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Master book post

RAVEN - psychological, thriller, horror

Rewrite ongoing at 10,719 words (Chapter 3).

A group of friends find themselves inextricably bound by a terrible "accident" that occurred four years earlier in a mountain cabin. Each of the boys is driven by personal motivations not to talk about the incident under any circumstances, they have sworn not to betray each other, and yet... strange events, nightmares and a bit of karma will transport them into a night they will not easily forget.

NOTTETEMPO - supernatural, political, romance

Rewrite ongoing at 42,066 words (Chapter 12).

Sky has recently lost her mother in what appears to be a murder destined to remain unsolved, this because her mother's death was not by mortal hand. Dragged into the supernatural world despite the fact that her guardian had done what was necessary to give her a chance at a normal life, Sky will find herself not only having to come to terms with her own nature and her own demons (literally) but also being the straw that broke the camel's back, setting off yet another war between the supernatural government and the rebellion.

ALSO - slice of life, romance

39,748 words (abandoned).

Cassandra was married to the man of her dreams and longtime boyfriend Zacharia, but not even a year into her marriage she finds herself having to grant him a divorce. Dealing with a shattered heart and hiding her love life when working at a Christian school is not easy enough on its own, especially if the headmaster is your ex. Add to the mix Jaxon, a competitive, overachiever and irritating co-worker, Ford a new friend in her same sentimental situation and it would've been impossible not to fall again even harder, yes, but for the wrong man.

SOMMERFELL - historical, gay romance

107,083 words (finished).

The Duke of Sommerfell is a young man who loves the classics and traditions. Persuaded by his brother to attend a charity event run by a close friend of his who owns a gentleman's club in London, the duke will find the company of the latter, a man whose name appears to be on everyone's lips: Albion the Earl of Hillsbury, particularly enjoyable.

HARDWICKE - historical, gay romance

7,889 words (hiatus).

Thornbell is a second son and being a second son precludes him, a title, wealth and land yet grants him perhaps a far greater gift: that of being able to choose. Devoting himself to an empty life, filled with leisure and resentment, unable to endure the complaints of his younger sisters he will decide to accompany them to the Hillsbury club, there where his dear friend, the earl, will oblige him to make the acquaintance of a charming stranger, Mr. Eastyn Bradshaw from whom he could not be more dissimilar and by whose unrewarding benevolence he will be astounded.

ROMANS 6:23 - thriller, mystery

Rewrite ongoing at 19.891 words (Chapter 3).

The calm small town of Rivers end, an ex-French and English colony, becomes extremely lively when tragedy strikes. An infamous serial killer known as the angel of death seemingly decided to switch play grounds, from the capital Chacsea to detective Langford's jurisdiction. The police station starts an unwelcome collaboration with the FBI task force, one that had been investigating the murders and hunting down the killer for almost three years without any proper lead. Will the joined forces finally catch the religious fanatic that has been terrorizing the public?

MURDER IN WEST VEDO - thriller, mystery

14,525 words (ongoing).

Thirty years after disappearing from the public eye due to the death of Dorotea, his first wife, millionaire Jasper Vilterria throws an exclusive birthday party for his 60th birthday. Among the guests is Elinor Lee, a highly determined journalist interested both in the birthday boy's secret private life and in his wife's archived accidental death case. But a second sudden and suspicious death at the Vilterria mansion ends up disrupting Lee's investigation and priorities. Many years earlier someone had killed Vilterria's wife, and now that a journalist had started poking around again, someone else has been found dead. Could this possibly be the same murderer?

WHO WAS HAYLEE STOKES? - thriller, mystery

55,961 words (ongoing).

It all begins with a phone call: Martin Sherman, a famous local lawyer and playboy, finds the half-naked corpse of a woman in his bed; the victim is a college student named Haylee Stokes who had been missing for three days. Having to look into the apparently already closed case is Sgt. Keith Merritt of the state police accompanied by his own team of detectives, Sherman's punctilious lawyer Olivia Shaw and a terribly inexperienced local police deputy, Lassiter Vanmeter.

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So the last few days have been planning days rather than actually sitting down and writing whatever came to mind. Seeing the bare first draft plot come to life is truly an horrendous happening. Will this be doable? Will it make chapters too bloated or too short? Is it interesting enough? But most importantly where the hell am I going with this? Do all these clues and intriguing tidbits have any purpose at all in the scheme of things? How will I relate them to the culprit or suspects? Writing crime novels is truly a jarring and mentally devastating project but I adore it.

I've made progress, cleared my mind and explained chronologically for now what will happen in the first seven chapters of who was Haylee Stokes? Chapters in which I start answering that exact question.

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I swear I had planned to post an update on my birthday, it's three days later and I still do not have the faintest idea of how to go about it so I'll dive head first, okay?

One of a kind or Romans 6:23 which I believe will be the actual title (I know, this kinda seems coming out of the blue, I once again swear it isn't and that I've actually thought a lot about it and am still undecided). I'm currently writing chapter 18 of 20 but still have to edit chapter 17 (I've been procrastinating, hard) but the chapter is slowly coming along (been playing too much swtor but hey! I'm a sith inquisitor level 39 which I've achieved in five days which certainly has to amount to something. Yes a total lack of social life).

No news about Sommerfell yet, don't believe they'll be positive if they come at all, sorry. But I have a plan B (hehe, plan B) I'll post the book on itch.io even though I don't believe anyone will buy it or know it even exists but c'est la vie.

Hardwicke is on hiatus, I'm finding it impossible to write and getting into Sommerfell same hurt comfort vibe. But it's around chapter 3 with content written horribly, out of place and not chronologically.

Murder in West Vedo is instead funny to write (when I don't procrastinate) it's as well in chapter 3 (still needs heavy edits but I'm trying to push forward instead). And it's already straying from my book plan, yay! (sarcastic).

Who was Haylee Stokes? Which title I now find terrible is also on chapter 3 and funny to write. Maybe because it's in a different writing style or my writing style is changing (I don't know and hope for the best).

Anyhow this is the news, nothing much else happened apart from the fact that I've been released from my three weeks camp counselor sentence.

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Book review

The Alaska Sanders affair by Joel Dicker 5/5

Description:

April 1999, Mount Pleasant, New Hampshire. The body of a young woman, Alaska Sanders, is found on the shore of a lake. The investigation is quickly closed, the police obtain the confessions of the culprit, who kills himself soon after, and of his accomplice. Eleven years later, however, we discover the case is not really solved. Sergeant Perry Gahalowood, who was conducting the investigation at the time, receives a disturbing anonymous letter. What if he followed a red herring? The help of his writer friend Marcus Goldman, who just had huge success with The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair, inspired by their common experience, will once again be crucial to uncovering the truth. But there is a mystery in the mystery: the disappearance of Harry Quebert. Ghosts of the past return and, among them, the one of Harry Quebert.

Actual thoughts:

This is the third book having Goldman as protagonist (before this there's the truth about the Harry Quebert affair and the Baltimore one) which I encourage to read before Alaska's as you'll be familiar with sergeant Perry despite this book dwelling much more on the obsessive compulsive, funny tie wearing detective and his family. This case was brutal and that's not even taking into account the emotional baggage behind this book's murders. Absolutely genius I couldn't stray from the pages until I'd found out who the murder was. A book that doesn't only keep you guessing until the very end (given that Dicker's MO seems more and more to make compelling accusations against at least eight other characters before the protagonists are able to catch the real killer and using police batons as murder weapons. Like batons really Dicker?) but it was also very entertaining. Small towns where everyone knows everyone, where everyone has a past that entwines with one another which gives many and I mean many possible suspects and good reasons for murder, this book has it all from friendships broken by death and jail to a trigger happy detective (you'll know if you'll read around 600 pages, wink wink. I swear it's worth it).

This book was surprising, from the littlest twist and detail to the bigger picture. What I found especially funny was that the main suspect has been in jail for like two decades, his sister which believes him innocent even changed her life to try and make others believe it as well, she became a police officer and that man still lies constantly during interrogation like, we're trying to get ya out mister! You could do the bare minimum of answering honestly. Not to talk about how heart wretching romance is in this book, the author clearly didn't have luck in relationships while he wrote this or the previous book or... Better not dwell on the author's sentimental life. One thing I can also credit, despite making me cry (the courage, unbelievable right?) is the realism most relationships have in the story; siblings who don't know every tidbit of the other, who question whether they could've actually committed a crime, how they can still love each other despite accusations and doubt. Married couples that simply admit that love's not easy, that it's a day by day work in progress, that sometimes you can love your partner less in the years you're together and that it's no one's fault, that nothing happened, that nothing's different despite the fluctuation of feelings. I love in how many shades one can find jealousy in the book. There's also silent pining, even sexuality realization which isn't born from doubt but from certainty, which doesn't bring stupor or embarrassment, which is taken as it is.

All in all the book was just as perfect as all before it, a great job on everything, the planning must've been hell given everything matters and is taken into account later on in the story (some might find it hard to follow but the book does a great rundown of when and where characters came in possession of used information or deduction).

Now onto Harry, Jesus Christ, this man and his guts. I'm not sure if he deserved a happy ending, nonetheless it had something very telling and poetic about it, something out of Seagulls of Aurora, something that truly suited him and that's all I'm afraid; if you want to know more about the most toxic loves in existence, a missing wrist watch, a death sentence, a far too throughout psychologist, Goldman's old and new friendships (maybe even love) and a sneaky snakey culprit then you'll have to read it for yourself.

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“It's taboo to admit that you're lonely. You can make jokes about it, of course. You can tell people that you spend most of your time with Netflix or that you haven't left the house today and you might not even go outside tomorrow. But rarely do you ever tell people about the true depths of your loneliness, about how you feel more and more alienated from your friends each passing day and you're not sure how to fix it. It seems like everyone is just better at living than you are. A part of you knew this was going to happen. Growing up, you just had this feeling that you wouldn't transition well to adult life, that you'd fall right through the cracks. And look at you now, it's happening.”

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"I think that if the devil does not exist, but man has created him, he has created him in his own image and likeness." "Just as he did God, then"

Fyodor Dostoyevsky (the brothers karamazov, 1880)

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Book review: 3/5

The inheritance games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes 4/5

So it's that time of the year where my unpopular opinion gets me on a pike, uh?

Description:

Avery Grambs has definite plans for the future: to survive high school, get a scholarship and turn her life around. But those plans change in an instant when she discovers that Tobias Hawthorne, an eccentric billionaire she has never heard of, has bequeathed her his entire fortune. The downside? To get Hawthorne's money, Avery has to move into his estate, where every room conveys the late owner's love of puzzles and riddles. And where his entire family lives, especially the billionaire's four grandchildren: dangerous, charming, cunning and raised with the idea that their grandfather's inheritance is rightfully theirs.

Catapulted into a world where wealth, privilege and, above all, secrets rule, Avery must learn the rules of a risky game in which the Hawthorne brothers have always participated and try to resist the attraction to two of them in particular...

The Hawthorne legacy 3/5

Description:

"There is no rule that counts as much as winning"

After unexpectedly receiving Tobias Hawthorne's inheritance, Avery is living a new life she never imagined for herself: paparazzi, legions of security guards, an immense, sprawling mansion full of pitfalls and more money than is conceivable. Yet only one question hovers in her mind: why me? And it is to give herself an answer that she finds herself embroiled in a deadly treasure hunt alongside the four Hawthorne brothers, who at times seem like allies, at times fearsome challengers always one step ahead. Riddle after riddle, secret after secret, Avery is increasingly torn between two of the boys, Grayson and Jameson. If the former attracts her because he is rational and responsible, she likes the latter for the opposite reason, namely because he is crazy and always ready to take risks. While threats and dangers seem to lurk around every corner, will Avery discover what the connection between her and the Hawthornes is? And, above all, will she be able to understand which of the brothers she will give her heart to?

The final gambit 2/5

Description:

To inherit billions, all Avery Kylie Grambs has to do is survive a few more weeks living in Hawthorne House. The paparazzi are dogging her every step. Financial pressures are building. Danger is a fact of life. And the only thing getting Avery through it all is the Hawthorne brothers. Her life is intertwined with theirs. She knows their secrets, and they know her.

But as the clock ticks down to the moment when Avery will become the richest teenager on the planet, trouble arrives in the form of a visitor who needs her help—and whose presence in Hawthorne House could change everything. It soon becomes clear that there is one last puzzle to solve, and Avery and the Hawthorne brothers are drawn into a dangerous game against an unknown and powerful player.

The actual thoughts:

I liked the mysteries, how convoluted and secretive that Hawthorne family is, how they know how fucked up they are but have no intention of unpacking said trauma. I despised Sky with a passion, for how little she was actually seen in the books she really got on my nerves, (probably because I've met people like her). Yet i enjoyed Tobias Hawthorne greatly, for a dead man and a genius he was pretty lively but i overall got the idea that all that happened in the story could've been explained to Avery and his family through a letter, instead of simply said he was sorry, especially given the danger he was leaving his grandchildren and daughters in. Now the man wasn't sane nor a saint but if he loved his family as much as he did couldn't he just at least alert some professional to deal with everything swiftly? Instead of poor Avery? I know it had to be a self discovery, atonement and maturing trip for the four brothers but jeez, talk about crazy in-laws i would've ran, no matter what amount of money i could have if I stayed (and I'm dumb and couldn't have solved half of the riddles in the books). Now, leaving the situation of how and why's that seems basically senseless for at least the first book, the reasoning for choosing Avery instead of one of the Hawthornes wasn't that impressive, especially since it can be pretty easily guessed as soon as Avery life gets threatened which left me dealing with book three imposter syndrome by turning pages and skipping, especially since the whole thing is hilarious since said mystery girl turning up and getting all the attention makes Avery bitch about not having both Hawthorne boys around her little finger, when she has already decided not to be with Grayson which is another point i detest.

So I've basically found interesting the first half of the first book, then when the romance presented i was about to throw away the book, initially believing the plot would have Avery forcibly marry one of the boys. Now, that didn't happen, thank God but she finds herself in a love triangle with brothers exactly as did their previous dead girlfriend? Nope, get out of there Avery. It's ridiculous and a bad way to make the characters realize the truth about their past as Avery is constantly used a pawn, even by the writer herself. So yeah, i did not like the books, Avery for how capable, street smart and analytical makes very adolescent choices which isn't a bad thing per se, she is an adolescent and she can't be able to tackle everything methodically, especially her life and first loves etc. But i did like her resolve and loyalty, how true to herself and beliefs she's been until the third book's end.

I liked Grayson, i personally know how it can feel having to grow up fast, put your needs aside and step up as the adult. His insecurities, the way he slowly begins to crumble mid books is exceptionally well written. The guilt, the self doubt and self inflicted punishing bordering self harm and hatred make him a truly interesting and realistic character which develops with good and bad decisions and traits based on his upbringing and family. This can be seen on all brothers who all act with different trauma responses: Nash avoids and tries to differentiate and to do good even in small acts to live like someone normal, Jameson embraces seeking stimulus and living on a gamble, Grayson self destroys caring so much about all yet not enough for himself, Xander self deprecates using jokes to lighten the mood, a very arduous choice that often hides how deep and self conscious he actually is.

The thing is the plot is in places very good and in others not so much but all books are or can be to some readers. I think it's been said the third book almost wasn't a thing which could explain why it's the worst (in my humble opinion) of the three despite me liking the ending very much.

My advice would be to wait for the tv series instead of going through the long books.

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Hey, I'm alive! Look at that, a surprise isn't it?

Where have I been? Struggling, that's the easiest and quickest answer. Tinnitus is back and annoying my every waking minute, i got covid at some point in time, then the flu, then i had to deal with school interviews and getting accepted into a private school so hopefully I'll get my degree before dying, then there was therapy, films, books, monotony, anxiety and depression. Oh you're right I did also write mind you, so there's that.

One of a kind is in it's last chapters, i can barely remember starting it and what drove me to writing it in the first place (my psychiatrist says trauma) but i can't believe it's almost ending but as you know ends brings forth new beginnings and so on. Don't worry though even if the story is completed i will have much, much more work to put into editing, refining and getting it to a stage where I'm satisfied with it.

Onto Sommerfell now, i can say it is not only finished and edited (not exactly as perfect as I'd liked but sometimes you really need to take the jump or you never will) but that I've also been trying to get it published (in my first language and plane of existence that is) without much luck though as it has been already rejected by one of the three publishing houses I've tried sending it to (yes, my country doesn't have many publishing houses that even publish gay content in the first place so that's why only three).

News is I've nonetheless started Hardwicke, which will see old and new characters from Sommerfell and takes place three years before it's events. This time the story revolves around the life and falling in love of Viscount M. Phyllis Thornbell and Eastyn Bradshaw, dear friends of the Count of Hillsbury.

For other projects I've started there's two new thrillers I'm thrilled to write and share (thrilled, you get it? I'm hilarious, should do stand up comedy instead i know). The first one is to be called Murder in West Vedo which is bound to shed light onto new and old murders alike.

Twenty years after the death of his first wife had been ruled an incident, millionaire Jasper Vilterria hosts an exclusive birthday party for his fiftieth, among friends and family is protagonist Elinor Lee, a very determined journalist with a bone to pick with both the birthday boy and his wife's murder case but a sudden death at Vilterria's manor ends up disrupting her investigation and capturing her eye. Someone killed Vilterria's wife all those years ago, now that a journalist has started pocking her nose into the matter again someone else turns up dead. Could it be the same killer?

I swear I'm done after this (both done with the post and done with picking up projects I've zero certainty of actually finishing).

Who was Haylee Stokes? Many could say an angel, a sweet small town girl with good manners and a smile brighter than the sun but would they be right?

It all started with a phone call, famous local lawyer and playboy Martin Sherman found the hardly dressed body of Haylee Stokes in his bed yet has no recollection of the night of her murder or her for that matter. The more they looked into it, more Haylee didn't really resemble the sweet girl everyone thought she was but as it's known things are not always as they seem and sometimes the sweetest smile can hide the darkest intentions.

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Book review

The truth about the Harry Quebert affair by Joel Dicker 5/5

Description:

August 30, 1975. The day of the disappearance. The day Somerset, New Hampshire, lost its innocence.

That summer, struggling author Harry Quebert fell in love with fifteen-year-old Nola Kellergan. Thirty-three years later, her body is dug up from his yard, along with a manuscript copy of the novel that made him a household name. Quebert is the only suspect. Marcus Goldman, Quebert's most gifted protégé, throws off his writer's block to clear his mentor's name. Solving the case and penning a new bestseller soon merge into one. As his book begins to take on a life of its own, the nation is gripped by the mystery of "The girl who touched the heart of America". But with Nola, in death as in life, nothing is ever as it seems.

Actual thoughts:

An emotional rollercoaster? Like this book has it all, and i mean all.

True love? Check. First love? Check. Undying love? Check. Love in all the wrong places? Age gap? Platonic connection? Investigation? Thriller? Murder? Exorcism? Check.

A book filled not only with a beautiful story, an interesting case, and lots of suspense but with many rabbit holes, many preconceptions, many truths, and likely as many lies. As a writer I've adored it, consuming it in two days, that is only because I do sometimes sleep. I was invested and captured I was fucking rooting for Harry and found Marcus is such a likable and relatable character. Despite the briefest physical descriptions of the characters they speak for and about themselves enough for the reader to truly get to know them, from their simple day-to-day to their darkest secrets, I felt like I was basically there myself, hearing about all shades of the human nature and understanding piece after piece the beautiful messages hidden (not so much) in the book. A book within a book within a book! A book inception! And I loved every paragraph of it. If someone wants a fast-paced, well-written, and incredibly well-executed thriller and mystery this book is a must.

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“I don’t want to hear anyone say my name. I’m trying to forget [it]. If I don’t think about myself enough, maybe I will forget that I am.”

— Henry Rollins, Black Coffee Blues

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“Sometimes skulls are thick. Sometimes hearts are vacant. Sometimes words don’t work.”

— James Frey (via quotemadness)

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For old times sake is actually such a heartbreaking and beautiful sentiment. Like, let’s do it for the love that used to be here. It is reason enough.

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Book review: 4/5

Spicy level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Sins of the city series by K.J Charles

1) An unseen attraction 5/5

Description:

A slow-burning romance and a chilling mystery bind two singular men in the suspenseful first book of a new Victorian series from K. J. Charles. 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.

Actual thoughts:

I was absolutely captured by the first book, the world-building is truly next level, as the gloomy setting, the descriptions, how precise and meticulous and intriguing is every piece of information given. I adored Rowley, his patience, his candor, his gentleness. I adored Clem, his problems, and the solutions he'd found to them, I loved the personalities living at the lodging house. The mystery and its resolution had me pacing for days wondering. The details: Clem's forgetfulness, Rowley's glasses, Cat that horrendous loving cat, the passion for such an unusual profession and the respect, and the respect the characters have for each other and their differences got to me and had me sobbing at the tender moments. I hated Clem's brother with a passion which makes him a wonderful character as well as the drunk priest. This was my very first book by K.J Charles and it left a mark, one hard to exceed.

My favorite part was how the story could be a compelling mystery, a soft romance with talks about boundaries, likes, and dislikes as well as a found family story. I love how Clem is portrayed and how defensive his friends are of him, how it talks about being different, and how it means so many different things, this book really broke me (in a good way, the best way) leaving me aching and crying about fictional men, leaving me to wonder how much difficulties people with disabilities, autism, and struggling with gender identity and orientation can face daily, can face in dating and showing love, how many have been overcome in centuries, how some kindness can change someone's life. This is still one of the best books I've ever read.

2) An unnatural vice 3/5

Description:

In the sordid streets of Victorian London, unwanted desire flares between two bitter enemies brought together by a deadly secret. Crusading journalist Nathaniel Roy is determined to expose spiritualists who exploit the grief of bereaved and vulnerable people. First on his list is the so-called Seer of London, Justin Lazarus. Nathaniel expects him to be a cheap, heartless fraud. He doesn’t expect to meet a man with a sinful smile and the eyes of a fallen angel—or that a shameless swindler will spark his desires for the first time in years. Justin feels no remorse for the lies he spins during his séances. His gullible clients simply bore him. Hostile, disbelieving, utterly irresistible Nathaniel is a fascinating challenge. And as their battle of wills and wits heats up, Justin finds he can’t stop thinking about the man who’s determined to ruin him. But Justin and Nathaniel are linked by more than their fast-growing obsession with one another. They are both caught up in an aristocratic family’s secrets, and Justin holds information that could be lethal. As killers, fanatics, and fog close in, Nathaniel is the only man Justin can trust—and, perhaps, the only man he could love.

Actual thoughts:

Fast-paced in confront to the first book and far too many repetitions of the same events with slight pov modifications, but maybe that's just me who read them one after the other. Less descriptions, fewer specifications, and not that many details yet it is a good haters-to-lovers story, one charged with sexual tension leaving the reader wondering if the next page would've contained a murder or a sex scene. I might've spent five good minutes laughing at certain scenes, such as Nathaniel collecting the first time he masturbated (he did so on a Saint Michael? I think, holy picture). I liked the switch of pace and themes, yet even as the story is interesting I was far too centralized on the mystery rather than the book's couple. Nathaniel felt too imperious without a proper justification for some matters but I loved his devotion, his fierceness. Justin is a tricky one, one that I cannot fully love or hate, he isn't a good man and I often found myself wondering if the relationship between Nathaniel and him could really function in the long run. Justin is a bad person, not even for his tricks or job but for his interpretation of feelings relevance and despite understating where he is coming from, the hurt, and the trauma I cannot fully sympathize or excuse his behavior which makes him incredibly human and well fucking written. I didn't like them as a couple, and while it made for a funny thought, them getting together, I really ended the book with a bitter taste in my mouth and the need to pick up the last book of the trilogy to discover the plot's end.

3) An unsuitable heir 3/5

Description:

A private detective finds passion, danger, and the love of a lifetime when he hunts down a lost earl in Victorian London. On the trail of an aristocrat’s secret son, enquiry agent Mark Braglewicz finds his quarry in a music hall, performing as a trapeze artist with his twin sister. Graceful, beautiful, elusive, and strong, Pen Starling is like nobody Mark’s ever met—and everything he’s ever wanted. But the long-haired acrobat has an earldom and a fortune to claim. Pen doesn’t want to live as any sort of man, least of all a nobleman. The thought of being wealthy, titled, and always in the public eye is horrifying. He likes his life now—his days on the trapeze, his nights with Mark. And he won’t be pushed into taking a title that would destroy his soul. But there’s a killer stalking London’s foggy streets, and more lives than just Pen’s are at risk. Mark decides he must force the reluctant heir from music hall to manor house, to save Pen’s neck. Betrayed by the one man he thought he could trust, Pen never wants to see his lover again. But when the killer comes after him, Pen must find a way to forgive—or he might not live long enough for Mark to make amends.

Actual thoughts:

Perhaps the book I liked less, even less detail and descriptions, and even less time spent between main characters to accommodate the main plot which made this relationship feel pressured and imposed. I really couldn't bring myself to care for Pen, I loved the idea of a nonbinary count fighting not to live his life as a man in eyes of society, I really liked his rapport with his sister as I like all sibling bonds written by Charles honestly. Nonetheless, I didn't enjoy Pen, he seems too reluctant and afraid to jump head-first into a relationship, and even if he wanted one it felt he would've been better off figuring out himself foremost. While in the story there is a waiting game, a beautiful understanding, and impressively modern speeches Pen and Marks's relationship still didn't feel right, not to the point of calling it love. I also didn't like Mark, while very open and aiming to please he often came off as rough and unpleasant. I really liked the resolution, liked the evolution of Clem throughout the three books, and how much some of their most strong views turned opposite or shattered completely. I loved the found family the Jack and Knaves offers and how strange outside of it the group of friends may seem. I enjoyed Phyllis and how female characters in Charles's books aren't any less fun and interesting than men or the main characters get depicted.

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Book review: 5/5

Spice level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

The gentle art of fortune hunting by K.J Charles

I find myself pretty biased here as I love each and every single book Charles has written yet (and I might be a wee too much into m/m Victorian time romance).

Description:

Robin Loxleigh and his sister Marianne are the hit of the Season, so attractive and delightful that nobody looks behind their pretty faces. Until Robin sets his sights on Sir John Hartlebury’s heiress niece. The notoriously graceless baronet isn’t impressed by good looks, or fooled by false charm. He’s sure Robin is a liar—a fortune hunter, a card sharp, and a heartless, greedy fraud—and he’ll protect his niece, whatever it takes. Then, just when Hart thinks he has Robin at his mercy, things take a sharp left turn. And as the grumpy baronet and the glib fortune hunter start to understand each other, they also find themselves starting to care—more than either of them thought possible. But Robin's cheated and lied and let people down for money. Can a professional rogue earn an honest happy ever after?

Actual thoughts:

The title says it all, I love the title, I love it says "gentle art" instead of simply "the art of".

Grumpy meets mischievous sunshine, the writing is compelling, easy, and flows so greatly that I devour all of Charles's books in a matter of few hours. While the book is centered around romance and erotic scenes the story is absolutely not boring or expected. Smut with plot some would say, I can attest I would've relished it even with a lack of sex scenes which is to say the story has been built in rock pillars and can easily stand on its own. I enjoyed the dialogues, the quick comebacks, the raw emotions, and the choice of wording dearly. The main character's personalities are well structured, and true to themselves as both men fight with each other and themselves to better themselves, to better their lives, and standings, they fight to understand each other, to help each other even, making the story engaging, frustrating the reader, making them comprehend the actions and feelings of both teaching them how sometimes the past shapes us in a destructive way something I've found recurring in Charles books.

I love the constant disheartening feelings, the need that strains your heart to finally see the main characters achieve a realistic happy ending, one possible for two.

Returning themes are different social standings, the fear of being outed, shame, scandal, and heartbreaking truths which leave the reader desperately trying to think of a solution which often not comes from luck and unexpected discoveries.

I would recommend this book to first readers that don't feel ready to commit to whole trilogies as it gives you a perfect taste of the writing style and recurring dialogue structure and themes often represented by the author (who I love if you hadn't noticed).

[fdlvh]

Really wanted to start something new on here so, since I read a lot and fast, like really fast I thought, why not make book reviews? And here we are.

No spoilers

Book review: 5/5

The seven deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

I didn't know anything when I started reading this book, I hadn't read the description, I hadn't heard of it, and no one had invited me to read it. I had only noticed an interesting title among many others. Who could die seven times? Who is Evelyn? A question I would've surprisingly carried with me until the end.

At a party thrown by her parents, Evelyn Hardcastle will be killed - again. She's been murdered hundreds of times, and each day, Aiden Bishop is too late to save her. 

Description:

It is meant to be a celebration but it ends in tragedy. As fireworks explode overhead, Evelyn Hardcastle, the young and beautiful daughter of the house, is killed. But Evelyn will not die just once. Aiden Bishop knows the rules. Evelyn Hardcastle will die every day until he can identify her killer and break the cycle. But every time the day begins again, Aiden wakes up in the body of a different guest at Blackheath Manor. And some of his hosts are more helpful than others. With a locked-room mystery that Agatha Christie would envy, Stuart Turton unfurls a breakneck novel of intrigue and suspense.

Actual thoughts:

Unexpected is the first word coming to mind when I think of this book. It's immersive, I could see scenes happening in front of my eyes, and I could feel the character's frustration, fear, the reasoning behind every little detail as nothing and I really mean nothing in the book is left unsolved or unclear or happens without motive. I loved each personality, and each character as the plot unveiled more and more information, more and more enigmas.

The book perfectly grasps what means to be human in all its shades, from the darkest to it's most compassionate. Truly a whirlwind of emotions, of different standpoints and opposite inferences on the same happenings of a same day and events.

The seven deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle truly captured my attention to the point I couldn't put the book down, I had to know and when knowledge was given I found it in abundance, the same couldn't be said for the truth as it evades the reader skillfully leaving one wondering, questioning his own morals and putting themselves in the shoes of the main character. I often found myself thinking if violence wouldn't have been the answer myself, if there could've been a shortcut, a way to dodge the foretold which only raised additional surprises and actual reprimands from the main character himself who feels strongly on the subject.

I loved it, it was refreshing, brilliant.

I honestly cannot capacitate myself with how the hell someone could've come up with such a convoluted and emotional journey which only makes me strive to better myself and gifted me an unparalleled experience I couldn't experience twice only by chance.

[fdlvh]

Y'all it's public, and just in time for the holidays! Go get your fix of angst on AO3.

Ghost x Soap fanfiction is called Safe haven and stands at about 9.000 words.

[fdlvh]

Sommerfell is a romance book reporting the events and falling in love in the lives of two Victorian gentlemen.

The Duke of Sommerfell is a young man who loves the classics and traditions. Persuaded by his younger brother Claude to attend a charity event run by a close friend of his who owns a gentleman's club in London, the duke will find the latter's company particularly enjoyable, a man whose name appears to be on everyone's lips, Albion the Earl of Hillsbury.

Virgil Beckwith is the main character and has held the title of Duke of Sommerfell for three years at the beginning of the plot. His family runs several businesses in addition to the estate: the silk trade, the sale of horses, and finally deals in loans. Virgil is an extremely shy and reserved man burdened with duties, expectations, strong beliefs and unnatural desires for the same sex. Virgil is also the eldest of four having in order after himself his brother Claude an expansive and thoughtless young man, his taciturn sister Maida and little Bramwell, a warmongering troublemaker.

Albion Trembath is the Earl of Hillsbury, foul-mouthed, scandalous, and almost twenty years older than Virgil. He is a bachelor with money problems, a charming and cultured man with a love of books and writing them especially when erotic in theme. Stuck running the family mines he desperately seeks an escape from what society imposes on him. Albion has a younger half-brother Burkhard with whom he has been waging a war over their father's legacy for years.

Eastyn Bradshaw is a close friend and missed brother by marriage to Hillsbury, sociable and extremely outgoing Eastyn is often described as having an all too good nature and idealistic if not childish views. Eastyn is the latest in a series of female daughters, the only male for decades on either side of his family.

Middleton Phyllis Thornbell is the earl's second best friend, earnest and inscrutable Phyllis is half-Chinese and the Viscount of Hardwicke. Pragmatic and always in a bad mood, he is a lover of music and theater. Phyllis is a second male child having before him a brother Benjamin and after him two younger twin sisters Adeline and Sophia.

Eugene Mosby is a doctor and third and final best friend of Hillsbury. Stern, unpleasant and crass he doesn't like human contact or people outside Hillsbury's club members.

Clarity Jane Ashdown is the daughter of the Marquis of Ashdown and niece of the Margrave of Kroemer and is betrothed to Virgil. Clare tends to talk too fast and without paying attention to decorum; some would call her inappropriate, others genuine.

Bennet Wyckwood is an old friend of the Earl of Hillsbury however something seems to have severed their friendly relationship.

The book is intended for a mature audience as it talks about gender identity, sexuality and religious faith heavily while also conteining deeply sexual themes.