Elin Gregory

This week, guys, oh this week has been such a good one.

I’m a bloody picky reader, as I expect you’ve realised, and could easily fill up my reading week with releases from my regular list of autobuy authors, but fangirling autobuy authors has another big advantage in that they recommend books that they rate highly. And that’s what happened this week.

I’ve been one amongst many fans desperate to get my paws on the latest, an it turns out to be the last, instalment of A Charm of Magpies series by K J Charles.

Oh dear lord, where do I start with this series?

Victorian society, corrupt and exploitative with huge gulfs between the lavish lifestyles of the rich and the cramped and fetid existence of the have nots, further complicated by the existence of magical practitioners, some of who can suck the essence from a man to increase their magical calibre.

In the first book Lord Crane, Lucien Vaudrey, was under attack and had to enlist the help of Stephen Day, a magical policeman with a HUGE grudge against Crane’s family. In the second book Lucien and Stephen had to deal with that old Sherlock Holmes problem, the giant rat of Sumatra, while negotiating their tense association into a into a truly loving relationship. In this book, a horrifying series of murders puts that relationship under intolerable strain, and other relationships too as Lucien’s henchman Merrick, members of Stephen’s justiciar team, the regular non-magical police and the Practitioners Council end up at odds with the heroes.

The tension racks up, the relationship looks to be doomed, Merrick [oh MERRICK] and Lucien come to blows, and they fight deliciously dirty, and KJ introduces a total shit of a protagonist who is having his own book next year! If you haven’t read A Charm of Magpies yet but if you like history, magic, truly witty banter, somewhat kinky sex and a tinge of horror then I think you’d LOVE the series.

That’s my recommendation and this week I also picked up a recommendation from K J Charles. Prosperity by Alexis Hall.

I had heard of this book – steam punk, I was told which sounded fun – and had seen the superb cover so had put it on my TBR list. But KJ was so excited about it that I bought it on release day and read it and Flight back to back with very little sleep and all other activities begrudged.

Prosperity has a bit of everything – smart alecy heroes, personable psyhopaths, doomed loves, unrequited passions, a most unusual governess, dangers both human and totally off the wall bat shit crazy, and SO many wonderful protagonists. It’s not what I would describe as a M/M romance, there’s far too much going on for that. And the language!! Oh my that’s a magnificent experience. Excellent, excellent story and another one for my best books of 2014 list.

Try it, I bet you’ll love it.