Magic in the blood. Danger in the streets.Lord Crane has never had a lover quite as elusive as Stephen Day. He knows Stephen’s job as justiciar requires secrecy, but the magician is doing his disappearing act more than seems reasonable—especially since Crane will soon return to his home in China. When a blackmailer threatens to expose their illicit relationship, there’s only one thing stopping … one thing stopping Crane from leaving the country he loathes: Stephen.
Stephen has problems of his own. As he investigates a plague of giant rats sweeping London, his sudden increase in power, boosted by his blood-and-sex bond with Crane, is rousing suspicion that he’s turned warlock. With all eyes on him, the threat of exposure grows. Stephen could lose his friends, his job and his liberty over his relationship with Crane. He’s not sure if he can take that risk much longer. Crane isn’t sure if he can ask him to.
The rats are closing in, and something has to give…
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I figured this second book couldn’t possibly be as good as the first one. I was totally wrong. I loved it! Not only did this story have hot sex like the first one, but there was actual love and romance. And rats. Big ones. Small rats are nasty enough critters; just picture them as big as dogs. Ew. And when they attack? Ewwwwwwwwwwww. Merrick (whose smartassedness I adore) of course made an appearance. We also met Crane’s friend Leo, and Stephen’s partner Esther and her husband. There was a lot of action in this book, but the main focus was on Crane and Stephen. What marvelous characters! I guess you can imagine what I’m going to read next…
Sometimes the sequel to a beloved book can be a disappointment, but that was NOT the case for the second book in A Charm of Magpies series. Now that Crane and Day are together, they need to figure out how to make their relationship work in a society that would imprison and ruin them for their love. Crane’s complete disdain of London’s sexuality laws, and Day’s deep fear of losing his friends and job are a source of tension between the two lovers. Trying to navigate that huge obstacle in their relationship while solving a mystery of attacking, giant rats, both Day and Crane will have to make some hard choices.
Once again, the characterizations of Crane and Day were well done and made me fall in love with them all over again. I love the dialogue between both men and how they work together both professionally and as lovers. This is a fantastic book and will definitely be a future re-read for me.
Audible Review:
Overall 4 out of 5 stars
Performance 5 out of 5 stars
Story 4 out of 5 stars
So enjoy this series!
This is such an entertaining series, even if it does creep me out a bit! And this one really creeped me out. Giant rats?!? No thanks!
I love Stephen and Lucien- such an odd pairing, but one that works really well. I was so glad to see how things progressed with their relationship.
There was a little confusion for me with this story, at least in the beginning. It seemed like there were a multitude of things happening, and nothing was coming together, until it finally did, and then it all started to make sense. This series really isn’t for the faint of heart, with the violence and somewhat graphic descriptions, but I can’t get enough of it.
I liked that we got to learn more of Lucien’s past in this book, to see a little of his and Merrick’s history from their time in China.
I enjoy how these stories are a mix of romance, mystery, suspense, and a bit of horror thrown in for good measure.
Cornell Collins is perfect for thes books. He truly performs each character, giving them their own personalities and quirks, keeping me enthralled throughout. I think I appreciate these books so much more thanks to him.