A steamy Historical Fiction

Will Darling returns from World War 1 with valor but no job and no prospects. Luckily his uncle takes him in and pays him to help out around his bookstore, only to die a few weeks later. Shortly after his uncle’s death, strange, threatening men start showing up looking for something secret. Then Will is visited from representatives from the War Office, and everything spirals out of control. Both groups are looking for something Will’s uncle hid within the bookshop, only Will has no idea what it is.

It isn’t until Kim Secretan comes into the picture. He is a wealthy Lord who has had a falling out with not only his family but the public due to his supposed actions. There’s lots of rumors about him and his fiancée swirling around town, but Kim offers his help to Will as he is a lover of books and mysteries.

Once Kim comes into Will’s life things go from confusing to full on labyrinth worthy. Will isn’t sure who to trust, the group coming after his uncle’s shop or the War Office that sent so many of his brethren to their deaths and wouldn’t help them after the war. Will and Kim fall for one another, but Kim has many, many secrets of his own, and quickly Will’s heart and life are both on the line.

KJ Charles is a very popular writer of LGBT Historical Fiction and Romance, but I’ve never read one of her books until now. This was a super quick read that I found to be really well paced. Kim and Will have a lot of will they/won’t they situations but they never feel like they only happen to pad the page count like so many romance novels do. The stakes are high, there’s a mystery/thriller element and it works perfectly with the romance in the background, and you can tell that Charles tried her best to keep the genre split even so it wasn’t too dramatic or too romance but rather a nice blend. I also love the page length of this book, as I find current romances have a tendency to go on for way more pages than they actually need. This felt like the perfect amount for the story and by the end I was very happy with it rather than feeling bogged down.

I will absolutely read more in this series and of KJ Charles in general. A great first impression!

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Title: Slippery Creatures
Author: KJ Charles
Format: Paperback
Pages: 262
ISBN: 9781912688166
Three Descriptors: Well-Paced, Steamy, Spy Thriller