Reviewed by Annika
TITLE: The Magpie Lord
SERIES: A Charm of Magpies #1
AUTHOR: KJ Charles
NARRATOR: Cornell Collins
PUBLISHER: Self-Published
LENGTH: 6 hours 25 minutes
RELEASE DATE: January 26, 2018
BLURB:
A lord in danger. A magician in turmoil. A snowball in hell.
Exiled to China for twenty years, Lucien Vaudrey never planned to return to England. But with the mysterious deaths of his father and brother, it seems the new Lord Crane has inherited an earldom. He’s also inherited his family’s enemies. He needs magical assistance, fast. He doesn’t expect it to turn up angry.
Magician Stephen Day has good reason to hate Crane’s family. Unfortunately, it’s his job to deal with supernatural threats. Besides, the earl is unlike any aristocrat he’s ever met, with the tattoos, the attitude… and the way Crane seems determined to get him into bed. That’s definitely unusual.
Soon Stephen is falling hard for the worst possible man, at the worst possible time. But Crane’s dangerous appeal isn’t the only thing rendering Stephen powerless. Evil pervades the house, a web of plots is closing round Crane, and if Stephen can’t find a way through it—they’re both going to die.
REVIEW:
Recently I listened to a historical paranormal mm romance book, and wow that’s a mouthful. Anyway I realised I read or listen to way too few books in the historical genre. Yes I know I always say that, but this time was different, I decided to do something about it. And there are few people out there that write historical mm romances like KJ Charles, paranormal or otherwise.
Now, I read The Magpie Lord about four years ago, but in the famously “wrong mood”. It just wasn’t what I was looking for then. But it sure was exactly what I was looking for now. In short I loved the story and I loved the characters even more. Well, our main couple that is, not so fond of the “evil” ones. But I have to give credit where it’s due, every single character was well developed, and had a purpose in this book. There were no fillers or plot devices or drama for the sake of it. No, everything that happened had a purpose, and to me that’s the best kind of book.
I loved the world building I mean the attention for details was amazing. It’s so rich and full of history, and it’s clear that Charles put a lot of effort in creating it and the characters. And the best part? We’ve only just begun to scratch the surface. There is so much more to explore, to learn and experience.
As far as our main character Lucien and Stephen goes, they have quite the journey. From that first kind of hostile meeting and the somewhat reluctant (on Stephen’s part) acceptance to help, evolving to a friendship and partnership with some pretty steamy undertones. Watching them dance around each other was entertaining, and them finally getting together was explosive. I believe in them, and I think that they can and will build something strong over the books to come.
There are some author-narrator pairing that just work in every aspect, like Rhys Ford and Greg Tremblay or TJ Klune and Michael Lesley. And I have to say KJ Charles and Cornell Collins are among those pairings. They both bring out the best of the story and the characters. It’s difficult to explain but the essence of what KJ Charles writes just fit with Collins’ narration. I love his British accent, he definitely transported me both overseas (over the puddle?) but more importantly back in time. He made me experience this magical world and left me wanting more.
This book was as I mentioned earlier just the beginning and I can’t wait to find out what happens next. Highly recommended.
RATING: 
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