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Welcome to the latest work from K.J. Charles and as ever, we have historical accuracy, fantastic writing, and the occasional naughty bits.
Band Sinister centres around Sir Philip Rookwood and his ‘hellfire club’ known just as ‘The Murder’. These hellfire clubs did exist around the eighteenth century; they were secret societies among the elite and as suggested by their name were thought to be meetings where sex, Satanism and orgies took place. Being secret, not a lot is truthfully known about whatever shenanigans their members got up to, but what a lovely setting for a romance novel.
The Murder holds its meetings every few months at Sir Philip Rookwood’s country mansion outside the village of Yarlcote. Gathering his dearest friends around him, Sir Philip can attend to his lands and tenants whilst enjoying convivial company. A local scandal concerning Philip’s family ensures that apart from his intelligent and loyal steward, no one from local society bothers them. This notoriety is further guaranteed by the attendance of Sir Philip’s best friend, Viscount Corvin – dubbed The Devil’s Lord – whose sarcasm, amoral attitude and vague history of ill repute I adored.
Also living near Yarlcote and the Hall are brother and sister, Guy and Amanda Frisby. We begin the story as Guy is reading, in a state of horror, Amanda’s recently published scandalous gothic romance, written under a pseudonym of course, but the characters are easily recognisable as the residents currently at the Hall. Guy is an innocent, virginal countryman and the siblings are poor, due to circumstances connected with the Rookwood scandal. He adores Amanda who, in my opinion inherited all the personality in the family, and is in a permanent state of torment over keeping up appearances and not upsetting the aunt who supports them. The formidable Aunt Beatrice married nobility and ekes out charitable monies to her sister’s children, Guy and Amanda so they exist just above the poverty line.
In addition, Guy and Amanda cannot leave their less than exciting situation due to an unfortunate incident that occurred during Amanda’s one London Season. Amanda was returned home in disgrace never to be allowed to leave Yarlcote again, if Aunt Beatrice was to continue to support the siblings.
We hurtle into the country mouse and town mouse trope when Amanda goes horse riding and is badly injured. This of course means she is taken to Rookwood Hall to be attended to whilst surrounded by the gathering of reprobates and deflowerers of young girls. Amanda is looked after by one of the group who is a doctor – and a knowledgeable one, thank goodness. In order to preserve Amanda’s reputation she must be chaperoned by a suitable woman, or at the very least in the meantime, her brother. Thus, our country mouse, Guy, is ready for his awakening and maybe an improvement in his life and situation.
As I said the writing is, as ever, very good and full of razor sharp put-downs:
Then you should exert more control of your metaphors.
In addition, the author offers up some subtle and not-so-subtle glimpses into the gender identities and sexual natures of the members. Guy’s eyes are truly opened and for a lot of the novel it is all too much for him, but his feelings for Philip and his amazement at Philip’s feelings for him, helps him through.
Why have I given Band Sinister a B when I can rarely get away from A grades regarding this author?
K.J. Charles has definitely channelled her inner Georgette Heyer and for me that is not necessarily a good thing, as I think I’ve really enjoyed only one Heyer book. I found Guy too insipid, which I know this fits the country virgin trope, but I preferred feisty Amanda, which is in itself another rare thing for me. As my major issue with it is the novel’s similarities to Georgette Heyer, it may well send many romance lovers running to buy Band Sinister in their hordes!
If this is a series and we will learn more about the other members of the The Murder including Lord Corvin, I’ll be queueing up for it!
Buy it at: Amazon/Barnes & Noble/Apple Books/Kobo
Grade: B
Book Type: Historical Romance
Sensuality: Warm
Review Date: 10/10/18
Publication Date: 10/2018
Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.
I'm an English romantic, and an author who simply adores reading and writing books. I believe that all love has equal status, and all humans need and deserve romance. So, I am thrilled to be able to review LGBTQ+ novels for AAR and introduce more readers to some gorgeous LGBTQ+ romances and fascinating stories.
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I am soooo late to the game on this one–I just finished it–but I have to agree with @Allie: I just didn’t see the affection and love growing between Philip and Guy. It seemed to jump from Philip enjoying spending time “debauching” an “innocent” to suddenly being in love. It wasn’t believable.
And Guy’s passivity and wide-eyed innocence juxtaposed with Philip’s flowery language during sex felt a bit…taking advantage of said innocent. I know and read the gobs of consent, so don’t at me, but there was something about Philip’s way of speaking during their explorations that just made me go ick.
I’m a huge KJ Charles fan and the writing was fantastic, notwithstanding, so I accept that I probably was not the intended audience.
This one was a really interesting experience for me. I’m relatively new to enjoying and seeking out romance novels, and I tend to like romances that have something else going on–like a mystery, complex social or political (or both) issues, or alternate reality setting, paranormal creatures or magic (or all three).
So, when I finished Band Sinister, I said something to the effect of: “Nice story. Funny dialogue. Hot sex. Great writing. But, this one wasn’t my favourite.” And then…I couldn’t stop thinking about the characters. They haunted me for days until I succumbed and went back for a reread. There is *a lot* going on in this book. :)
And now, as of two days ago, it’s available in audio.
Robin – have you read Salt Magic Skin Magic by Lee Welch? It has a lot of the things you mentioned in your comment. I think you might like it very much.
PS I loved Band Sinister. :) KJ does all those things in MOST of her books!
Oh man! I just saw your note on that review! You did read it! I knew you would like it.
Okay. How do you feel about shifters? Wolfsong by TJ Klune might also be a hit with you.
I *loved* Salt Magic Skin Magic. Just read the audio the other week. Just incredible.
I just listened to the audio (I’ve reviewed it for AudioGals, so you should see it up soon) and loved the story all over again :)
Yess, this was so lovely (and indeed so Heyer!)
Loved everything about this book and it’s definitely a keeper for me. I totally appreciated the Heyerness of it all. K.J. Charles is one of my favourites.
*nods wildly in agreement.*
I quite liked Guy, actually, and I think KJ Charles is really wonderful at writing good people who aren’t boring (see Clem and Rowley from An Unseen Attraction who are two of my absolute favorites of hers) but where this book didn’t quite work for me (unusually for KJ Charles ) was the love story. I just felt that Philip’s relationship with Corvin and John seemed so much stronger and deeper than the one he had with Guy. I could see why he and Guy were attracted to each other, but it never really felt like a true HEA “we’re going to be together forever” connection.
However, sometimes I need to read her novels more than once to really appreciate them and what she’s trying to do with her characters and narrative.
Not reading the review yet since this one is arriving tomorrow and I don’t want to know anything about it. But…I’m so looking forward to it because K.J.’s writing is top-notch, and nothing makes me happier than well-crafted words. ;)
I think you’ll be happy Robin
I absolutely loved every single thing about this story: the writing, the setting, the characters, the tropes…If I have any complaint it’s that it’s MUCH, MUCH, MUCH too short! One of my favorite books of the year.
I did have the odd niggle about Guy’s passivity, but actually, this worked for me in pretty much every way, and it’s a keeper. It sounds like I’m a bigger Heyer fan than you are though – although I think that one could easily read and enjoy this without having any familiarity with or fondness for her novels or the tropes within them. When all’s said and done, it’s a fun, sweet romp with depth and insight, and while I’d certainly be interested in reading more about Corvin, I’m happy as things stand.
There is always the chance that as a reviewer you hold excellent writers to a higher standard, maybe expect more? Not fair really but hard not to do.
I haven’t mentioned in my review, but I was so impressed by, and interested in, the discussion regarding the introduction of sugar beet. I love KJ Charles’ style of full immersion into history, which is why she is probably one of maybe 2 writers of historical romances I enjoy. I’ve found too many authors of historicals just write a contemporary LGBTQ story and call the MCs Earl or Lord and make the dialogue sound olde worlde.