Slippery Creatures

Will Darling Adventures Series, Book 1

De: KJ Charles

Narrado por: Cornell Collins

Will Darling came back from the Great War with a few scars, a lot of medals, and no idea what to do next. Inheriting his uncle's chaotic secondhand bookshop is a blessing...until strange visitors start making threats. First a criminal gang, then the War Office, both telling Will to give them the information they want, or else.

Will has no idea what that information is, and nobody to turn to, until Kim Secretan - charming, cultured, oddly attractive - steps in to offer help. As Kim and Will try to find answers and outrun trouble, mutual desire grows along with the danger.

And then Will discovers the truth about Kim. His identity, his past, his real intentions. Enraged and betrayed, Will never wants to see him again.

But Will possesses knowledge that could cost thousands of lives. Enemies are closing in on him from all sides - and Kim is the only man who can help.

Contains mature themes.

©2020 KJ Charles (P)2020 Tantor

Fantastic period spy story!

All the voices and all the details of the period. the performance and the writing support each other perfectly.

Spies, Thrills, Romance!

“Slippery Creatures” is one of the most purely enjoyable books I’ve read in a long time. This wonderful mix of espionage and romance has fascinating, relatable characters; a fast-moving, suspenseful plot; a charming, sexy romance; and enough turns, twists, and red-herrings to keep you turning pages all night. I hope the author writes many more in this series because I’m looking forward to devouring each one.

I say “read” because I actually took advantage of Amazon’s “Whispersync” technology. That allows you to follow the Kindle text while listening to the audio book. Hands down, the audio actor, Cornell Collins, is one of the best I’ve ever heard. He effortlessly gave each character a distinct voice, rhythm, and personality, he easily navigated British regional and class dialects, and his reading is subtle, nuanced, and often playful. It was a vastly entertaining performance that greatly enhanced my reading enjoyment. Highly, highly recommended.

I especially recommend “Slippery Creatures” for fans of the wonderful, amazing, too-great-for-superlatives “Red, White and Royal Blue.” I had been looking for a follow-up and after having tried a few, this is the first book that was a worthy successor. Read “Slippery Creatures,” especially with the audio book. You’ll thank me.

An Enjoyable Mystery

A veteran inherits a bookshop and with it a mystery. A good read and narration.

Loved this!

Cornell Collins was an excellent choice for this audiobook. I think he especially nailed both Will’s and Kim’s characters!

KJ Charles coming in with another fantastic book. I loved everything about this book and I loved Will and Kim. Will is totally jaded from his time as a soldier and the period of poverty he experienced when he came home and there wasn't enough support for returning veterans. He doesn't take any crap in this book and gives as good as he gets. I thought it was hilarious! He's totally not what you're expecting with all that happens in this book. And then there's Kim. Oh boy, he's an absolute character. Used to charming his way into everything, he's not ready for Will constantly challenging him. All of their scenes together are fun. In this book Will and Kim are extremely attracted to each other and there are some spicy scenes, but things are still building up to an actual romance. I'm honestly loving the tension; and both men are almost annoyed that they can't keep their hands off each other. There are also some really fun side characters - even the "bad guys" made me laugh at some point - and a very interesting plot!

I waited until the full series was out before reading this and I'm glad I did because I need to go right into the next book and see what happens next.

I also listened to the audio - highly recommend it! The narrator really brings all of the characters to life and it's fantastic.

Loved this book

Story , plot, characters all very well done ! This series is grippingly suspenseful and a fun !!
I could listen to Mr Cornell Collins read the phone book , brilliant narration !!

Twists and turns!

How many times am I going to start a review with “KJ Charles did it again?” Well, at least one more time, because this novel was scrumptious. The narrator is one of the best I’ve heard, giving every character a little something all their own. The plot was full of great twists, and the element of romance was heart wrenching in its fallout, delicious in its execution, and very beautifully human.

KJ Charles does such a lovely job of making an interesting plot aside from the romance, and then using the romance to heighten everything: the tension, the yearning, the stakes and the conclusion.

Likeable characters, interesting mystery

I liked the characters and the fact that they had to guess and test and try to solve the mystery rather than find things easily. The characters personalities were believable and I liked that they called each other out when someone did something foolish. The glimpse into their lives post-war was interesting as well. On to book two!

Delightfully entertaining!

Checked all my boxes.

Mystery, witty banter, excellent imagery, well-developed and engaging characters, including a good old fashioned love-to-hate them.

Nice spice.

Phenomenally narrated, with every character distinguishable.

Strongly reccommend.

Amazing!!

Great story, complex characters, fantastic ending! I think the series should definitely be put on film. The three book series is so enjoyable, and I wish I could reach wider audience. 

The Spy Who Loved Me - with a twist

This novel is an odd-couple romance set in 1923 but it is primarily a spy thriller. There is a shadowy organisation bent on global domination, of course. The partners in action protecting the world from catastrophe are Will Darling, an apparently harmless second-hand bookshop proprietor who turns out to be a military-grade trained killer, and Kim Secretan, aka Lord Arthur, the nervy, duplicitous and deeply damaged military intelligence agent who he falls in love with. The plot twists and turns, as devious as Kim's mind. There is plenty of action in bed, but more so out of it. The relationship between Will and Kim remains tantalizingly unresolved at the end of the book, but there are two more volumes in the series. I have high hopes of a happy outcome in the end.

The narrator is magnificent. He does full justice to Kim's upper-crust public school manner of speech and Will's homely Northamptonshire accent, as well as the other many and varied voices, men and women. The voice of Phoebe is especially evocative.

An exciting, fast-paced plot full of intrigue and mystery and a pair of hopelessly mismatched almost-lovers - a combination guaranteed to keep me glued to the book and leave me panting to get to the next one. A brilliant piece of writing, and hats off to KJ Charles, master storyteller.