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A Charm of Magpies: Jackdaw – K.J. Charles
If you stop running, you fall.
Jonah Pastern is a magician, a liar, a windwalker, a professional thief…and for six months, he was the love of police constable Ben Spenser’s life. His betrayal left Ben jailed, ruined, alone, and looking for revenge.
Ben is determined to make Jonah pay. But he can’t seem to forget what they once shared, and Jonah refuses to let him. Soon Ben is entangled in Jonah’s chaotic existence all over again, and they’re running together—from the police, the justiciary, and some dangerous people with a lethal grudge against them.
Threatened on all sides by betrayals, secrets, and the laws of the land, the policeman and the thief must find a way to live and love before the past catches up with them…
A Charm of Magpies linked story, set after Flight of Magpies. Previously published by Samhain.
This is such a delightful, joyful read!
It was a treat to meet Lucien Crane, Stephen Day, Merrick and Saint once again. To see them from the eyes of Ben was double the treat. Crane was still his charming arrogant self and Merrick and Saint got married. I have always loved seeing Day at his job. He’s always been good at it. I never got over his decision.
Jackdaw follows Ben Spenser and Jonah Pastern as they escape the justiciars and the Met. Through out all these, they try to deal with their past relationship, misunderstandings and hurts until they finally found peace in Pellore, Cornwall.
Jonah’s carefree, vibrant attitude just pops out of the page. Charles did a brilliant job creating vivid pictures of windwalking. I could practically feel the wind and see the sky and feel that tingling feeling you get when you are at a high place. Ben was the steadfast, serious type, a good grounding point and conscience for his flighty lover. I felt sorry for the two of them. I think they were trying really hard.
The writing was excellent as always. The words just flow in a way that you couldn’t stop reading. I love the wit, the humor and all the feels. There was just the right amount of angst, pain and hurt to get the point across without plunging into the depths of unbearable misery that is painful to read. For me, this book is bright afternoon sunshine, the kind that makes you hop on your bicycle, pedal up a hill and swoop down with your arms out, wind in your face.
P.S.
To fully appreciate Jackdaw, please read the A Charm of Magpie Series firstRating:
4.5 – perfection is only half a step awaySoundtrack: Blood Under My Belt
Artist: The Drums
Album: Abysmal Thoughts(source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34861586-jackdaw)
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Tyack & Frayne: Once Upon a Haunted Moor – Harper Fox
Gideon Frayne has spent his whole working life as a policeman in the village of Dark on Bodmin Moor. It’s not life in the fast lane, but he takes it very seriously, and his first missing-child case is eating him alive. When his own boss sends in a psychic to help with the case, he’s gutted – he’s a level-headed copper who doesn’t believe in such things, and he can’t help but think that the arrival of clairvoyant Lee Tyack is a comment on his failure to find the little girl.
But Lee is hard to hate, no matter how Gideon tries. At first Lee’s insights into the case make no sense, but he seems to have a window straight into Gideon’s heart. Son of a Methodist minister, raised in a tiny Cornish village, Gideon has hidden his sexuality for years. It’s cost him one lover, and he can’t believe it when this green-eyed newcomer stirs up old feelings and starts to exert a powerful force of attraction.
Gideon and Lee begin to work together on the case. But there are malignant forces at work in the sleepy little village of Dark, and not only human ones – Gideon is starting to wonder, against all common sense, if there might be some truth in the terrifying legend of the Bodmin Beast after all. As a misty Halloween night consumes the moor, Gideon must race against time to save not only the lost child but the man who’s begun to restore his faith in his own heart.
Cornwall is a place I often meet in literature with its moors and fogs and craggy hills. Living in a tropical country and never been abroad, sometimes I find it hard to imagine what the whole Cornish countryside looked like. Harper Fox, who is probably a Cornwall native, gives a good sense of the place and atmosphere in this first Tyack and Frayne novella. The cover also perfectly captured that walk in the desolate countryside. The mystery was straightforward and not so complicated. The main characters were likable and there’s a dog too. Overall, a nice, cozy, spooky read.
Rating:
3 Stars – not exactly setting my world on fire but I liked it
Soundtrack: Girl in Amber
Artist: Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
Album: Skeleton Tree(source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18744000-once-upon-a-haunted-moor)
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Coming Home – Jay Northcote
Jago returns to his home in the wilds of Cornwall, and is looking forward to catching up with old friends after a term away at university. When he’s reunited with Will—his best mate from sixth-form college and last summer’s fling—Jago’s feelings for him are rekindled and impossible to ignore.
Over the short winter break, Jago can’t resist taking whatever Will’s offering. But will the New Year bring new beginnings? Or will Jago be left with more bittersweet memories and a heart that needs to heal again?
Jay Northcote is a new to me author and Coming Home is a not bad story about friends who had a summer fling and now had to deal with the awkwardness of seeing each other again. This is a short story but I liked how the author fleshed out the details so it didn’t feel like things were rushed. I’m lukewarm about the couple but I liked the holiday atmosphere and the Brit stuff.
Rating:
2.5 Stars – far from hate but not quite a likeSoundtrack: Barbed Wire Love
Artist: Stiff Little Fingers
Album: Pure Fingers(source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19003291-coming-home)
