Every book in this group is by K.J. Charles. Three of the four are the same series or an off-shoot, the other is the first book in a new series.

All four are historical M/M romances and all four have boinking.

Spectred Isle (2017)(8/10)

This is the first book in a (hopefully) new series, set after The Great War.

The war upended many things, and for Randolph Glyde, it destroyed his life, as he is the last of his line–almost all other members of his family having been killed during the war. Which makes him the sole heir to the magical traditions, and the protection of many places of power.

Saul Lazenby was disgraced during the war (and lucky he wasn’t shot for being a traitor) so he has been utterly unable to find work as an archeologist, and has ended up working with a man looking for historical traces of the supernatural.

Neither man trusts the other, but they keep being drawn to places and events and don’t understand why.

I really adore her world building–the magic use is marvelous, but her characters are even better. I’ve read a LOT of her books this year, and every character is distinct and engaging.

The Magpie Lord (2013)(8/10), Flight of Magpies (2014)(8/10)

Lucien Vaudrey has spent the last 20 years in exile, returning to England only after unexpectedly becoming the heir. His plan is to get things settle and get out of England.

Stephen Day is a Justicar–a magician who enforces the rules. Justicars are generally disliked by other magicians, and also frequently have to take care of magical problems no one else wants to deal with. Stephen also has a past with the Vaudrey family, and is very unhappy when asked to look in on a problem.

This is a three book series, that tells how the two men fell in love and how magic unexpectedly shaped their relationship.

Plus other stuff.

Rag and Bone (2016)(8/10)

This story is an offshoot of the Magpie series. Crispin Tredarloe was raised in an illegal magical tradition, and has been struggling to learn how to properly practice magic. Ned Hall is Crispin’s lover–and was displeased to discover he had a natural affinity for magic.

Both men fear being left, and each believes he isn’t good enough for the other, which is the second story-line of the book (the first being the magical problem that Ned has discovered.

I really like the world-building here, and I think the M/M romance fits in well with a world where magic users have to hide their practice from the general populace, since homosexuality could be a death sentence at that time.

The Books of 2018