A review by onthesamepage
The Magpie Lord by KJ Charles

lighthearted mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Tropes:
little bit of D/s

Spice level: 🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶

It's been a while since I picked up a book by K.J. Charles, and I managed to forget how much I enjoy her writing. This was so easy to read, very compelling, engrossing, and scorching hot to boot. There is a mystery at the heart of this, and it's done in such a way that unravelling it introduces you to the magic system at a steady pace. I really liked the reveals and the final confrontation with the villains at the end. I do think the villains' motivation was a bit lackluster, and there wasn't a lot of character development, but there was definitely a lot of excellent banter and sarcasm, and I never say no to that.

The way the relationship between Stephen and Lucien develops really appealed to me as well. Stephen has good reason to absolutely despise Lucien, and does so at first, but through the way he reacts to Lucien we actually learn a lot about who he is as a person. The author excels at showing rather than telling. 
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