This is another first for me! Even though I know KJ Charles is a popular author here, I never got around to reading her till now. It probably doesn’t help that for a long time I didn’t realize KJ Charles and Cat Sebastian were two different authors and kept conflating the two.
I liked a lot about this one. I quite enjoyed the gothic mansion, toxic family dynamics and trapped in the house set up. I also appreciated how she set up the narrator and his challenges with having ADHD in a world that didn’t acknowledge it and instead viewed any neurodivergent behaviors as moral failings.
Zeb thinks he is visiting his older cousin (the family toxicity goes back to at least his grandfather who had a series of wives, resulting in large age differences between his children and by extension grandchildren) at the family mansion but upon arrival discovers he is at a surprise family reunion with his elder brother who cut him off, his sister in law, and two other cousins. Wynn has gathered all these family members to decide the future of his estate and his ward, Jessamine. Whoever marries the girl gets the fortune.
With Bram being married, the field is narrow and if Zeb were more of an opportunist, he would likely be a strong competitor. But, as down on his luck as he is, Zeb has morals, no interest in the money, is gay and more interested in reconciling with his ex Gideon who is also at this cursed reunion as Wynn’s secretary.
I liked the beginning quite a lot as it set up the narrative and the gothic vibes as weird things start happening at the mansion, and I also liked the reveals at the end, how it all tied together and what the novel was saying about power. And yet, this wasn’t quite a four star read for me. The middle of the novel was completely fine but there were a few parts that felt a little repetitive – it didn’t go extreme enough in either direction as far as either being very tense (I was not worried about Zeb’s safety) or being over the top farcical/satirical. So overall, engaging read and I’ll definitely have to read more by the author now but it also just didn’t quite get beyond 3.5 stars for me. I did quite appreciate the Nancy Drew style cover, though!
