RELEASE DAY REVIEW: 'An Unsuitable Heir' by K.J. Charles
Title: An Unsuitable Heir
Series: Sins of the Cities #3
Author: K.J. Charles
Published: October 3, 2017
Genre: Erotic Romance; Historical Romance
Length: 246 Pages
Tags: Gay; M/M; Non-Binary; Pansexual; Cross-Dressing; Comfort/Hurt; Family Drama; Historical Fiction; Mystery/Thriller; Suspense; CW: Off-Page Murder and Kidnapping
About An Unsuitable Heir
A private detective finds passion, danger, and the love of a lifetime when he hunts down a lost Earl in Victorian London.
On the trail of an aristocrat’s secret son, enquiry agent Mark Braglewicz finds his quarry in a music hall, performing as a trapeze artist with his twin sister. Graceful, beautiful, elusive, and strong, Pen Starling is like nobody Mark’s ever met—and everything he’s ever wanted. But the long-haired acrobat has an earldom and a fortune to claim.
Pen doesn’t want to live as any sort of man, least of all a nobleman. The thought of being wealthy, titled, and always in the public eye is horrifying. He likes his life now—his days on the trapeze, his nights with Mark. And he won’t be pushed into taking a title that would destroy his soul.
But there’s a killer stalking London’s foggy streets, and more lives than just Pen’s are at risk. Mark decides he must force the reluctant heir from music hall to manor house, to save Pen’s neck. Betrayed by the one man he thought he could trust, Pen never wants to see his lover again. But when the killer comes after him, Pen must find a way to forgive—or he might not live long enough for Mark to make amends.
5 HEART READ
REVIEW:
Readers are well-served if they tackle An Unsuitable Heir, the third in K.J. Charles’ Sins of the Cities series, after An Unseen Attraction and An Unnatural Vice. For now, suffice it to say, the best reason to read them all, is that each book is laudable. Together they are a tour de force.
Pen and his sister, Greta, are the Flying Starlings, trapeze artists. They don’t yet know Pen has inherited an Earldom. Others in line to be Earl of Moreton aren’t aware of his existence either. But one person does know and wants to kill Pen, while the siblings remain blissfully unaware.
Private Enquiry Agent Mark Braglewicz, a friend of Pen’s Uncle Clem, undertakes to bring Pen and Greta safely to Pen’s Coronet. This will protect Clem, and his lover, Rowley, as well as Mark’s friend Nathaniel and his lover, Lazarus, all of whom have personal knowledge to affirm the Starling’s identities. Each has already been endangered by the killer, and remains threatened while Pen and Greta are undeclared.
Only K.J. would pair men whose sexual fluidity contrasts.
Mark, who is cisgender (comfortable as male), doubts he’ll find a mate, since he’s pansexual, (enjoys partner variety - females, males, and non-binary.) Pen’s gender and sexuality are so fluid he can’t predict which acts his body will permit on a daily basis. While Pen is non-binary, however, he’s certain his partners must be male.
Pen identifies with Mark, born with one arm, as someone who has also been mocked for failing to meet “the laws of nature.” As Pen tells Mark, “’I feel right with you, Mark. And I know it’s right, because I spend quite a lot of my life feeling wrong, and I can tell the difference. I feel like we fit.’”
Mark tells Pen he’s a “’practical man, that’s the long and short of it. We can’t all fly.’” And he realizes their attraction is highly impractical, if not unethical. Given that Pen and Greta refuse to learn why Pen sought them, even while an Earldom and/or a killer awaits, how can Mark bed an Earl, who refuses to know he’s Earl, without taking advantage of Pen’s bounty? How can Mark do so while his purpose is to force the Starlings to acknowledge their true identities?
The Sins of the Cities series was meticulously mapped to create intricately overlapping plots, such that the timelines of each novel also overlap. When scenes are revisited, from a different character’s perspective, readers see how reality changes according to one’s situation. To read the novels out of order would destroy this treat.
K.J. might as well be describing her own impeccable plots when she has Mark reflect on the Starling’s trapeze act, as a “harmony of the spheres…When it was set going, the various parts swung smoothly through one another in a complex, balanced perfect dance.”
Each novel adds to our previous understanding of the characters, their personalities and kinship. By reading the novels as written, we watch the men grow, as their relationships mature.
And without learning the context set by previous novels - the difficulties of poverty, class, and by gay men in general, how could readers appreciate the exquisite agony of living without gender identity, especially by Pen, a man whose impending wealth and power will shed a spotlight on his “unacceptable” differences.
Simple wisdom is always imparted by K.J.’s characters. “’If someone tells you what they want to be called, that’s what you call ‘em; if someone tells you how they wanted to be treated, that’s how you treat ‘em,’” is one barkeep’s refrain.
And then there’s K.J.’s hallmark elegant prose, often gently brushed with a slice of humor. Here’s a bit from her first two paragraphs: “Omens ought to come with fanfare. That was how it was in the theater...They weren’t meant to turn up in the newspaper while you were eating kippers.”
I would love to sit at K.J.’s feet, to learn how she manages to tick off every category that makes a great novel – smooth plots with suspenseful twists, endearingly flawed characters, suspense, humor, authentic dialog, and delightful social commentary.
Once more, thank you K.J., for An Unsuitable Heir, for proving that a tight-knit, accepting community can make the harshness of life worthwhile.
A copy of An Unsuitable Heir was provided to Kimmers’ Erotic Book Banter, by Loveswept, at no cost and with no expectations in return. We offer our fair and honest opinion on behalf of our readers.
Meet the Author
K.J. Charles is a writer and freelance editor. She lives in London with her husband, two kids, an out-of-control garden and an increasingly murderous cat.
K.J. writes mostly romance, gay and straight, frequently historical, and usually with some fantasy or horror in there. She specialises in editing romance, especially historical and fantasy, and also edits children’s fiction.
For more from K.J. be sure and visit her website.
