Review: An Unnatural Vice by K. J. Charles

08 June of 2017 by ButtonsMom2003

Reviewer's Rating: 5

5.0Overall score

Riveting and suspenseful!

An Unnatural Vice By KJ Charles

Genre: Historical Romance, GLBTQ, M/M

Released: June 6, 2017

Publisher: Loveswept

Series: Sins of the Cities, Book 2

Synopsis

In the sordid streets of Victorian London, unwanted desire flares between two bitter enemies brought together by a deadly secret.

Crusading journalist Nathaniel Roy is determined to expose spiritualists who exploit the grief of bereaved and vulnerable people. First on his list is the so-called Seer of London, Justin Lazarus. Nathaniel expects him to be a cheap, heartless fraud. He doesn’t expect to meet a man with a sinful smile and the eyes of a fallen angel—or that a shameless swindler will spark his desires for the first time in years.

Justin feels no remorse for the lies he spins during his séances. His gullible clients simply bore him. Hostile, disbelieving, utterly irresistible Nathaniel is a fascinating challenge. And as their battle of wills and wits heats up, Justin finds he can’t stop thinking about the man who’s determined to ruin him.

But Justin and Nathaniel are linked by more than their fast-growing obsession with one another. They are both caught up in an aristocratic family’s secrets, and Justin holds information that could be lethal. As killers, fanatics, and fog close in, Nathaniel is the only man Justin can trust—and, perhaps, the only man he could love.

Review

Reviewed by ButtonsMom2003

Riveting and suspenseful!

An Unnatural Vice is the second book in the Sins of the Cities series. While you probably could read this as a standalone, I highly recommend that you read this series in order. The story for each couple in their book is resolved but the underlying mystery won’t be solved until book 3, An Unsuitable Heir.

I had a bit of a struggle with the first book in this series but ended up liking it OK. I also struggled a bit with this one at first but I ended up loving it. The enemies to lovers trope isn’t one that I’ve read a lot but KJ Charles did a superb job with this one.

Nathaniel has been brought up in privilege, never wanting for anything. Justin has had to scrounge for everything and has finally made a name for himself as a “spiritualist” and doesn’t feel a bit guilty for taking money from people in return for telling them what they want to hear.

Nathaniel and Justin have an adversarial relationship throughout most of this story and it certainly makes for some interesting dialogue between the characters. When they no longer can fight their attraction to each other they don’t try to fool themselves into thinking that it’s anything but a good f**k.

This story had lots of action and kept me on the edge of my seat throughout most of it. Ms. Charles writing is captivating, the dialogue between the characters is witty and crisp with just enough humor thrown in to keep the book from being too somber.

I have no idea who the bad guy is going to be and I can’t wait for the last book in this series to wrap things up for me.