{"id":10091,"date":"2018-04-03T13:19:52","date_gmt":"2018-04-03T17:19:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=10091"},"modified":"2024-03-01T18:14:49","modified_gmt":"2024-03-01T23:14:49","slug":"an-unsuitable-heir","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/10091","title":{"rendered":"An Unsuitable Heir"},"content":{"rendered":"

An Unsuitable Heir<\/a><\/em> (2017) K.J. Charles<\/a> (Sins of the City)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Set in London in 1873<\/p>\n

Mark is a private enquiry agent. He and his mother came to England, fleeing Poland after his mother got in trouble one too many times for her anarchism. Through the lawyer who often defended his mother, he came to know Clem and the others at the Jack, so he is willing to help Nathaniel search for the missing heir to help keep Clem from being thrown out of his home.<\/p>\n

\u201cGone back off home now to bring down the Empire, trzymajmy kciuki<\/em>.\u201d He tipped his glass. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat was that?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cPolish. Means \u2018Let\u2019s keep our fingers crossed.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cDid you just drink to the fall of the British Empire?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cI was brought up in bad ways.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Pen and Greta Starling (Regret and Repentance Godfrey) have been working as acrobats since they ran away years earlier, when Greta was to have been forced to marry the old man who was head of the religious group their mother joined after running away.<\/p>\n

It was working as showmen that Pen truly discovered himself: a person who didn’t always want to be male, but also didn’t necessarily want to be female, but instead wanted only to be himself, whoever that was on any given day.<\/p>\n

Which makes him a really really<\/em> unsuitable heir. I was honestly wondering how on earth things were going to work out, because Pen was completely unsuited to being the heir, but the heir apparent and his son would throw Clem out in a heartbeat, so that obviously would not work at all.<\/p>\n

I think this is the first book I’ve read where a main character was trans. Which made it all the more interesting, since his sexuality was very much tied up in how he felt about himself at that time. It also made it impossible for Pen to live happily as the Earl, since his whole life would become a facade he could not maintain. <\/p>\n

I also really liked many of the secondary characters, including Mr Hapgood.<\/p>\n

\u201cEdmund, Lord Moreton, was married to Emmeline Godfrey. Any son by that lady precedes all other heirs. It must be carefully assessed whether Mr. Pen is such a son.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cWhy are you taking his side?\u201d Desmond demanded. His gnarled hands were tight on his cane. \u201cYou work for me!\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cI represent the Moreton estate,\u201d Mr. Hapgood said, very coldly. \u201cI have done so all my life. I do not take sides, Mr. Desmond.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Also: Clem.<\/p>\n

\u201cDesmond\u2019s been trying to throw me out of my house, you see. I keep lodgings, and the lodging house belongs to Moreton, and if he took it away that would be my home and my livelihood gone. Everything I\u2019ve worked for, my future. I\u2019d have to start all over again with nothing. It wouldn\u2019t be pleasant.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cWhy would he do that?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cBecause he doesn\u2019t want me to exist,\u201d Clem said simply.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Clem is the reason that who becomes the Earl matters so much. Without worry for Clem, you wouldn’t care if Pen walked away from the Earldom. Which of course makes both the mystery and the conclusion far more interesting.<\/p>\n

Also: a locked room mystery!<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t get into the house from the moat,\u201d Tim said. \u201cClem and I never did and we spent summers trying.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Additionally, I liked the conclusion. As I said, I didn’t see how it was ever going to work out, and then suddenly realized the solution had been there all the time.<\/p>\n

It was a nice little series, despite all the boinking, and I enjoyed the characters and the mystery.<\/p>\n

Publisher: Loveswept<\/p>\n

Rating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An Unsuitable Heir (2017) K.J. Charles (Sins of the City) Set in London in 1873 Mark is a private enquiry agent. He and his mother came to England, fleeing Poland after his mother got in trouble one too many times for her anarchism. Through the lawyer who often defended his mother, he came to know […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12,30,33,8,148,26,56],"tags":[50,476,544,557],"class_list":["post-10091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-8-10","category-british","category-historical","category-mystery","category-queer","category-romance","category-sexual-content","tag-boinking","tag-kj-charles","tag-mm","tag-victorian"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-2CL","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":24629,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/24629","url_meta":{"origin":10091,"position":0},"title":"An Unsuitable Heir","author":"Michelle","date":"June 1, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"An Unsuitable Heir (2017) KJ Charles (Sins of the Cities, #3) Set in London and Norfolk England in 1873 I do like Mark. \"Gone back off home now to bring down the Empire, trzymajmy kciuki.\u201d He tipped his glass. \u201cWhat was that?\u201d \u201cPolish. Means \u2018Let\u2019s keep our fingers crossed.\u2019?\u201d \u201cDid\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"An Unsuitable Heir","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/An-Unsuitable-Heir.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":19965,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/19965","url_meta":{"origin":10091,"position":1},"title":"An Unsuitable Heir","author":"Michelle","date":"April 29, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"An Unsuitable Heir (2017) KJ Charles (Sins of the Cities) Set in England in 1873. I have complicated feelings about this story, and I'm pretty sure they're all on me and not the story. \u201cWhat does he do?\u201d Pen paused. \u201cHe didn\u2019t say, actually. We mostly talked about, well, me.\u201d\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"An Unsuitable Heir","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/An-Unsuitable-Heir.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13216,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/13216","url_meta":{"origin":10091,"position":2},"title":"An Unsuitable Heir","author":"Michelle","date":"June 10, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"An Unsuitable Heir (2017) K.J. Charles (Sins of the Cities) Set in London, 29 November 1873 - January 1874 This book ends the Sins of the City series, and we finally learn who has been behind the murders, as well as why (although that had been pretty obvious). Mark Braglewicz\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"An Unsuitable Heir","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/An-Unsuitable-Heir.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":17515,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/17515","url_meta":{"origin":10091,"position":3},"title":"An Unsuitable Heir","author":"Michelle","date":"June 21, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"An Unsuitable Heir (2017) KJ Charles (Sins of the Cities) Set in London in 1873 \u201cWhat does he do?\u201d Pen paused. \u201cHe didn\u2019t say, actually. We mostly talked about, well, me.\u201d \u201cNo wonder you think he\u2019s charming.\u201d Pen blinked. \u201cYou\u2019re an anarchist about the laws of nature?\u201d \u201cI\u2019m not an\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"An Unsuitable Heir","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/An-Unsuitable-Heir.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10085,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/10085","url_meta":{"origin":10091,"position":4},"title":"An Unnatural Vice","author":"Michelle","date":"April 3, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"An Unnatural Vice (2017) K.J. Charles Set in London in 1873 This book follows--and in some cases overlaps--An Unseen AttractionClem's brother is dead, his heir has been made a bastard, and now Clem's friends are trying to keep Clem's cousin from throwing him out of his home by searching for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/An-Unnatural-Vice.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":19955,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/19955","url_meta":{"origin":10091,"position":5},"title":"An Unseen Attraction","author":"Michelle","date":"April 27, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"An Unseen Attraction (2017) KJ Charles (Sins of the Cities) Set in London in 1873 The first book in the Sins of the City series. they said the eyes were the windows to the soul, and Clem didn\u2019t feel comfortable peering into people\u2019s windows. \u201cMost people,\u201d Clem said carefully, \u201cmost\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"An Unseen Attraction","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/An-Unseen-Attraction.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10091"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10091\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}