An Unseen Attraction

Half-Indian Clem Talleyfer is far removed from aristocratic MCs who strode through K.J. Charles' previous books, such as Lucien Vaudry from The Magpie Lord or Richard Vane from A Gentleman's Position. He is kind but easily overwhelmed by stimuli, slightly clumsy, and unable to keep track of more than one thing at a time. He serves as lodging-house keeper for a small north London boarding house and has been nurturing a crush on his lodger Rowley Green for the past eight months. For his part, Rowley is also growing increasingly fond of his landlord, but his own diminutive stature, his unusual occupation of preserver (the Victorian equivalent of a taxidermist) and his dubious origins keep him from making a move. Until he finally does find the courage to reach out, and things start to look promising. But then the dead body of Clem's most boorish lodger turns up, and everything is suddenly at risk - their relationship, their occupations and maybe even their lives.

An Unseen Attraction features one of my favorite tropes: two misfits/damaged souls who slowly overcome their insecurity and shyness to find more strength together than apart. Clem may be neuro-atypical (the author's FB page labels him as having dyspraxia) but he is surprisingly literate, creative, and loyal to a fault. For his part, Rowley sees both himself and his job as unattractive and off-putting, so he can't imagine that a handsome guy like Clem would want him. Neither have any experience with real relationships, so they are prone to skittishness and misunderstandings, but you never doubt that these two oddballs belong together.

Charles pours on the Victorian atmosphere, making good use of the London fog, but her trademark humor is apparent too, highlighted by a stuffed badger dressed up like a Greek god and a malevolent, ugly cat with the perfect moniker. Clem's two friends from the Jack and Knave gentleman's club will be the MCs in the second and third books of this series, and already I can't wait for the next installment, which promises an extreme enemies to lovers plot. The murderer of Clem's lodger is caught, but there are several loose ends including a missing heir that will carry through this promising series. K.J. Charles is not only one of the top M/M historical authors, she's also one of today's top M/M authors overall as well.

I received an ARC from Net Galley in exchange for an objective review.