Review: Spectred Isle by KJ Charles

Spectred Isle
(Green Men #1)
KJ Charles
Release: August 3, 2017
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Archaeologist Saul Lazenby has been all but unemployable since his disgrace during the War. Now he scrapes a living working for a rich eccentric who believes in magic. Saul knows it’s a lot of nonsense...except that he begins to find himself in increasingly strange and frightening situations. And at every turn he runs into the sardonic, mysterious Randolph Glyde.

Randolph is the last of an ancient line of arcanists, commanding deep secrets and extraordinary powers as he struggles to fulfil his family duties in a war-torn world. He knows there's something odd going on with the haunted-looking man who keeps turning up in all the wrong places. The only question for Randolph is whether Saul is victim or villain.

Saul hasn’t trusted anyone in a long time. But as the supernatural threat grows, along with the desire between them, he’ll need to believe in evasive, enraging, devastatingly attractive Randolph. Because he may be the only man who can save Saul’s life—or his soul.

Review:
Guys, I loved this book so much! You all know how much I adored the author's The Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal. Spectred Isle is set in the same universe a few years after the last entry in Robert's tale of his and Simon's relationship. I was a bit hesitant to go into this book because I was afraid I'd be disappointed and I didn't want my love of Simon Feximal to be tainted in any way. I'm so happy to report that Spectred Isle was everything I wanted it to be and more. You would thing with as many of KJ Charles' books I've read, I would be a bit more trusting of her ability to write books that draw me in from page one.

This book is kind of strange mix between an insta-love and unwilling allies-to-lovers romance. I kind of loved how put out both Saul and Randolph were with each other from the start which is understandable from both of their points-of-view. Especially when certain annoying gentlemen kept showing up time and time again where they really shouldn't have been. I also loved how that shared annoyance slowly became friendship and then evolved into something more. The chemistry between Saul and Randolph was off the charts and I may have not so subtly cheered when they finally got together. They are two opposites whose curiosity and life experiences made them so perfect for each other.

Without giving any spoilers, I loved how this book was set in the Simon Feximal world but was still its own thing. It was completely marvelous! I loved how it expanded upon the world of our favorite ghost hunters/occultists and evolved into something new. Which it really had to become since much has changed since the war and we're just barely beginning to see what the consequences it will have on the world of the arcane. I also loved how the King Arthur mythos came into the story. It just made it even better! And I loved that we got to see a couple familiar faces! I have my fingers crossed that a couple even more familiar faces will show up in later books.

I loved this start to this new series and I am ridiculously excited to get more books. Currently, the second one is on permanent hold while KJ Charles figures things out story wise. I just hope everything comes together soon because I want more! Especially since the next book is teasing a f/f romance that I'm pretty stoked about.

    1/2

  4.5 / 5 Stars

Book 36/30

Book 23: Military Mews- Read a Romantic Suspense with a Military Hero

My reviews of other books in this series:
The Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal