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 … 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.
Don’t miss any of the captivating Sins of the Cities novels:
AN UNSEEN ATTRACTION | AN UNNATURAL VICE | AN UNSUITABLE HEIR
And look for the enticing Society of Gentlemen series by KJ Charles:
THE RUIN OF GABRIEL ASHLEIGH | A FASHIONABLE INDULGENCE | A SEDITIOUS AFFAIR | A GENTLEMAN’S POSITION
This ebook includes an excerpt from another Loveswept title.
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This story is told beautifully. I loved that it was about so much more than just two men falling in bed and in love. The way Charles tackles the issues of our modern world in this historical setting is handled superbly and I can’t find any fault in it. I love that Pen doesn’t fit into any box the world tried to put him in and ultimately finds a way to stay true to himself and find love with a man that sees him and accepts him in every way. Their instant connection was believable. The sexy was off the charts. And we finally got the mystery of it all resolved. A fantastic series with a fabulous ending.
Since each book focuses on a different couple but the whole series is focused on solving the same mystery, I gave this one the happily ever after.
The future of the human race may very well lie in our ability to stop thinking in sexist, racist, binary, ablest terms. This book gives us a perfect glimpse of what life might be like for someone who does not fit, nor wish to fit in a pink-and-blue world. Pen Starling has glorious long hair and frequently wears make-up and earrings. Pen also flies on a trapeze with his sister; they have been hiding from evil, repressive forces for many years. Now it turns out that Pen is also the heir to a god-awful prick of man from a god-awful line of pricks. Who finds this out? Mark, a private enquiry agent who has lived his life with only one hand. Only one hand but the most open heart and mind! their adventure is wondrously sexy and even inspirational.
Audible Review
Overall 5*
Performance 5*
Story 5*
Love IS Love!
This was my favorite book in the series! I had no idea how the crimes were going to be solved, or how things were going to work out for Mark and Pen, but it all came together so well! I’m sure everyone had their own ideas of “whodunit” like I did, but I was second guessing myself up until the very end, and I still got it wrong. Bravo to Ms. Charles for a well thought out, well plotted storyline.
I didn’t expect all the emotions I’d feel in this book. To be honest, I never read the blurb for this one- I knew it was Mark’s story, but I didn’t know what was coming when it came to Pen’s character.
I’m not well versed at all in the trans/non-binary world so I’m not going to even try to delve into those aspects of the story for fear of offending someone, but I felt so much for Pen and all he was having to deal with- wanting to live life on his own terms, and scared of not being able to if he had to take his position in the family he never knew.
I didn’t think there was any way that Ms. Charles could make it so that Pen could live a happy life, one where he didn’t have to hide who he was, but I really liked how everything worked out for all involved.
Matthew Lloyd Davis was a fantastic narrator. I’m not sure I would have enjoyed these stories as much as I did if I had read them instead of listened- he really brought these stories to life.
***Borrowed through the RP.
I love Regency M on M tales. This did not disappoint me whatsoever
Interesting twist on the usual gay male romance. Set in Victorian England and evoked the setting of London at that time pretty well.
This is the third installment of the series. I found this one a bit hard to get into to start, but once it got going, I enjoyed it. Mark has been in all the stories, and he is the focus of this one. He has found the heir, Pen, and falls in love. Their relationship is different than most but it brings out the best in both of them. Pen is sweet and wishes to go unnoticed. He tries to keep up a brave face when doing things he would rather not, but his heart is almost always apparent. The series has a lot of darkness to it but is balanced out by the HEAs of these M/M pairs.
I received a copy of this story through Netgalley, and this is my unsolicited review.
AN UNSUITABLE HEIR is the third and final installment in KJ Charles’ Victorian England, adult SIN OF THE CITIES M/M romance, mystery trilogy. This is private investigator Mark Braglewicz, and trapeze artist and reluctant earl Repentance ‘Pen’ Starling’s story line. AN UNSUITABLE HEIR can be read as a stand alone but for cohesion and backstory I recommend reading the series in order as there is an ongoing premise and plot throughout the series focusing on the search for the heir to the Earl of Moreton’s estate.
NOTE: AN UNSUITABLE HEIR and the SINS OF THE CITIES series contain scenes of M/M sexual situations and may not be suitable for all readers.
SOME BACKGROUND: Twenty three years earlier, sixteen year old and pregnant Emmeline Godfrey Taillefer’s life fell apart when the man that she married walked away without a backwards glance. Fast forward and the son to whom she gave birth is said to be the legitimate heir to the Earl of Moreton-a position coveted by more than one surviving relation.
Told from dual third person perspectives (Pen and Mark) AN UNSUITABLE HEIR focuses on the search for the truth as a group of friends endeavors to find the missing heir to the Taillefer fortune and title holder to the Earl of Moreton. Mark Braglewicz has been commissioned to locate a young man known a Pen Starling-one half of the Flying Starling trapeze artists, and the man who is quite possibly the missing heir to the Moreton estates. Enter Repentance Taillefer aka Pen Starling, a man whose lifestyle will never be conducive as the Earl of Moreton, and the man with whom Mark Braglewicz will fall in love. With a killer on the loose, searching for the missing Taillefer twins, Mark struggles to convince Pen and his sister Greta (Regret) that Pen’s life hangs in the balance as a killer sets his sights on the Moreton heir.
Pen Starling is an anomaly – a bi-gendered man living in Victoria England; a flamboyant trapeze artist whose ‘professional persona’ crosses over into his daily life including an attraction to men that must be hidden in light of the times. Pen’s ‘gender fluidity’ is expressed by the way he presents himself as a girl or a boy (woman or man) depending upon his current state of mind or emotions. Mark Braglewicz, a private investigator is a bisexual man (with a missing left arm) whose captivation with Pen is palpable and intense.
The relationship between Pen and Mark is one of mutual fascination; a forbidden romance between two men who must remain closeted at a time when homosexuality is criminal and a sin. Mark’s ongoing need to convince Pen to acknowledge his rightful title builds a wall between our leading couple, a wall that will harden the heart of Pen Starling as betrayal and lies force Pen to face the truth about the man with whom he is falling in love. Pen is a reluctant heir knowing his personal lifestyle will become fodder for the people in charge-his fears are legitimate and painful. The $ex scenes are intimate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.
The world building continues to focus on the hunt for a killer; the search for the missing Moreton heirs; and the developing friendships and relationships between a group of gay men in Victorian England. All of the previous story line couples and characters play secondary and supporting roles. Once again, the tone of the story is not conducive to the era or the time-I was expecting a tighter interpretation of the language e.g. euphemisms, slang, sentence structure, and because of this, the story line reads more modern than historic (see my review of books one and two). The premise is entertaining and enlightening; the characters are colorful but flawed; the romance is seductive and intense.
NOTE: I would like to add that political correctness did not exist in Victorian England, and to apply modern standards to an historical romance novel would alter the perceptive believability of the era. Some readers may take offense to the ‘presentation’ of Pen’s sexuality or Mark’s physical disability but for readers to apply contemporary criteria, standards, measurements or guidelines to this series and story line would be a grievous error that should be avoided.