Gilded Cage

*Picks up pillows stitched with J+N. Adds some lines for family trees. Proceeds to stitch J+S within family tree.*

Don't play the game if you don't like the stakes.

KJ Charles, via her character, calls Susan Lazarus a hedgehog and of course that's what I was thinking of her the whole time.
"Christ, you look good in opals. I have a lot of them for you.”
“Stolen ones?”
“Let’s not split hairs.”

And so, imagine a hedgehog, showing its soft underbelly (still with claws out don't be silly) to a teddy bear who also drops people out the window for fucking with those he cares about: "defenestration" he says. Templeton Lane talks like Richard Vane and has a weakness for opals, and hell, you know I was a goner when I found that out-and I show more knew KJC had done the perfect thing perfectly again when I read this, and he's holding a torch for a difficult woman raised by my favorite KJ Charles character (Justin Lazarus).
Diamonds were easier to fence, emeralds more valuable, but opals sang to Templeton and he couldn’t resist their song.

Susan knows her found family is loving and counts herself lucky. She is equally dedicated to justice and righteous as her other 'guvnor' Nathaniel, but with the slippery and ruthless methods of Justin. And if Temp didn't say it enough: she's glorious. It just so happens she's the only one willing to help Temp, murder suspect, because she knows him just a little bit better than everyone else, or is smarter than everyone else at least.

It wasn’t about him at all, but about the simple mathematics: if he swung, a double murderer would walk free. She would do this because it was right, and if the entire rest of the world thought she was misguided, foolish, or irritating for it, that was their hard luck.

What follows is an exploration of a light that never extinguished, a reclaiming of names, and just a fucking good romance.
James Vane had never had any business falling in love with Sukey Lazarus. It had always been impossible, and she had always been
doomed to suffer for it.

I absolutely LOVE when James/Temp surprises Susan, it's fantastic, "You fucking what?" or "I...uh, what?"
It's hilarious in that way that the highly suspicious, ruthless, two steps ahead character getting knocked off her feet way....
“In my old trade, a blank slate was a lie. I’d write on it with onion
juice, then Justin would wipe it with a chalky handkerchief, and there
you are, a message from the spirits. The flats fell for it every time.”
“Perhaps the invisible writing is always there, whatever you do,”

This was fabulous, and in perfect KJ style, the pacing is on, the sex integral and it just results in a near perfect romance. Justin and Nathaniel were there first, though(and their intensity cannot be topped). show less

What an absolute treat of a book!

Susan “will cut you” Lazarus and James “cinnamon roll” Vane are definitely one of my fave book couples now.

God, Susan is glorious. She is everything I like in a heroine: angry, disagreeable, up-front, and definitely won’t take anyone’s shit, especially James’s. It’s hard to imagine a man, who can take her heart, but James proves to be just right for her. He’s definitely made a mess of things, but he’s not afraid to work tirelessly on their relationship to make it work. James also doesn’t shy away from emotional labor, which makes him real attractive in my book.

I also really enjoyed cameos both from previous books in this series (Jerry really speaks to my sociopathic nature, okay) show more and Sins of the Cities. Nice to know Justin hasn’t mellowed in his old age and Nathaniel still can lovingly tell him to shut up.

5/5, definitely will be rereading this one. show less

I'm going to try to write this review as someone who randomly came upon this book, and not as a fangirl who felt like she won the lottery when she scored an ARC from the author (disclosure: I scored an ARC from the author). So if you're new to KJ Charles, why should you read this book? There are so many reasons, but here are just a few:

1) Her writing is impeccable. Every word feels like it was chosen with great care. Just marvel at the first time we meet Susan Lazarus in the opening of Chapter 2:

Susan Lazarus glared at the remnants of the kipper on her plate as though the fish had done her an injury for which being gutted, smoked, and eaten was insufficient penance. The kipper looked back with a single blank-white eye.

Doesn't that just show more tell you everything you need to know about Susan and her emotional state? The whole book is like that, full of passages to slowly savor.

2) The characters jump off the pages. Even if you haven't already encountered Susan "Sukey" Lazarus in [b:Any Old Diamonds|42925241|Any Old Diamonds (Lilywhite Boys #1)|K.J. Charles|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1546949049l/42925241._SX50_.jpg|66705142] or even earlier in [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], you will not be able to resist her. She's tough, smart, loyal, fearless and just a teeny tiny bit vulnerable although she will never admit it. She knows that "the world would always hold her negligible unless she forced it to do otherwise" and she makes sure she is not ignored. Templeton Lane starts out as a desperate jewel thief on the run and turns into so much more, a man with a surprising past that includes a disastrous first love with Susan. It's to KJC's credit that she shapes his character so finely that he redeems himself for some very bad behavior without losing himself in the process. And his treatment of Susan is just about perfect, from his acceptance of her bisexuality to his willingness to let a woman take charge of the situation and ultimately decide what qualifies as her own happy ending. The secondary characters who starred in previous books are integral to the plot; there's no fan service of having them show up just to demonstrate how very happy they are.

3) The dialogue sparkles like the best Hollywood screenplays in movies like The Sting, It Happened One Night, His Girl Friday, etc. If only real life were like this, I wouldn't have to spend so much time with my nose buried in a book. But then again, most writers don't have KJC's ability to wring humor, chemistry, poignancy and every emotion in between into a single exchange between two people.

4) Finally (and this is just personal to me) thank you KJC for creating a singular, remarkable character named Susan. Until now my name was primarily associated with the one character in Narnia who chose makeup over Jesus (I mean Aslan). You have my undying gratitude.

KJC fans don't need any encouragement to read this book, but I will just say that there are plenty of Easter eggs from earlier books, including a lovely tribute to a major character in the Society of Gentlemen series.

There are so many books and so little time, but reading this has made me want to go back and start over with KJC's backlist. I've never given less than four stars to any of her books, and this one is five stars all the way. show less

Any Old Diamonds was so good that I eagerly leapt on the offer to get to read its sequel's ARC - and oh boy, it is just as good! Very different, as you'd expect, but in the very best ways. Susan is the best character, and the author never waivers on her demanding nature. Templeton is a smart man to love her. It's also fantastic to spend time with Justin and others from the earlier series, but you don't have to have read them first. They'll be all the more fun if you go back and catch up!

I love both of the lead characters individually and together, the interactions between Templeton and Jerry, and Sarah and Lazarus. I found this very different in structure from the other full novel in the series, making it impossible for me to pick a favorite if I had to, but it's certainly at least the equal to Any Old Diamonds.

3.5 stars rounded up. I didn't particularly connect with the characters I suppose, but they were generally likable, and they were evenly matched as adversaries, and as partners. No damsel here. It's a second chance romance with a bit of a mystery to be solved. It wasn't super hard to put down, but I was entertained while I read it, and the 4th quarter was my favorite part, so overall it left me feeling pleased.

One of the Lilywhite Boys is framed for murder, and turns to his lost love Susan—now an inquiry agent—to help. Het romance with shenanigans. I liked it but would prefer more fantasy!