The Sugared Game

K.J. Charles is the cure for the “I can't concentrate on anything long enough to read a book during the pandemic” blues. Her work demands and rewards focus, as each word seems to be chosen deliberately to illuminate a character and/or a plot point. The Sugared Game more than delivers on the promise of the first book in the trilogy, [b:Slippery Creatures 52237989 Slippery Creatures (The Will Darling Adventures #1) K.J. Charles https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1587519719l/52237989.SY75.jpg 77319427], and it's extremely likely that by the time the final installment is released in September this will turn out to be my new favorite KJC series. Considering the brilliance of [b:The Magpie Lord 34715150 The Magpie Lord (A Charm of Magpies, #1) K.J. Charles https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1490703800l/34715150.SY75.jpg 24803707], [b:An Unnatural Vice 32161804 An Unnatural Vice (Sins of the Cities, #2) K.J. Charles https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1480582018l/32161804.SY75.jpg 52798546] et al, that's a pretty high bar to clear. I won't discuss much about the book's plot, as its twists and turns are best left for the reader to discover. Suffice to say that our ex-soldier turned bookstore owner Will Darling finds himself in a spot of trouble when he goes to a club with his best friend Maisie, and not surprisingly it all relates back to Kim Secretan, the aristocrat whose secrets and lies almost got Will killed in Slippery Creatures. Kim is a tad more forthcoming about what's happening this time - or at least, Will has learned enough about his frustrating but irresistible lover to tell when he is lying, and there is the sense that the two are on the same side for the most part. But the huge gap in their social status remains a barrier to any potential real relationships, not to mention the fact that Kim is still engaged to be married (although his fiance is a big fan of their relationship).I bookmarked fewer humorous passages than in Creatures, not because there weren't as many of them, but because my attention was focused this time on the way the book deepens our understanding of both Will and Kim. Will has been irrevocably changed by the Great War. As he's mulling over what he wants from life these days, he realizes: He did want to live decently, in theory. He had always expected a respectable life with the trappings of church, children, brass doorstep, vegetable plot, just as his mother had dreamed of for him. Those were things any man, or most, would want to have.The blood-red uncivilised streak of his nature that had blossomed in the war didn't want them. That streak wanted someone who would ask him to infiltrate night-clubs and kick people's heads in. That streak wanted Kim, who offered none of the things that appealed to Will's respectable ambitions and everything that fed the wolf.We see more of this “uncivilised wolf” and less of the mild-mannered bookseller this time around, and it made me view Will with a healthy touch of fear, but just as much admiration. As for Kim, we learn a bit more about his past, which is much more than the “cowardly conscientious objector/communist” story that Society believes. He is trying to make amends for mistakes he has made, and he'll use every tool in his arsenal, fair or foul, including the privileged position he enjoys. As he tells Will, “My value lies entirely in my birth, you understand. We dined with Kim - Lord Arthur, but we all call him Kim, his people have a a place in East Anglia. It scarcely matters in fashionable circles that I am no more welcome to set foot in my ancestral home than they are; the point is to say they dined at Lord So-and-so's table, no matter who he is. That's what they want, so it's what I give them.” His struggle feels much more complex than Will's; he needs to find his worth as a man, not a disgraced Lord with shameful sexual proclivities. I wanted to strangle him less and hug him more this time around. I would be remiss if I didn't mention the marvelous female secondary characters Phoebe and Maisie, whose professional (and personal?) partnership is moving forward in leaps and bounds. They refuse to stay in the background where the men want to put them, and they have important and sometimes shocking roles to play in the latest dangerous adventure. Phoebe's coterie of Bright Young Things continue to be a source of hilarity and wry social commentary, and they make me want to learn more about the real-life figures who inspired them. There's also an Easter Egg the size of an ostrich for fans of the author that literally made me cackle with glee. The last 25% of the book had me at the figurative edge of my seat, as the final confrontation with some truly nasty bad guys requires all of the bravery, wits and luck that Kim and Will can summon. There are lots of unresolved issues at the end of this installment, but the relationship between Will and Kim is in a much stronger place. I have no doubt that K.J. Charles will reward us with a satisfying conclusion (and a healthy number of dead bodies) in [b:Subtle Blood 52238002 Subtle Blood (The Will Darling Adventures, #3) K.J. Charles https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png 77319528].