When KJ Charles envisioned the Will Darling Adventures, she thought she was going to release them bing-bang-boom in quick succession, but then the pandemic happened, and Will and Kim stopped cooperating. While Will and Kim refused to get to their happily ever after, Robin Loxleigh and Sir John Hartlebury insisted on theirs.
I loved The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting so much. I devoured the historical romances of the 1990s and 2000. In those books, Robin Loxleigh and his sister Marianne would have been the horrible antagonists who stood in the way of the virtuous and wealthy nobles getting their virtuous and wealthy happily ever afters. Sir John Hartlebury has every intention of making sure fortune hunting Robin Loxleigh keeps his attractive, money grubbing paws off of his niece and her fortune. Reading Gentle Art was an experience on a couple of levels. On one, it’s a really good book with all the blessings that KJ Charles bestows upon her characters. On another, it was a mindfuck because my brain kept insisting on following the old historical romance beats, and they were being roundly interrogated by Charles.
One of the reasons it has taken so long to write this review is because I am not smart enough to articulate the layers of commentary, but I am smart enough to know they are there and enjoy them. This and Cat Sebastian’s The Queer Principles of Kit Webb should be required reading for all fans of historical romance.
In the thrilling conclusion to The Will Darling Adventures, Will and Kim start out in a good(ish) place. They are recovering from taking down Zodiac and building a workable romantic and professional partnership. Naturally, that can’t last, and of course, it is Kim’s aristocratic family that causes trouble. Zodiac may be gone, but the festering boil of aristocratic privilege remains untouched. When it appears that Kim’s brother, the heir, has murdered a man in a private club, Will and Kim must solve the murder, if only to save Kim from inheriting the title. Of course there is a satisfying conclusion with Kim and Will back in Phoebe and Maisie’s good graces and a future of possibilities. I’m going to add a couple of quotes, because I love the way Charles writes.
“Fine,” Will said. “I promise. I promise I’ll just bugger off whenever it seems like the easy way out for me, and leave you in this hundred-room hellhole with your family rubbing cheese-graters on your nerve endings. Is that what you want to hear?”
“I detect a note of sarcasm.”
***
He loved knowing Kim’s body, being able to choose the words and the acts that would transfigure his narrow face into beauty and make his dark eyes black with anguished pleasure.