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An Unseen Attraction

Book Review of An Unseen Attraction, by K. J. Charles

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I received a copy of K. J. Charles’ An Unseen Attraction from Netgalley.

Description from Goodreads:
Lodging-house keeper Clem Talleyfer prefers a quiet life. He’s happy with his hobbies, his work—and especially with his lodger Rowley Green, who becomes a friend over their long fireside evenings together. If only neat, precise, irresistible Mr. Green were interested in more than friendship…

Rowley just wants to be left alone—at least until he meets Clem, with his odd, charming ways and his glorious eyes. Two quiet men, lodging in the same house, coming to an understanding… it could be perfect. Then the brutally murdered corpse of another lodger is dumped on their doorstep and their peaceful life is shattered.

Now Clem and Rowley find themselves caught up in a mystery, threatened on all sides by violent men, with a deadly London fog closing in on them. If they’re to see their way through, the pair must learn to share their secrets—and their hearts.

Review:
I’ve not come across a K.J. Charles book that I haven’t enjoyed. I just love her writing. An Unseen Attraction is no exception. I liked both the characters. I appreciated the diverse cast and non-standard romantic leads. The setting is rich and well described. The plot is engaging. This is a book well worth reading.

I think a reader will find it’s not so much a mystery as a romantic suspense, maybe. The reader knows very early who the villain is. It’s really not mysterious. The tension comes from Clem’s refusal to accept it and what will happen when he doesn’t.

Personally, I adored both characters and loved the pairing. I thought their chemistry in the bedroom was strong and it was fun to see a little kink without any big deal being made out of it. But they’d fallen in love before the opening of the book, so honestly I didn’t feel a lot of chemistry outside of sex because we simply weren’t given many opportunities to see it. Also, while I loved their open communication and consideration for one another, I’m afraid it read as just a little too ideal to be believed. I only wish people were so conscientious with one another.

I’ll be looking forward to book two, which looks like it will be Nathaniel’s and really looking forward to the third, which appears to be Mark’s.

Book Review of Peter Darling, by Austin Chant

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I received a copy of Peter Darling, by Austin Chant, from Netgalley.

Description from Goodreads:
Ten years ago, Peter Pan left Neverland to grow up, leaving behind his adolescent dreams of boyhood and resigning himself to life as Wendy Darling. Growing up, however, has only made him realize how inescapable his identity as a man is. 

But when he returns to Neverland, everything has changed: the Lost Boys have become men, and the war games they once played are now real and deadly. Even more shocking is the attraction Peter never knew he could feel for his old rival, Captain Hook—and the realization that he no longer knows which of them is the real villain.

Review:
Oh, how utterly marvelous! I have to be honest, I’m not generally a fan of retellings; I just so rarely read one I think improves on the original. Peter Darling looked more like a sequel than a retelling though, so I decided to take a chance and read it. I am so glad I did.

I loved almost everything about this. I thought Pan and Hook were charming, and Peter and James even more so. I liked how it makes the reader think about the nature of growing up, how you can never really go back, identity, longing, love and loss. The writing is on point and it’s well edited.

Personally, I had a little trouble with Peter and Wendy being the same individual, as they are quite distinct in the original Peter Pan. However, the way Barrie conflated wife/mother in the original Wendy is one of my strongest and most uncomfortable memories of that book. So, this merging of characters might not be so difficult for other readers. It’s certainly creative and wonderfully done.

I would love to see Ernest get a book, since I curious how his life will turn out. All in all, Chant has just made my radar. I’ll be looking for more.

 

half

Book Review of Half, by Eli Lang

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I received a copy of Eli Lang‘s Half from Netgalley.

Description from Goodreads:
Living between worlds has never been comfortable, but it’s where I’ve always fit: between human and fey, illness and health, magic and reality. 

I’ve spent the last six years looking for a cure for the nameless sickness eating me up. If I believed there was one out there, I would keep searching. But there isn’t, so I’ve come back home, where my past and present tangle. Come home to live . . . and to die. 

But my father insists I meet Kin. He’s a healer, and determined to help, even though I’m not so hopeful anymore. But Kin isn’t what I expected, in any way. He sees me, not my illness. He reminds me of what it’s like to be alive. And I can’t help falling for him, even though I know it isn’t fair to either of us. 

Kin thinks he has the cure I’ve been looking for, but it’s a cure that will change everything: me, my life, my heart. If I refuse, I could lose Kin. But if I take it, I might lose myself. 

Review:
Oh man, what to say about Half? It’s absolutely, devastatingly, hauntingly beautiful. The writing and language in this book is amazingly poignant. The characters are similarly lovely. The dilemma the main character finds himself in, the decision he has to make and the effect it will have on the people he loves is a gripping one. And that final decision was the harder, certainly literarily rarer one and I appreciated that. I think it’s one disabled readers should get to see more often.

However, it’s basically insta-love, leading to insta-relationship, there isn’t a lot to the plot considering how long the book is, and a lot seems to hinge on decisions of the past. It’s also very slow. Slow in a contemplative way, not a boring way, but it’s certainly not action packed. In a very real way I kind of felt like all the lush language got in the way of telling the story. It’s evocative, but tended to stall the forward movement. I do look forward to more of Lang’s writing though.