idea he owns the land when they meet. And they have a truly delightful antagonism between them at first, which melts gradually into companionship, and then love.
The secondary characters are also quite lovely. There's a blind duke, an illegitimate daughter, dogs, the aforementioned governess (who is asexual, though they didn't have the words for it). Our hero and heroine are both bisexual. And the Duke is quite gay. I think this book pulls off LGBTQIA people living in Regency England in maybe a slightly more believable fashion than the first one did. I also liked that Sydney was a Quaker, and the way his family was used was something I haven't seen in a romance before.
This book also fixed the complaints I had with the first two books in the series. I thought the first book skipped my favorite part of romance, which is the characters getting to know each other. I don't think it's fun to read about characters who just fall in love instantly (other people feel similarly to me, which is why "instalove" is a much-despised trope). Here, you see them get to know each other, and it's great. My complaint with the second book is that it wasn't long enough, developed enough. It felt like she just skipped from place to place in that book to get it over and done with. She skipped the fun transitions, the scenes of characters actually doing and experiencing things. This book was the longest book I've read from her in some time, and no transitions were skipped. We're with them every step of the way that we should be.
Anyway, all this to say, A Delicate Deception was a fine closer to this series, but I really am very excited for her to finally continue the Seducing the Sedgwicks series in a couple of months, and the next book has an actual good cover! I almost fell over from shock when I saw it.
Merged review:
This was a bit rough, but charming in its roughness. It's my favorite of Sebastian's Regency Imposters books. At the beginning of the book especially when the lovers are in the "enemies" phase of "enemies to lovers," the banter and the narration both are very biting and witty, but in a gentle, non-threatening way for my emotions.
Amelia is our heroine, and I will admit it took me an embarrassingly long time to realize she was in both prior books in the series. She has retreated to the countryside to a life of solitude with her former governess. She has decided it is ultimately futile to try and participate in a society that doesn't want her, at the expense of her identity. The mental and emotional toll trying to fit in was too high. This is where our hero, Sydney, finds her. Through a series of tragic, flukish circumstances, he has found himself the owner of an estate, the ancestral lands of his friend, the Duke. It is to these lands that Amelia has fled, renting a cottage near the edge of the grounds. She has no idea he owns the land when they meet. And they have a truly delightful antagonism between them at first, which melts gradually into companionship, and then love.
The secondary characters are also quite lovely. There's a blind duke, an illegitimate daughter, dogs, the aforementioned governess (who is asexual, though they didn't have the words for it). Our hero and heroine are both bisexual. And the Duke is quite gay. I think this book pulls off LGBTQIA people living in Regency England in maybe a slightly more believable fashion than the first one did. I also liked that Sydney was a Quaker, and the way his family was used was something I haven't seen in a romance before.
This book also fixed the complaints I had with the first two books in the series. I thought the first book skipped my favorite part of romance, which is the characters getting to know each other. I don't think it's fun to read about characters who just fall in love instantly (other people feel similarly to me, which is why "instalove" is a much-despised trope). Here, you see them get to know each other, and it's great. My complaint with the second book is that it wasn't long enough, developed enough. It felt like she just skipped from place to place in that book to get it over and done with. She skipped the fun transitions, the scenes of characters actually doing and experiencing things. This book was the longest book I've read from her in some time, and no transitions were skipped. We're with them every step of the way that we should be.
Anyway, all this to say, A Delicate Deception was a fine closer to this series, but I really am very excited for her to finally continue the Seducing the Sedgwicks series in a couple of months, and the next book has an actual good cover! I almost fell over from shock when I saw it....more
On the one hand, I wish I would have read this sooner, because it’s great. On the other, I wish I would have saved it, because the sequel seems to be On the one hand, I wish I would have read this sooner, because it’s great. On the other, I wish I would have saved it, because the sequel seems to be postponed indefinitely for some ground-up retooling, and I would prefer to have it as soon as possible. I found the worldbuilding here to be one of the more intriguing urban fantasy set-ups I’ve read, especially when you factor in that a large part of it uses the consequences of WWI in such a thoughtful way, with the War, and the War Beneath. You can definitely read this on its own as a standalone, but I hope K.J. Charles does continue the series eventually.
So the premise here is that disgraced former soldier Saul Lazenby is unable to find decent work, except with a crackpot named Major Peabody who is convinced magic exists, and who possesses a fierce ambition to make some sort of important discovery. In the course of his “work” for Peabody, Saul keeps running across the mysterious Randolph Glyde, who refuses to divulge his true occupation and purposes, and accuses Saul of being up to no good. As their run-ins continue, it becomes apparent something else is going on, and the two men get past their antagonism in a rather sexy way (also, a sweet way, as they are both lonely and craving human contact after the trauma of the war).
As stated before, I loved the worldbuilding here, and I also ended up loving the main characters, although the secondary ones weren’t as fleshed out here as hers usually are. I suspect part of that is that they are mean to be further developed in later books. I also didn’t know, and it’s worth knowing before going in, that this is set in the same world as her previous book, The Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal. You can read this one on its own, but I suspect I should still have read them the other way round, as that one takes place about twenty years previous.
Merged review:
On the one hand, I wish I would have read this sooner, because it’s great. On the other, I wish I would have saved it, because the sequel seems to be postponed indefinitely for some ground-up retooling, and I would prefer to have it as soon as possible. I found the worldbuilding here to be one of the more intriguing urban fantasy set-ups I’ve read, especially when you factor in that a large part of it uses the consequences of WWI in such a thoughtful way, with the War, and the War Beneath. You can definitely read this on its own as a standalone, but I hope K.J. Charles does continue the series eventually.
So the premise here is that disgraced former soldier Saul Lazenby is unable to find decent work, except with a crackpot named Major Peabody who is convinced magic exists, and who possesses a fierce ambition to make some sort of important discovery. In the course of his “work” for Peabody, Saul keeps running across the mysterious Randolph Glyde, who refuses to divulge his true occupation and purposes, and accuses Saul of being up to no good. As their run-ins continue, it becomes apparent something else is going on, and the two men get past their antagonism in a rather sexy way (also, a sweet way, as they are both lonely and craving human contact after the trauma of the war).
As stated before, I loved the worldbuilding here, and I also ended up loving the main characters, although the secondary ones weren’t as fleshed out here as hers usually are. I suspect part of that is that they are mean to be further developed in later books. I also didn’t know, and it’s worth knowing before going in, that this is set in the same world as her previous book, The Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal. You can read this one on its own, but I suspect I should still have read them the other way round, as that one takes place about twenty years previous....more
Really liked this! You can barely tell that this was her first book. It was pretty short, and for the most part that was fine, but there were parts whReally liked this! You can barely tell that this was her first book. It was pretty short, and for the most part that was fine, but there were parts where she sums up conversations instead of showing them, where I wanted her to actually show them. There's a significant story that Crane tells Stephen about how he got his tattoos, and we don't get to hear it at all! She also glossed over their initial bonding and friendship.
But other than that, this was actually great. It's equal parts fantasy, horror, and romance, and the plot actually was as intriguing as the romance. A lot of times plot just annoys me in romance novels because it feels like filler and is uninteresting, but here it was genuinely scary and exciting and cool, and Charles does a great job using the events of the plot to illuminate her characters.
Who are Lucien Vaudrey (Lord Crane, newly minted Earl, newly back in England after a twenty year exile to China) and Stephen Day (a practitioner of magic, whose father was ruined by Crane's family years before). The two are brought together when it becomes clear that someone has targeted Crane by magical means, and his life is in danger. Being from Shanghai, where shamans and magic are common, he and his manservant Merrick immediately seek the local services of a magician. Day ends up helping him reluctantly, first assuming that Crane is as horrible a person as his departed father and brother. What seems at first to be a straightforward single act of vengeance on Crane's family turns into a magical mystery, and both of them are soon in extreme danger as they try to unravel it.
Also, Crane is a terrible flirt and makes it very clear that he would appreciate a romp in the sack with the small but incredibly fierce magician (there was a reason his father exiled him to China, and that reason was incorrigible gayness). The sexytimes weren't quite up to my taste (and she gets way better at those as her career goes on), but I really liked the chemistry between the characters, and appreciated that because this is a series, the two aren't in love by the end of the book. They barely know one another, presumably that will happen in the rest of the series.
Definitely recommend though, and I'm excited to finish the series out, though I probably won't get around to it until later in the year.
Read Harder Challenge 2019: A self-published book.
Merged review:
Really liked this! You can barely tell that this was her first book. It was pretty short, and for the most part that was fine, but there were parts where she sums up conversations instead of showing them, where I wanted her to actually show them. There's a significant story that Crane tells Stephen about how he got his tattoos, and we don't get to hear it at all! She also glossed over their initial bonding and friendship.
But other than that, this was actually great. It's equal parts fantasy, horror, and romance, and the plot actually was as intriguing as the romance. A lot of times plot just annoys me in romance novels because it feels like filler and is uninteresting, but here it was genuinely scary and exciting and cool, and Charles does a great job using the events of the plot to illuminate her characters.
Who are Lucien Vaudrey (Lord Crane, newly minted Earl, newly back in England after a twenty year exile to China) and Stephen Day (a practitioner of magic, whose father was ruined by Crane's family years before). The two are brought together when it becomes clear that someone has targeted Crane by magical means, and his life is in danger. Being from Shanghai, where shamans and magic are common, he and his manservant Merrick immediately seek the local services of a magician. Day ends up helping him reluctantly, first assuming that Crane is as horrible a person as his departed father and brother. What seems at first to be a straightforward single act of vengeance on Crane's family turns into a magical mystery, and both of them are soon in extreme danger as they try to unravel it.
Also, Crane is a terrible flirt and makes it very clear that he would appreciate a romp in the sack with the small but incredibly fierce magician (there was a reason his father exiled him to China, and that reason was incorrigible gayness). The sexytimes weren't quite up to my taste (and she gets way better at those as her career goes on), but I really liked the chemistry between the characters, and appreciated that because this is a series, the two aren't in love by the end of the book. They barely know one another, presumably that will happen in the rest of the series.
Definitely recommend though, and I'm excited to finish the series out, though I probably won't get around to it until later in the year.
Read Harder Challenge 2019: A self-published book....more
My favorite of the Magpie books. I was surprised by this! The premise turned me off a little, which is why it took me so long to pick up. I'm not realMy favorite of the Magpie books. I was surprised by this! The premise turned me off a little, which is why it took me so long to pick up. I'm not really a fan of "redeeming the bad guy" stories, but of course Charles pulls it off. And, as it turns out, Jonah wasn't really a bad guy for what he did in the original trilogy. He was being coerced, very strongly.
Our narrator isn't Jonah Pastern, though, it's ex-policeman Ben Spenser, who was left behind by his lover Jonah to face jail time and months of hard labor for "gross indecency." Ben's life was completely ruined after Jonah swept out of it one morning. He lost his friends, his family, his job, and his health, and can no longer find decent work. He wants to find Jonah and exact his revenge (which is the most gentle form of revenge, wanting him to be punished for his crimes, and he can't even do that in the end because he's too good of a guy).
For once with these Magpie-world books, the romance is the star of the show and the world and the magic takes a backseat, which I very much appreciated. Jonah and Ben's relationship is very compelling and sweet, and in the end, satisfying. I did think it a bit hand-wavy how it ended, because it would never have ended that way in real life, but this isn't real life, and I'm glad these characters got their happy ending.
Merged review:
My favorite of the Magpie books. I was surprised by this! The premise turned me off a little, which is why it took me so long to pick up. I'm not really a fan of "redeeming the bad guy" stories, but of course Charles pulls it off. And, as it turns out, Jonah wasn't really a bad guy for what he did in the original trilogy. He was being coerced, very strongly.
Our narrator isn't Jonah Pastern, though, it's ex-policeman Ben Spenser, who was left behind by his lover Jonah to face jail time and months of hard labor for "gross indecency." Ben's life was completely ruined after Jonah swept out of it one morning. He lost his friends, his family, his job, and his health, and can no longer find decent work. He wants to find Jonah and exact his revenge (which is the most gentle form of revenge, wanting him to be punished for his crimes, and he can't even do that in the end because he's too good of a guy).
For once with these Magpie-world books, the romance is the star of the show and the world and the magic takes a backseat, which I very much appreciated. Jonah and Ben's relationship is very compelling and sweet, and in the end, satisfying. I did think it a bit hand-wavy how it ended, because it would never have ended that way in real life, but this isn't real life, and I'm glad these characters got their happy ending....more
Thanks to NetGalley, Hachette Audio, and Orbit for the ARC. It hasn't affected the contents of my review.
Okay, so I loved this, even though it wasn't Thanks to NetGalley, Hachette Audio, and Orbit for the ARC. It hasn't affected the contents of my review.
Okay, so I loved this, even though it wasn't perfect, and I kind of want to bump my 4.5 stars up to five. I feel like it might be one of those cases where after I read future books and re-read this one, it will be a full five. I want to get a physical copy and annotate! There are a LOT of people who are not getting what this is going for, which is fine if sad. But it's important to go in knowing it's not just a campy, fun time. I think this book is a smart, fun send-up of fantasy as a genre with actual pathos behind it. I can't wait to see what happens with these characters once the author really gets a chance to do things with them.
For the first 25%, I thought I was going to give this five stars, but the tension sort of petered out as it went along. I still had a good time, but iFor the first 25%, I thought I was going to give this five stars, but the tension sort of petered out as it went along. I still had a good time, but it didn't end as well as it began. Still, will definitely read more from Cait Nary.
Merged review:
For the first 25%, I thought I was going to give this five stars, but the tension sort of petered out as it went along. I still had a good time, but it didn't end as well as it began. Still, will definitely read more from Cait Nary....more
I liked this, but it was too short for me to really get much out of it. I didn't think the emotion was fully earned, and it felt a bit predictable, boI liked this, but it was too short for me to really get much out of it. I didn't think the emotion was fully earned, and it felt a bit predictable, both in the plot and its use of language. I just think it needed to be more fleshed out. (Or shortened to a genuine fairytale.)...more
Re-read April 2024: The show is going to do it better. I'd forgotten how weird the ending was! Without that second epilogue published years later, so Re-read April 2024: The show is going to do it better. I'd forgotten how weird the ending was! Without that second epilogue published years later, so many threads left dangling, and it just . . . stops. Also, I'm here for Penelope, Colin can do . . . whatever.
This is sticking at a rounded up four stars. The stuff I liked is outweighing the stuff I think needed some work. Definitely in for books two and threThis is sticking at a rounded up four stars. The stuff I liked is outweighing the stuff I think needed some work. Definitely in for books two and three.
This did EXACTLY what I needed it to, I'm so happy. Claudia Gray GETS IT and she fixed/started fixing everything that went so very, very badly wrong iThis did EXACTLY what I needed it to, I'm so happy. Claudia Gray GETS IT and she fixed/started fixing everything that went so very, very badly wrong in the last few seasons of the show. She also understands how to move story forward, instead of just doing the same things over and over again. This book is also chock full of M&S actually remembering and being affected by the thirty years of story that has come before. I need all you latent X-Philes to go out and buy this so they will make more of them. Please and thank you.
CAWPILE says this is 4.5 stars, but rounding up because I feel so much relief that these characters are in safe hands again.
Pre-Review: I'm still mad at Chris Carter and still think someone should take The X-Files away from him, but I trust Claudia Gray WITH MY LIFE....more
I didn't like this one quite as much as the first in the series, but I always love spending time with Mimi Matthews's characters. I didn't like this one quite as much as the first in the series, but I always love spending time with Mimi Matthews's characters. ...more
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