Review: Proper English, by KJ Charles

[highlyeccentric]

As you may know, I am among those who have been desperately hoping for KJC to turn her hand to f/f romance. And, given my preferences among KJC’s previous work, I was hoping for a romance/action or romance/supernatural or romance/mystery blend.

This is is the romance/mystery blend, and although it leans a bit further into the ‘frothy period setpiece’ than my preferences do, I was delighted by it and, having received the ARC in return for honest review, swallowed it in one intoxicating sitting. It’s so much more My Jam than… almost any f/f on the market (and unlike a few others out there that are My Jam plotwise, it also has engaging, amusing prose!), so it’s quite hard to review this book.

Things I am delighted by

• Top notch period history work. Far cry from the widely recommended f/f historical that I threw across the room on page three because the MC was angsting about being seen in physical contact with another woman in what was, if you knew the slightest thing about the period, a perfectly normal social touch. Instead, Patricia and Fenella have both been negotiating the fuzzy boundaries between what is considered normal female homosocial bonding for young women and preferences or desires which are more firmly deviant. (Spoilery note: I love that one of them has been desiring life partnership, but not really thinking about sex as a possibility re: women, while the other has rather more sexual experience but never really thought about forming a life partnership with a woman. Variety! Nuance!)
• A romantic plot that consists of something other than the lesbian sheep poem in narrative form! There *is* a fair bit of staring, and some ‘well okay, she kissed me, but that doesn’t mean…’, but the main bulk of the romantic plot line is taken up with the two women figuring out the difference between each other’s external social presentation and inner self
• Hilarious subplot involving a gay male couple, which I shall not spoil. That subplot also turns from hilarious to serious toward the end, and provides some real depth to Patricia’s emotional arc that isn’t dependent on the romantic arc
• A good range of supporting characters. I was particularly fond of one Ms Victoria Singh, vegetarian and animal rights activist. KJC’s side characters are always a strength, bringing both engaging personalities and ties into various streams of historical demographics and politics. And - pleasing me, personally, in my specific pet interests - a male-female friendship that’s strong, unique, and just… there, providing depth to both the MC and one of the secondary characters.

Things that are less brilliant: I feel bad listing these, because I love that this book exists! I want KJC to write more of them! But, uh. You may have noticed I measure most historicals against KJC? I also measure KJC against KJC, and this is - while not her weakest - definitely not her strongest work.

• Pacing: The mystery and romance plots were out of sync. The latter had pretty much resolved by the time the former exploded. There was also no point in the overlap where either MC had a real reason to mistrust each other, and I feel like that was a missed opportunity there.
• Sex: It’s fine! It’s fun! It’s better than many f/f romances out there! If you *don’t* like KJC’s kinkier work, then this book is definitely for you. I’m… just going to be over here feeling bad because I liked this but am still wishing for something more, and that something more can basically be summed up as ‘the kind of dynamics KJC writes for period historical MEN at terrible house parties’.

In short: I loved this book, but I loved it in the way that you love things for existing so you can’t hold their weaknesses against them the way you would for something that existed in abundance. I would definitely pay for it. It’s not KJC’s best work but I devoutly hope it’s not her last in the f/f market.