The Henchmen of Zenda by K.J. Charles

Publisher: KJC Books

232 pages

Buy links: Amazon US | Amazon UK

Blurb

Swordfights, lust, betrayal, murder: just another day for a henchman.

Jasper Detchard is a disgraced British officer, now selling his blade to the highest bidder. Currently that's Michael Elphberg, half-brother to the King of Ruritania. Michael wants the throne for himself, and Jasper is one of the scoundrels he hires to help him take it. But when Michael makes his move, things don’t go entirely to plan—and the penalty for treason is death.

Rupert of Hentzau is Michael's newest addition to his sinister band of henchmen. Charming, lethal, and intolerably handsome, Rupert is out for his own ends—which seem to include getting Jasper into bed. But Jasper needs to work out what Rupert’s really up to amid a maelstrom of plots, swordfights, scheming, impersonation, desire, betrayal, and murder.

Nobody can be trusted. Everyone has a secret. And love is the worst mistake you can make.

A retelling of the swashbuckling classic The Prisoner of Zenda from a very different point of view.

Review

The Henchmen of Zenda was the most fun I had reading this year so far. This is a delightful tale of dastardly Daring Do’s, of secrets and betrayal, adventure, sexy times, and danger. And it’s all told by Jasper Detchard, who does his best to come across as cynical and aloof but can’t quite hide the fact that beneath the bluster hides a big heart.

I’ve never read The Prisoner of Zenda (although now I’ll probably have to get the book), but I’m not sure that mattered. I had no problem losing myself in this story, these characters, and this world. There really isn’t a boring moment in this story and the surprises come hard and fast. The villains are exceedingly (borderline over the top) bad and evil which makes reading about their demise all the more fantastic. I wouldn’t necessarily call their counterparts upstanding citizens. In fact, Jasper and his sex-interest Rupert have quite a few villainy traits of their own, but both of them happen to find themselves on the side of what’s right (or should that be ‘less wrong’) in this case and it’s impossible not to think that they’re comfortable there.

Sharp conversations between the principle characters fixed a smile on my face. The vivid descriptions of everything ranging from features, landscapes, to sword fights, brought the story to light, and numerous twists and turns kept me on the edge of my seat. This is the sort of adventure story you should only start if you have a long stretch of reading time available. Because once you start The Henchmen of Zenda it is next to impossible to put the book down before you reach the final paragraph.

I neglected KJ Charles recently, and I have no idea why. It is an oversight I intend to fix over the next few months. Of course, the advantage of ‘forgetting’ about a great writer for a while is that there’s a good selection of new to me titles just waiting for me to find them.

Unfit to Print by K.J. Charles

145 pages

Buy links: Amazon US | Amazon UK

Blurb

When crusading lawyer Vikram Pandey sets out in search of a missing youth, his investigations take him to Holywell Street, London’s most notorious address. He expects to find a disgraceful array of sordid bookshops. He doesn’t expect one of them to be run by the long-lost friend whose disappearance and presumed death he’s been mourning for thirteen years.

Gil Lawless became a Holywell Street bookseller for his own reasons, and he’s damned if he’s going to apologise or listen to moralising from anyone. Not even Vikram; not even if the once-beloved boy has grown into a man who makes his mouth water.

Now the upright lawyer and the illicit bookseller need to work together to track down the missing youth. And on the way, they may even learn if there’s more than just memory and old affection binding them together...

Review

Unfit to Print was a delightful read for a multitude of reasons.

First and foremost is K.J. Charles’ fabulous writing. Everything works. Her words flow, the conversations sparkle, and descriptions are vivid, taking you right into the setting—in this case, mostly a poor and sleazy part of 19^th century London. As for the characters, they were fascinating. For some reason coloured people rarely spring to mind when I think of England in those times. I realise that’s unreasonable of me, especially since Great Britain really did rule the waves back then and had colonies all over the globe. After decades of reading historical books featuring only Caucasian characters, it was both a revelation and a delight to read a story in which they didn’t take centre stage.

As for those main characters, both Gil and Vikram captured my imagination from the moment they were introduced and not because they weren’t white. In fact, their ethnicity, while never completely out of the story, soon became an afterthought, secondary to the mystery Gil and Vikram were trying to solve and their personal reconnection.

Gil has been betrayed so badly he’s built a fortress around his heart.

“If you went around regretting things you might curl up and cry for the lost hopes and the ruined dreams, and bugger that for a game of tin soldiers.”

And Vikram is lost too, be it in a different way, as he struggles with the country he grew up in and the place he was born, a homeland he’s afraid to visit.

“So what if I went home and didn’t feel as though I belonged? […] If home wasn’t home at all, what—who—would I be then.”

These are two men with no real place in the world who, over the course of 124 pages managed to create their own space…together.

I enjoyed the mystery and its resolution, although to me the involvement of the young man Vikram is trying to find and Gil’s half brother posed a question which wasn’t asked or addressed in the book. I don’t mind that, I’ll jump to my own conclusions 😊 But, I think I enjoyed watching as the two men reconnected even more. Their journey from surprise, through reluctance, to embracing and expanding the feelings they had for each other over a decade earlier was glorious, sexy, and at times deeply touching.

What I loved most about this book though was K.J. Charles’ wonderful writing and how the words and phrases she used put the story in its time as much as—if not more then—the descriptions did. I gave one example of that above, and here’s another one:

“Percy’s eyes brimmed with happy malice.”

“Happy malice.” It’s such a wonderful description. It put a huge grin on my face when I read those words.

Long story short, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it was a timely reminder that I’ve got a few unread books by this author on my Kindle, which shouldn’t stay unread for too much longer.

Spectred Isle by K.J. Charles (Green Men #1) - Review

271 Pages

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK

The blurb

Archaeologist Saul Lazenby has been all but unemployable since his disgrace during the War. Now he scrapes a living working for a rich eccentric who believes in magic. Saul knows it’s a lot of nonsense...except that he begins to find himself in increasingly strange and frightening situations. And at every turn he runs into the sardonic, mysterious Randolph Glyde.

Randolph is the last of an ancient line of arcanists, commanding deep secrets and extraordinary powers as he struggles to fulfil his family duties in a war-torn world. He knows there's something odd going on with the haunted-looking man who keeps turning up in all the wrong places. The only question for Randolph is whether Saul is victim or villain.

Saul hasn’t trusted anyone in a long time. But as the supernatural threat grows, along with the desire between them, he’ll need to believe in evasive, enraging, devastatingly attractive Randolph. Because he may be the only man who can save Saul’s life—or his soul.

Review

“I should love to complicate matters with you and see how we go.”

I’m tempted to limit this review to one word and leave it at that. What word, you ask?

Fabulous!

I adore this book on so many (dare I say ‘all’) levels.

To begin with there’s the story as a whole; a stunning combination of historical fiction and highly imaginative paranormal fantasy. These two, seemingly at odds, sub genres melted into each other as if they had always been meant to be used together. I found myself at times forgetting where one ended and the other began, almost accepting the ‘shadow cabinet’ and ‘War Beneath’ as fact and wondering why I didn’t know more about them.

Then there’s the language in which the story is told. Every word in the book feels appropriate to the time the story’s set in. And yet it read as effortlessly as if I was reading more modern words and sentences. And then there’s the pictures those words paint; you can see the scenery, feel the atmosphere and almost smell the aromas. In fact, the words put me in a spell and transported me to the 1920’s and England not quite as the history books describe it. J

As for our main characters… Both Saul Lazenby and Randolph Glyde were such a wonderful combination of needy and weary. Both have resigned themselves to a life of solitude. Of course there’s the little matter that their attraction for those of their own gender is illegal, but it’s more than that. Saul fears that his disgrace will forever keep him separate from others while Randolph’s life is too dedicated to his duty for him to image ever having somebody by his side; especially someone uninitiated.

I loved that after his initial cynicism with regard to his employer’s theories, Saul accepts what Randolph tells him without drama. He has experienced the inexplicable, therefore he doesn’t deny its existence. It’s such a relief not to have one of the main characters exclaim something along the lines of ‘this can’t be happening, it’s impossible’ while clearly whatever it is, is happening all around them.

And I adored how these two men, once they get of their initial suspicions, just click. They are exactly what the other needs in every way imaginable. The witty, at times snarky exchanges between them had me smiling while their coming together was as hot as it was sweet.

To make a rather long story short; this book was amazing on every level imaginable. There are few experiences as good as completely losing myself in a story and Sceptred Isle captivated me. I can’t wait for the next book and will have to get and read The Secret Case Book of Simon Feximal asap. As for everybody else: Do yourself a HUGE favour and go and read this book. It’s Fa. Bu. Lous.

“It was, he’d discovered, very easy to imagine walking into a palatial flat, taking hold of Glyde’s face, kissing him fiercely and wordlessly, sliding to his knees. He could picture any number of acts of pleasure and need carried out in panting, hungry silence, and he did imagine them on his own in his bare room. What he couldn’t imagine was an actual conversation that would lead them there.”