Jackdaw: Valentine's Day

by K.J. Charles, Lyudmila Tsapaeva (Illustrator)

“Jackdaw: Valentine’s Day” is a Jackdaw prequel, drawn by the magnificently talented artist Mila May. It features our heroes Ben and Jonah, who appears in the previous book Flight of Magpies, and as you will see, things are going swimmingly for them.

Happy Valentine’s Day from me and Lyudmila. I hope yours is better than Ben and Jonah’s…

Genres: Historical, Romance, M M Romance, Short Stories, Graphic Novels, Queer, Fantasy

6 pages, ebook

Published February 13, 2015

About the author

KJ is moving to Storygraph.

KJ is a writer of romance, mostly m/m, historical or fantasy or both. She blogs about writing and editing at http://kjcharleswriter.com.

She lives in London, UK, with her husband, two kids, and a cat of absolute night.

Bluesky @kj_charleswriter.com
Join the lively Discord group at https://discord.gg/fmPTWSZfT6
Sign up to the (infrequent) newsletter at http://kjcharleswriter.com/newsletter

Please **do not** message me on Goodreads. I won't read it.

Reviews

[Ms. Smartarse · Rating 3 out of 5]

You have just finished reading Jackdaw, clearly still reveling in the unexpected (but very welcome) happy ending. You'd rather not leave Ben and Jonah behind just yet. So K.J. Charles and fellow fan Lyudmila Tsapaeva are here to offer you this truly gorgeous surprise: an illustrated short story featuring our two heroes. FOR FREE!



I have to warn you that your heart will be broken all over again, but it is sooo worth it. Or maybe that's just me, being a masochist? Oh who cares! Go read it! It'll take you 10 minutes tops

============================
Review of the parent story: Jackdaw

[Richard Derus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, that was a helluva come-on. Nothing we don't already know but delivered with some drama.

[Chelsea · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a little prequel to Jackdaw. Such beautiful art! I wish more of my favourite novels could be illustrated.

[D. Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice short story. I can't say it's a prequel to Jackdaw , it's more like characters' introduction.
Great artwork!
By the way- Ben and Jonah are drawn almost the exact same way I imagined them!

[Mir · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute teaser.

[Darka · Rating 4 out of 5]

несподівано комікс для анонсу наступної книги

[Sammm · Rating 5 out of 5]

I set myself not to add any work that are image oriented (graphic novel, manga, comic etc.) but I make the exception when they are companion shorts of written works, so yes, this one. I rate those higher, but this one's current average rating (3.63 as I type this) does surprise me a little. I wouldn't say I'm a super huge fan of the art style, but story wise, it sooooooooooooooo totally perked my interest and def. prompted me to revisit the series pronto, so a 5 for now until it ever gets to a 3.88. xP

[Meep · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great art. Lots of emotion and personality jumps off the page. Very well realised.

Think you need to be familiar with the characters and their story arc for it to make any sense, it's a little bonus for fans rather than an introduction to the series.
The book 'Jackdaw' didn't work for me which likely colours my rating.

[⚣Michaelle⚣ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.2 Stars

Lovely, lovely artwork prequel to Jackdaw.

[Jenn (not Lily) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and beautiful -- makes me ache for both Jonah and Ben!

[~Melissa~ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Valentine's day novella

[Claudia · Rating 5 out of 5]

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3

[Trix · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good art. That's pretty much it. Sadly, I read this after Jackdaw so the portrayal of the characters was different than what I had in mind from the book. But I liked the style of it.

[Dearbhla She-Her · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a visual teaser for the Jackdaw book. Like trailers for movies. It's not meant to be a separate story (for those reviewers who are expressing upset in the reviews here that it's too short). What it is is glorious! Beautifully executed. That play on words of the final sentence is just genius!

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oct 5/20 review -
I honestly don’t know how meaningful/understandable this illustrated short is for anyone who didn’t read Jackdaw. It’s too short IMO, I wish there was a bit more to it.

~~
Sep 19/19 review -
A short teaser of the story of Ben & Jonah. Well done.

Freebie from author.

[Gwendolyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute little addition.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh man, what a teaser!! Good thing I’m already reading Jackdaw. It’s a good setup for how the story begins and how Jonah and Ben react to seeing each other again. They’re just so heartbreaking!!!!

[S.M.M. Lindström · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and sweet, and has me hyped for reading the book that follows!

[Ollie Z Book Minx · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gorgeous. The final panel is too cute, though. I’d have liked to see the double meaning of Ben’s get you back ;)

[reader_a · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short comic prequel. Nice art and I especially liked the scene with Jonah and the flower sellers.

[Staring At A Star · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great intro comic for jackdaw.

[Gerisgrltrl2 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Graphic novel style short story takes place before Jackdaw

[LauraSt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awnnn great prequel to Jackdaw! Just broke my heart!

[♛ Federica ♛ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars; it's definitely too short to be considered a proper prequel, but it was a nice re-introduction to the characters and it had a really beautiful art style!

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was more comic than story. I was not a fan but I still love the series.

[Teeny · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lovely comic to start Jonah and Ben's story

[Emily Ozuna · Rating 4 out of 5]

OHMYGOD, WHAT IS HAPPENING?!

[Beaumont]

This was more like a mini intro, not a full story. Nice art!

[Preeti · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel I forgot to update this short when I read it....It has just 6pages but it really was beautifully written.

[Shelby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Little Valentine's Day backstory for Ben and Jonah before they find each other again. Nice quality of art to the graphic novel.