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The Will Darling Adventures #1
Slippery Creatures
Listening length: 7 hours and 6 minutes
Will Darling came back from the Great War with a few scars, a lot of medals, and no idea what to do next. Inheriting his uncle’s chaotic second-hand bookshop is a blessing...until strange visitors start making threats. First a criminal gang, then the War Office, both telling Will to give them the information they want, or else.
Will has no idea what that information is, and nobody to turn to, until Kim Secretan—charming, cultured, oddly attractive—steps in to offer help. As Kim and Will try to find answers and outrun trouble, mutual desire grows along with the danger.
And then Will discovers the truth about Kim. His identity, his past, his real intentions. Enraged and betrayed, Will never wants to see him again.
But Will possesses knowledge that could cost thousands of lives. Enemies are closing in on him from all sides—and Kim is the only man who can help.
A 1920s m/m romance trilogy in the spirit of Golden Age pulp fiction.
Will Darling came back from the Great War with a few scars, a lot of medals, and no idea what to do next. Inheriting his uncle’s chaotic second-hand bookshop is a blessing...until strange visitors start making threats. First a criminal gang, then the War Office, both telling Will to give them the information they want, or else.
Will has no idea what that information is, and nobody to turn to, until Kim Secretan—charming, cultured, oddly attractive—steps in to offer help. As Kim and Will try to find answers and outrun trouble, mutual desire grows along with the danger.
And then Will discovers the truth about Kim. His identity, his past, his real intentions. Enraged and betrayed, Will never wants to see him again.
But Will possesses knowledge that could cost thousands of lives. Enemies are closing in on him from all sides—and Kim is the only man who can help.
A 1920s m/m romance trilogy in the spirit of Golden Age pulp fiction.
7 pages, Audiobook
First published May 13, 2020
668 people are currently reading
20004 people want to read
About the author
K.J. Charles
65 books12.1k followersKJ 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 as I no longer check the inbox due to unwanted messages.
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 as I no longer check the inbox due to unwanted messages.
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January 12, 2025
‘Between greed and fanaticism people can justify anything.’
Secret documents, spies, and plenty of spice, Slippery Creatures from KJ Charles is a seductive little novel about a man who just wanted to organize his books. After inheriting his late Uncle’s bookshop following his return from the war, Will Darling was expecting a quiet life amongst the pages of novels but instead discovered he has also inherited a slippery little secret document men would kill for. Now he’s caught between tattooed henchmen, the British War Office and the dreamy yet possibly dangerous Kim Secretan. Moving at breakneck speed through a plot just as full of snarky humor and snappy dialogue as it is knife-fights, betrayal, shadowy intrigue, and a slow-burn romance, KJ Charles delivers an incredible period-piece spy drama that is nearly impossible to put down. Slippery Creatures is certainly a book you’ll want to get your hands on.
“You’re a bit of a mess, aren’t you?”
“My friend, you have no idea.”
First, a hearty thank you to Annaka and her review for not only getting me to read KJ Charles but pretty much half our library staff. I’m in my romance read era and Charles is certainly one of the best, being quite an effective period drama with a high-energy plot full of effective tension and twists while also delivering a romance story that is easy to root for and with as much action as the spy parts. I listened to this one on audio and Cornell Collins does an exceptional job as the reader, with plenty of excellent variations of British accents and a good growly voice that makes the spicy scenes extra spicy. I mean, I listened to this walking my dogs and this was spicy enough to melt the snow along the sidewalk, so thanks for looking out for us, Charles!
‘My dear chap, this is a bookshop. There’s never anywhere better to be.’
Slippery Creatures truly is a great deal of fun. It felt like an excellent BBC murder mystery series, being able to be just slightly over-the-top for maximum fun but never feeling foolish. The characters are outstanding. We have the endlessly lovable Will Darling who feels a bit like a John Watson character returned home from the war to discover there were no jobs and the people being thanked as heroes are begging for change on streetcorners. Luckily he was able to inherit the bookshop because ‘all he was good at now was killing people, which was discouraged,’ though these skills certainly come in handy when some tough guys and the government come demanding “The Information.” Unfortunately Will doesn’t know what The Information is (it is not, alas, an early copy of Beck’s 2006 album The Information) but he’s determined to find it first and take matters into his own hands. Enter Kim—full name Arthur Aloysius Kimberley de Brabazon Secretan—a complex character who’s assistance and eagerness in bed might be hiding his own set of secrets…
‘Calling it honour is putting ribbons on a pile of shit. It might look good, but it still stinks.’
I love that the characters are able to be flawed yet fully lovable. I love Will and even despite it all, it’s easy to love Kim. I mean, Will does so how can you not. ‘Suffice to say I love Kim dearly, but ‘love’ means an awful lot of things,’ he tells us. I also love how completely 1920’s British this is, with Charles really leaning into a lot of great lines and humor with that.
This was just a pure joy of a book that keeps you guessing and holding your breath as the walls are closing in for Will and keeps you rooting for our heroes. It is all so delightfully gay and riotously fun. And very Sherlock Holmes adjacent (did I occasionally imagine it in the world of The Great Mouse Detective? Perhaps.) Charles really has some great writing chops and Slippery Creatures is a lovely little read. I’m so glad this is the start of a trilogy because I will certainly be back for more and suspect I’ll be reading many more KJ Charles in the future.
4.5/5
‘Sorry, I’ve no time for a knife fight in the street on Thursday, could you make it Friday?’
Secret documents, spies, and plenty of spice, Slippery Creatures from KJ Charles is a seductive little novel about a man who just wanted to organize his books. After inheriting his late Uncle’s bookshop following his return from the war, Will Darling was expecting a quiet life amongst the pages of novels but instead discovered he has also inherited a slippery little secret document men would kill for. Now he’s caught between tattooed henchmen, the British War Office and the dreamy yet possibly dangerous Kim Secretan. Moving at breakneck speed through a plot just as full of snarky humor and snappy dialogue as it is knife-fights, betrayal, shadowy intrigue, and a slow-burn romance, KJ Charles delivers an incredible period-piece spy drama that is nearly impossible to put down. Slippery Creatures is certainly a book you’ll want to get your hands on.
“You’re a bit of a mess, aren’t you?”
“My friend, you have no idea.”
First, a hearty thank you to Annaka and her review for not only getting me to read KJ Charles but pretty much half our library staff. I’m in my romance read era and Charles is certainly one of the best, being quite an effective period drama with a high-energy plot full of effective tension and twists while also delivering a romance story that is easy to root for and with as much action as the spy parts. I listened to this one on audio and Cornell Collins does an exceptional job as the reader, with plenty of excellent variations of British accents and a good growly voice that makes the spicy scenes extra spicy. I mean, I listened to this walking my dogs and this was spicy enough to melt the snow along the sidewalk, so thanks for looking out for us, Charles!
‘My dear chap, this is a bookshop. There’s never anywhere better to be.’
Slippery Creatures truly is a great deal of fun. It felt like an excellent BBC murder mystery series, being able to be just slightly over-the-top for maximum fun but never feeling foolish. The characters are outstanding. We have the endlessly lovable Will Darling who feels a bit like a John Watson character returned home from the war to discover there were no jobs and the people being thanked as heroes are begging for change on streetcorners. Luckily he was able to inherit the bookshop because ‘all he was good at now was killing people, which was discouraged,’ though these skills certainly come in handy when some tough guys and the government come demanding “The Information.” Unfortunately Will doesn’t know what The Information is (it is not, alas, an early copy of Beck’s 2006 album The Information) but he’s determined to find it first and take matters into his own hands. Enter Kim—full name Arthur Aloysius Kimberley de Brabazon Secretan—a complex character who’s assistance and eagerness in bed might be hiding his own set of secrets…
‘Calling it honour is putting ribbons on a pile of shit. It might look good, but it still stinks.’
I love that the characters are able to be flawed yet fully lovable. I love Will and even despite it all, it’s easy to love Kim. I mean, Will does so how can you not. ‘Suffice to say I love Kim dearly, but ‘love’ means an awful lot of things,’ he tells us. I also love how completely 1920’s British this is, with Charles really leaning into a lot of great lines and humor with that.
‘He had no idea what civilians, or civilised people, would say in these circumstances. Thanks for that, old chap, much obliged, perhaps? Ought he apologise for coming in his mouth? Would this be a good moment to restart the conversation about where Kim had learned to use a knife? Thank God they were British. He took a deep breath. “Cup of tea?”’
This was just a pure joy of a book that keeps you guessing and holding your breath as the walls are closing in for Will and keeps you rooting for our heroes. It is all so delightfully gay and riotously fun. And very Sherlock Holmes adjacent (did I occasionally imagine it in the world of The Great Mouse Detective? Perhaps.) Charles really has some great writing chops and Slippery Creatures is a lovely little read. I’m so glad this is the start of a trilogy because I will certainly be back for more and suspect I’ll be reading many more KJ Charles in the future.
4.5/5
‘Sorry, I’ve no time for a knife fight in the street on Thursday, could you make it Friday?’
May 13, 2020
THE BELOW REVIEW FEELS SPOILERY, SO HERE'S A SPOILER-FREE SUMMARY.
Read if you like:
- electric slow-burns
- razor-sharp wit
- hilarious, unique and relatable characters
- anti-establishment spy vibes
- explosive chemistry
OKAY, NOW READ ON FOR THE MORE DETAILED BUT SLIGHTLY SPOILERY TAKE...
What does one even say about a book like this? I'll begin with the fact that it hooked me from start to finish despite my current case of Quarantine Brain. I'm struggling to focus on so many excellent books, but this one swept me violently away and I am so, so grateful.
I think I qualify as a Major KJ Charles Fan, so I was definitely expecting to enjoy Slippery Creatures - even though it's set in the 20s, an era I've never read in romance, and even though it's part of a trilogy, rather than a single-book romantic arc. I was prepared to like the story anyway, but I was not prepared for this story to MAKE ME love the 20s and MAKE ME love the fact that these heroes will get together slowly, over the course of three twisty books, instead of all at once.
And now I've spent a couple of paragraphs gushing while simultaneously saying nothing about the actual story. So. This book is a masterpiece of mystery, a corker of a character study, and a love letter to pulp fiction. It's the start of a slow-burn romance between plucky but disillusioned bookseller (and former WWI soldier) Will Darling and dodgy, beguiling, aristocratic b*stard Kim Secretan. I am hopelessly in love with them both, even though they couldn't be more different.
This romance has drama, intrigue, a thoroughly fed-up man who just wants to organise his bloody books, a secret plot, double-crossing, triple-crossing, knife fights, sexy looks of yearning, Noble Resistance to Physical Attraction, and excellent best friends. I could not recommend it more. Seriously. Read it. Now.
Read if you like:
- electric slow-burns
- razor-sharp wit
- hilarious, unique and relatable characters
- anti-establishment spy vibes
- explosive chemistry
OKAY, NOW READ ON FOR THE MORE DETAILED BUT SLIGHTLY SPOILERY TAKE...
What does one even say about a book like this? I'll begin with the fact that it hooked me from start to finish despite my current case of Quarantine Brain. I'm struggling to focus on so many excellent books, but this one swept me violently away and I am so, so grateful.
I think I qualify as a Major KJ Charles Fan, so I was definitely expecting to enjoy Slippery Creatures - even though it's set in the 20s, an era I've never read in romance, and even though it's part of a trilogy, rather than a single-book romantic arc. I was prepared to like the story anyway, but I was not prepared for this story to MAKE ME love the 20s and MAKE ME love the fact that these heroes will get together slowly, over the course of three twisty books, instead of all at once.
And now I've spent a couple of paragraphs gushing while simultaneously saying nothing about the actual story. So. This book is a masterpiece of mystery, a corker of a character study, and a love letter to pulp fiction. It's the start of a slow-burn romance between plucky but disillusioned bookseller (and former WWI soldier) Will Darling and dodgy, beguiling, aristocratic b*stard Kim Secretan. I am hopelessly in love with them both, even though they couldn't be more different.
This romance has drama, intrigue, a thoroughly fed-up man who just wants to organise his bloody books, a secret plot, double-crossing, triple-crossing, knife fights, sexy looks of yearning, Noble Resistance to Physical Attraction, and excellent best friends. I could not recommend it more. Seriously. Read it. Now.
July 4, 2021
“What I say is, one can be as moral as one likes but one should have the courtesy to do it in private, like any other bad habit.”
K.J. Charles certainly knows how to write an entertaining story. I already expressed my sincere appreciation of her books, but I’ll say it again — she certainly knows how to grab your attention with a clever plot, compelling characters and easy narrative flow, not to mention spicing it up just a tad with a rather non-cringeworthy romance bit.
Thank God they were British. He took a deep breath. “Cup of tea?”It’s early 1920s, and life is tough for former soldiers in Britain, trying to stay afloat after years spent fighting in the Great War. Will Darling is lucky to have inherited a second-hand bookshop from his namesake uncle that he barely knew. Of course, pretty soon he figures out that his lucky inheritance also comes with the unexpected side of having to defend himself from both War Office and a secret brutal gang trying to make him hand over some mysterious and apparently vital “information” that his uncle apparently had been entrusted with prior to his sudden death.
And Will is confused — but also beyond irritated by everyone bursting into his affairs and treating him as a punching bag, especially as he comes to learn that “between greed and fanaticism people can justify anything.”
“I was good at it,” Will said. “I enjoyed it. The danger and the challenge, mostly, but killing was part of the game too, and it was a lot better than sitting on my arse in a trench. I volunteered to go kill men who I’d have had a drink with if I’d met them in a pub, and that wasn’t courage, just a twist in the head that went the other way round to shellshock. Calling it honour is putting ribbons on a pile of shit. It might look good, but it still stinks.”
Lucky for him, a mysterious and full of secrets Kim Secretan ( suddenly enters Will’s life at the most opportune moment, with all the aristocratic splendor and surprising fighting skills, and bad reputation combined with good looks. Lucky coincidence? Perhaps not, because something is definitely fishy here. And Will is now at the end of his rope — but luckily, he is good with the weapons after his war experiences, and is overall a bright chap that nobody should have messed with. Not even Kim.
“He is, isn’t he? Or, rather, no, he isn’t. Kind.” She appeared to consider the word. “He does things when he thinks they ought to be done, but I don’t know if that’s kindness or just rightness. Do you know what I mean? Kim says, Well, that needs to be dealt with, and he deals with it, and then you’ll be sorry.”
It’s a fun mystery story with all the perks of the genre. Charles balances very well between lighthearted snappy banter and heartwarming scenes and maintaining suspense and high stakes with rather dark undertones. It made me chuckle, it made me nod in sympathy, and it also at times made me both edgy and angry. And I never stopped feeling very entertained. She made her characters feel real, with enough flaws and redeeming qualities. Phoebe was a lovely supporting character. And seriously, I still have no idea how I even feel about Kim, considering all the good and terrible things that he does and his whole contradictory personality. That’s one seriously problematic man who needs to get his shit together or else he does not deserve Will in the least.
I loved it. I’m seriously getting hooked on K.J. Charles’ stories and I’m very happy that she seems to be an exceptionally prolific writer. You can tell that she clearly has a lot of fun writing these — and I plan to have a lot of fun reading them.
“Scheduled mayhem is more convenient? I suppose you can put it in your diary. Work around it.”
“‘Sorry, I’ve no time for a knife fight in the street on Thursday, could you make it Friday?’”
4 happy stars.
Kim exhaled hard. “We appear to be locked in competition as to who has less of a spine.”
————
2021: Revisited on audio prior to reading book 3 in the series. It’s even more fun this way :)
————
My review of the second book in the series, Sugared Game, is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
December 4, 2020
Real Rating: 4.5* of five
The whole review is posted on my blog.
If you remade NOTORIOUS with Steve Cochran opposite Cary Grant instead of Ingrid Bergman, it would feel a lot like this read. And I hope y'all've been paying enough attention to me to know that I mean this as a deep and sincere compliment.
A lovely period piece in the vein of the smoldering hot film about finding Nazi spies. This was as much fun as I can remember having in ages. And, as a note to lazier writers, I will point out that, at precisely no time did Author Charles drop a single, foul, heinously overused w-bomb. Not one. I assure you that the opportunity was present any number of times...I went back to re-read a certain bookstore scene to be quite, quite sure I hadn't simply elided the ghastly thing, it was so juicily ripe for one...but Author Charles never once depressed the giant red button.
For that, and for the delights of Will and Kim's wounding word-play, I am most profoundly grateful.
The whole review is posted on my blog.
If you remade NOTORIOUS with Steve Cochran opposite Cary Grant instead of Ingrid Bergman, it would feel a lot like this read. And I hope y'all've been paying enough attention to me to know that I mean this as a deep and sincere compliment.
A lovely period piece in the vein of the smoldering hot film about finding Nazi spies. This was as much fun as I can remember having in ages. And, as a note to lazier writers, I will point out that, at precisely no time did Author Charles drop a single, foul, heinously overused w-bomb. Not one. I assure you that the opportunity was present any number of times...I went back to re-read a certain bookstore scene to be quite, quite sure I hadn't simply elided the ghastly thing, it was so juicily ripe for one...but Author Charles never once depressed the giant red button.
For that, and for the delights of Will and Kim's wounding word-play, I am most profoundly grateful.
January 28, 2024
read a bad review of this book a couple years ago that was like, "if lucy pulling the football out from charlie brown a bunch of times was a spy romance." and that really illuminates the fundamental subjectivity of what we're all doing here, because yeah, that's exactly right. one bajillion/10
June 22, 2021
*5 stars +++*
Read for a third time June 2021
Some books are simply a joy to reread again and again. Kim and Will lost nothing of their appeal for me the third time round. Only problem ... my highlights are starting to take over the book. 😅
Reread August 2020
Needless to say I loved this all over again. I totally adore Will, the way he is willing to stick up for his principles and high moral code. He is a 100% genuine guy. Despite all the trickery and betrayals we can see that Kim has also a very vulnerable side, something Will with his sharp mind and acute observation skills has noticed, too.
Loved (again) what happens in the bedroom between them - the passion and heat with generous helpings of tentative feels.
Can't wait to find out more in book 2!
Original review:
This is simply … brilliant.
Brilliant, gripping, heart-warming, funny, tense, fabulously British and so very clever.
It was one of the very few books this year so far, I had serious trouble putting down, be it for food, sleep or a conversation (sorry husband I was grumpy when you interrupted me.)
I was all in within seconds of starting and couldn’t believe where the plot was taking me – the intrigue, the betrayal, the tangled feelings, the action and the very satisfactory outcome.
Saying that, I’m not talking a HEA here. It can’t be – this is a trilogy with the next book released (hopefully) in July.
I really loved the complicated ‘relationship’ between the two men. It’s a roller coaster between sizzling attraction, genuine like, betrayal, hurt and, quite deservedly, a huge portion of distrust on Will’s side. I really couldn’t imagine, not even up to 90%, how these two men could be together or get on at all, so much has happened between them, and yet ... it does work.
The chemistry between Will and Kim is virtually tangible, and what happens in the bedroom is not only hot, but emotionally sigh-worthy. And there’s a lot of promise for further developments here! I swooned, I sighed, I smiled, my heart was aching in all the right places. What more can you ask for?
This is as wonderful and captivating as ‘The Magpie Lord’ and ‘Society of Gentlemen’ series.
I can’t wait for further revelations about the mystery surrounding Kim and what Will’s up to next.
One of the lines that made me really chuckle. This occurs after Will and Kim have their first sexual encounter (and mind, this is in the Twenties)...
He (Will) had no idea what civilians, or civilised people, would say in these circumstances. Thanks for that, old chap, much obliged, perhaps? Ought he apologise for coming in his mouth? Would this be a good moment to restart the conversation about where Kim had learned to use a knife?
Thank God they were British. He took a deep breath. “Cup of tea?”
Highly recommended!
Read for a third time June 2021
Some books are simply a joy to reread again and again. Kim and Will lost nothing of their appeal for me the third time round. Only problem ... my highlights are starting to take over the book. 😅
Reread August 2020
Needless to say I loved this all over again. I totally adore Will, the way he is willing to stick up for his principles and high moral code. He is a 100% genuine guy. Despite all the trickery and betrayals we can see that Kim has also a very vulnerable side, something Will with his sharp mind and acute observation skills has noticed, too.
Loved (again) what happens in the bedroom between them - the passion and heat with generous helpings of tentative feels.
Can't wait to find out more in book 2!
Original review:
This is simply … brilliant.
Brilliant, gripping, heart-warming, funny, tense, fabulously British and so very clever.
It was one of the very few books this year so far, I had serious trouble putting down, be it for food, sleep or a conversation (sorry husband I was grumpy when you interrupted me.)
I was all in within seconds of starting and couldn’t believe where the plot was taking me – the intrigue, the betrayal, the tangled feelings, the action and the very satisfactory outcome.
Saying that, I’m not talking a HEA here. It can’t be – this is a trilogy with the next book released (hopefully) in July.
I really loved the complicated ‘relationship’ between the two men. It’s a roller coaster between sizzling attraction, genuine like, betrayal, hurt and, quite deservedly, a huge portion of distrust on Will’s side. I really couldn’t imagine, not even up to 90%, how these two men could be together or get on at all, so much has happened between them, and yet ... it does work.
The chemistry between Will and Kim is virtually tangible, and what happens in the bedroom is not only hot, but emotionally sigh-worthy. And there’s a lot of promise for further developments here! I swooned, I sighed, I smiled, my heart was aching in all the right places. What more can you ask for?
This is as wonderful and captivating as ‘The Magpie Lord’ and ‘Society of Gentlemen’ series.
I can’t wait for further revelations about the mystery surrounding Kim and what Will’s up to next.
One of the lines that made me really chuckle. This occurs after Will and Kim have their first sexual encounter (and mind, this is in the Twenties)...
He (Will) had no idea what civilians, or civilised people, would say in these circumstances. Thanks for that, old chap, much obliged, perhaps? Ought he apologise for coming in his mouth? Would this be a good moment to restart the conversation about where Kim had learned to use a knife?
Thank God they were British. He took a deep breath. “Cup of tea?”
Highly recommended!
June 8, 2024
Two hot idiots get tangled up in a conspiracy and each other when the bigger idiot inherits a bookshop full of secrets. Kim makes it super clear to Will that he can’t be trusted but Will doesn’t care because Kim smells really good so what can you do. Mystery! Murder! Bureaucracy being the worst! This book has it all!
August 24, 2023
Fabulous historical and fabulous writing. I read these 3 books in a sitting. KJ Charles managed to blend beautifully romance and mystery and created a variety of interesting characters-some of them more lovable than others. I absolutely adored Will , I loved everything about him (though I couldn’t help being a bit disappointed by his reaction to Kim’s first vulnerable “I love you,I want a future with you”, understandable as it was..)
As for Kim , I loved him enough but I don’t think the author succeeded to properly flash him out . It was a challenge to connect with him. Still the romance was sweet and beautiful with very good and sensual intimate scenes.
The side characters were amazing-Phoebe and Maisie were just fantastic . Excellent books but I already knew I would love them, KJ Charls is a brilliant author.
As for Kim , I loved him enough but I don’t think the author succeeded to properly flash him out . It was a challenge to connect with him. Still the romance was sweet and beautiful with very good and sensual intimate scenes.
The side characters were amazing-Phoebe and Maisie were just fantastic . Excellent books but I already knew I would love them, KJ Charls is a brilliant author.
July 25, 2020
3.5 Historical Hearts! - Team review with Adam!
I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not a historical MM connoisseur but Charles’s Magpies series is one of my favorites, and I’ve been wishy washy over what next to read of this author’s and instead of diving right in, I’ve avoided them all until now.
To say the least, I’m charmed, especially titillated by the idea that the rest of this trilogy is planned to come out this year and features one couple - all of which greatly appealed to my quirky preferences.
As per the blurb, this stars Will Darling, a somewhat hardened young fellow who’s been down on his luck having returned from the war and instead of being embraced, has had a hard go of it. When he falls into a fortuitous inheritance of his uncle’s bookstore, the last thing he’s prepared for is to be embroiled in a treacherous push pull by what seems like the military and a secret society - both hell bent on getting a hold of some very nebulous but sinister knowledge of his uncle’s that may or may not benefit mankind (depending on whose side one is on). Now Will is very practical, and just because someone demands something without due cause or adequate explanation, doesn't mean he’ll automatically comply even if he had a clue as to what everyone was making such a fuss over.
When a stranger becomes friendly and offers his help, Will can’t help but be persuaded to accept the generosity from sophisticated handsome Kim Secretan, who has plenty of his own secrets and a hidden agenda as well.
There’s no doubt Charles can write a tangled tale. Points towards making Will an upstanding character for he’s no slouch. At times, I questioned his belief that all men should play fairly and honorably which often got him into certain sticky situations, but the man is not a pushover, and though he doesn't hold any high opinions for the government, aristocracy, or scary faceless bullies, Will knows what’s good and just and he won’t be forced into anything untoward if he has any say about it!
So yes, Will is played and betrayed, and the story is fast paced with twists and turns providing plenty of mystery, a bit of suspenseful action, and a slow development of the attraction between him and Kim that results in some nice (lite dirty) smexy!
The main conflict is technically resolved, but the overall story arc remains to be further explored. There’s a fragile truce between scrappy Will and idealistic Kim at the end of this first installment, and I’m intrigued by their dynamic and am saving rating stars for what I hope will be an even bigger payoff that’s sure to come in their future adventures (and definitely, the feels) that hopefully await them!
Thank you to the author for a copy in exchange for an honest review
I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not a historical MM connoisseur but Charles’s Magpies series is one of my favorites, and I’ve been wishy washy over what next to read of this author’s and instead of diving right in, I’ve avoided them all until now.
To say the least, I’m charmed, especially titillated by the idea that the rest of this trilogy is planned to come out this year and features one couple - all of which greatly appealed to my quirky preferences.
As per the blurb, this stars Will Darling, a somewhat hardened young fellow who’s been down on his luck having returned from the war and instead of being embraced, has had a hard go of it. When he falls into a fortuitous inheritance of his uncle’s bookstore, the last thing he’s prepared for is to be embroiled in a treacherous push pull by what seems like the military and a secret society - both hell bent on getting a hold of some very nebulous but sinister knowledge of his uncle’s that may or may not benefit mankind (depending on whose side one is on). Now Will is very practical, and just because someone demands something without due cause or adequate explanation, doesn't mean he’ll automatically comply even if he had a clue as to what everyone was making such a fuss over.
When a stranger becomes friendly and offers his help, Will can’t help but be persuaded to accept the generosity from sophisticated handsome Kim Secretan, who has plenty of his own secrets and a hidden agenda as well.
There’s no doubt Charles can write a tangled tale. Points towards making Will an upstanding character for he’s no slouch. At times, I questioned his belief that all men should play fairly and honorably which often got him into certain sticky situations, but the man is not a pushover, and though he doesn't hold any high opinions for the government, aristocracy, or scary faceless bullies, Will knows what’s good and just and he won’t be forced into anything untoward if he has any say about it!
So yes, Will is played and betrayed, and the story is fast paced with twists and turns providing plenty of mystery, a bit of suspenseful action, and a slow development of the attraction between him and Kim that results in some nice (lite dirty) smexy!
The main conflict is technically resolved, but the overall story arc remains to be further explored. There’s a fragile truce between scrappy Will and idealistic Kim at the end of this first installment, and I’m intrigued by their dynamic and am saving rating stars for what I hope will be an even bigger payoff that’s sure to come in their future adventures (and definitely, the feels) that hopefully await them!
Thank you to the author for a copy in exchange for an honest review
April 12, 2021
Darling is sassy!
The humor and the entertainment in the writing is everything what I wasn't looking for but which I really needed that I didn't know.
I just want to meet the uncle who started with all the code to solve the mystery.
The plot is thick and all it involves is a book shop with lots and lots of books, and the scary people ready to pounce on our sassy main character.
We just got to look for the hint in the books.
And...the characters. Damn. I love their chemistry so much. Each character introduced has a looming presence.
What's with the names of the characters though?
(I want to name my next let Ingoldsby!)
There's this scientist guarding his secrets, the uncle who had hidden the hints in the books, the clueless righteous Darling and the others he could or couldn't trust. But it all worked out well.
The book just flew by. I am not a mystery fan and it would have been really boring if the writing wasn't this good and the characters weren't fun.
The romance?
Well .... Shhhh. I expected more and my heart is weeping frustrations the whole time.
But apart from that I loved the character dynamics so much!
The friendship, the frenemies, the actual enemies, the Libra (brrrrr......)
And yes to lots of action. I hope there's more in the second book.
This book actually turned out much better than I had expected.
I want an adaptation soon!
Ah, there's the second book to read. Muah!
The humor and the entertainment in the writing is everything what I wasn't looking for but which I really needed that I didn't know.
I just want to meet the uncle who started with all the code to solve the mystery.
The plot is thick and all it involves is a book shop with lots and lots of books, and the scary people ready to pounce on our sassy main character.
We just got to look for the hint in the books.
And...the characters. Damn. I love their chemistry so much. Each character introduced has a looming presence.
What's with the names of the characters though?
(I want to name my next let Ingoldsby!)
There's this scientist guarding his secrets, the uncle who had hidden the hints in the books, the clueless righteous Darling and the others he could or couldn't trust. But it all worked out well.
The book just flew by. I am not a mystery fan and it would have been really boring if the writing wasn't this good and the characters weren't fun.
The romance?
Well .... Shhhh. I expected more and my heart is weeping frustrations the whole time.
But apart from that I loved the character dynamics so much!
The friendship, the frenemies, the actual enemies, the Libra (brrrrr......)
And yes to lots of action. I hope there's more in the second book.
This book actually turned out much better than I had expected.
I want an adaptation soon!
Ah, there's the second book to read. Muah!
June 26, 2024
Is there such a thing as cozy political subterfuge romance? I feel like there is now. This was a low stakes good time that I thoroughly enjoyed, which is what I have come to expect from a KJC novel for me.
I think my favourite thing in this book was that it felt like everyone kept underestimating Will cause he isn’t some savvy political spy, but like, old mate was a very good soldier and survived longer than most and was instead happy enough to just flat out kill people if needed 😂😂 and everyone just seemed to forget that.
I’m keen to see how Will and Kim’s relationship develops after Kim was such a shit. I listened to this by audiobook and thought the narration was a great addition to the character of the story.
I think my favourite thing in this book was that it felt like everyone kept underestimating Will cause he isn’t some savvy political spy, but like, old mate was a very good soldier and survived longer than most and was instead happy enough to just flat out kill people if needed 😂😂 and everyone just seemed to forget that.
I’m keen to see how Will and Kim’s relationship develops after Kim was such a shit. I listened to this by audiobook and thought the narration was a great addition to the character of the story.
August 30, 2020
3.5
Will Darling, king of stubbornness and morality methinks
Will Darling, king of stubbornness and morality methinks
May 28, 2023
“You’re a bit of a mess, aren’t you?”
“My friend, you have no idea.”
Rating: ★★★★★ /5
Spicy Level: 🌶🌶🌶🌶 /5
Always worth a reread 💕
May 14, 2020
Not the greatest of KJ Charles' books. Starts out as a sort of spy mystery but the plot quickly falls flat and ridiculously predictable. My biggest qualm was that I didn't like the protagonists. Kim was an utter asshole and Will was an incorrigible idiot. It was almost cringy watching him make stupid mistakes and misplace his trust again and again. Kinda like Charlie Brown with the football. At some point I just want to throw my hands in the air and accept that he will never learn better. Because of Will's idiocy and Kim's obvious deceit I couldn't bring myself to enjoy the more erotic scenes. There was little to no romance. They fell in lust with each other more than love. I'm not overly excited for the sequel. I just expected a higher level of thrill and mystery from the creator of Any Old Diamonds and Think of England.
July 28, 2025
this has immediately skyrocketed to #1 on my list of KJ Charles books. sis the drama
April 15, 2020
4.5 very satisfied stars
On this basis of this terrific start, this trilogy is going to be vintage KJC - one of the high points of her writing.
What's so good about it?
Well, for a start, this is a clever book, as most of her books are. It's clever in its nod to the pulp fiction of the time - nasty anarchists, missing papers, innocent heroes caught up and proving their worth under fire. It's clever in the way it subverts its own context: the hero is disillusioned rather than innocent, the forces of the Establishment are equally as suspicious as the nasty anarchists. It's also clever in the way the plot is worked out: there's a particularly nifty bit of plot laying in an early chapter that lies in wait until - bam! - it turns the tables at the end.
But - and I think this is one of the reasons KJC is so popular -the whole book is flatteringly clever. There are twists (OMG, are there twists!), but ju-u-u-st before the twist, ju-u-u-st before poor Will is set adrift again, we get there. We suspect what Will hasn't yet noticed. And that's really clever: to set up a satisfying twist that, yes, surprises us, but which we get before the hero does. Clever old us!
So this is a clever book. It's also a book with a heart. I think KJC is best at love stories where she can set up two things - a slow burn, and real pain. The less satisfying of her books are those where the love story is (faintly) rushed e.g. "Spectred Isle" and "Any Old Diamonds". These are books where the ILY feels dragged in a bit at the end, and where the relationship has taken a bit of a backseat to the plot. Think instead of, say, "A Seditious Affair" or "An Unseen Attraction", or the Magpie Trilogy. In those books, there is space to explore relationships at more leisure, either because (An Unseen Attraction) the book starts where the MCs are already friends, or (the Magpie Trilogy) there are three books to spread the development over.
All of which is a long way round of saying that the ending of Slippery Creatures, though it's neither an HEA nor really an HFN, is actually very satisfying. The relationship between Will and Kim is developing slowly, and with depth. There's pain involved (mental not physical!), which takes the connection beyond a merely superficial physical attraction, though that's described in satisfying detail too! What I particularly liked was the sense of equality between the MCs. There have been a couple of recent KJCs where I felt an imbalance of power between the MCs: one MC was larger, more commanding, cleverer, more powerful than the other. Here, while there was a risk that Kim (rich, aristocratic, well-connected, in the know) could come across as dominant, he displays weaknesses that soften that Crane-like aspect. Will, on the other hand, is no pushover: he's bright, assertive, and absolutely willing to challenge Kim's take-charge elements.
The other reason this is a book with a heart is that the supporting characters of Phoebe and Maisie are just, well, darling! It's happily clear that both are going to have roles to play in the next book, and I, for one, can't wait.
I received an ARC of this book from the author in exchange for my unbiased review.
On this basis of this terrific start, this trilogy is going to be vintage KJC - one of the high points of her writing.
What's so good about it?
Well, for a start, this is a clever book, as most of her books are. It's clever in its nod to the pulp fiction of the time - nasty anarchists, missing papers, innocent heroes caught up and proving their worth under fire. It's clever in the way it subverts its own context: the hero is disillusioned rather than innocent, the forces of the Establishment are equally as suspicious as the nasty anarchists. It's also clever in the way the plot is worked out: there's a particularly nifty bit of plot laying in an early chapter that lies in wait until - bam! - it turns the tables at the end.
But - and I think this is one of the reasons KJC is so popular -the whole book is flatteringly clever. There are twists (OMG, are there twists!), but ju-u-u-st before the twist, ju-u-u-st before poor Will is set adrift again, we get there. We suspect what Will hasn't yet noticed. And that's really clever: to set up a satisfying twist that, yes, surprises us, but which we get before the hero does. Clever old us!
So this is a clever book. It's also a book with a heart. I think KJC is best at love stories where she can set up two things - a slow burn, and real pain. The less satisfying of her books are those where the love story is (faintly) rushed e.g. "Spectred Isle" and "Any Old Diamonds". These are books where the ILY feels dragged in a bit at the end, and where the relationship has taken a bit of a backseat to the plot. Think instead of, say, "A Seditious Affair" or "An Unseen Attraction", or the Magpie Trilogy. In those books, there is space to explore relationships at more leisure, either because (An Unseen Attraction) the book starts where the MCs are already friends, or (the Magpie Trilogy) there are three books to spread the development over.
All of which is a long way round of saying that the ending of Slippery Creatures, though it's neither an HEA nor really an HFN, is actually very satisfying. The relationship between Will and Kim is developing slowly, and with depth. There's pain involved (mental not physical!), which takes the connection beyond a merely superficial physical attraction, though that's described in satisfying detail too! What I particularly liked was the sense of equality between the MCs. There have been a couple of recent KJCs where I felt an imbalance of power between the MCs: one MC was larger, more commanding, cleverer, more powerful than the other. Here, while there was a risk that Kim (rich, aristocratic, well-connected, in the know) could come across as dominant, he displays weaknesses that soften that Crane-like aspect. Will, on the other hand, is no pushover: he's bright, assertive, and absolutely willing to challenge Kim's take-charge elements.
The other reason this is a book with a heart is that the supporting characters of Phoebe and Maisie are just, well, darling! It's happily clear that both are going to have roles to play in the next book, and I, for one, can't wait.
I received an ARC of this book from the author in exchange for my unbiased review.
July 6, 2021
I might have a crush on Kim Secretan... 😌😉
*pats herself on the shoulder* It was a good decision to drop the audio, so I could enjoy the story to the fullest. Nothing wrong with his performance, but I had a feeling the narrator was ambling for a new world record. My brain is too mushy at the moment for this kind of speed talking. 🤷♀️
*pats herself on the shoulder* It was a good decision to drop the audio, so I could enjoy the story to the fullest. Nothing wrong with his performance, but I had a feeling the narrator was ambling for a new world record. My brain is too mushy at the moment for this kind of speed talking. 🤷♀️
November 19, 2021
Well this was AWESOME!
I'm officially a KJ Charles fan....
What I loved:
- The mystery
- The Characters
- The Steam
- The intrigue and the twists and turns
- The writing style
- The snark
- The female secondary characters
What a GREAT book!
I'm officially a KJ Charles fan....
What I loved:
- The mystery
- The Characters
- The Steam
- The intrigue and the twists and turns
- The writing style
- The snark
- The female secondary characters
What a GREAT book!
December 7, 2020
4 Stars
K.J. Charles’ latest series-starter is a riveting M/M escapade of romance, mystery and adventure.
Set in London during the roaring-twenties, Slippery Creatures weaves an engaging tale full of double dealings, hidden agendas and secret societies, with a dash of passion and a dollop of action and suspense, and all set in and around a second-hand bookstore. *happy sigh*
The story follows the plights of war veteran Will Darling, whose newly-inherited bookstore becomes the keen focus of several questionable individuals, who seem to think Will and his bookstore are the keepers of some highly secretive and potentially dangerous information, that some people are going to great (oftentimes menacing and violent) lengths to be the first to attain.
In his bafflement, and in his obstinacy, Will refuses to give in to demands by some to search the store themselves, after he makes it clear he himself knows nothing of this wanted information or it’s hidden location within the bookstore. But when threats to his well-being and his new livelihood continue to grow, Will finds himself trusting and seeking the assistance of friendly aristocrat Kim Secretan, who after saving Will from potential harm, offers his services to help Will sort through the store and work out what everyone wants so badly and why.
This story was quite a mysterious ride, keeping Will and the reader scrabbling to work out who was trustworthy and what it was everybody was after. As the plot unfolded, more interesting reveals were made, setting a complex web of conflicting agendas and unexpected deceits.
I was well and truly immersed in the plot, liking how the events played out and appreciating that the layered storytelling here was just the groundwork in a bigger series arc of mystery and adventure.
As a couple, I liked Will and Kim’s tumultuous chemistry, particularly given their opposing societal statuses and their conflicting scruples and political beliefs. Although they seemed ill-fitted when all was said and done, their passion and tenderness for one another was all-consuming, and I’m very keen to see where, or how, their connection will go as the story progresses in the sequels.
K.J. Charles’ latest series-starter is a riveting M/M escapade of romance, mystery and adventure.
Set in London during the roaring-twenties, Slippery Creatures weaves an engaging tale full of double dealings, hidden agendas and secret societies, with a dash of passion and a dollop of action and suspense, and all set in and around a second-hand bookstore. *happy sigh*
The story follows the plights of war veteran Will Darling, whose newly-inherited bookstore becomes the keen focus of several questionable individuals, who seem to think Will and his bookstore are the keepers of some highly secretive and potentially dangerous information, that some people are going to great (oftentimes menacing and violent) lengths to be the first to attain.
In his bafflement, and in his obstinacy, Will refuses to give in to demands by some to search the store themselves, after he makes it clear he himself knows nothing of this wanted information or it’s hidden location within the bookstore. But when threats to his well-being and his new livelihood continue to grow, Will finds himself trusting and seeking the assistance of friendly aristocrat Kim Secretan, who after saving Will from potential harm, offers his services to help Will sort through the store and work out what everyone wants so badly and why.
This story was quite a mysterious ride, keeping Will and the reader scrabbling to work out who was trustworthy and what it was everybody was after. As the plot unfolded, more interesting reveals were made, setting a complex web of conflicting agendas and unexpected deceits.
I was well and truly immersed in the plot, liking how the events played out and appreciating that the layered storytelling here was just the groundwork in a bigger series arc of mystery and adventure.
As a couple, I liked Will and Kim’s tumultuous chemistry, particularly given their opposing societal statuses and their conflicting scruples and political beliefs. Although they seemed ill-fitted when all was said and done, their passion and tenderness for one another was all-consuming, and I’m very keen to see where, or how, their connection will go as the story progresses in the sequels.
April 15, 2020
I read this 1920s-set romantic adventure on one of the most stressful days that I can remember, and it really saved me. It's so much fun!
Will Darling was an excellent, much-awarded soldier in World War I but has been at loose ends ever since...until he inherits his uncle's used bookshop and gets thrown into a lethal adventure full of secret agents, the War Office, a very nasty gang, kidnappings galore, treachery and hidden secrets. Luckily, it turns out that all of the skills he developed in the trenches come in remarkably handy as he charges around London in the company of a very intriguing romantic interest who may or may not be in the slightest bit reliable.
The ending is fantastically handled, and I can't wait for Will and Kim's next adventures in the rest of this trilogy! (It's not a Happy Ever After ending, just a Hmm, Let's See What Happens Next ending, but I found it REALLY satisfying.) And I'm so grateful that I got a chance to read this ARC just when I most needed it!
PS: I've read enough adventure novels from the period to really enjoy the resonance with the kind of fast-paced, fun British spy-work adventures written by John Buchan (The 39 Steps), etc., but Slippery Creatures felt entirely fresh and immersive (and was thankfully missing any of the racism you'll find in most of the actual books written during that period; it has a diverse cast of characters who are wonderful, and I'm particularly looking forward to the development of a relationship between two particular side-characters later in this series).
Will Darling was an excellent, much-awarded soldier in World War I but has been at loose ends ever since...until he inherits his uncle's used bookshop and gets thrown into a lethal adventure full of secret agents, the War Office, a very nasty gang, kidnappings galore, treachery and hidden secrets. Luckily, it turns out that all of the skills he developed in the trenches come in remarkably handy as he charges around London in the company of a very intriguing romantic interest who may or may not be in the slightest bit reliable.
The ending is fantastically handled, and I can't wait for Will and Kim's next adventures in the rest of this trilogy! (It's not a Happy Ever After ending, just a Hmm, Let's See What Happens Next ending, but I found it REALLY satisfying.) And I'm so grateful that I got a chance to read this ARC just when I most needed it!
PS: I've read enough adventure novels from the period to really enjoy the resonance with the kind of fast-paced, fun British spy-work adventures written by John Buchan (The 39 Steps), etc., but Slippery Creatures felt entirely fresh and immersive (and was thankfully missing any of the racism you'll find in most of the actual books written during that period; it has a diverse cast of characters who are wonderful, and I'm particularly looking forward to the development of a relationship between two particular side-characters later in this series).
February 16, 2024
Will es un soldado retirado, sin trabajo y sin familia, mas que un tío lejano dueño de una librería. Su tío, al ser un hombre mayor, sin mas herederos que el propio Will, le deja su librería que es también su casa. Lo que no sabe Will, es que además le deja un secreto que le puede costar la vida. Así se ve en medio de una lucha entre dos bandos, donde solo se podrá salvar si logra descubrir el secreto que guardaba su tío y entregarlo a quien corresponde. El problema, es el orgullo y la terquedad de Will, cuando se entera de que se trata el secreto y porque ambos bandos lo desean. Ahora tendrá que ver como pude sobrevivir en esta lucha sin darle a ninguno de los bandos lo que desea.
Es un libro mas de acción, intriga, misterio que romance, pero con todo tiene sus momentos donde uno quiere que la pareja se de cuenta de sus sentimientos. Por supuesto, este libro esta ambientado a principios del siglo XX, después de la 1er guerra mundial, y por eso vemos tantas restricciones en las relaciones entre parejas del mismo sexo, además de las descripciones de los lugares y las personas. Sin embargo, la trama es bastante actual, y si el autor no hiciera tantas referencias a la época, uno podría colocar el libro en ese siglo sin mayores inconvenientes.
No es el mejor libro que he leído de este autor, pero resulta igual de interesante, así que voy a continuar con la lectura de la serie para ver hasta donde nos lleva con este nuevo personaje.
Es un libro mas de acción, intriga, misterio que romance, pero con todo tiene sus momentos donde uno quiere que la pareja se de cuenta de sus sentimientos. Por supuesto, este libro esta ambientado a principios del siglo XX, después de la 1er guerra mundial, y por eso vemos tantas restricciones en las relaciones entre parejas del mismo sexo, además de las descripciones de los lugares y las personas. Sin embargo, la trama es bastante actual, y si el autor no hiciera tantas referencias a la época, uno podría colocar el libro en ese siglo sin mayores inconvenientes.
No es el mejor libro que he leído de este autor, pero resulta igual de interesante, así que voy a continuar con la lectura de la serie para ver hasta donde nos lleva con este nuevo personaje.
June 14, 2020
I've given this an A at AAR.
K.J. Charles’ new series, The Will Darling Adventures , is a set of three rip-roaring adventure yarns in the style of 1920s pulp fiction, so readers can expect thrilling adventures, clever mysteries, dastardly deeds, and evil villains pitted against tough, tenacious and upstanding (well, mostly) heroes who triumph against all the odds. Needless to say, when the author announced this was to be her next project, I was rubbing my hands with glee in eager anticipation!
Slippery Creatures is book one, and in it, we meet the charmingly named Will Darling (which always made me smile whenever I read it – it made mt think of Blackadder !) who went to the front at eighteen and returned to England to discover, as did the thousands of other men returning from France and Belgium in 1918-19, that the country had managed perfectly well without them, and that there was little to no work and no other way to keep body and soul together. Will lost his father when he was young, and his mother to the Spanish Flu while he waited to be demobbed, and was barely eking out an existence doing odd jobs here and there. When things became desperate, he wrote to his uncle – his namesake – who welcomed him with open arms, took him in and gave him a job in his shop. But just a couple of months later, William Senior is dead and Will is alone and in possession of Darling’s Used and Antiquarian bookshop.
And that’s when the trouble starts.
Will is still trying to get to grips with the shop, which could best be described as barely organised chaos, when a man approaches him and demands he hands over the information. Taken aback, Will quite honestly says he has no idea what he’s talking about; the man refuses to believe him and gets belligerent; Will becomes equally so and throws him out, thinking that’s an end of it. Until the early hours of the next morning, when he is woken by the unmistakeable sounds of someone moving around in the shop. Will manages to run off the intruders – two of them – and when he checks the shop he can find nothing missing.
Already annoyed, Will isn’t pleased to receive a visit the next afternoon from a couple of men in suits who reek of officialdom, one of whom introduces himself as Captain Ingoldsby of the War Office. During their conversation Will realises he’s been confused with his uncle (not that that makes things any clearer) and takes exception to Ingoldsby’s high-handed demand that he co-operate with him and allow the shop to be searched. Will’s at the end of his tether when he’s visited by yet another thug – in broad daylight – who fortunately runs away when another customer appears in the shop. The man – tall, dark, good-looking, charming – introduces himself as Kim Secretan and helps Will straighten the place up a bit, then takes him for a drink at the local pub.
Worn out, worn down, fed up with being lonely and belatedly in shock at having been attacked (again), Will isn’t going to turn down the prospect of a drink and some conversation with someone friendly and who is, it appears, knowledgeable about the book trade. It’s been such a long time since he’s had anything but his own company and something about Kim invites confidence, so Will finds himself opening up about the strange man who demanded information, the burglary, the threatening visits from Ingoldsby – and is relieved when Kim takes him seriously and even offers to help him out.
Finding himself somehow caught in the middle of a nefarious game being played out by fanatical Bolshevik terrorists and self-righteous War Office types, Will is only too glad to have found an ally in the enigmatic and dangerously attractive Kim… until he discovers that far from being a disinterested friend, Kim has ulterior motives.
K.J. Charles pens a superbly constructed, intricate mystery full of unexpected twists and murky motivations, featuring well-developed characters who are compelling even when you don’t like them very much! Will is a much-decorated soldier, clear-sighted but disillusioned with the society to which he has returned. He’s stubborn – often to his detriment – intelligent, tough, resourceful and unwilling to compromise his principles, while for Kim, doing the right thing is a much more flexible concept. He’s every bit as clever and resourceful as Will, and is one of those morally ambiguous characters the author excels at writing, making him likeable even as I was hating the pain he caused Will, and wondering just how much of what came out of his mouth was the truth. The relationship between them is really well done (this is a three book series, so don’t go into this one expecting an HEA); Will and Kim are strongly attracted to each other physically, and there’s a definite undercurrent of mutual ‘like’ (when Will isn’t cursing Kim for being a git, that is) but the author is setting up a slow-burn, and I’m really looking forward to watching it play out.
I always enjoy K.J. Charles’ wonderfully British sense of humour and her sly pokes at the classic stiff-upper-lip:
[Will] had no idea what civilians, or civilised people, would say in these circumstances. Thanks for that, old chap, much obliged, perhaps? Ought he apologies for coming in his mouth? Would this be a good moment to restart the conversation about where Kim had learned to use a knife?
Thank God they were British. He took a deep breath. “Cup of tea?”
- together with the strong sense of time and place she brings to her novels and the always informative historical background. I especially appreciated the fact that the bad guys weren’t all wrong and the good guys weren’t all right, and that the motivations of the Establishment were just as murky as those of the anarchists, which just added to the tension and raised the stakes for our heroes.
The supporting cast isn’t extensive, but there are a couple of delightful ladies I sincerely hope we’re going to see more of – Will’s friend Maisie and the flighty Phoebe, who seems to be the epitome of the Bright Young Thing, but is much kinder and more perceptive – both of them well-rounded and distinctive, with actual roles to play that are more than mere set-dressing.
K.J. Charles never fails to pull me completely into whichever book of hers I’m reading, and this one was no exception. It’s a terrific, perfectly-paced read with action, adventure, dastardly villains, a high-stakes plot and a pair of captivating protagonists. Slippery Creatures is fun, clever, sexy and utterly engrossing – and I can’t wait for more of the Will Darling Adventures .
”My name, since you raise the topic, is Arthur Aloysius Kimberley de Brabazon Secretan. What would you do in my place?”
“Leave the country,” Will said wholeheartedly. “You poor bastard, you never stood a chance.”
K.J. Charles’ new series, The Will Darling Adventures , is a set of three rip-roaring adventure yarns in the style of 1920s pulp fiction, so readers can expect thrilling adventures, clever mysteries, dastardly deeds, and evil villains pitted against tough, tenacious and upstanding (well, mostly) heroes who triumph against all the odds. Needless to say, when the author announced this was to be her next project, I was rubbing my hands with glee in eager anticipation!
Slippery Creatures is book one, and in it, we meet the charmingly named Will Darling (which always made me smile whenever I read it – it made mt think of Blackadder !) who went to the front at eighteen and returned to England to discover, as did the thousands of other men returning from France and Belgium in 1918-19, that the country had managed perfectly well without them, and that there was little to no work and no other way to keep body and soul together. Will lost his father when he was young, and his mother to the Spanish Flu while he waited to be demobbed, and was barely eking out an existence doing odd jobs here and there. When things became desperate, he wrote to his uncle – his namesake – who welcomed him with open arms, took him in and gave him a job in his shop. But just a couple of months later, William Senior is dead and Will is alone and in possession of Darling’s Used and Antiquarian bookshop.
And that’s when the trouble starts.
Will is still trying to get to grips with the shop, which could best be described as barely organised chaos, when a man approaches him and demands he hands over the information. Taken aback, Will quite honestly says he has no idea what he’s talking about; the man refuses to believe him and gets belligerent; Will becomes equally so and throws him out, thinking that’s an end of it. Until the early hours of the next morning, when he is woken by the unmistakeable sounds of someone moving around in the shop. Will manages to run off the intruders – two of them – and when he checks the shop he can find nothing missing.
Already annoyed, Will isn’t pleased to receive a visit the next afternoon from a couple of men in suits who reek of officialdom, one of whom introduces himself as Captain Ingoldsby of the War Office. During their conversation Will realises he’s been confused with his uncle (not that that makes things any clearer) and takes exception to Ingoldsby’s high-handed demand that he co-operate with him and allow the shop to be searched. Will’s at the end of his tether when he’s visited by yet another thug – in broad daylight – who fortunately runs away when another customer appears in the shop. The man – tall, dark, good-looking, charming – introduces himself as Kim Secretan and helps Will straighten the place up a bit, then takes him for a drink at the local pub.
Worn out, worn down, fed up with being lonely and belatedly in shock at having been attacked (again), Will isn’t going to turn down the prospect of a drink and some conversation with someone friendly and who is, it appears, knowledgeable about the book trade. It’s been such a long time since he’s had anything but his own company and something about Kim invites confidence, so Will finds himself opening up about the strange man who demanded information, the burglary, the threatening visits from Ingoldsby – and is relieved when Kim takes him seriously and even offers to help him out.
Finding himself somehow caught in the middle of a nefarious game being played out by fanatical Bolshevik terrorists and self-righteous War Office types, Will is only too glad to have found an ally in the enigmatic and dangerously attractive Kim… until he discovers that far from being a disinterested friend, Kim has ulterior motives.
K.J. Charles pens a superbly constructed, intricate mystery full of unexpected twists and murky motivations, featuring well-developed characters who are compelling even when you don’t like them very much! Will is a much-decorated soldier, clear-sighted but disillusioned with the society to which he has returned. He’s stubborn – often to his detriment – intelligent, tough, resourceful and unwilling to compromise his principles, while for Kim, doing the right thing is a much more flexible concept. He’s every bit as clever and resourceful as Will, and is one of those morally ambiguous characters the author excels at writing, making him likeable even as I was hating the pain he caused Will, and wondering just how much of what came out of his mouth was the truth. The relationship between them is really well done (this is a three book series, so don’t go into this one expecting an HEA); Will and Kim are strongly attracted to each other physically, and there’s a definite undercurrent of mutual ‘like’ (when Will isn’t cursing Kim for being a git, that is) but the author is setting up a slow-burn, and I’m really looking forward to watching it play out.
I always enjoy K.J. Charles’ wonderfully British sense of humour and her sly pokes at the classic stiff-upper-lip:
[Will] had no idea what civilians, or civilised people, would say in these circumstances. Thanks for that, old chap, much obliged, perhaps? Ought he apologies for coming in his mouth? Would this be a good moment to restart the conversation about where Kim had learned to use a knife?
Thank God they were British. He took a deep breath. “Cup of tea?”
- together with the strong sense of time and place she brings to her novels and the always informative historical background. I especially appreciated the fact that the bad guys weren’t all wrong and the good guys weren’t all right, and that the motivations of the Establishment were just as murky as those of the anarchists, which just added to the tension and raised the stakes for our heroes.
The supporting cast isn’t extensive, but there are a couple of delightful ladies I sincerely hope we’re going to see more of – Will’s friend Maisie and the flighty Phoebe, who seems to be the epitome of the Bright Young Thing, but is much kinder and more perceptive – both of them well-rounded and distinctive, with actual roles to play that are more than mere set-dressing.
K.J. Charles never fails to pull me completely into whichever book of hers I’m reading, and this one was no exception. It’s a terrific, perfectly-paced read with action, adventure, dastardly villains, a high-stakes plot and a pair of captivating protagonists. Slippery Creatures is fun, clever, sexy and utterly engrossing – and I can’t wait for more of the Will Darling Adventures .
”My name, since you raise the topic, is Arthur Aloysius Kimberley de Brabazon Secretan. What would you do in my place?”
“Leave the country,” Will said wholeheartedly. “You poor bastard, you never stood a chance.”
September 13, 2023
Kim, you lying manipulative sneaky little shit.
More. I want more.
More. I want more.
February 17, 2025
will darling is "why i OUGHTA!" personified
August 1, 2020
Oh look Hollis loves a KJC book. No one is surprised! But seriously, I'm pretty sure I can count on one hand the amount of this authors' works that didn't rate a four or higher. And this author isn't short on books.
Will had gone to the War at eighteen, and come back five years later to find himself useless and unwanted. In Flanders he'd been a grizzled veteran, a fount of professional expertise who knew the ropes and had seen it all. Back in Blighty he'd become a young man again, one with little training and no expertise. [..] All he was good at now was killing people, which was discouraged.
This new series is set in the twenties and features a ex-soldier finding his place as a bookseller after inheriting his late uncle's shop and then, unexpectedly, his rather expected life takes a turn when he's caught between War Office agents and a gang both looking for information his uncle possessed. And then in walks a man who offers to help, seems to have no skin in the game, and.. off it goes.
He had no idea what civilians, or civilized people, would say in these circumstances. Thanks for that, old chap, much obliged, perhaps? Ought he apologize for coming in his mouth? [..] Thank God they were British. He took a deep breath. "Cup of tea?"
Considering the length of this book, the author somehow manages to not skimp on anything. Not the plot, not the characters, not the ability to infuse depth or weave backstory with only a glance, a word, and that just shows how talented she is. That said, I was sad to say goodbye to this world, even though it's only temporary until book two. I loved how things resolved without solving everything and yet left on a good note.
"What do you want to talk about?"
"I don't know. The football results? Politics. The pictures. Why the blazes you're called Kim when your name is Arthur."
"My name, since you raise the topic, is Arthur Aloysius Kimberley de Brabazon Secretan. What would you do in my place?"
"Leave the country."
If you're a KJC fan, I think you'll be absolutely delighted by this new series (if you haven't already read it, I'm a wee bit late to this one) and if you've yet to try Charles, this might be a great place to start. But honestly there's not really a wrong choice no matter where you start in the backlist.
What a great way to end a weekend.
---
This review can also be found at A Take From Two Cities.
Will had gone to the War at eighteen, and come back five years later to find himself useless and unwanted. In Flanders he'd been a grizzled veteran, a fount of professional expertise who knew the ropes and had seen it all. Back in Blighty he'd become a young man again, one with little training and no expertise. [..] All he was good at now was killing people, which was discouraged.
This new series is set in the twenties and features a ex-soldier finding his place as a bookseller after inheriting his late uncle's shop and then, unexpectedly, his rather expected life takes a turn when he's caught between War Office agents and a gang both looking for information his uncle possessed. And then in walks a man who offers to help, seems to have no skin in the game, and.. off it goes.
He had no idea what civilians, or civilized people, would say in these circumstances. Thanks for that, old chap, much obliged, perhaps? Ought he apologize for coming in his mouth? [..] Thank God they were British. He took a deep breath. "Cup of tea?"
Considering the length of this book, the author somehow manages to not skimp on anything. Not the plot, not the characters, not the ability to infuse depth or weave backstory with only a glance, a word, and that just shows how talented she is. That said, I was sad to say goodbye to this world, even though it's only temporary until book two. I loved how things resolved without solving everything and yet left on a good note.
"What do you want to talk about?"
"I don't know. The football results? Politics. The pictures. Why the blazes you're called Kim when your name is Arthur."
"My name, since you raise the topic, is Arthur Aloysius Kimberley de Brabazon Secretan. What would you do in my place?"
"Leave the country."
If you're a KJC fan, I think you'll be absolutely delighted by this new series (if you haven't already read it, I'm a wee bit late to this one) and if you've yet to try Charles, this might be a great place to start. But honestly there's not really a wrong choice no matter where you start in the backlist.
What a great way to end a weekend.
---
This review can also be found at A Take From Two Cities.
January 19, 2021
QUEER 1920'S MYSTERY THRILLER - IS THAT A THING? 😲🤯
Actual rating: 3.5⭐
Yes, yes it is and I'm sooo into it. Even though I'm not one for mystery thrillers, this just got to me. The historical setting and the queer relationship between the two main characters won me over And I'll definitely come back for more!
👍 What I Liked 👍
Mystery: Zodiac is a secret organisation hell bent on destroying the world for their own profit. Will get's swept up in their warmongering by accident and a thrilling mystery chase ensues. Normally, this would definitely not be my thing. I am not really one for thrillers or mysteries. But add in the historical setting, the queer romance and the action and I found myself really liking it.
Phoebe: If there is one character that I truly love, it's without a doubt Phoebe. She brightens up every scene she's in with her effervescent energi and light, airy talk. She seems dim and ditsy, but she's honestly the most intelligent character. she sees right through people and straightens them out. I really liked her.
Queer: Will and Kim have chemistry, that much was for sure. While their relationship was rocky at best, the chemistry could not be denied. I always love a good queer romance (even though I still haven't found a good FF one yet...) and this one didn't disappoint.
👎What I Disliked👎
Kim: I'm sorry to say that I had a bit of a hard time really warming up to Kim. He went a bit back and forth a lot. But I think it's in him somewhere. So I am looking forward to seeing him redeem himself in the next couple of books.
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Blog Post: 15 Books to Read if You Love Jane Austen
Actual rating: 3.5⭐
Yes, yes it is and I'm sooo into it. Even though I'm not one for mystery thrillers, this just got to me. The historical setting and the queer relationship between the two main characters won me over And I'll definitely come back for more!
👍 What I Liked 👍
Mystery: Zodiac is a secret organisation hell bent on destroying the world for their own profit. Will get's swept up in their warmongering by accident and a thrilling mystery chase ensues. Normally, this would definitely not be my thing. I am not really one for thrillers or mysteries. But add in the historical setting, the queer romance and the action and I found myself really liking it.
Phoebe: If there is one character that I truly love, it's without a doubt Phoebe. She brightens up every scene she's in with her effervescent energi and light, airy talk. She seems dim and ditsy, but she's honestly the most intelligent character. she sees right through people and straightens them out. I really liked her.
Queer: Will and Kim have chemistry, that much was for sure. While their relationship was rocky at best, the chemistry could not be denied. I always love a good queer romance (even though I still haven't found a good FF one yet...) and this one didn't disappoint.
👎What I Disliked👎
Kim: I'm sorry to say that I had a bit of a hard time really warming up to Kim. He went a bit back and forth a lot. But I think it's in him somewhere. So I am looking forward to seeing him redeem himself in the next couple of books.
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Blog Post: 15 Books to Read if You Love Jane Austen
July 10, 2021
July 2021 Re-read in preparation for book 3.
————————————-
Hallelujah, I read a book! Thanks to pandemic brain I’ve had an exceedingly hard time reading at all. I started two weeks ago and stalled near the beginning. Praise be a question from Vivian got me to restart this morning and I read the whole thing.
This hit my sweet spot so hard. Tough guy, too stubborn to give up and smart enough to stumble his way through with a bit of help from an enigmatic bastard too twisty to be trusted and too enticing to be resisted. Like a historical m/m Dick Francis without the horses and fancier words and a bit more banter. I cannot wait until the next installment is out. I’m desperate to learn a few more of Kim’s secrets.
————————————-
Hallelujah, I read a book! Thanks to pandemic brain I’ve had an exceedingly hard time reading at all. I started two weeks ago and stalled near the beginning. Praise be a question from Vivian got me to restart this morning and I read the whole thing.
This hit my sweet spot so hard. Tough guy, too stubborn to give up and smart enough to stumble his way through with a bit of help from an enigmatic bastard too twisty to be trusted and too enticing to be resisted. Like a historical m/m Dick Francis without the horses and fancier words and a bit more banter. I cannot wait until the next installment is out. I’m desperate to learn a few more of Kim’s secrets.
June 20, 2021
Complex characters and an intriguing plot, accompanied with the trademark KJC humor, made for a great beginning of this trilogy. I liked this first book very much, I enjoyed getting to know Will and Kim. Well, I enjoyed getting to know Will, Kim is still an almost complete mystery, but I look forward to finding out his whole story.
Just as I look forward to finding out how the author is going to convince me these two belong together. I can’t say I see the potential in this couple, though, and I trust this author to deliver in the end.
Just as I look forward to finding out how the author is going to convince me these two belong together. I can’t say I see the potential in this couple, though, and I trust this author to deliver in the end.
September 3, 2021
Госпаді нарешті! Це щось неймовірне. Ця книжка як домовий, вона до тебе чіпляється і шипить з—за кутка пссс, почитай хоч 10 хвилин, а тоді оп — друга година ночі, а ти вся в Англії 20-х.
Чудово зроблені персонажі, чудово описаний їхній секс, і так, тут 5 велетенських сексуальних сцен м/м, чудово описаний ПТСР (і знаю, що далі це тільки розвивається), чудово описаний екшен, правдоподібно зроблений сюжет (хоча іноді здається абсурдним, але все одно), чудова мова, чудовий гумор. Я не знаю, шо тут ще додати, я купила продовження але ні, візьмуся пізніше!
Чудово зроблені персонажі, чудово описаний їхній секс, і так, тут 5 велетенських сексуальних сцен м/м, чудово описаний ПТСР (і знаю, що далі це тільки розвивається), чудово описаний екшен, правдоподібно зроблений сюжет (хоча іноді здається абсурдним, але все одно), чудова мова, чудовий гумор. Я не знаю, шо тут ще додати, я купила продовження але ні, візьмуся пізніше!
July 14, 2020
I loved everything about this.
K.J. Charles is honestly spoiling me for other historical romance authors. There's just something about her style (very detailed, historically accurate, flawed but compelling characters) that gets me right in the pleasure center. She also doesn't just write in one time period or keep it to straight romance. She's always messing around with spy fiction or mystery or golden age pulp (here and Think of England) or jewelry heists or homages to Georgette Heyer regency fiction. Sometimes many of these at the same time! She self-publishes all her books, and there's a freedom in that to explore whatever her writerly heart desires. All her writing is also very feminist and queer-centered (all along the LGBTQIA spectrum, including ace, trans, bi-, and nonbinary protagonists), and there's a sensitivity to class and social structures that provides all her stories with strong backbones.
What I'm saying basically is read K.J. Charles, and this would be an excellent place to start. This is the first in a trilogy, and if it finishes as good as it starts, this series will be in my top five for her, right up there with Band Sinister and Think of England.
Will Darling is in his early twenties, and just home from five years service for Britain in WWI. He had a really rough go of it, and when he came home, despite being lauded for his service, found his job prospects to be nil, and he was quickly destitute (the narrative makes clear his plight was far from uncommon for returning soldiers at that time). Luckily, a friend badgers him into contacting an estranged uncle who he hasn't seen since he was a child to ask for help. The uncle takes him in and Will begins to work for him, but the uncle soon develops a fatal illness, and after nursing him on his death bed, Will inherits his uncle's used bookshop. Which is when strange and sinister characters start badgering him for information he doesn't have, and doesn't know how to find. His kindly uncle and his inheritance windfall also seem to come with some baggage of the espionage variety, and soon Will is in over his head. This is when Kim Secretan walks into the bookshop. Adventures proceed from there.
I really liked Will as narrator. He was sharp and observant, yet also stubborn and willing to do what's right at the cost of his own safety. He insists to his own detriment on handling the information his uncle left him in his own way, even as the British War Office and various unsavory parties are all coming after him. The way Charles handled his relationship with Kim was really smart, and she leaves them in just the right spot to make it clear that more story is coming, yet there's just enough resolution to keep you satisfied. It feels like there's a lot left there to mine in terms of Kim's emotions and ability to be in a functioning relationship, and how to build trust with someone after a betrayal. It's a slow burn across three books, essentially.
The secondary characters here are some of my favorite from Charles yet. Kim's fiancé Phoebe was a breath of fresh air, and if I'm not mistaken, there will be a f/f pairing down the road for her and Will's friend Maisie, who is a black woman living in 1920s London. Lots of fun dynamics to explore there.
And the next two are out in August and September! So you barely have to wait at all.
K.J. Charles is honestly spoiling me for other historical romance authors. There's just something about her style (very detailed, historically accurate, flawed but compelling characters) that gets me right in the pleasure center. She also doesn't just write in one time period or keep it to straight romance. She's always messing around with spy fiction or mystery or golden age pulp (here and Think of England) or jewelry heists or homages to Georgette Heyer regency fiction. Sometimes many of these at the same time! She self-publishes all her books, and there's a freedom in that to explore whatever her writerly heart desires. All her writing is also very feminist and queer-centered (all along the LGBTQIA spectrum, including ace, trans, bi-, and nonbinary protagonists), and there's a sensitivity to class and social structures that provides all her stories with strong backbones.
What I'm saying basically is read K.J. Charles, and this would be an excellent place to start. This is the first in a trilogy, and if it finishes as good as it starts, this series will be in my top five for her, right up there with Band Sinister and Think of England.
Will Darling is in his early twenties, and just home from five years service for Britain in WWI. He had a really rough go of it, and when he came home, despite being lauded for his service, found his job prospects to be nil, and he was quickly destitute (the narrative makes clear his plight was far from uncommon for returning soldiers at that time). Luckily, a friend badgers him into contacting an estranged uncle who he hasn't seen since he was a child to ask for help. The uncle takes him in and Will begins to work for him, but the uncle soon develops a fatal illness, and after nursing him on his death bed, Will inherits his uncle's used bookshop. Which is when strange and sinister characters start badgering him for information he doesn't have, and doesn't know how to find. His kindly uncle and his inheritance windfall also seem to come with some baggage of the espionage variety, and soon Will is in over his head. This is when Kim Secretan walks into the bookshop. Adventures proceed from there.
I really liked Will as narrator. He was sharp and observant, yet also stubborn and willing to do what's right at the cost of his own safety. He insists to his own detriment on handling the information his uncle left him in his own way, even as the British War Office and various unsavory parties are all coming after him. The way Charles handled his relationship with Kim was really smart, and she leaves them in just the right spot to make it clear that more story is coming, yet there's just enough resolution to keep you satisfied. It feels like there's a lot left there to mine in terms of Kim's emotions and ability to be in a functioning relationship, and how to build trust with someone after a betrayal. It's a slow burn across three books, essentially.
The secondary characters here are some of my favorite from Charles yet. Kim's fiancé Phoebe was a breath of fresh air, and if I'm not mistaken, there will be a f/f pairing down the road for her and Will's friend Maisie, who is a black woman living in 1920s London. Lots of fun dynamics to explore there.
And the next two are out in August and September! So you barely have to wait at all.
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