THE MAGPIE LORD by K.J. Charles

The Magpie Lord by K.J. Charles

 

Pages: 200

Date: August 10, 2015

Details: No. 1 A Charm of Magpies

E-book

The blurb:

“Exiled to China for twenty years, Lucien Vaudrey never planned to return to England. But with the mysterious deaths of his father and brother, it seems the new Lord Crane has inherited an earldom. He’s also inherited his family’s enemies. He needs magical assistance, fast. He doesn't expect it to turn up angry.

Magician Stephen Day has good reason to hate Crane’s family. Unfortunately, it’s his job to deal with supernatural threats. Besides, the earl is unlike any aristocrat he’s ever met, with the tattoos, the attitude... and the way Crane seems determined to get him into bed. That’s definitely unusual.

Soon Stephen is falling hard for the worst possible man, at the worst possible time. But Crane’s dangerous appeal isn't the only thing rendering Stephen powerless. Evil pervades the house, a web of plots is closing round Crane, and if Stephen can’t find a way through it—they’re both going to die.” 

My thoughts:

Okay, I admit it, this has been a real case of ‘rather late to the party’ but, to stick to the clichés, also of ‘better late than never’. J

                                                    

I don’t have a good answer to the question why it took me so long to read this book except that I have an almost endless amount of highly recommended unread books in my Kindle library and am working my way through them in the most random of fashions. I’m very glad I decided to read books by new to me authors I’m going to meet in Bristol next month. Goodness only knows how much longer it would have taken me to open this book if I hadn’t formed that plan, and that would have been a dreadful shame because I loved this story.

I mean what’s not to love? There is the historical setting, a curse upon Lucien Vaudray and magic, all blended together in such a masterful way it doesn’t really read like fantasy or magical realism or whatever you may want to call it. Nothing in this story made me sit back because I’d reached the limits of my credulity. In fact the world in which this story is set, everything that happens and the explanations given about magic and its practitioners, was so plausible I was almost inclined to believed it was all a matter of historical fact instead of the rather wonderful imaginings of a very accomplished author and storyteller.  

I liked both protagonists in this story. Lucien Vaudray is as atypical an aristocrat as it is possible to imagine. He lives his life by his own rules, has learned to survive in the most impossible of circumstances and doesn’t tolerate fools or nonsensical social etiquette.

Stephen Day intrigued me from the moment he was introduced. Torn between righteous anger and a strong sense of duty I couldn’t help but fall for his determination to do the right rather than the selfish thing.

The tug of attraction between these two men kept me on tenterhooks as much as their struggle to get to the bottom of the danger Lucien faced did, and the conclusion to both issues left me satisfied and with a huge grin on my face.

The Magpie Lord was a thrilling, exciting, compelling, sexy and very addictive read. While I’m determined to continue on my quest to read more ‘Bristol authors’, I’ve got a feeling it won’t be long before I purchase and read the rest of the titles in this series. Lucien and Stephen have wielded their magic and captured me in their spell.