'Subtle Blood' by K.J. Charles
- Reed
- Oct 8
- 2 min read
Author: K.J. Charles
Rating: A
Vibe: 1920s bookshop romance meets espionage thriller—with outstanding dialogue and a mystery that moves lightning-quick
Book 3 of the Will Darling series
Read reviews of Book 1: Slippery Creatures, and Book 2: The Sugared Game
I loved the first two Will Darling books (Book 1: Slippery Creatures, and Book 2: The Sugared Game). This one's even better. Everything that worked before—the relationship between Will and Kim, the mystery elements, the dialogue, the pacing—is ramped up here. The momentum built in the first two books pays off in dividends by book three.
Will's bookshop is thriving, and so is his illicit relationship with Kim Secretan—disgraced aristocrat and ex-spy. Life is finally calm. Then, a brutal murder at a gentleman's club drags them back into crime, deception, and the ugliness of privilege. Kim's brother Chingford is accused, which means Kim and Will get pulled into the mess whether they want to be or not.
Will is a big, working-class ex-soldier who runs a bookshop. Buff, emotionally unavailable guy who loves books? Already sold. But what makes him work is that he feels real—genuinely trying to figure out what a future with Kim looks like in the 1920s. Not in some sanitized, aren't-we-progressive way, but with actual confusion and hope and fear. He's navigating what it means to build a life with another man when the world isn't exactly throwing parades about it. Charles writes that tension beautifully, and it's never heavy-handed.
There's a moment in the book where Will and Kim are physically close but emotionally miles apart, and then another where they're fully clothed and terrified of saying the wrong thing—and that scene felt more intimate than any of the sex. The spicy scenes are great, don't get me wrong. But Charles understands that emotional vulnerability and physical intimacy don't always sync up, and watching Will navigate that gap is some of the best character work in the series.
The mystery is solid and genuinely engaging. Would I have loved a slightly bigger twist? Sure. But it's the best mystery of the three, and the final act had me turning pages so fast looked up and two hours had disappeared. The balance between plot and romance is excellent—neither one gets shortchanged, and the pacing never drags.
The dialogue remains a massive strength. Charles has a gift for banter that feels natural and specific to these characters—sharp, witty, never overly cute. And the 1920s setting is vivid without turning into a BBC costume drama.
I finished this in a bit of a book hangover. I could have stayed with Will for another three books. Hell, I'd take five more. But this is what we get, and it's a hell of a send-off.
If you liked the first two, you already know this is for you. If you haven't started, begin at book one and let the series build. By the time you get here, you'll understand why this is an A.
