#slippery creatures

[a-ramblinrose]

JOMP BPC || April 1 || Books and Chocolate:  Slippery Creatures by KJ Charles

#Slippery Creatures #KJ Charles #The Will Darling Adventures #jompbpc #justonemorepage #book photography #book photo challenge #books #Not out of void but out of chaos

[mental-about-you-too]

Why I believe the Will Darling Adventures were originally conceived as johnlock fanfiction

I will die on this hill.

The Will Darling Adventures (Slippery Creatures, Sugared Game, Subtle Blood) by KJ Charles are my favorite guilty pleasure comfort books. I have listened to the audiobooks an embarrassing number of times. I can play exchanges of dialogue in my head from memory, reader’s inflections and all. If you haven’t read them and you like a mix of adventure and gay smut (plus it’s a trilogy so there’s time for more complex characterization and more gradual relationship development than you usually get in books of the genre), then absolutely go do that, and don’t read below—because here be spoilers. Also, because the books are a delight.

So. Grand theory.

To be clear: I am not knocking these books AT ALL (if I’m honest, the Holmesian flavor is part of why I like them so much). As in many really good works of fanfiction, the characters have ceased to be mere copies, and have gained their own original and internally consistent characterization. Kim and Will are not Holmes and Watson, but I am completely convinced that the latter were the inspiration for the former. Here are some of the parallels/moments of homage:

Watson => Will

Returned to England from war with nowhere to go; ended up in London: “I had neither kith nor kin in England, and […] naturally gravitated to London, that great cesspool into which all the loungers and idlers of the Empire are irresistibly drained.” (Study in Scarlet) => “…his mother had died from the Spanish ‘flu while he’d waited to be demobbed […] So, like everyone else, he’d come to London…” (Slippery Creatures)

Ran out of money as a recently-discharged veteran: “So alarming did the state of my finances become…” (Study in Scarlet) => “…his slide into poverty was unstoppable...” (Slippery Creatures)

War wound that nearly killed him: “For months my life was despaired of...” (Study in Scarlet) => “A month in hospital.” (Sugared Game)

Saved by an underling who never appears in the story: “…had it not been for the devotion and courage shown by Murray, my orderly, who threw me across a pack-horse and succeeded in bringing me safely to the British lines.” (Study in Scarlet) => “If it hadn’t been for the bravest stretcher-bearer in Flanders, I’d have died out there.” (Sugared Game)

Retained his favorite weapon from the war: “I have my old service revolver and a few cartridges.” (Study in Scarlet) => “…the Messer, his old trench knife...” (Sugared Game)

Is asked to bring the weapon on adventures: “Put your pistol in your pocket.” (Study in Scarlet) => “Got your knife?” (Sugared Game)

POV character

Holmes => Kim

Has a bunch of names but goes by a middle one: William Sherlock Scott Holmes => Arthur Aloysius Kimberley de Brabazon Secretan

Has pretty hands, which are something of a fixation for the POV character

Doesn’t eat much: “My friend had no breakfast himself, for it was one of his peculiarities that in his more intense moments he would permit himself no food…” (Norwood Builder) => “They ate breakfast, or at least Will did, while Kim chewed a single slice of toast with distaste.” (Subtle Blood)

Withholds information because he doesn’t trust his partner’s ability to deceive: “You won’t be offended, Watson? You will realize that among your many talents dissimulation finds no place.” (Dying Detective) => “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before, but subterfuge isn’t your strong suit.” (Sugared Game)

Withholds information for dramatic effect: “It was too bad to spring it on you like this, but Watson here will tell you that I never can resist a touch of the dramatic.” (Naval Treaty) => “Of course Kim would turn up after two months with some bizarre story; of course he wouldn’t tell it like a normal person.” (Sugared Game)

Plays fast and loose with legality: “Doctor, I shall want your cooperation.” “I shall be delighted.” “You don’t mind breaking the law?” “Not in the least.” (Scandal in Bohemia) => “I am absolutely not empowered to break the laws of the land, so I try not to get caught at it.”

Has a brother seven years his senior, whom we meet (several adventures in) at a gentlemen’s club in Pall Mall, and who looks like him but bigger: “Mycroft Holmes was a much larger and stouter man than Sherlock.” (Greek Interpreter) => “He looked like someone had drawn a caricature of Kim as John Bull and not been kind about it. He was significantly bulkier…”

The club (The Diogenes => The Symposium) has a Strangers' Room, and in at least part of the club: "no talking is, under any circumstances, allowed" (Greek Interpreter) => "speech is strictly forbidden" (Subtle Blood)

Chases down the leader of a mysterious criminal organization who appears respectable in normal society, and who stays one step removed to leave no evidence of his involvement: “But the Professor was fenced round with safeguards so cunningly devised that, do what I would, it seemed impossible to get evidence which would convict in a court of law.” (Final Problem) => “[Arrest him] on what grounds? I’ve got a lot of nothing. Straws in the wind, and fears, and the words of the dead. The case needs to be iron-clad, and mine is wet tissue paper.” (Sugared Game)

Has a chat with this adversary before the action kicks off: “…I was seriously inconvenienced by you” (Final Problem) => “It has caused me enormous inconvenience” (Sugared Game)

Better at hand-to-hand combat than he looks like he should be: “I have some knowledge, however, of baritsu, or the Japanese system of wrestling…” (Empty House) => “Where did you learn knife fighting?” (Slippery Creatures)

Lounges around in a purple dressing gown (Blue Carbuncle; all three Will Darling books)

Tall, slender, pale, and dark-haired, with remarkable eyes (at least, the POV character sure remarks on them a lot)

Other parallels:

Inspector Lestrade (“lean and ferret-like as ever”) => Inspector Rennick (“He was a short, shrewd-looking man who sounded North London.”)

An aortic aneurism renders prosecution of a criminal moot: Jefferson Hope (Study in Scarlet) => Lord Waring (Sugared Game)

Will’s expectations upon meeting Waring line up with a description of Moriarty: “His face protrudes forward, and is forever slowly oscillating from side to side in a curiously reptilian fashion” (Final Problem) => “[Will] wasn’t sure what he expected. Something snakey, some reptilian air of cruelty…” (Sugared Game)

This rather iconic phrase: “He sits motionless, like a spider at the center of its web...” (Final Problem) => “…sits like a spider at the centre of a web of obligations...” (Sugared Game)

Alongside the parallels, Charles adds elements often found in the best works of fanfiction: in addition to the on-page romance, there's expansion of the characters' backgrounds, including an exploration of class and privilege, plus a fix-it-esque resolution of the issue of Holmes'/Kim’s dishonesty (I for one always wished Watson would confront Holmes about lying to him for cases).

There. Cataloguing all the parallels was taking up a ridiculous amount of space in my brain, so now you know & I can stop obsessing over it so much.

#this is less a conspiracy theory and more a love letter #will darling adventures #sherlock holmes #john watson #sherlock holmes fanfic #johnlock #acd holmes #kj charles #will darling #kim secretan #slippery creatures #sugared game #subtle blood #will darling spoilers #inter-fandom meta #i will die on this hill #thank you for coming to my ted talk #edited to be even more unabashed in my appreciation of these books #also i listened to an interview with kj charles about comfort reads and these fit the bill

[libraryleopard]

what i think is interesting about slippery creatures by kj charles is the way that it's exploring an intersection between being a pulpy spy thriller and a work of historical fiction starring queer men in 1920s britain. like, there's the part where will thinks to himself that the information his uncle had might have been a secret someone was being blackmailed with and if it's not hurting anyone he doesn't care what the information is (probably because the idea of someone being blackmailed for their sexuality is a possibility he's considering) or when the official from the war office is like "kim secretan…is a suspicious figure…who had a brush with the law but was only saved from going to trial by his status in society…" and will kind of internally rolls his eyes at that vagueness at first because he was heavily flirting with kim earlier that day and thinks it's probably because kim was found to be involved in another man and is like yeah, no shit (though the matter ends up not being related to kim's sexuality). it's just interesting, i guess, to have a bisexual man who seems comfortable with his sexuality but is nonetheless aware of the danger being queer presents thrust into this cloak-and-dagger mystery stuff because on one hand he's not someone with espionage training, but he is familiar with secrecy and covertness in a more personal way

#it's interesting! #i'm only about a third of the way into the first book so i'm curious how this theme will evolve #slippery creatures #the will darling adventures #lulu reads #books #lulu reads slippery creatures #lulu reads the will darling adventures

[mary-canary]

Kim: I’m going to ask you to be respectful

Will: I will politely decline

#kj charles #k j charles #Kim secretan #will darling #will darling adventures #slippery creatures #the sugared game #lgbtq #romance novels

[vera-dauriac]

Hey folks who like a really good M/M smutty romance. Book 1 in my favorite series by my favorite romance author is free for the next couple days. Go grab it!

#kj charles #slippery creatures #will darling adventures

[queer-books-bracket]

#the will darling adventures #will darling adventures #slippery creatures #so this is ever after #ft lukens #kj charles #lgbt books #books #polls

[emilym-little]

Entering my bookblr influencer era

#reading #books and reading #bookshelves #bookblr #bookstagram #slippery creatures

[aurorawest]

Reading update:

YA graphic novel about werewolves. I was kind of meh on it. The artists switched off each chapter and I preferred the style of one of the a lot more.

Military fake dating romance. I like Annabeth Albert a lot so I enjoyed this, though it’s not my favorite thing I’ve read of hers. I was rooting for the two dumbasses to just admit they love each other. My major problem with this one was that I didn’t feel the barrier to them being together was...a thing. Like, once they realized they both had feelings for each other, which they did basically immediately, there was no reason for them to not just...get together for real.

I have the sequel to this one in my TBR pile as well, but it focuses on a character I found extremely annoying in this one. Then again I also didn’t like the side characters in Conventionally Yours, but I ended up enjoying Out of Character more.

I really wanted to like this one, and it was fine. But I didn’t love it? Maybe I just don’t really care for the rich businessman trope. Or the grumpy/sunshine trope? I also have the second book in this series in my TBR pile so we’ll see if I like that one better.

I was also pretty meh on this. idk? I liked the main character but I didn’t really care about the love interest. And it kind of felt like they only got together because the MC got his heart broken by the guy he spent most of the book pining for.

I loved this one! I love KJ Charles, and I seem to be a sucker for post WWI and post WWII mlm romances. Also I loved the fact that the love interest is shady and double-crossing but genuinely cares about the MC. *chef’s kiss* I had to order the other two in the series after I finished this one.

It’s weird to read basically all queer books and then to read a book that...isn’t queer. I picked this one up because it’s sci-fi, set in Minnesota, and by a Minnesotan author. It was pretty good, and I think the first in a series? It’s about how a small town in the Boundary Waters experiences a huge boom because meteorites containing this crazy metal hit there. Features Superpowers From Space (Stan Lee is thanked in the acknowledgements), an idealistic woman cop, and military experimentation.

Very good book that’s inspired by the HH Holmes murders during the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair (The Devil in the White City is a nonfiction book about the subject, if you’re familiar with that). The story centers on a Jewish teen who more or less gets possessed by the spirit of the young man he loves, who is murdered by a serial killer who appears to be targeting young Jewish men. I love World’s Fair settings, and I haven’t read many books with a Jewish cast of characters, particularly not queer Jewish characters, so that was very cool. I recommend this one.

This has been sitting in my TBR pile for like 5 years, and I finally read it. It was a WWII book? idk. I know people love it but it was a solid 3 stars for me. Easy read, though, so despite its length, I got through it fast.

And currently reading:

Why have my last three reads had red covers? I didn’t do that on purpose. Anyway I’m almost halfway through this one and it’s good...but idk if I’ll continue with the series because I read a review that mentioned the endgame romance is a polyship, and I find polyships very squicky (no shade if you like them, they’re just not for me). The world is interesting and I like the main character, and the character who presumably will be his love interest down the line. I’ll have to see how I feel once I finish it.

#blackwater #jeannette arroyo #ren graham #sailor proof #annabeth albert #hard sell #hudson lin #right where i left you #julian winters #slippery creatures #kj charles #the ninth metal #benjamin percy #the city beautiful #aden polydoros #beneath a scarlet sky #mark sullivan #the ruin of kings #jenn lyons #reading tag

[reviewsthatburn]

SLIPPERY CREATURES by K.J. Charles is a dynamic story with vivid characters and intimate stakes for a former soldier come bookshop owner who keeps having his calm interrupted.

Normally I cannot stand books where one of the main characters is lying to the other, especially in the context of a relationship. I think what makes the difference is that Will figures out quickly that Kim is lying to him about some pretty important things, even if he doesn't know the precise shape of it for a while.

Full review at link

#BookReviews #Historical #Mystery #Recommended #Review #Romance #slippery creatures #the will darling adventures #kj charles

[a-ramblinrose]

“My dear chap, this is a bookshop. There’s never anywhere better to be.”

K.J. Charles, Slippery Creatures

#quote #K.J. Charles #Slippery Creatures #The Will Darling Adventures #KJ Charles #bookshop #Reader's Quirks #Current Reading #Current Reading Quotes #Not Out of Void But Out of Chaos

[rainhorizons]

i just finished slippery creatures and it may or may not be a new favourite book

#slippery creatures #books

[charinabook]

debating a will darling tattoo but am concerned if it'd be the right choice 🤔

#slippery creatures #will darling #k j charles #queer books

[libraryleopard]

love that one of will darling's primary motivations is just "no i will not cooperate." living embodiment of

#his other main motivation of course being horniness for a certain untrustworthy aristocrat #the will darling adventures #slippery creatures #lulu speaks #lulu reads #lulu reads slippery creatures #lulu reads the will darling adventures #books

[bookbaran]

I read the synopsis for the second book and they're right back to not trusting each other and no thank you. That's probably why I didn't read it next back when I first read Slippery Creatures.

#slippery creatures #The sugared game

[mary-canary]

Will: It’s ok to have nervous breakdowns sometimes

Kim: “Nervous breakdowns”? Oh, I’m quite confident in my breakdowns. I have the experience.

#kj charles #k j charles #Kim secretan #will darling #will darling adventures #slippery creatures #the sugared game #lgbtq #romance novels

[kathyreviewsbooks]

Slippery Creatures by KJ Charles

Rating: 4/5

Summary: Will Darling has recently come back from the war and has inherited a second hand bookstore from his uncle. Having this job is a blessing, that is until he starts receiving threats from visitors. He has no one to turn to, until Kim Secretan walks in. It doesn’t take long for desire to grow between the two. However when secrets come to light Will has to decide whether or not he’s willing to trust Will.

Review: I really enjoyed this book, it was amazing. Such a quick read that had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. I sped through it and immediately started reading the next book.

The plot of this book had me hooked and I couldn't put it down. It definitely felt like it was speeding through but I enjoyed it. There were so many plot twists that I didn't see coming and they were amazing. Charles managed to effectively balance lighthearted comedy with deep topics all while maintaining a high stakes plot. The plot of this book had me feeling so many emotions and I never once found myself bored by it.

I fell in love with the main character and his attitude. Will is written so well and it’s hard not to fall in love with him. He has his flaws yes but i love it when writers give their characters flaws, i don’t like mary sue characters. The love interest was amazing and by the end of the book I still couldn’t decide if I liked him or not but he was an amazingly written character. All of the other characters were great and I can't wait to see more of them.

The romance in this book is amazing, and steamy. Definitely a spicy book, do not read this book if you do not enjoy explicit content because there is definitely explicit content in this book. I loved it, it was great. I can’t wait to see the relationship between Will and Kim develop more in the following books.

This is definitely a book I recommend if you’re into high stakes, steamy romances, a MlM romance, spy books, or just looking for a nice quick read.

TWs: Described graphic violence, torture scenes, discussions of trench warfare, use of improvised weapons, near death experiences, imprisonment, denial of food and water, fear for safety in home environment, use of guns, some deception around motives around sexual encounters, period specific homophobia and legal consequences thereof.

Rep: MlM romance, queer charcters

#book reviews #book tumblr #books #kathyreviewsbooks #bookish #bookworm #book reviewer #slippery creatures #kj charles