The Magpie Lord (A Charm of Magpies #1) by KJ Charles

The Magpie Lord was suggested recently as a life changing read by a fellow blogger.  This book has so many great things going on in it that I have to agree.  This is what M/M fiction should be.

A lord in danger. A magician in turmoil. A snowball in hell.

A Charm of Magpies, Book 1

Exiled to China for twenty years, Lucien Vaudrey never planned to return to England. But with the mysterious deaths of his father and brother, it seems the new Lord Crane has inherited an earldom. He’s also inherited his family’s enemies. He needs magical assistance, fast. He doesn’t expect it to turn up angry.

Magician Stephen Day has good reason to hate Crane’s family. Unfortunately, it’s his job to deal with supernatural threats. Besides, the earl is unlike any aristocrat he’s ever met, with the tattoos, the attitude…and the way Crane seems determined to get him into bed. That’s definitely unusual.

Soon Stephen is falling hard for the worst possible man, at the worst possible time. But Crane’s dangerous appeal isn’t the only thing rendering Stephen powerless. Evil pervades the house, a web of plots is closing round Crane, and if Stephen can’t find a way through it—they’re both going to die.

Warning: Contains hot m/m sex between a deeply inappropriate earl and a very confused magician, dark plots in a magical version of Victorian England, family values (not the good kind), and a lot of swearing.

This book is amazing. I loved the historical setting but the overlay of magic. Magic and the paranormal gives the story an extra dimension.  Stephen is easily my favorite character.  I loved how he manages to stand his ground with Lord Crane.  He has reason to hate the man's family and thus the man himself but Stephen learns enough about the new Lord Crane to make his thoughts bend in a different direction.  I loved seeing Stephen use his magic as well.  It was so well done that I felt like I was watching it happen instead of reading about it.  Lord Crane was interesting as well.  He has turned out so differently from his father and brother but few people believe it.  His one friend is so loyal that you know that Lord Crane must be a decent man but we only get the truth of it in bits and pieces.  The mystery of this story is not at all trite or predictable- which is nice in a mystery.  All in all, this book was so well done that I am chomping at the bit for the next one in the series.

Click here to find The Magpie Lord on Goodreads.  The sequel to this book was released at the end of January.  You can find it on Amazon.  You can find author K. J. Charles on her blog and on Twitter.  I give this book 5 Fairies for an amazing historical thriller with plenty of magic!