An Unseen Attraction

Sins of the Cities, Book 1

By: KJ Charles

Narrated by: Matthew Lloyd Davies

Length: 7 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

A slow-burning romance and a chilling mystery bind two singular men in the suspenseful first book of a new Victorian series from K. J. Charles.

Lodging-house keeper Clem Talleyfer prefers a quiet life. He's happy with his hobbies, his work - and especially with his lodger Rowley Green, who becomes a friend over their long fireside evenings together. If only neat, precise, irresistible Mr. Green were interested in more than friendship....

Rowley just wants to be left alone - at least until he meets Clem, with his odd, charming ways and his glorious eyes. Two quiet men, lodging in the same house, coming to an understanding...it could be perfect. Then the brutally murdered corpse of another lodger is dumped on their doorstep and their peaceful life is shattered. Now Clem and Rowley find themselves caught up in a mystery, threatened on all sides by violent men, with a deadly London fog closing in on them. If they're to see their way through, the pair must learn to share their secrets - and their hearts.

©2017 K. J. Charles (P)2017 Audible, Inc.

Delightful

I'm fond of adventures featuring everyday people, and this is an excellent example. I felt like I could have been one of the other residents of the boarding house or regulars at the Jack and Knave. KJ Charles' historical worldbuilding is thorough without beating you over the head with endless descriptive passages, so that you're just dropped into the rich complexity of Victorian London and allowed to live there. This is a gentler, slower story than some of her wild rides, but there's plenty of excitement, a little horror, and some truly hilarious animals.

Fun romp

Wonderful fun Victorian romance, with the added allure of a muder mystery, family secrets, and illicit love.

Enjoyable, but NSFW

The spicy scenes were a little gruff for my tastes, but everything else was enjoyable. The story is interesting and the characters are compelling.

Thrilling

I enjoyed this book and storyline completely. It kept me guessing and I am incredibly excited to listen to the next book!

Beautiful character design

The story as a whole is lovely, but what really makes it great is the choice of such a compelling & lovable lead in Clem. It’s rare you see queer people, neurodivergant people , or people of color in a period piece , let alone a lead who is all three. High marks for the author who managed to create a full and layered character and not a caricature. Truly excellent writing.

I tend to love Brits and Modern romance but this gem!

Victorian romance is amazing wonderful when written by KJ Charles! I literally listen to a book from society of gentleman or sins of the city once a day. I found the series because I love the narrator, he makes as good a gentleman and he does a rouge.

Wonderful Mystery!

Oh! I had no idea this was a continuing series, I'm ready to dive straight into An Unnatural Vice! Little cliff hanger, but it's just enough to tantalize.

Excellent characters and a very cool mystery - love it.

Beautifully narrated by Matthew Lloyd Davies.

Good story with sexy encounters

This was a great detective story set in an earlier time of gay sexual prohibition. The sex was wonderfully explicit and the story very engaging.

Wonderful mystery romance story

I really enjoyed this and look forward to reading the rest if the series. I was thrilled to realized that the narrator is one of my favorite voices Cornell Collins, a pseudonym for Matthew Lloyd Davies.

LGBQT friendly historical romance

I am not usually a consumer of romances. Partially because I have an impression of them being rather one note (fair or not) and partially, no doubt, because my own experiences with romantic love have not been kind. But, this one promised at least some mystery and it was set in Victorian England and it has sexual, racial and ability representations which are deeply important to me. Added to that that this happens to be part of the plus catalog on a month when I cannot spend more money on credits, and decided to try it

I am so glad I did. I loved the narrator, who I thought did a great job (I am American and do not have a perfect grasp of regional accents elsewhere but I believe this was handled well, to my limited knowledge). I loved the characters: gentle, lovable Clem who is neurodivergent and courageous in a world which, even now, does not perfectly fit people like us. Capable, patient and traumatized Rowley, dealing with the spector of child abuse and rising above it.

I enjoyed their coming together (though I feel slow burn is a bit of an exaggeration, I also don't read many romances so maybe it is slow for them to get together by chapter 3) and I was surprised by the conclusion to a degree (I had my suspicions of the culprit but I really couldn't be sure). I enjoyed the descriptions and the writing. I don't really feel "cliffhanger" is accurate. You are given enough of an ending to reasonably stop reading the books if you want, and feel satisfied, though I intend to try the next myself.

I do want to address a couple of the other reviews, since I can't comment on them directly. Calling Clem "TSTL" really disappointed me. He is, in fact, NOT stupid. He is someone dealing with a difference that means that he has to think and react in ways that are not necessarily run of the mill but which do make sense. I think he was a very well researched character who adapted realistically within his capacity.

Living with neurodivergency is not a one size fits all thing and the author still represented him well to me, and I am both neurodivergent myself and work with neurodivergent people. Another review claimed that no one showed courage. Incorrect. Courage is not the absence of fear, after all. Both characters had challenges. Rowly came from a violent background and like many trauma victims had triggers. Clem was dealing with challenges that made doing ordinary things courageous in a way.

If you have a need for flawless characters with perfect bodies and minds who react to danger as if it's a game or as if showing feelings is weakness, this won't be your book. However, I'd take friends like these characters any day over that other type of character.