08 April, 2018

REVIEW: AN UNSEEN ATTRACTION by K.J. Charles


Title: An Unseen Attraction
Author: K.J. Charles
Series: Sins of the Cities 1
Genres: LGBT, Romance, Historical
Publisher: Loveswept
Release: February 21st 2017
Source: eBook
Pages: 247

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BLURB:
A slow-burning romance and a chilling mystery bind two singular men in the suspenseful first book of a new Victorian series from K. J. Charles.

Lodging-house keeper Clem Talleyfer prefers a quiet life. He’s happy with his hobbies, his work—and especially with his lodger Rowley Green, who becomes a friend over their long fireside evenings together. If only neat, precise, irresistible Mr. Green were interested in more than friendship...

Rowley just wants to be left alone—at least until he meets Clem, with his odd, charming ways and his glorious eyes. Two quiet men, lodging in the same house, coming to an understanding... it could be perfect. Then the brutally murdered corpse of another lodger is dumped on their doorstep and their peaceful life is shattered.

Now Clem and Rowley find themselves caught up in a mystery, threatened on all sides by violent men, with a deadly London fog closing in on them. If they’re to see their way through, the pair must learn to share their secrets—and their hearts.

 

EXPECTATIONS: K.J. Charles set the bar very high for expectations. I've read a lot of her works, and I've not yet been disappointed. Some I like more than the others, but I love everything as is. This book I could only judge by the cover, for I knew more of the general story whole trilogy has, than of single parts of it.

THE WORLD: A lodging house somewhere in London, with a taxidermy shop nearby, owner of it living right there, in one of the rooms provided by land lord Clem. It's a fine place to be, quiet, with only a little of the annoyed company of other lodgers, among who there's one drunkard Reverend, who causes troubles. But then, so do many. Thus lodgers try to get along as best they can, and don't pressure Clem to do anything about anything up until a tortured body is dropped at the doorstep! For London is a gloomy place, full of shadows, and a nasty fog rolling in. Is one really ever safe out there? 

CHARACTERS: Clem is a half-brother to an Earl, whose kind heart gave this lodging house to be his livelihood with a single small condition: Reverend can live there for as much as he wants, rent free. The rest, including consoling the offended lodgers, is up to Clem. Luckily, there's Rowley, a taxidermist, with whom they spend some evenings by the fire, with tea and a cat named Cat. Rowley, being a quiet and observant man, is not so fond of the Earl, and doesn't really understand why he forced this Reverend onto his brother like that. 

ROMANCE: Clem and Rowley were falling in love with one another from a distance, never daring to assume one might be interested in another. Their relationship came to be gradually, something I thought was beautifully unusual for KJC, and worked very fine! There were some bumps in the road, the kind that I don't like too find all that much, but all in all, a beautiful story or two humans becoming a part of one another. 

GOOD: Oooh, something's boiling! Earl has buried secrets, and they're climbing out. The characters are very nicely built too, I really enjoyed Rowley, so seemingly calm and put together man, turn out to be nail-and-tooth when it comes to injustice or danger.

BAD: I don't like it when two parties argue, and then the right party has to apologize or else silent treatment continues.

OVERALL: KJC is always a treat for me. I enjoy her works very much, and this is no exception. It's a great book, if not her best. Neither romance, nor the detective story lines ever became secondary, everything happened in perfect balance, spiced up by action, tension, and mortal danger. So, all in all, of course I loved it!

What do you think about AN UNSEEN ATTRACTION

 

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