This was an okay book. I really enjoyed the characters, but sadly after a while the plot fell short and got slightly boring for me.

He was a journalist on a quest to uncover charlatans exploiting the grief and pocketbooks of those who have lost loved ones. His number one target is the Seer of London, Justin Lazarus, but Nathaniel Roy had no idea what he would discover when he went undercover.

These two “enemies” would find themselves wrapped up in aristocratic intrigue where no one can be trusted, except each other, but will their growing feelings cloud their judgement? What really goes on behind the London fog?

Set in Victorian London, AN UNNATURAL VICE is a thriller mystery wrapped around an unlikely M/M love affair between two men initially determined to undermine each other. K.J. Charles knows how to keep a tale dark, weighted with rich details and an atmosphere of shrouded mystery. This is not a fast-paced tale, and at times seems to lag along a little, but definitely has that historical feel on the streets of London.

I received an ARC edition from Loveswept in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.

Series: Sins of the Cities - Book 2
Publisher: Loveswept (June 6, 2017)
Publication Date: June 6, 2017
Genre: Historical M/M Romance
Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
For Reviews & More: http://tometender.blogspot.com

Love how this one connected with and picked up where the last book left off. Well done.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

An Unnatural Vice is the second book in the Sins of the City series, and as such it continues the main suspense plot from the first book, An Unseen Attraction. Timeline-wise it overlaps slightly with book #1 which helped me go straight back into the storyline.
Charles always manages to create strong and complex characters, and An Unnatural Vice is no exception. Justin Lazarus is an intriguing hero, with some very obvious flaws but with more than enough goodness to cancel those out. I found Nathaniel a little less interesting. He was a journalist and lawyer, but more defined by his grief. I’m glad he learned to embrace love again, and the role Justin played in that. I especially love how Nathanial accepts Justin for who he is, even if he doesn’t agree with what Justin does. I also loved how their romance develops slowly despite the instant attraction.
The writing was spot on, as always, and I enjoyed reading about Victorian spiritualists and how certain tricks were done.
Most of the detecting related to the suspense plot happened off page, and I expect in the next book of the series. I’ll be interested to see how it is resolved, and even more so how Repentance and Mark (at least I assume the book is about them) will find their HEA.

Another great book by K.J. Charles, I really am loving this series. Basically everything I could echo in my review for the first book of the series - the historical setting was really nicely done with such a great sense of place. The London fog sounds unpleasant but that and several other things really gave the book such a good setting. Each character's job as well was so well-researched especially how Justin managed to conduct his seances. So interesting!

What I love about Charles' characters is how well-rounded they are. In all their arguments, you got the sense that Nathanial and Justin both had a point and were both too stubborn to see the other side. They grew and developed as characters as they went on and with the final of their relationship, you could see that they had a good, solid relationship with neither one of them having to compromise overly much.

The plot was essentially a continuation of what happened in the first book so this is not one of those standalone series books. I love how things started to come together at the end and several things came up which used details from earlier in the book and the series and I was so pleased to see everything coming together. I think this plot was tighter than the first book, not so much of it relied on one of the character being stubbornly naive and that was what bumped it up to five stars.

K.J. Charles just keeps getting better and better.

I've trusted KJ Charles to deliver sharp, clever reads for a few years now, and good lord she didn't disappoint with An Unnatural Vice. Clem and Rowley's story was fantastic, Nathaniel and Justin's was even better, and I'm left waiting impatiently for the sequel.

I'm just as eager to find out more about the overarching plot as I am the next set of characters. I was constantly guessing and theorising during my read-through (which was ridiculously fun and something I've not done in ages), and while I'm completely in the fog (heh) as to who the Big Bad is, I can't wait to find out.

KJ Charles is an auto-buy for me. I adore this series, and was so happy to get an early copy of this from NetGalley! This story built on the mystery and intrigue from the first, and added in the brilliant Justin Lazarus and his schemes. I really enjoyed this one. The two main characters grated on each other's nerves, but then found peace with each other. I really enjoyed their relationship development, and the character development that went alongside it (Lazarus had to learn to trust, Nathaniel had to stop being so 'self-righteous,' and they both had to accept happiness after years without.)

The only flaw, one that is common in KJ Charles's work, is summed up by a line at the beginning of Chapter 15: "There were no women present." (As adorable as Suky and Emma were, they had about ten lines between them.) The Magpie Lord series introduced two fantastic women before it ended, and I was hoping this series would follow suit once it became more settled in the world. Either way, I'll definitely be reading the next book!

An excellent follow up to the first Sins of the Cities book. I didn't find Justin or Nathaniel as compelling as Clem and Rowley, but I did love the book, and the mystery woven throughout the series continues to be fascinating and twisting. I'm completely invested and ready for the 3rd book...and I must say I'm REALLY looking forward to what the romance in that novel is going to look like.

This book is like a Fast and Furious action movie - from the first kick of the ball, the action on the ground moves so fast that I was left breathless at the end whistle. Whilst craving for more as we are now in the middle of the story and I do want to read the end bit yesterday before tomorrow.

A'la Charles this story has become quite intricate, tangles within tangles. I was indeed happy to have deducted a solution to a particular tangle before the reveal. Felt like a feat.

Over all considering the two parts of the story An Unseen Attraction and this one, I like how Charles is building up the story, the different perspectives being given, the different people, the different romances and sincerely hope that the finale will be as good as these two. The story deserves it.

An arc gently given by publisher/author in return for a review.

I loved this even more than the first in the series. Justin is a wonderful mixture of devious cheat and heart of gold. So often in books the hesitation that holds the characters apart for a while is contrived, but here it's totally realistic and driven by their very natures. I loved all the details of Justin's shenanigans, too. Even the minor characters had clear personalities.

Can't wait for the next in the series, and I think I might be able to guess who the protagonists will be... a little hint at the end there!

I think this is supposed to be a trilogy like Society of Gentlemen was. The first book, An Unseen Attraction, introduced endearing, naïve Clem who found his love interest and also showed his other friends, part of a close group of likeminded individuals (like Society of Gentlemen.) Besides being historical, that's where the similarities seem to end.

While I enjoyed the first of the series, this one was even better. K.J. Charles gave one character a truly horrible, detestable profession and made him a major character and love interest. Without guilt he plays on people's grief and emotions as a spiritual medium. The book showcases his life and his growth and his realizations, as well as opening his heart to possibilities of an actual relationship. On the other hand you have the character Nathaniel, Clem's friend introduced in the first book, who is hurting from a tragic death of the man he loved years before and has made it a mission in his life to end con artists through his journalistic pen. He has a strong moral compass, perhaps a bit too rigid, but after meeting and knowing Justin he starts to see how destitute and desperate the poverty-stricken have it.

The two having professions that didn't complimented each other to that degree was interesting enough, but once you throw in the differences with their class, history, outlook and upbringing, you have even more of the opposites attract mentality. At the core of the story is a continuing mystery from the first book - the man who tortured the grumpy boarder is still around and still searching for evidence to hide a secret. Justin and Nathanial find themselves in genuine danger as they must escape the city for awhile and find each other, but they also have to solve this crime before its the death of both of them.

The third friend in the series, Mark, will probably be the focus of the last story. I have a feeling who his romantic interest will be from the end of this one. That will turn out interesting. I like how the author takes unconventional heroes with tragic pasts (but no angst) or some kind of difference and gives them normal lives. Clem was a little slow-witted, Justin has a checkered history, and Mark is an amputee with a serious and jaded outlook.

As always K.J. Charles writes well with evenly-flowing rhythm and dialogue, and her characters and plots are different enough from each other that they're not formulaic. There's more than unrealistic steam, there's actual heart and realistic bonding with her characters. Besides that, there really is steam when it's needed, it's just made more plausible and enjoyable because the emotional connection has taken place first.

I was happy to take yet another trip to Historical London through the author's talented imagination - thanks to Netgalley for this one in exchange for an honest review.

Amazing, amazing, amazing. I just love these books from KJ Charles they are interesting and quite clearly well researched. I wish she could write faster! Will be recommending this book!!

KJ Charles is amazing, her books always have the best plot roll-around, and many unexpected things come readers way. I hate predicting plot, so this is just epic

After having enjoyed the first book in this series, I went into this novel with high expectations, and I wasn't disappointed. This novel continues the Taillefer mystery that emerged in the first book, adding layers and background to that original story, while advancing a new romance between the lawyer turned journalist, Nathaniel Roy and the sham spiritualist Justin Lazarus. Nathaniel and Justin spend much of the book at loggerheads, with Nathaniel despising Justin's choice of career, but their attraction to each other is clear from the outset, and it's not long before their baser instincts take over. It's rough, it's angry, and it's the start of a growing romance.

Justin is a man that struggles to trust. He was born in a workhouse, and dragged himself up to his current role through many hardships, including prostitution. This has left Justin suspicious of Nathaniel's intentions, constantly questioning the price of his help. Nathaniel on the other hand, is the son of an archbishop who has never wanted for anything in his life. But he has faced struggles of his own, most notably the loss of his lover, Tony, to a freak accident some years ago. Since Tony's death, Nathaniel has remained single. Justin is the first man he has touched in all that time.

Their romance plays out alongside more murders, more violence, and more threat, as the Taillefer mystery grows ever more dangerous. By the end of the novel, another part of the mystery is solved, leaving the final question: who is the person pulling the strings? to be answered in the next book. I can't wait!

An Unnatural Vice, KJ Charles

Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre:  Romance, 

I love KJC's stories and this is another perfect read. She uses language that fits the time period, and which the kindle look up function proves useful for me when its words I haven't met before!
I love the English language to be used to the fullest in novels, far too often its kind of dumbed down, almost as if authors feel readers won't understand their writing. I don't want a story that's so literate the plots get lost in flowery overdone prose, but ones that like this give a richness of language to the story really lifts the work. 

Its another gentle mystery, very real feeling of the time period, bringing in the feeling of spookiness and damp that the London fogs of the time had.
We meet characters from book one and that was enjoyable, i love it when we see those from earlier books moving on with their stories.
It's a time when homosexuality was a crime punishable by prison, so these characters have to be very careful in their actions. 

Nathaniel and Justin, fiercely on opposing sides, Nathaniel is determined to expose Justin as a fraud, and Justin sees in him all the things he hates, rich privileged upbringing, a person who's quick to judge, condemn, look down on others less fortunate than themselves.
Neither are quite correct, but its such fun seeing how KJC is going to move them from that adversarial point to lovers. It creeps in carefully, sliding unseen into each others psyche almost the way the London Fog creeps into corners clouding vision.
 
The description of the seances and how Justin ran them was fascinating, and considering the time and limitations of things that could be used its really believable. I can see how he got the tag of Seer of London, he was very accomplished at what he did. 
Its easy like Nathaniel to sneer at how he earned a living, but looking at what else he could do its much harder to judge him. He made many people happy, kept himself, Frankie, Emma and Sukey off the streets, warm, fed and clothed so was it really so bad, did he really deserve Nathaniel's condemnation?
Its very easy to look down on others from the high road, not so easy if you spend time in their shoes, or even looking at their actions from their POV. 

There's some real danger for them here, the story from book one continues, the murders rack up once more, bringing Justin and Nathaniel into genuine peril, fearing for their lives. And by now they fear as much for each others lives as for their own. It leads them further into the romance, reveals parts of each other so far hidden, and its the perfect story for escape from real time issues for a while.

I loved this book, and like other series from KJC its going into my keeper files for rereading when series is complete. The Magpie/Jackdaw series of hers has been read again a couple of times, and I find things I missed first time round when I'm doing a back-to-back read of the novels. 


Stars: five, a fabulous dive back into a time when men who liked men had to be incredibly careful, when the police were overstretched and murders abounded, and when Spiritualism was at a peak.

ARC supplied for review purposes by Netgalley and Publishers