Review: FANTASTIC Series
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 7, 2014
This is book 2 in the series but the review encompasses both books to date. It starts out w/ The Magpie Lord in which Lucien Vaudrey, Lord Crane, is, in essence, hexed to kill himself. He engages the services of Stephen Day, a practitioner of magic, to get rid of the curse. They work to find out who has put the curse on the Vaudrey line, finding mutual respect and attraction along the way.The way is not an easy one in the beginning since Stephen's family was essentially wiped out by the previous Lord Crane & Lucien's older brother, Hector. They were the epitome of corruption and immorality, & Lucien was unapologetically repulsed by them. This surprises Stephen, who expected the new Lord Crane to be cut from the same cloth. The mystery unfolds as to who is behind the curse and why there is a dearth of power at Piper, Lucien's family seat.First impressions of Stephen would be nondescript, very short, shabby, & totally unremarkable. In fact, he is strong minded, scary powerful, & has a moral rectitude that Lucien can't help but admire. Lucien is handsome, refreshingly unlordly, & frank about his disdain for societal strictures. Having spent the past 2 decades in China, along w/ his ever faithful manservant, Merrick, he's used to living openly w/ his 'unnatural inclinations.'I found the way these 2 men came together to be believable and I enjoyed the growth of their mutual respect for each other as the story progressed. They were both like-able, but I really enjoyed Lucien's sense of humor & irreverence for pretty much anything conventional. His relationship w/ Merrick was great. I loved how Merrick would yell at him for something or other, then add 'My lord' as an afterthought. Merrick, who has definite thug tendencies, has a healthy respect for Stephen & his abilities, diminutive size notwithstanding.The 1st book was a great intro into a world in which magic works in the real world. But dark magical practices must be policed, as conventional crimes are. That is Stephen's job as a justiciar. The way magic works in this world was interesting & I liked Lucien's connection to it through his ancestry. I also loved how it worked together w/ Stephen. The movement of the magpies (ie) Lucien's tattoos at the end of book 1 was creative & sexy. I loved how 1 of the tattoos decides it prefers Stephen instead & makes a new home of his back. (Interlude w/ Tattoos is a fun short story that takes place between books 1 & 2. You should definitely read this, too)Book 2 continues w/ a new magical mystery a few months after the events of book 1. Lucien & Stephen have been lovers since then, & it's clear that they've developed deeper feelings. They haven't acknowledged these feelings to each other & both have insecurities about the other. Stephen can't believe that Lucien will be around forever, just until he gets bored, which surely he will sooner or later. Lucien isn't so sure that Stephen, 'the little sod,' will come back from one visit to the next. Their declarations of love were sweet, humorous, & heartfelt. I loved it.Not only the world, but the cast of secondary characters also grew in book 2. Along w/ Merrick, Esther Gold, Stephen's justiciar partner & close friend; Mrs Leo Hart, friend & confidant to Lucien; Saint, Joss, etc. I hope to see much more of them in future installments.In short, the writing & dialogue were quite good. I liked both MCs alot, but Lucien has the better lines :)  Both stories kept my interest from beginning to end. I can't wait to read more about this world. I'll definitely be reading other stories by KJ Charles.Highly recommend!