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England World #1
Proper English
A shooting party at the Earl of Witton’s remote country house is a high treat for champion shot Patricia Merton—until unexpected guests turn the social atmosphere dangerously sour.
That’s not Pat’s biggest problem. She’s visiting her old friend, the Earl’s heir Jimmy Yoxall—but she wants to spend a lot more time with Jimmy’s fiancée. The irrepressible Miss Fenella Carruth, with her laughing eyes and lush curves, is the most glorious woman Pat’s ever met, and it quickly becomes impossible to remember why she needs to stay at arm’s length.
But while the women’s attraction grows, the tensions at Rodington Court get worse. Affairs, secrets, betrayals, and blackmail come to light. And when a body is discovered with a knife between the shoulderblades, it’s going to take Pat and Fen’s combined talents to prevent the murderer destroying all their lives.
That’s not Pat’s biggest problem. She’s visiting her old friend, the Earl’s heir Jimmy Yoxall—but she wants to spend a lot more time with Jimmy’s fiancée. The irrepressible Miss Fenella Carruth, with her laughing eyes and lush curves, is the most glorious woman Pat’s ever met, and it quickly becomes impossible to remember why she needs to stay at arm’s length.
But while the women’s attraction grows, the tensions at Rodington Court get worse. Affairs, secrets, betrayals, and blackmail come to light. And when a body is discovered with a knife between the shoulderblades, it’s going to take Pat and Fen’s combined talents to prevent the murderer destroying all their lives.
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First published May 8, 2019
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About the author
K.J. Charles
65 books11.8k followersKJ is a writer of romance, mostly m/m, historical or fantasy or both. She blogs about writing and editing at http://kjcharleswriter.com.
She lives in London, UK, with her husband, two kids, and a cat of absolute night.
Bluesky @kj_charleswriter.com
Join the lively Discord group at https://discord.gg/fmPTWSZfT6
Sign up to the (infrequent) newsletter at http://kjcharleswriter.com/newsletter
Please **do not** message me on Goodreads as I no longer check the inbox due to unwanted messages.
She lives in London, UK, with her husband, two kids, and a cat of absolute night.
Bluesky @kj_charleswriter.com
Join the lively Discord group at https://discord.gg/fmPTWSZfT6
Sign up to the (infrequent) newsletter at http://kjcharleswriter.com/newsletter
Please **do not** message me on Goodreads as I no longer check the inbox due to unwanted messages.
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April 8, 2019Pat Merton and Fenella Carruth first appeared in my book Think of England and I have wanted to write their origin story ever since. Here it is.
It takes place two years before the events of Think of England (so, obviously, it's a standalone), and, as is only fitting for these ladies, it is a full-on Edwardian Country House Murder. I had total fun with it and I hope readers do too.
NB: As should be clear from the blurb, it's set at a shooting party (for partridge). Proceed accordingly!
It takes place two years before the events of Think of England (so, obviously, it's a standalone), and, as is only fitting for these ladies, it is a full-on Edwardian Country House Murder. I had total fun with it and I hope readers do too.
NB: As should be clear from the blurb, it's set at a shooting party (for partridge). Proceed accordingly!
May 30, 2022
with all due respect (which is none) this book was ass.
[dnf @71 % because i can't take it anymore]
[dnf @71 % because i can't take it anymore]
April 9, 2019
“How many country house murders do you think we’re likely to encounter?” OH FEN, MY SWEET SUMMER CHILD.
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review, and I can honestly say I love these gun-toting lesbians with my whole heart. (Also, going along with this whole “honesty” deal, I read the book and wrote this review on an 18-hour travel day so please forgive any delirium typos.)
This book is a prequel of sorts to Think of England, so anyone who enjoyed that particular brand of Dramatic Country House Blackmail Murders (ToE was my first intro to the work of KJC and it is High Art) will find plenty here to appreciate, although the book is actually very different in most ways.
Sensible, practical Pat Merton is at loose ends after her eldest brother’s wedding; she’s going to have to find somewhere else to live and something else to dedicate her considerable talents to than managing their ancestral home, but hell if she has any idea what that will be. An invitation to a shooting party with just her brother Bill, their childhood friend Jimmy, and his parents sounds like a great way to put off the inevitable.
En route, she finds out that Jimmy is engaged, Bill is very put out about it, and the fiancée in question, along with some family friends and some extremely unpleasant in-laws on his sister’s side, will all be joining their “quiet” party. Pat, like every other chill and capable lesbian I’ve ever met, is *just* introverted enough for this to sound fairly nightmarish... and that’s BEFORE Mr. Haworth (the brother-in-law) begins insulting everyone at the dining room table and Pat overhears him blackmailing someone in an empty part of the house.
Events unfold, as they are wont to do in a KJC house party novel, and Pat goes from “I would rather die than be here, and also Jimmy’s fiancée Fenella appears to have nothing between her ears except perhaps a gentle breeze” to “I would kill a man for Fenella Carruth and also we are going to move in together” in the course of 3 days. (Insert joke about lesbians and Uhauls here.) It is HIGHLY entertaining, and I am very happy for them both.
The stakes felt somewhat lower here than in Think of England, probably because the murder victim was literally the worst person in the world, and also because it’s hard to imagine either Pat OR Fen ultimately ending up in the kind of scrapes that Daniel and Archie got into because their shit is just *so* much more together. I missed a bit of the absolutely scorching, desperate and borderline manic energy of my original country house murder gays, but watching Pat & Fen circle each other carefully for a while before both clearly deciding to say “fuck it” was satisfying in another way.
Pat’s “I am MIND-BLOWINGLY competent and practical and everyone respects me and treats me like one of the boys but I secretly want to be pretty and a little bit cherished” contrasted so perfectly with Fen’s “I am the most beautiful person possibly in the world but all I want in life is for even one single person to take me seriously,” and I loved watching them slowly make their way to an Understanding. The romance on the whole was... softer? than what I usually go for, but as a queer woman who came to that realization pretty late in the game, it was relatable in a way that hot sad gay spies giving desperation blowjobs to hot sad gay soldiers isn’t (for me). (Though I am still very into the latter.)
Speaking of hot, I know this is like, the lowest possible bar to hit, but I have to commend KJC for NOT fading to black (or at least grey) at the critical moments, because I feel like I see a *lot* of that when m/m writers make the jump to f/f. Thank you, KJC, for Letting The Lesbians Fuck.
Anyway: please read this book. It’s got everything! Heaving, jewel-bedecked bosoms! Drug fiends! Guns! Vegetarians! A noble family Fallen On Hard Times! Bigots getting hella stabbed! Walking in on your brother having sex and then your girlfriend telling you he has an ass only his boyfriend could love! I am just saying. This book is a gift that you can give yourself. DO IT.
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review, and I can honestly say I love these gun-toting lesbians with my whole heart. (Also, going along with this whole “honesty” deal, I read the book and wrote this review on an 18-hour travel day so please forgive any delirium typos.)
This book is a prequel of sorts to Think of England, so anyone who enjoyed that particular brand of Dramatic Country House Blackmail Murders (ToE was my first intro to the work of KJC and it is High Art) will find plenty here to appreciate, although the book is actually very different in most ways.
Sensible, practical Pat Merton is at loose ends after her eldest brother’s wedding; she’s going to have to find somewhere else to live and something else to dedicate her considerable talents to than managing their ancestral home, but hell if she has any idea what that will be. An invitation to a shooting party with just her brother Bill, their childhood friend Jimmy, and his parents sounds like a great way to put off the inevitable.
En route, she finds out that Jimmy is engaged, Bill is very put out about it, and the fiancée in question, along with some family friends and some extremely unpleasant in-laws on his sister’s side, will all be joining their “quiet” party. Pat, like every other chill and capable lesbian I’ve ever met, is *just* introverted enough for this to sound fairly nightmarish... and that’s BEFORE Mr. Haworth (the brother-in-law) begins insulting everyone at the dining room table and Pat overhears him blackmailing someone in an empty part of the house.
Events unfold, as they are wont to do in a KJC house party novel, and Pat goes from “I would rather die than be here, and also Jimmy’s fiancée Fenella appears to have nothing between her ears except perhaps a gentle breeze” to “I would kill a man for Fenella Carruth and also we are going to move in together” in the course of 3 days. (Insert joke about lesbians and Uhauls here.) It is HIGHLY entertaining, and I am very happy for them both.
The stakes felt somewhat lower here than in Think of England, probably because the murder victim was literally the worst person in the world, and also because it’s hard to imagine either Pat OR Fen ultimately ending up in the kind of scrapes that Daniel and Archie got into because their shit is just *so* much more together. I missed a bit of the absolutely scorching, desperate and borderline manic energy of my original country house murder gays, but watching Pat & Fen circle each other carefully for a while before both clearly deciding to say “fuck it” was satisfying in another way.
Pat’s “I am MIND-BLOWINGLY competent and practical and everyone respects me and treats me like one of the boys but I secretly want to be pretty and a little bit cherished” contrasted so perfectly with Fen’s “I am the most beautiful person possibly in the world but all I want in life is for even one single person to take me seriously,” and I loved watching them slowly make their way to an Understanding. The romance on the whole was... softer? than what I usually go for, but as a queer woman who came to that realization pretty late in the game, it was relatable in a way that hot sad gay spies giving desperation blowjobs to hot sad gay soldiers isn’t (for me). (Though I am still very into the latter.)
Speaking of hot, I know this is like, the lowest possible bar to hit, but I have to commend KJC for NOT fading to black (or at least grey) at the critical moments, because I feel like I see a *lot* of that when m/m writers make the jump to f/f. Thank you, KJC, for Letting The Lesbians Fuck.
Anyway: please read this book. It’s got everything! Heaving, jewel-bedecked bosoms! Drug fiends! Guns! Vegetarians! A noble family Fallen On Hard Times! Bigots getting hella stabbed! Walking in on your brother having sex and then your girlfriend telling you he has an ass only his boyfriend could love! I am just saying. This book is a gift that you can give yourself. DO IT.
May 17, 2019
Warning: Spoilers for Proper English and Think of England
KJ Charles is a great novelist. Proper English is not, however, a very good novel. As such, it’s an excellent case study in the kind of pitfalls otherwise talented authors make all too often when writing f/f.
Charles’ m/m books are typically written in a crisp, propulsive style, with strong characterization, deep passion, and an excellent grasp of historical realities. They demonstrate a nuanced understanding of how social power structures affect – and, in turn, are affected by – interpersonal relationships. They’re both sexy and thematically sophisticated. In short, they rank among the best of the historical romance genre. Proper English has Charles’ usual highly-competent prose, and is entertaining enough as a country house mystery/drama story, but it absolutely fails as a romance.
The basically problem with this book is that it lacks two things Charles typically does very well, namely:
(1) Sexual tension, and
(2) Internal conflict.
Proper English is a prequel to Charles’ m/m novel Think of England. Because the two books have a similar structure and share a number of tropes, I’ll be using comparisons to Think of England to highlight exactly what I believe went wrong with Proper English.
In Proper English, spinster and shooting champion Pat Merton goes to visit her engaged friend Jimmy Yoxall for a shooting party, and promptly falls for his fiance Fenella Carruth, who masks her competence and intelligence beneath a ditzy facade. Meanwhile, it quickly becomes apparent that all is not well at the Yoxall estate. One of the guests is an unrepentant bully and bigot, not to mention a blackmailer, and when he turns up murdered it’s up to Pat and Fenella to crack the case before the police arrive.
Meanwhile, in Think of England, disabled former army captain Archie Curtis pays a visit to his acquaintances the Armstrongs at their remote country estate, intending to discreetly investigate his hosts’ possible involvement in a case of industrial espionage. While there, he meets Daniel DaSilva, an effete Jewish aesthete who turns out to be a government agent also investigating the Armstrongs, in this case for a blackmail case involving state secrets. Curtis takes an immediate dislike to DaSilva, but eventually comes to realize that DaSilva is more honourable than he initially appears.
So, in both cases you have strangers who meet at an isolated country estate and become involved in an intrigue plot. Both novels are told with a single POV (Pat/Archie), and both narrators initially misjudge their love interest. And, in both cases, the misjudgment is based in prejudice: sexist stereotyping in one case (Pat and Fenella) and xenophobia/internalized homophobia in the other (Archie and Daniel).
Where the two novels diverge is in how they develop their premises. Archie’s prejudicial view of Daniel provides genuine, sustained dramatic tension for much of Think of England, and the pair’s mutual misunderstandings fuel a great deal of believable internal conflict. Meanwhile, Pat’s tendency to underestimate Fenella is done away with within about a scene and a half, and in about the most ham-fisted, pedantic, Feminism 101 way possible. (It’s as if Charles is worried that audiences will miss the point that feminine women can be competent.) Does conflict between romantic MCs have to be based in prejudice? No, obviously not. But there needs to be some conflict, of some kind, and in Proper English there just… isn’t. The only meaningful roadblock to Pat and Fen’s relationship – besides the general background of Edwardian homophobia – is Fen’s engagement to Jimmy, an obstacle that is neatly removed before the pair have sex for the first time. When Curtis first sees DaSilva he “decide[s] on the spot [he’s] rarely seen a more dislikable man.” Meanwhile, when Pat first sees Fen she immediately decides Fen is “the loveliest girl” she’s ever seen. Do romantic MCs have to dislike or distrust one another on sight? Again, obviously not, but such a setup does work to inject some ambivalence into the characters’ relationship and, thus, to draw out sexual tension. And it’s a trick Charles uses frequently to great effect in her m/m works. Romance, as a genre, is all about push and pull. In Proper English there’s no push, which means there’s also no pull. As far as I can tell, this book doesn’t even have a Dark Moment (!). The fact that the beats of the romance plot (such as they are) don’t match up with or complement the beats of the mystery plot only worsens the situation.
I’d like to say I don’t know how Charles went this far wrong, but the fact is that I do. The root cause of this novel’s failure is both simple and tiresomely familiar: gender stereotypes. Charles’ leading men are given the latitude to be complete human beings, capable of lust as well as love, cruelty as well as kindness. They are allowed to hurt one another and to err. Her leading women, on the other hand, seem to be suffering from a sort of sugar-and-spice gender essentialism. They love commitment and are unconditionally supportive of one another. They talk through all their issues. They have gentle, sweet, lovingly egalitarian sex. They are very, very nice, and also very, very boring. It’s a pattern I’ve seen before with other authors and, frankly, my patience has worn rather thin. Charles needs to learn to portray her fellow women with some degree of nuance before she tries her hand at f/f again.
Side notes:
-Why in God’s name does Pat have to angst about her “plain” appearance? This is such a tiresome gendered trope, and it adds nothing to the character dynamic.
-The sex in this book is painfully unsexy. I feel like the story didn’t pass through the hands of a single person attracted to women at any point in the writing/editing process.
-Charles fundamentally misunderstands the appeal of breasts.
KJ Charles is a great novelist. Proper English is not, however, a very good novel. As such, it’s an excellent case study in the kind of pitfalls otherwise talented authors make all too often when writing f/f.
Charles’ m/m books are typically written in a crisp, propulsive style, with strong characterization, deep passion, and an excellent grasp of historical realities. They demonstrate a nuanced understanding of how social power structures affect – and, in turn, are affected by – interpersonal relationships. They’re both sexy and thematically sophisticated. In short, they rank among the best of the historical romance genre. Proper English has Charles’ usual highly-competent prose, and is entertaining enough as a country house mystery/drama story, but it absolutely fails as a romance.
The basically problem with this book is that it lacks two things Charles typically does very well, namely:
(1) Sexual tension, and
(2) Internal conflict.
Proper English is a prequel to Charles’ m/m novel Think of England. Because the two books have a similar structure and share a number of tropes, I’ll be using comparisons to Think of England to highlight exactly what I believe went wrong with Proper English.
In Proper English, spinster and shooting champion Pat Merton goes to visit her engaged friend Jimmy Yoxall for a shooting party, and promptly falls for his fiance Fenella Carruth, who masks her competence and intelligence beneath a ditzy facade. Meanwhile, it quickly becomes apparent that all is not well at the Yoxall estate. One of the guests is an unrepentant bully and bigot, not to mention a blackmailer, and when he turns up murdered it’s up to Pat and Fenella to crack the case before the police arrive.
Meanwhile, in Think of England, disabled former army captain Archie Curtis pays a visit to his acquaintances the Armstrongs at their remote country estate, intending to discreetly investigate his hosts’ possible involvement in a case of industrial espionage. While there, he meets Daniel DaSilva, an effete Jewish aesthete who turns out to be a government agent also investigating the Armstrongs, in this case for a blackmail case involving state secrets. Curtis takes an immediate dislike to DaSilva, but eventually comes to realize that DaSilva is more honourable than he initially appears.
So, in both cases you have strangers who meet at an isolated country estate and become involved in an intrigue plot. Both novels are told with a single POV (Pat/Archie), and both narrators initially misjudge their love interest. And, in both cases, the misjudgment is based in prejudice: sexist stereotyping in one case (Pat and Fenella) and xenophobia/internalized homophobia in the other (Archie and Daniel).
Where the two novels diverge is in how they develop their premises. Archie’s prejudicial view of Daniel provides genuine, sustained dramatic tension for much of Think of England, and the pair’s mutual misunderstandings fuel a great deal of believable internal conflict. Meanwhile, Pat’s tendency to underestimate Fenella is done away with within about a scene and a half, and in about the most ham-fisted, pedantic, Feminism 101 way possible. (It’s as if Charles is worried that audiences will miss the point that feminine women can be competent.) Does conflict between romantic MCs have to be based in prejudice? No, obviously not. But there needs to be some conflict, of some kind, and in Proper English there just… isn’t. The only meaningful roadblock to Pat and Fen’s relationship – besides the general background of Edwardian homophobia – is Fen’s engagement to Jimmy, an obstacle that is neatly removed before the pair have sex for the first time. When Curtis first sees DaSilva he “decide[s] on the spot [he’s] rarely seen a more dislikable man.” Meanwhile, when Pat first sees Fen she immediately decides Fen is “the loveliest girl” she’s ever seen. Do romantic MCs have to dislike or distrust one another on sight? Again, obviously not, but such a setup does work to inject some ambivalence into the characters’ relationship and, thus, to draw out sexual tension. And it’s a trick Charles uses frequently to great effect in her m/m works. Romance, as a genre, is all about push and pull. In Proper English there’s no push, which means there’s also no pull. As far as I can tell, this book doesn’t even have a Dark Moment (!). The fact that the beats of the romance plot (such as they are) don’t match up with or complement the beats of the mystery plot only worsens the situation.
I’d like to say I don’t know how Charles went this far wrong, but the fact is that I do. The root cause of this novel’s failure is both simple and tiresomely familiar: gender stereotypes. Charles’ leading men are given the latitude to be complete human beings, capable of lust as well as love, cruelty as well as kindness. They are allowed to hurt one another and to err. Her leading women, on the other hand, seem to be suffering from a sort of sugar-and-spice gender essentialism. They love commitment and are unconditionally supportive of one another. They talk through all their issues. They have gentle, sweet, lovingly egalitarian sex. They are very, very nice, and also very, very boring. It’s a pattern I’ve seen before with other authors and, frankly, my patience has worn rather thin. Charles needs to learn to portray her fellow women with some degree of nuance before she tries her hand at f/f again.
Side notes:
-Why in God’s name does Pat have to angst about her “plain” appearance? This is such a tiresome gendered trope, and it adds nothing to the character dynamic.
-The sex in this book is painfully unsexy. I feel like the story didn’t pass through the hands of a single person attracted to women at any point in the writing/editing process.
-Charles fundamentally misunderstands the appeal of breasts.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 21, 2021
Patricia (Pat) Merton is about to embark on a new phase of her life. Though no one is kicking her out, with her oldest brother just married, she'd rather make use of her household running skills elsewhere. But first, she gets to enjoy a small hunting party. Or so she was hoping, until she realizes that far too many uninvited guests have also crashed said party.
Armed with her absolute worst premonitions, our heroine nevertheless finds herself reluctantly charmed by one Miss Fenella (Fen) Carruth, her host's pretty, rich, and (supposedly) air-headed fiance.
I've been wondering whether I should give this book a chance, ever since Pat and Fen's interaction have intrigued me in Think of England. On the one hand, I enjoy seeing women kicking ass, especially when said ass belongs to pompous self-important men. On the other hand, F/F romances are not my thing. Then again, I do very much enjoy K.J. Charles' books in general, so perhaps I needed to get rid of some preconceived notions.
In its defense, I very much enjoyed Pat's no-nonsense attitude, the fact that she was a bona fide shooting champion, and especially her approach to tackling a possibly scary and uncertain future. I loved Fen's approach to navigating the rules of "polite" society, along with the contrast of her mischievous behavior in private. And of course the suitably upbeat promise of a happily-ever-after didn't hurt either.
That said, the intimate scenes did absolutely nothing for me, and I could've just as easily skipped them. The fact that I didn't, was entirely due to my own misplaced ambition in trying new things. But all this was minor, compared to how much Pat's judgemental attitude pissed me off. I realize that this was all intentional characterization, but that didn't change how much it pissed me off. Then again, perhaps this was just a case of hitting too close to home.
Score: 2.5/5 stars
In spite of my general dislike of romances in audio format, single narrators make for a much better experience with same-sex relationships. For a book from a genre, where I couldn't really appreciate the main selling point, I was seriously considering a lower score. Then again, I DID willing embark on this trip, fully aware of its major downside, so penalizing it for that very fact would be churlish.
That said, if femme-slash is your thing, and you enjoy seeing women in period clothes stand up for themselves, then Proper English is an excellent choice of a romantic reading material.
Armed with her absolute worst premonitions, our heroine nevertheless finds herself reluctantly charmed by one Miss Fenella (Fen) Carruth, her host's pretty, rich, and (supposedly) air-headed fiance.
I've been wondering whether I should give this book a chance, ever since Pat and Fen's interaction have intrigued me in Think of England. On the one hand, I enjoy seeing women kicking ass, especially when said ass belongs to pompous self-important men. On the other hand, F/F romances are not my thing. Then again, I do very much enjoy K.J. Charles' books in general, so perhaps I needed to get rid of some preconceived notions.
In its defense, I very much enjoyed Pat's no-nonsense attitude, the fact that she was a bona fide shooting champion, and especially her approach to tackling a possibly scary and uncertain future. I loved Fen's approach to navigating the rules of "polite" society, along with the contrast of her mischievous behavior in private. And of course the suitably upbeat promise of a happily-ever-after didn't hurt either.
That said, the intimate scenes did absolutely nothing for me, and I could've just as easily skipped them. The fact that I didn't, was entirely due to my own misplaced ambition in trying new things. But all this was minor, compared to how much Pat's judgemental attitude pissed me off. I realize that this was all intentional characterization, but that didn't change how much it pissed me off. Then again, perhaps this was just a case of hitting too close to home.
Score: 2.5/5 stars
In spite of my general dislike of romances in audio format, single narrators make for a much better experience with same-sex relationships. For a book from a genre, where I couldn't really appreciate the main selling point, I was seriously considering a lower score. Then again, I DID willing embark on this trip, fully aware of its major downside, so penalizing it for that very fact would be churlish.
That said, if femme-slash is your thing, and you enjoy seeing women in period clothes stand up for themselves, then Proper English is an excellent choice of a romantic reading material.
May 30, 2019
I have screamed about this book so constantly that I actually thought I'd reviewed it weeks ago. But no - all my reviews have been verbal, in the form of friendly harassment, i.e. "READ THIS F***KING BOOK OR ELSE". Yes, I am a fun person to know.
Before I get into exactly why this historical f/f murder mystery romance is so great (if you need more than that description, I mean), it seems only fair to mention that this book is dedicated to me. I don't think I am biased because I read this book early and became obsessed pre-dedication. Also, some might argue that the fact it's dedicated to me (a person well-known for her maximum coolness, and a close cousin to the sunglasses emoji) is, in fact, the icing on the cake. And when I say 'some', I mean 'me, I, Talia'. Ahem. To continue.
Proper English is about Pat, an excellent lady shooter, going to a house party with her brother, only to find that there is PURE DRAMA, and also that her friend is engaged to the sparkling cream puff woman of Pat's dreams, also known as Fen. The guests are deliciously dramatic and wonderfully fractious and then A DEAD BODY IS DISCOVERED! WHO DUNNIT?! Pat and Fen decide to find out, in between falling adorably in love and doing the good, good kissy stuff we all came here for.
This story is hilarious and sweet and sexually tense. Also, a racist is murdered. WHO COULD ASK FOR MORE?
My favourite quotes:
"The aim is to bring them in with a bit of boxing and then, when we have them trapped, inflict a spot of literacy on the blighters."
"Honestly, I think everyone feels terribly awkward inside. It's the human condition."
'She didn't think Jimmy would serve her such a trick, but he was a man, so her expectations were low.'
"...everything about you is champagne. Bubbling and delicious and special."
AWWWW. AM I RIGHT?!
(Victoria Singh is the REAL Queen Victoria like if u agree.)
Before I get into exactly why this historical f/f murder mystery romance is so great (if you need more than that description, I mean), it seems only fair to mention that this book is dedicated to me. I don't think I am biased because I read this book early and became obsessed pre-dedication. Also, some might argue that the fact it's dedicated to me (a person well-known for her maximum coolness, and a close cousin to the sunglasses emoji) is, in fact, the icing on the cake. And when I say 'some', I mean 'me, I, Talia'. Ahem. To continue.
Proper English is about Pat, an excellent lady shooter, going to a house party with her brother, only to find that there is PURE DRAMA, and also that her friend is engaged to the sparkling cream puff woman of Pat's dreams, also known as Fen. The guests are deliciously dramatic and wonderfully fractious and then A DEAD BODY IS DISCOVERED! WHO DUNNIT?! Pat and Fen decide to find out, in between falling adorably in love and doing the good, good kissy stuff we all came here for.
This story is hilarious and sweet and sexually tense. Also, a racist is murdered. WHO COULD ASK FOR MORE?
My favourite quotes:
"The aim is to bring them in with a bit of boxing and then, when we have them trapped, inflict a spot of literacy on the blighters."
"Honestly, I think everyone feels terribly awkward inside. It's the human condition."
'She didn't think Jimmy would serve her such a trick, but he was a man, so her expectations were low.'
"...everything about you is champagne. Bubbling and delicious and special."
AWWWW. AM I RIGHT?!
(Victoria Singh is the REAL Queen Victoria like if u agree.)
August 23, 2019
This reminded me of an Agatha Christie style mystery with a sapphic twist. Many guests who've never met each other before are trapped in a castle-like estate in the middle of nowhere as adversarial tensions build between them that ultimately result in a murder.
The first 2/3 of the book focus on the relationships of the guests and the growing romance between our leads while seeds of mystery are dropped. The last 1/3 deals with the murder and resolving who did it.
Overall, the writing was well done and I liked that the author made her leads different from the usual fare. One was described as plain and the other was quite plump.
If you've ever craved this type of read, check it out.
3.75 stars
Some highlights from the book:
“That is the loveliest thing anyone has ever said to me. Thank you, Pat.”
“Well, it’s true. And why ought you or anyone conform to a particular idea of how you should be? There’s no shortage of any kind of people, so we might as well let each other be ourselves.”
They just looked at one another, fingers clasped, and something fluttered in Pat’s chest like a partridge flushed out of cover.
Not that it was any of Pat's business, because the woman was marrying Jimmy. Lucky bloody Jimmy.
She was plain in looks and manner, and had never regretted that because she had never particularly wanted to attract a husband. And yet, Miss Carruth undeniably made her think about soft curves and lushness and pretty, frivolous primping, and why those things were so very desirable to see, or to have.
She wore a gown that even Pat could tell was desperately fashionable and which had obviously been tailored to display a delightfully plump figure to its best advantage without squeezing her into a wasp
waist, a task to which no whalebone could have been equal.
The first 2/3 of the book focus on the relationships of the guests and the growing romance between our leads while seeds of mystery are dropped. The last 1/3 deals with the murder and resolving who did it.
Overall, the writing was well done and I liked that the author made her leads different from the usual fare. One was described as plain and the other was quite plump.
If you've ever craved this type of read, check it out.
3.75 stars
Some highlights from the book:
“That is the loveliest thing anyone has ever said to me. Thank you, Pat.”
“Well, it’s true. And why ought you or anyone conform to a particular idea of how you should be? There’s no shortage of any kind of people, so we might as well let each other be ourselves.”
They just looked at one another, fingers clasped, and something fluttered in Pat’s chest like a partridge flushed out of cover.
Not that it was any of Pat's business, because the woman was marrying Jimmy. Lucky bloody Jimmy.
She was plain in looks and manner, and had never regretted that because she had never particularly wanted to attract a husband. And yet, Miss Carruth undeniably made her think about soft curves and lushness and pretty, frivolous primping, and why those things were so very desirable to see, or to have.
She wore a gown that even Pat could tell was desperately fashionable and which had obviously been tailored to display a delightfully plump figure to its best advantage without squeezing her into a wasp
waist, a task to which no whalebone could have been equal.
January 13, 2024
my darling readers, you will all be shocked and appalled to hear that for a while there i was considering 3-starring a KJ Charles book (and to have it happen in the same month i 3-starred a Pratchett!! inconceivable.)
the thing is. THE THING IS!!! if judged solely on the merit of the romance, Proper English does not pass muster. and i might have gone into the book kinda prejudiced against it on this front, bcs (lore drop time!) the other day there was a really interesting discussion in the KJC discord about the toothlessness of f/f romance in general and this book in particular - so even before starting it, i had some idea that Pat and Fen were not going to serve fiery passion realness. and boy did they not serve!!! i mean, no offence to them, perfectly pleasant characters with a nice little arc, but in the context of KJC's usual dizzying heights? not up to par at all. i had to read the sentence "her body clenched tight with throbbing joy" with my own two eyes!!!!!! KJC why would you do this to me!!?? speaking of, the sex scenes were boring as fuck :((( and on two occasions, after one of them throbbed with joy, the other one was like "teehee to be continued" AND THEN IT FADED TO BLACK?? i mean as i said, it was very boring and it wasn't like i wanted more of it, but pulling the same fade to black twice?? i do expect better from her.
okay, now that the kvetching is out of the way - you can see that, despite my lack of enthusiasm for the central romance, this is not a 3-star read after all, and the reason for that is the external plot. KJC is a master of suspense, and often that means having the internal romantic conflict be tied to or reflected in the external drama. and i'd say this was the case here too, but for the secondary romance (which i will not spoil bcs it is iconic! but also very stressful!!). so, i found that, while they didn't really work for me as a memorable romantic pair, Pat and Fen were excellent for helping me chill out and enjoy the batshittery of, as Pat describes it "the worst dinner party since Julius Caesar invited Brutus for dinner", without being as stressed out as i'd have been if *unnamed secondary lovers* were the POV characters.
in a way, reading Proper English really reminded me of the feeling of watching a good murder mystery - the detective character is ideally well-developed and fully rounded, but that is not actually a prerequisite, since the detective figure is by definition the provider of the outsider POV, a mere (but keen) observer to the human drama unfolding around them. so, at some point my brain just shifted from reading this as a romance with a country house murder mystery setting (which is, i think, inarguably the vibe of the second book in the series), and instead started reading it as a country house murder mystery with romantic elements. and lemme tell you!!! that one change in perspective completely redeems the book!! suddenly it's okay that Fen and Pat are world's most boring U-hauling lesbians, bcs it's not about them as people, it's about them as observers of the drama. AND BOY, IS THERE DRAMA. i will not go into further details, only than to say that Pat's above-mentioned description is not an exaggeration at all. i would pay cash money to see a BBC/ITV TV movie adaptation of this shit. the casting for Maurice Haworth alone would be a herculean effort.
all in all, not a bad time at all! would definitely rec, with the caveat that one should adjust their expectations - Think of England this is not! but it's still good in its own, slightly different (and less emotionally stressful) way.
the thing is. THE THING IS!!! if judged solely on the merit of the romance, Proper English does not pass muster. and i might have gone into the book kinda prejudiced against it on this front, bcs (lore drop time!) the other day there was a really interesting discussion in the KJC discord about the toothlessness of f/f romance in general and this book in particular - so even before starting it, i had some idea that Pat and Fen were not going to serve fiery passion realness. and boy did they not serve!!! i mean, no offence to them, perfectly pleasant characters with a nice little arc, but in the context of KJC's usual dizzying heights? not up to par at all. i had to read the sentence "her body clenched tight with throbbing joy" with my own two eyes!!!!!! KJC why would you do this to me!!?? speaking of, the sex scenes were boring as fuck :((( and on two occasions, after one of them throbbed with joy, the other one was like "teehee to be continued" AND THEN IT FADED TO BLACK?? i mean as i said, it was very boring and it wasn't like i wanted more of it, but pulling the same fade to black twice?? i do expect better from her.
okay, now that the kvetching is out of the way - you can see that, despite my lack of enthusiasm for the central romance, this is not a 3-star read after all, and the reason for that is the external plot. KJC is a master of suspense, and often that means having the internal romantic conflict be tied to or reflected in the external drama. and i'd say this was the case here too, but for the secondary romance (which i will not spoil bcs it is iconic! but also very stressful!!). so, i found that, while they didn't really work for me as a memorable romantic pair, Pat and Fen were excellent for helping me chill out and enjoy the batshittery of, as Pat describes it "the worst dinner party since Julius Caesar invited Brutus for dinner", without being as stressed out as i'd have been if *unnamed secondary lovers* were the POV characters.
in a way, reading Proper English really reminded me of the feeling of watching a good murder mystery - the detective character is ideally well-developed and fully rounded, but that is not actually a prerequisite, since the detective figure is by definition the provider of the outsider POV, a mere (but keen) observer to the human drama unfolding around them. so, at some point my brain just shifted from reading this as a romance with a country house murder mystery setting (which is, i think, inarguably the vibe of the second book in the series), and instead started reading it as a country house murder mystery with romantic elements. and lemme tell you!!! that one change in perspective completely redeems the book!! suddenly it's okay that Fen and Pat are world's most boring U-hauling lesbians, bcs it's not about them as people, it's about them as observers of the drama. AND BOY, IS THERE DRAMA. i will not go into further details, only than to say that Pat's above-mentioned description is not an exaggeration at all. i would pay cash money to see a BBC/ITV TV movie adaptation of this shit. the casting for Maurice Haworth alone would be a herculean effort.
all in all, not a bad time at all! would definitely rec, with the caveat that one should adjust their expectations - Think of England this is not! but it's still good in its own, slightly different (and less emotionally stressful) way.
April 5, 2019
A gloriously fun Agatha-Christie-style historical country-house murder mystery, sparkling with wit and full of great characters, including a really lovely romance between two equally fabulous heroines. I started reading my ARC in post-surgery recovery, when I could have felt really grim, and the sheer joy of this book really saved me. A total delight!
October 2, 2023
10/01/23
When I first read this in 2019, I gave it four stars, which is my standard "well it didn't wow me, but also there was nothing really wrong with it" rating. Four years and a reading of Charles' other romances + other f/f historicals has clarified my feelings on this book a lot more, which is why my rating has now dropped down to two stars.
Simply put: this book is not a romance in any meaningful sense of the word. Pat and Fen's relationship is, at best sharing the A-plot status with the murder mystery (which is itself fairly toothless, since everybody hated the victim and nobody cares that he's dead) and at no point do they grow or change or challenge each other. Back when I first read it, I was just like "oh, okay," but now that I've read other f/f historicals with the exact same issue (The Hellion's Waltz my beloathed) I've come to the conclusion that a lot of these authors . . . don't actually want to write f/f. Or if they do, they want to write it for the brownie points of writing lesbians because they think it's more progressive to do so, but they have no interest in actually developing their leading ladies as characters - they exist to be mouthpieces for whatever political stance the author wishes to impart to their readers (there's no wrong way to be a woman! Join a union! Men are bad!) which is honestly an insidious form of sexism that I don't think these authors realize they're perpetuating. Women can't be people; they have to be ideals.
And it's extra frustrating with this book, because when you compare/contrast it with its partner book, Think of England, the difference truly jumps off the page. Archie and Daniel are dynamic, interesting characters with sharp edges who clash and argue and make each other better; Fen and Pat are soft, bland ciphers. Aggravatingly, Charles does the exact same thing in the Will Darling series, where Will and Kim have so much angst and drama between them and Maisie and Phoebe are off making hats. There's nothing wrong with being more interested in male characters than female (well, on an individual level; it is indicative of a deeper social bias, but that can't and won't be solved by writing dutyfic) but there is something wrong with putting out a substandard product because "they're lesbians!" is treated as the only selling point you need. It's not.
When I first read this in 2019, I gave it four stars, which is my standard "well it didn't wow me, but also there was nothing really wrong with it" rating. Four years and a reading of Charles' other romances + other f/f historicals has clarified my feelings on this book a lot more, which is why my rating has now dropped down to two stars.
Simply put: this book is not a romance in any meaningful sense of the word. Pat and Fen's relationship is, at best sharing the A-plot status with the murder mystery (which is itself fairly toothless, since everybody hated the victim and nobody cares that he's dead) and at no point do they grow or change or challenge each other. Back when I first read it, I was just like "oh, okay," but now that I've read other f/f historicals with the exact same issue (The Hellion's Waltz my beloathed) I've come to the conclusion that a lot of these authors . . . don't actually want to write f/f. Or if they do, they want to write it for the brownie points of writing lesbians because they think it's more progressive to do so, but they have no interest in actually developing their leading ladies as characters - they exist to be mouthpieces for whatever political stance the author wishes to impart to their readers (there's no wrong way to be a woman! Join a union! Men are bad!) which is honestly an insidious form of sexism that I don't think these authors realize they're perpetuating. Women can't be people; they have to be ideals.
And it's extra frustrating with this book, because when you compare/contrast it with its partner book, Think of England, the difference truly jumps off the page. Archie and Daniel are dynamic, interesting characters with sharp edges who clash and argue and make each other better; Fen and Pat are soft, bland ciphers. Aggravatingly, Charles does the exact same thing in the Will Darling series, where Will and Kim have so much angst and drama between them and Maisie and Phoebe are off making hats. There's nothing wrong with being more interested in male characters than female (well, on an individual level; it is indicative of a deeper social bias, but that can't and won't be solved by writing dutyfic) but there is something wrong with putting out a substandard product because "they're lesbians!" is treated as the only selling point you need. It's not.
June 11, 2022
➥ 1 Star *:･ﾟ✧ dnf @ 60%
I agree with sephie, this book was ass . I think I'm cursed, everytime I choose to buddy read something with someone, it ends up being terrible.
Anyway, I could not fucking tell you what this book is about lmao. It's meant to be a murder mystery along with the romance but I don't even remember anyone being murdered, all the side characters are a blur to me, and I don't know how to differentiate between all the MEN. Why so many men?? In a sapphic romance? Not in my house.
Unfortunately, that stupid, incomprehensible plot was the main focus and the filler shoved in between scraps of romance. The romance itself was also shit and the smut was so vague 😐👎. I agree with sephie, that's definitely homophobic. The romance consised of Pat falling in love with Fen's "bossom" and that's it, I'm deadass.
The writing was...definitely historical(?) in the sense that it was unnecessarily complicated and a drag. I hate dnfing books lmao, so this one really had to push me. And it did 😍. That's not to say that formal writing in historical romance is not what I like, but this one was just trying to make me feel stupid and confused.
This is such a sad start to pride month lmao. I fear books like this are what make people think that most ff books are bad. THEY ARE NOT!! Here are some fab ones: Those Who Wait (contemporary), A Little Light Mischief (historical novella) and The Fifth Surgeon (contemporary medical romance).
I cannot believe I wasted my time on this book 😞. Sephie, we must do another buddy read sometime this month reading some Haley Cass, I don't think she can disappoint. Maybe When You Least Expect It? <3
“If one had enough to do, one could carry on doing it indefinitely without looking up from one’s tasks to take a wider view.”
━━━━━━━━━━━ ♡ ━━━━━━━━━━━
I agree with sephie, this book was ass . I think I'm cursed, everytime I choose to buddy read something with someone, it ends up being terrible.
➥ Patricia Merton (h) got on my last nerve. We are mainly in her perspective and she's just insufferable. She thinks she's not like other girls because she has zero remorse for shooting animals, so much that she enjoys doing it as a sport!! She's also just annoying in general.
➥ Fenella Carruth (h) was more bland to me. There was less to hate. She was pretty decent, I liked how she clearly weaponised society's expectations for women for her own benefit and to manipulate. But other than that I found her to be quite plain. She was always blushing and being flirted with, which isn't so entertaining for me. I'd rather we had been in her perspective.
Anyway, I could not fucking tell you what this book is about lmao. It's meant to be a murder mystery along with the romance but I don't even remember anyone being murdered, all the side characters are a blur to me, and I don't know how to differentiate between all the MEN. Why so many men?? In a sapphic romance? Not in my house.
Unfortunately, that stupid, incomprehensible plot was the main focus and the filler shoved in between scraps of romance. The romance itself was also shit and the smut was so vague 😐👎. I agree with sephie, that's definitely homophobic. The romance consised of Pat falling in love with Fen's "bossom" and that's it, I'm deadass.
The writing was...definitely historical(?) in the sense that it was unnecessarily complicated and a drag. I hate dnfing books lmao, so this one really had to push me. And it did 😍. That's not to say that formal writing in historical romance is not what I like, but this one was just trying to make me feel stupid and confused.
This is such a sad start to pride month lmao. I fear books like this are what make people think that most ff books are bad. THEY ARE NOT!! Here are some fab ones: Those Who Wait (contemporary), A Little Light Mischief (historical novella) and The Fifth Surgeon (contemporary medical romance).
I cannot believe I wasted my time on this book 😞. Sephie, we must do another buddy read sometime this month reading some Haley Cass, I don't think she can disappoint. Maybe When You Least Expect It? <3
━━━━━━━━━━━ ♡ ━━━━━━━━━━━
May 8, 2019
3.75 stars rounded up
Old-time readers / fans of K.J. Charles who have read Think of England might remember Patricia Merton and Fenella Carruth; two secondary characters from the book. Proper English is the prequel, set two years before the event in Think of England, that tells how Patricia and Fenella first met: Patricia attends a shooting party while visiting her old friend, Jimmy Yoxall, who is recently engaged with Fenella.
If I can use one word to describe this story, I will use DELIGHTFUL. Yes, there is one vile character – who later ends up being the murder victim – and he’s been maliciously making the host and their guests uncomfortable, but it also creates a perfect situation for secrets being out and everyone having motives.
I thought Patricia and Fenella are adorable together. I admit, at first, before I started reading, I was worried with what being said on the blurb: “… she (Patricia) wants to spend a lot more time with Jimmy’s fiancée…”. I am not very fond of cheating situation (even if they are yet married), because someone will end up being hurt. I’m quite relieved that Charles takes care of it very well, with win-win result for everyone involved.
I love that Patricia is competent and grounded. I love that Fenella is bubbly and shiny but having very sharp mind. I enjoy reading two main heroines that are wonderful on their own, although together they are creating a great couple.
If I have slight complaint, it is that I expected the murder to happen earlier than it did in the book. I thought it would be a murder-mystery book, where the characters spend more time being wary with each other, and our main characters busy investigating (in between developing relationship). It turns out that the dead body is found after 2/3rd of the book. I guess it’s just a matter that it isn’t what I initially expected.
A Guest Review for The Blogger Girls
The ARC is provided by the author for an exchange of fair and honest review. No high rating is required for any ARC received.
Old-time readers / fans of K.J. Charles who have read Think of England might remember Patricia Merton and Fenella Carruth; two secondary characters from the book. Proper English is the prequel, set two years before the event in Think of England, that tells how Patricia and Fenella first met: Patricia attends a shooting party while visiting her old friend, Jimmy Yoxall, who is recently engaged with Fenella.
If I can use one word to describe this story, I will use DELIGHTFUL. Yes, there is one vile character – who later ends up being the murder victim – and he’s been maliciously making the host and their guests uncomfortable, but it also creates a perfect situation for secrets being out and everyone having motives.
I thought Patricia and Fenella are adorable together. I admit, at first, before I started reading, I was worried with what being said on the blurb: “… she (Patricia) wants to spend a lot more time with Jimmy’s fiancée…”. I am not very fond of cheating situation (even if they are yet married), because someone will end up being hurt. I’m quite relieved that Charles takes care of it very well, with win-win result for everyone involved.
I love that Patricia is competent and grounded. I love that Fenella is bubbly and shiny but having very sharp mind. I enjoy reading two main heroines that are wonderful on their own, although together they are creating a great couple.
If I have slight complaint, it is that I expected the murder to happen earlier than it did in the book. I thought it would be a murder-mystery book, where the characters spend more time being wary with each other, and our main characters busy investigating (in between developing relationship). It turns out that the dead body is found after 2/3rd of the book. I guess it’s just a matter that it isn’t what I initially expected.
A Guest Review for The Blogger Girls
The ARC is provided by the author for an exchange of fair and honest review. No high rating is required for any ARC received.
April 10, 2020
Psst ... here's an embarrassing secret: this is my first FF and my first K.J. Charles. *hangs head in shame* KJC is one of those authors that for a host of reasons I've known I'm going to like or even love, in fact I own quite a number of her books, but keep postponing the reading of them. It's mystifying and it ends now.
I loved this story and the audio by Bella Lowe is aces. In a way it was return to basics for me:
*An Edwardian Country House Party
*Secrets and otherwise uncomfortable facts are revealed at the worst dinner parties ever
*Romantic entanglements ensue
*A murder occurs, everyone has a motive, and everyone is suspect
This read to me like a mix of Patricia Veryan, Georgette Heyer, and a dash of Agatha Christie and I was a happy camper. The characters are smart, with properly English Dry humor, and even when they're falling in love they remain themselves. I love how the author portrays them warts and all. The Merton siblings have a permanent place in my heart. Bill and Pat are people you want in your corner when the house is on fire. Jimmy is all heart which sometimes lead him to serious blunders, but I kept rooting for him and Bill, I hope to read about them in further books, however my absolute favorite was Fen. She's an absolute gem and Pat didn't stand a chance in her presence. Surrendering with grace was her only option.
I loved this story and the audio by Bella Lowe is aces. In a way it was return to basics for me:
*An Edwardian Country House Party
*Secrets and otherwise uncomfortable facts are revealed at the worst dinner parties ever
*Romantic entanglements ensue
*A murder occurs, everyone has a motive, and everyone is suspect
This read to me like a mix of Patricia Veryan, Georgette Heyer, and a dash of Agatha Christie and I was a happy camper. The characters are smart, with properly English Dry humor, and even when they're falling in love they remain themselves. I love how the author portrays them warts and all. The Merton siblings have a permanent place in my heart. Bill and Pat are people you want in your corner when the house is on fire. Jimmy is all heart which sometimes lead him to serious blunders, but I kept rooting for him and Bill, I hope to read about them in further books, however my absolute favorite was Fen. She's an absolute gem and Pat didn't stand a chance in her presence. Surrendering with grace was her only option.
April 5, 2020
I wasn't sure what to expect from KJ Charles' first venture into f/f romance. But she's an auto-buy author for me, so much so that I've even read her m/f romance, Gilded Cage (and enjoyed it!). If she writes it, I'm going to read it, because I trust her to entertain, amuse, and move me, and she almost always delivers.
She delivered here, with this country house murder mystery set in 1902 England. If you've read Think of England, set two years later (but written first), you might remember the scrappy and resourceful lesbian couple who play a secondary but vital role. Here we get their origin story, so to speak.
To my friends who are steering clear of this because they're leery of f/f, I want to say, "But wait! There's more!" Because there *is* more to the story than Patricia & Fenella falling in love, and I *swear* you guys would enjoy it. I can't say more for fear of spoilers, but I loved the layers of secrets and surprises contained in this book. Pat is the POV character, and she doesn't pick up on everything going on around her at first -- but the clues are there for the reader to piece together. Which was fun. This book was fun, and if you've liked KJC's other work, you should like this. And if you haven't read her yet -- what are you waiting for? She's one of the best writers in the genre, so please don't deprive yourself any longer.
She delivered here, with this country house murder mystery set in 1902 England. If you've read Think of England, set two years later (but written first), you might remember the scrappy and resourceful lesbian couple who play a secondary but vital role. Here we get their origin story, so to speak.
To my friends who are steering clear of this because they're leery of f/f, I want to say, "But wait! There's more!" Because there *is* more to the story than Patricia & Fenella falling in love, and I *swear* you guys would enjoy it. I can't say more for fear of spoilers, but I loved the layers of secrets and surprises contained in this book. Pat is the POV character, and she doesn't pick up on everything going on around her at first -- but the clues are there for the reader to piece together. Which was fun. This book was fun, and if you've liked KJC's other work, you should like this. And if you haven't read her yet -- what are you waiting for? She's one of the best writers in the genre, so please don't deprive yourself any longer.
May 25, 2019
I was looking forward to this prequel story with Pat and Fen from Think of England and I really enjoyed seeing these two women meet. Pat is intelligent, self-contained and practical, raised along with her brothers enough to have the expectation that a woman should be just as capable as a man. She's a champion shot, and is used to running a household, but with the marriage of her oldest brother she's suddenly at loose ends, no longer mistress of his home.
She decides a brief holiday with an old friend, Jimmy, at the beginning of partridge season will be relaxing - good shooting and a chance to figure out the next phase of her life. But the house turns out to be full of more guests than she was prepared for, some of them less than pleasant. Her brother Bill is with her, but seems deeply troubled by something; her friend's fiancee is also there, and for some reason Jimmy is treating the lovely young woman with careless negligence and failing to protect her from nasty innuendo from another guest. Something is very rotten in the Earl of Witton’s remote country house, and Pat would just as soon leave, if it didn't mean leaving the lovely Fenella alone amid the mire. And if the flooding rivers actually made leaving possible. And then there's a murder...
Told from Pat's POV, this book is a delightful very British country house mystery combined with the awakening of a young woman to who she is meant to be. Pat's forthright nature includes a warm heart and ready sympathy. Fenella's artful, lightheaded chatter turns out to be a screen for a woman of far more substance, and their romance was believable and lovely, fitting for the era in which they are living. The mystery was not unexpected, but well-played, and I thoroughly enjoyed the story.
She decides a brief holiday with an old friend, Jimmy, at the beginning of partridge season will be relaxing - good shooting and a chance to figure out the next phase of her life. But the house turns out to be full of more guests than she was prepared for, some of them less than pleasant. Her brother Bill is with her, but seems deeply troubled by something; her friend's fiancee is also there, and for some reason Jimmy is treating the lovely young woman with careless negligence and failing to protect her from nasty innuendo from another guest. Something is very rotten in the Earl of Witton’s remote country house, and Pat would just as soon leave, if it didn't mean leaving the lovely Fenella alone amid the mire. And if the flooding rivers actually made leaving possible. And then there's a murder...
Told from Pat's POV, this book is a delightful very British country house mystery combined with the awakening of a young woman to who she is meant to be. Pat's forthright nature includes a warm heart and ready sympathy. Fenella's artful, lightheaded chatter turns out to be a screen for a woman of far more substance, and their romance was believable and lovely, fitting for the era in which they are living. The mystery was not unexpected, but well-played, and I thoroughly enjoyed the story.
January 18, 2024
Dang, I think I'm going to have to DNF this because I'm halfway through and there is nary a drop of tension, whether dramatic or romantic or sexual, even though tension is normally K.J. Charles' main wheelhouse.
I'm just so frustrated with how many f/f romances seem to act as though women are all nice and forgiving and placid all the time. Like too often they seem to be ruled by the need to avoid having their female characters do anything that will tip off the reader's internalized misogyny- like shitty actions or arrogance on the part of men can be forgiven, but when it's a woman we must avoid anything that might possibly lead to the dreaded "Bitch" label.
Give me women with issues! Give me passion! Give me moments of arrogance or pettiness! Give me really anything other than just unceasing openness and honesty and bland sweetness.
And for fucks sake! Give me full-on steamy-ass sex scenes. Charles has no problem doing this with her m/m titles, so what's with the sedate, partial fade-to-black dullness here? The other book in the series, Think of England didn't pull that in the slightest. Just- *eternal sigh*
I will say that there are definitely books that don't fall into this, of course! I recently loved Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics and A Little Light Mischief, and thought that both did a great job of making their characters believable imperfect and full of sexual chemistry. Hopefully going forward I'll find more books with these qualities!
To see a review that really says it all much more eloquently than I ever could, check out Mo's: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I'm just so frustrated with how many f/f romances seem to act as though women are all nice and forgiving and placid all the time. Like too often they seem to be ruled by the need to avoid having their female characters do anything that will tip off the reader's internalized misogyny- like shitty actions or arrogance on the part of men can be forgiven, but when it's a woman we must avoid anything that might possibly lead to the dreaded "Bitch" label.
Give me women with issues! Give me passion! Give me moments of arrogance or pettiness! Give me really anything other than just unceasing openness and honesty and bland sweetness.
And for fucks sake! Give me full-on steamy-ass sex scenes. Charles has no problem doing this with her m/m titles, so what's with the sedate, partial fade-to-black dullness here? The other book in the series, Think of England didn't pull that in the slightest. Just- *eternal sigh*
I will say that there are definitely books that don't fall into this, of course! I recently loved Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics and A Little Light Mischief, and thought that both did a great job of making their characters believable imperfect and full of sexual chemistry. Hopefully going forward I'll find more books with these qualities!
To see a review that really says it all much more eloquently than I ever could, check out Mo's: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
August 3, 2021
Oh this was absolutely magnificent. The f/f histrom of my dreams!!!!!!!! I loved it so much. Full review to come later but OH MY GOD KJ DID IT AGAIN, BUT THIS TIME WITH LESBIANS
Edit: Okay usually I just delete the old gushy review and replace it with the actual review, but I find this one hilarious so I'm keeping it :D Here's my full review:
Proper English made me think of all the Hercule Poirot stories I grew up on. There’s a hunting party full of colourful snarky characters, hilarious banter, more then one group of lovers sneaking around for some private time or that one character everyone hates who dies a horrible death thus making everyone a suspect. It’s perfect! The atmosphere, the lush british countryside, the dynamic relationships between characters and the wonderfully gruesome murder are just a staple of the genre. And we all know KJ writes some amazing countryside and gruesome murder. Again, it’s perfect.
Read the full review on my blog
Edit: Okay usually I just delete the old gushy review and replace it with the actual review, but I find this one hilarious so I'm keeping it :D Here's my full review:
Proper English made me think of all the Hercule Poirot stories I grew up on. There’s a hunting party full of colourful snarky characters, hilarious banter, more then one group of lovers sneaking around for some private time or that one character everyone hates who dies a horrible death thus making everyone a suspect. It’s perfect! The atmosphere, the lush british countryside, the dynamic relationships between characters and the wonderfully gruesome murder are just a staple of the genre. And we all know KJ writes some amazing countryside and gruesome murder. Again, it’s perfect.
Read the full review on my blog
July 19, 2019
This is getting really annoying, Goodreads. To say I finished a book before I actually have. I would never throw a book unrated and without a review into the world. Ugh!
So I will get back to this space as soon as I finish it. Which will be later today.
----------------------
So this was simply fantastic and all things delightful even though we are talking about a murder mystery. KJ Charles normally writes m/m and therefore she was (to me at least) an unknown author. Apparently our two mains Patricia (Pat) Merton and Fenella (Fen) Carruth were secondary characters in a previous novel Think of England set two years later. Lucky for me (and you, if you decide to read it and I think you should) they got their own story giving us the origins on how they met.
The setting is an old stone pile somewhere in Scotland where a shooting party is being held (the game is partridge). Pat, being a superb shot (All-English Ladies’ Champion) is looking forward to spending some time with her oldest brother Bill and her best friend Jimmy. Upon arrival it turns out there are more guests than she feels comfortable with. One of them is Jimmy’s buxom fiancée Fenella, who seems a tad silly at first but there is more beneath the surface. If only Jimmy had eyes for that. Pat certainly has!
The house is full of secrets and lies and tensions rise. Then the weather turns nasty, trapping everyone inside. Pat discovers some things about herself and others. Then… a murder is done! Okay, the victim was a vile, despicable man who certainly had it coming but still… one of the party is guilty of murder and they all had motive. Can they find out before the police arrives?
The dialogue is spot on and delightfully period. The murder/mystery only happens in the last third of the book so before that we get plenty of Pat and Fen and the secret goings-on with all the other intriguing members of the group. A witty and clever plot that kept me spellbound till the end.
f/f Yay! There is no fade to black here, they get a chance to show us all ;-)
Themes: a shooting party, having feelings for someone else’s fiancée, shooting lessons, vegetarians, plenty of secrets, drug fiends, a spot of damned bad weather, a murder, awesome dialogue.
5 Stars
So I will get back to this space as soon as I finish it. Which will be later today.
----------------------
So this was simply fantastic and all things delightful even though we are talking about a murder mystery. KJ Charles normally writes m/m and therefore she was (to me at least) an unknown author. Apparently our two mains Patricia (Pat) Merton and Fenella (Fen) Carruth were secondary characters in a previous novel Think of England set two years later. Lucky for me (and you, if you decide to read it and I think you should) they got their own story giving us the origins on how they met.
The setting is an old stone pile somewhere in Scotland where a shooting party is being held (the game is partridge). Pat, being a superb shot (All-English Ladies’ Champion) is looking forward to spending some time with her oldest brother Bill and her best friend Jimmy. Upon arrival it turns out there are more guests than she feels comfortable with. One of them is Jimmy’s buxom fiancée Fenella, who seems a tad silly at first but there is more beneath the surface. If only Jimmy had eyes for that. Pat certainly has!
The house is full of secrets and lies and tensions rise. Then the weather turns nasty, trapping everyone inside. Pat discovers some things about herself and others. Then… a murder is done! Okay, the victim was a vile, despicable man who certainly had it coming but still… one of the party is guilty of murder and they all had motive. Can they find out before the police arrives?
The dialogue is spot on and delightfully period. The murder/mystery only happens in the last third of the book so before that we get plenty of Pat and Fen and the secret goings-on with all the other intriguing members of the group. A witty and clever plot that kept me spellbound till the end.
f/f Yay! There is no fade to black here, they get a chance to show us all ;-)
Themes: a shooting party, having feelings for someone else’s fiancée, shooting lessons, vegetarians, plenty of secrets, drug fiends, a spot of damned bad weather, a murder, awesome dialogue.
5 Stars
May 13, 2019
4.5 stars/B+
K.J. Charles’ latest book is a companion piece to Think of England, in which readers were first introduced to Pat Morton and Fenella (Fen) Carruth, a pair of formidable ladies who seem already to be rather adept at solving mysteries. Proper English takes place a couple of years before those events, and is their origin story, if you will. It’s a witty, sharply observed, sweetly romantic and clever country house murder-mystery; in short, everything you’d expect from K.J. Charles (including the dead body. Maybe especially the dead body!)
Patricia Merton is at a bit of a crossroads in her life. The youngest of five children – with four older brothers – her father never subscribed to the idea that girls couldn’t and shouldn’t do the things boys did, and he’s grown up to be a confident, competent young woman who knows who she is and makes no apologies for being different to the average eyelash-fluttering, simpering miss. She’s spent much of her adult life running her older brother’s household, but he’s recently married, and Pat knows continuing to live under the same roof would be a recipe for disaster. So she’s taking some time to think about what she wants to do next, and is travelling to attend a small shooting party in the north of England, looking forward to spending time with her brother Bill, her old friend, Jimmy, and a few other gentlemen. She’s a champion shot –the All England Ladies’ Champion in fact – and is pleased to be spending a few days where she can be as mannish as she likes and nobody will care.
But when Bill meets her at the station, she’s disappointed to discover that her plans for a few days shooting with the chaps have been upended because Jimmy’s new fiancée, Miss Fenella Caruth (daughter of a wealthy industrialist) is present, as are Jimmy’s sister and her loathesome husband, his parents, the Earl and Countess of Witton and a handful of other guests. Pat’s enthusiasm for the houseparty wanes; until later that evening she makes the acquaintance of Jimmy’s fiancée, who is quite the loveliest woman Pat has ever seen.
At first, she appears to be just the sort of fluffy, frivolous young woman Pat usually avoids at all cost, but when, the next day, they get to spend a bit of time together (Pat is teaching her to shoot), Pat begins to realise that Fen is more than she appears, and that beneath the polished exterior is a woman who longs to be taken seriously and seen for more than her pretty face (and enormous fortune).
It’s not long before Pat and Fen realise there’s something more than friendship growing between them, but their delight at having found, in each other, someone who really sees them for who they are, has to be put on hold when one of the party is found dead, an ornamental knife buried in his back, and a dreadful storm both confines them all to the house and prevents the immediate attendance of the local police.
Proper English is a proper English romp of a story that combines a Christie-esque country house murder mystery, a tender, sensual romance and a healthy dose of social comment that’s never dry or overdone.
Pat and Fen are opposites in many ways; Pat is pragmatic, no-nonsense and outdoorsy, shrewd, self-possessed and non-judgmental, while Fen has been brought up to be little more than an ornament to a man. There’s a wonderful moment in the book when she expresses her frustration at the way young women like her are brought up to act helpless and brainless while being simultaneously mocked and despised for displaying the very qualities thought so important in a young lady who wants to attract a husband. Fen is a natural care-taker and will go out of her way to make other people feel comfortable, even when that effort isn’t reciprocated, while Pat is less inclined to care what people think of her, but is sufficiently intuitive that she doesn’t stomp all over other people’s feelings while going her own way. She and Fen fit together so beautifully, both of them yearning for someone with whom they can really be themselves, and the way they discover each other and the true women behind their facades is superbly done and wonderful to read.
The mystery plot – while not as high-stakes as the one in Think of England – is nonetheless well thought-out, as we learn, along with Pat, that Bill is investigating some financial irregularities that seem to point the finger at the Earl. Ms. Charles keeps this happily bubbling along in the background until she’s ready to bring it front and centre, and it’s classic stuff; a group of disparate individuals with secrets to hide, agendas to pursue, and oodles of mounting tension, a truly nasty villain (who of course gets his just desserts) and our wily, amateur sleuths.
Pat and Fen are great characters – I liked them in Think of England, and liked them even more here – their romance is lovely, the secondary cast is nicely fleshed-out, and it will come as no surprise to anyone familiar with the author when I say that the sense of time and place she instils into the story is impeccable. Proper English is a delight from start to finish and highly recommended.
K.J. Charles’ latest book is a companion piece to Think of England, in which readers were first introduced to Pat Morton and Fenella (Fen) Carruth, a pair of formidable ladies who seem already to be rather adept at solving mysteries. Proper English takes place a couple of years before those events, and is their origin story, if you will. It’s a witty, sharply observed, sweetly romantic and clever country house murder-mystery; in short, everything you’d expect from K.J. Charles (including the dead body. Maybe especially the dead body!)
Patricia Merton is at a bit of a crossroads in her life. The youngest of five children – with four older brothers – her father never subscribed to the idea that girls couldn’t and shouldn’t do the things boys did, and he’s grown up to be a confident, competent young woman who knows who she is and makes no apologies for being different to the average eyelash-fluttering, simpering miss. She’s spent much of her adult life running her older brother’s household, but he’s recently married, and Pat knows continuing to live under the same roof would be a recipe for disaster. So she’s taking some time to think about what she wants to do next, and is travelling to attend a small shooting party in the north of England, looking forward to spending time with her brother Bill, her old friend, Jimmy, and a few other gentlemen. She’s a champion shot –the All England Ladies’ Champion in fact – and is pleased to be spending a few days where she can be as mannish as she likes and nobody will care.
But when Bill meets her at the station, she’s disappointed to discover that her plans for a few days shooting with the chaps have been upended because Jimmy’s new fiancée, Miss Fenella Caruth (daughter of a wealthy industrialist) is present, as are Jimmy’s sister and her loathesome husband, his parents, the Earl and Countess of Witton and a handful of other guests. Pat’s enthusiasm for the houseparty wanes; until later that evening she makes the acquaintance of Jimmy’s fiancée, who is quite the loveliest woman Pat has ever seen.
At first, she appears to be just the sort of fluffy, frivolous young woman Pat usually avoids at all cost, but when, the next day, they get to spend a bit of time together (Pat is teaching her to shoot), Pat begins to realise that Fen is more than she appears, and that beneath the polished exterior is a woman who longs to be taken seriously and seen for more than her pretty face (and enormous fortune).
It’s not long before Pat and Fen realise there’s something more than friendship growing between them, but their delight at having found, in each other, someone who really sees them for who they are, has to be put on hold when one of the party is found dead, an ornamental knife buried in his back, and a dreadful storm both confines them all to the house and prevents the immediate attendance of the local police.
Proper English is a proper English romp of a story that combines a Christie-esque country house murder mystery, a tender, sensual romance and a healthy dose of social comment that’s never dry or overdone.
Pat and Fen are opposites in many ways; Pat is pragmatic, no-nonsense and outdoorsy, shrewd, self-possessed and non-judgmental, while Fen has been brought up to be little more than an ornament to a man. There’s a wonderful moment in the book when she expresses her frustration at the way young women like her are brought up to act helpless and brainless while being simultaneously mocked and despised for displaying the very qualities thought so important in a young lady who wants to attract a husband. Fen is a natural care-taker and will go out of her way to make other people feel comfortable, even when that effort isn’t reciprocated, while Pat is less inclined to care what people think of her, but is sufficiently intuitive that she doesn’t stomp all over other people’s feelings while going her own way. She and Fen fit together so beautifully, both of them yearning for someone with whom they can really be themselves, and the way they discover each other and the true women behind their facades is superbly done and wonderful to read.
The mystery plot – while not as high-stakes as the one in Think of England – is nonetheless well thought-out, as we learn, along with Pat, that Bill is investigating some financial irregularities that seem to point the finger at the Earl. Ms. Charles keeps this happily bubbling along in the background until she’s ready to bring it front and centre, and it’s classic stuff; a group of disparate individuals with secrets to hide, agendas to pursue, and oodles of mounting tension, a truly nasty villain (who of course gets his just desserts) and our wily, amateur sleuths.
Pat and Fen are great characters – I liked them in Think of England, and liked them even more here – their romance is lovely, the secondary cast is nicely fleshed-out, and it will come as no surprise to anyone familiar with the author when I say that the sense of time and place she instils into the story is impeccable. Proper English is a delight from start to finish and highly recommended.
July 9, 2019
Sometimes I don't like suspense plots with my romance. This was one of those times. And, unfortunately, it felt a bit like Think of England for me. I thought the characters were cute and sweet to each other...but the pacing was off. It was probably hard to go back and create this, I don't know, and make them who they were (scene-stealers) in ToE, but it is what it is. What it was for me was barely satisfying. Both pieces were sorely lacking the tension that can make KJC books so incredible.
If you like suspense, like historical, like f-f/want to read f-f, then this might be worth a go, but I felt it was generally just a little short on everything. To illustrate this point, I'll say I didn't care after about the first half and would've been just fine with the Pat/Fen story reading a bit like the Gabriel/Francis story.
August 3, 2019
This book should have been shorter, because there was some redundancy that seemed to be there only to show us how truly horrible a certain character is, and it mired down the story a bit. Also, I can't call this a mystery since that part didn't even kick in until the last third of the book, though once it did kick in it was fairly interesting - if also a bit too long. There was too much of everyone getting caught up with what others are/were doing, so things get repeated a lot.
Thankfully, Pat and Fen rightly steal the show in this book and they're as delightful here as they were in Think of England. This is a prequel, taking place two years before Think of England, and it's how Pat and Fen meet. This isn't insta-love but more insta-like, which I'm more than fine with, and it's hard not to understand why they're pulled so hard toward each other. Fen's spent her life with no one taking her seriously and she's learned to live down to those expectations, and Pat's spent her life raised by her father and with her four brothers, with nary a womanly influence to be seen. They complement each other and they're adorable together, and maybe I'm biased towards loving this more than it deserves because of it, but so what. I want more of them.
Thankfully, Pat and Fen rightly steal the show in this book and they're as delightful here as they were in Think of England. This is a prequel, taking place two years before Think of England, and it's how Pat and Fen meet. This isn't insta-love but more insta-like, which I'm more than fine with, and it's hard not to understand why they're pulled so hard toward each other. Fen's spent her life with no one taking her seriously and she's learned to live down to those expectations, and Pat's spent her life raised by her father and with her four brothers, with nary a womanly influence to be seen. They complement each other and they're adorable together, and maybe I'm biased towards loving this more than it deserves because of it, but so what. I want more of them.
May 8, 2019
A Joyfully Jay review.
5 stars
Oh, this story was such a delight! I was completely captivated and could barely put it down. Proper English develops a wonderful relationship between Pat and Fen, and then adds to it the drama of a remote country house party filled with interesting (and abhorrent) characters, along with a murder mystery twist. K.J. Charles just excels at wonderful character development and excellent historical elements and both are showcased perfectly in this story.
Pat is our POV character and she is as fascinating as she is impressive. Pat grew up in a home with four brothers and a father who treated her like one of the boys. She is insanely competent and has been managing the family home for years. Basically, Pat is one of those women who just knows how to get stuff done and she doesn’t let other people’s opinion’s gets in the way. However, with her oldest brother now marrying, Pat is at loose ends as she needs to find a new place to live and a new direction for her life (while Pat could technically stay in the family home, she knows she is way too much of a manager to avoid conflict with her new sister-in-law). This house party is supposed to be a chance for Pat to relax and regroup, but suddenly there is an influx of people with whom she is expected to socialize. Of course, when Pat meets the lovely Fen, this prospect isn’t quite so daunting.
Read Jay’s review in its entirety here.
5 stars
Oh, this story was such a delight! I was completely captivated and could barely put it down. Proper English develops a wonderful relationship between Pat and Fen, and then adds to it the drama of a remote country house party filled with interesting (and abhorrent) characters, along with a murder mystery twist. K.J. Charles just excels at wonderful character development and excellent historical elements and both are showcased perfectly in this story.
Pat is our POV character and she is as fascinating as she is impressive. Pat grew up in a home with four brothers and a father who treated her like one of the boys. She is insanely competent and has been managing the family home for years. Basically, Pat is one of those women who just knows how to get stuff done and she doesn’t let other people’s opinion’s gets in the way. However, with her oldest brother now marrying, Pat is at loose ends as she needs to find a new place to live and a new direction for her life (while Pat could technically stay in the family home, she knows she is way too much of a manager to avoid conflict with her new sister-in-law). This house party is supposed to be a chance for Pat to relax and regroup, but suddenly there is an influx of people with whom she is expected to socialize. Of course, when Pat meets the lovely Fen, this prospect isn’t quite so daunting.
Read Jay’s review in its entirety here.
May 12, 2019
Literally everything I hoped for, this book provided. Murder! A house party full of awful people! Ladies bonding! Two of those ladies falling in love and having a lot of sex! The narrator being a thoroughly sensible person who is also a gay disaster! K.J. Charles just keeps getting better and better.
May 6, 2019
Thank you very much to KJ Charles for providing an advance reading copy of her novel.
I’ve been a fan of KJ Charles’ work since (checks Goodreads) 2014 when I read the first book in her A Charm of Magpies series, The Magpie Lord. I’ve read all of her books since that first one and have been patiently waiting for Charles to release a full-length f/f romance novel … and the book gods delivered!
Proper English is a wonderfully fun and still pretty violent Agatha-Christie-type murder mystery (because, let’s be honest, it wouldn’t be a KJ Charles novel without at least one murder) with remarkable, badass characters and a gorgeous romance. I had a smile on my face pretty much the entirety of my reading experience, and I never wanted this gem of a book to end.
Proper English is the origin story of my two favourite sapphics, Pat and Fen, from Charles’ Think of England. While you don’t need to read Think of England to understand Proper English, I still highly recommend that you do because it’s just marvellous. In Think of England, Pat and Fen are already in an established relationship (and quite skilled in solving murder mysteries), and very quickly grew to be fan favourites. In Proper English, we get to see how our gun-toting lesbian and sweet-tempered lesbian met.
Patricia Merton is a practicable and rational woman. She has spent a good portion of her life managing her and her brothers’ ancestral home, but now that one of her brothers is married, she finds herself adrift and stumped as to what she’s going to do with the rest of her life. Pat accepts an invitation to a shooting party with her brother Bill, hosted by their childhood friend Jimmy, as one last hurrah before Jimmy is to be married. But Pat’s quiet shooting holiday is soon disrupted when Jimmy’s fiancée Fenella is invited too, as well as Jimmy’s parents, his sister and horrible brother-in-law, godsister, and a man who may or may not be having an affair with Jimmy’s sister — nightmarish for someone as introverted as Pat.
However, Pat’s dread soon evaporates as she grows closer to Jimmy’s beautiful fiancé, Fen, who quickly charms almost everyone in the country house. Fen is absolutely adorable. I loved her in Think of England and I loved her even more in this novel. She’s so sweet and lovely, but all she wants in life is to have one person see her, to take her seriously, and to take notice in her interests. She’s so used to being someone who cares for others and goes out of her way to make other people comfortable, and yet no one makes the same considerations for her. Until she meets Pat.
I love the contrast between Pat, Fen and Miss Singh, Jimmy’s godsister, in how they perform their femininity. Pat can be quite mannish sometimes, but she’s never judgemental of other women, and sometimes just wants to be adored and noticed as a woman. Sometimes with characters who aren’t into “girly” things, there’s a tendency for them to be quite sexist but Charles doesn’t descend into that stereotype. Pat appreciates how all women have their differences and acknowledges that there is no one definition of a strong woman — Pat is physically capable, Fen is generous and loving, and Miss Singh is staunch in her convictions and beliefs.
Proper English is very easily one of my all-time favourite KJ Charles novels. I know I say that about a lot of her books, especially her most recent standalones, but it’s true! This book has everything I want in a novel and more: badass sapphic women saving the day, sad gays hiding their Secret Romance™, and an appreciation for large bosoms. You’re doing yourself a disservice if you don’t read Proper English!
I’ve been a fan of KJ Charles’ work since (checks Goodreads) 2014 when I read the first book in her A Charm of Magpies series, The Magpie Lord. I’ve read all of her books since that first one and have been patiently waiting for Charles to release a full-length f/f romance novel … and the book gods delivered!
Proper English is a wonderfully fun and still pretty violent Agatha-Christie-type murder mystery (because, let’s be honest, it wouldn’t be a KJ Charles novel without at least one murder) with remarkable, badass characters and a gorgeous romance. I had a smile on my face pretty much the entirety of my reading experience, and I never wanted this gem of a book to end.
Proper English is the origin story of my two favourite sapphics, Pat and Fen, from Charles’ Think of England. While you don’t need to read Think of England to understand Proper English, I still highly recommend that you do because it’s just marvellous. In Think of England, Pat and Fen are already in an established relationship (and quite skilled in solving murder mysteries), and very quickly grew to be fan favourites. In Proper English, we get to see how our gun-toting lesbian and sweet-tempered lesbian met.
Patricia Merton is a practicable and rational woman. She has spent a good portion of her life managing her and her brothers’ ancestral home, but now that one of her brothers is married, she finds herself adrift and stumped as to what she’s going to do with the rest of her life. Pat accepts an invitation to a shooting party with her brother Bill, hosted by their childhood friend Jimmy, as one last hurrah before Jimmy is to be married. But Pat’s quiet shooting holiday is soon disrupted when Jimmy’s fiancée Fenella is invited too, as well as Jimmy’s parents, his sister and horrible brother-in-law, godsister, and a man who may or may not be having an affair with Jimmy’s sister — nightmarish for someone as introverted as Pat.
However, Pat’s dread soon evaporates as she grows closer to Jimmy’s beautiful fiancé, Fen, who quickly charms almost everyone in the country house. Fen is absolutely adorable. I loved her in Think of England and I loved her even more in this novel. She’s so sweet and lovely, but all she wants in life is to have one person see her, to take her seriously, and to take notice in her interests. She’s so used to being someone who cares for others and goes out of her way to make other people comfortable, and yet no one makes the same considerations for her. Until she meets Pat.
I love the contrast between Pat, Fen and Miss Singh, Jimmy’s godsister, in how they perform their femininity. Pat can be quite mannish sometimes, but she’s never judgemental of other women, and sometimes just wants to be adored and noticed as a woman. Sometimes with characters who aren’t into “girly” things, there’s a tendency for them to be quite sexist but Charles doesn’t descend into that stereotype. Pat appreciates how all women have their differences and acknowledges that there is no one definition of a strong woman — Pat is physically capable, Fen is generous and loving, and Miss Singh is staunch in her convictions and beliefs.
Proper English is very easily one of my all-time favourite KJ Charles novels. I know I say that about a lot of her books, especially her most recent standalones, but it’s true! This book has everything I want in a novel and more: badass sapphic women saving the day, sad gays hiding their Secret Romance™, and an appreciation for large bosoms. You’re doing yourself a disservice if you don’t read Proper English!
July 5, 2020
This review is the definition of grading on a curve: KJC is a genius and I really love Think of England, which I've just finished in audio [sequel K.J.? Sequel. SE-QUEL].
Consequently, my expectations for this were sky high. I felt so, so sure KJC would be the one to deliver in my, so far, somewhat fruitless quest for great historical f/f.
Alas, this didn’t really deliver as I hoped. Ultimately it all felt, pfffft, *shrugs*: underpowered.
There is real promise here - Fen and Pat seemingly being such opposites. Pat is plain, competent, robust and independent, with a man’s hobby at the centre of her life. Then there’s Fen: archetypal heiress - ”a laughing young lady with sparkling brown eyes and glorious curves.”. There’s a wonderful moment at the start when Pat characterises her as ”frothy and giggling” which is the exact opposite of Pat herself and I was so excited [my kindle note actually says: so excited] because, dang, KJC does opposites attract very well and watching these two find their way to one another was going to be fun.
It wasn’t not fun. But it was also: strangely easy?
All of that marvellous basis for conflict was rather glossed over. Pat takes Fen to task a couple of times about her frilly behaviour and then they sort of get together.
Nor was there any real exploration of their sexualities. Fen was with women at school and Pat likes women but is inexperienced. K.J. does such a good job of exploring men’s approaches to their sexuality. The other book in this series, Think of England does that very well, when Curtis doesn’t really know what to think about his attraction to De Silva. This book was silent on those issues, particularly for Fen, who is more experienced, but has been engaged three times and so presumably sees herself marrying one day. A decision to be with Pat rather changes that and there was no discussion of that fact at all.
And the sex was fine, but not great. Where are my heated lesbian sex scenes? Oh wait, I know: they’re in FanFic. They’re only in FanFic.
There’s a good country house murder mystery. And some fabulous secondary characters. The history is great. The writing is great.
But: I bought the ticket for the romance and it didn’t deliver. It was underdone and our h/h were underdone.
Three stars.
Onto the next historical f/f, I guess. Rose Lerner is writing one and announced on Twitter this week that she has a publisher so I shall pin my hopes on that.
Consequently, my expectations for this were sky high. I felt so, so sure KJC would be the one to deliver in my, so far, somewhat fruitless quest for great historical f/f.
Alas, this didn’t really deliver as I hoped. Ultimately it all felt, pfffft, *shrugs*: underpowered.
There is real promise here - Fen and Pat seemingly being such opposites. Pat is plain, competent, robust and independent, with a man’s hobby at the centre of her life. Then there’s Fen: archetypal heiress - ”a laughing young lady with sparkling brown eyes and glorious curves.”. There’s a wonderful moment at the start when Pat characterises her as ”frothy and giggling” which is the exact opposite of Pat herself and I was so excited [my kindle note actually says: so excited] because, dang, KJC does opposites attract very well and watching these two find their way to one another was going to be fun.
It wasn’t not fun. But it was also: strangely easy?
All of that marvellous basis for conflict was rather glossed over. Pat takes Fen to task a couple of times about her frilly behaviour and then they sort of get together.
Nor was there any real exploration of their sexualities. Fen was with women at school and Pat likes women but is inexperienced. K.J. does such a good job of exploring men’s approaches to their sexuality. The other book in this series, Think of England does that very well, when Curtis doesn’t really know what to think about his attraction to De Silva. This book was silent on those issues, particularly for Fen, who is more experienced, but has been engaged three times and so presumably sees herself marrying one day. A decision to be with Pat rather changes that and there was no discussion of that fact at all.
And the sex was fine, but not great. Where are my heated lesbian sex scenes? Oh wait, I know: they’re in FanFic. They’re only in FanFic.
There’s a good country house murder mystery. And some fabulous secondary characters. The history is great. The writing is great.
But: I bought the ticket for the romance and it didn’t deliver. It was underdone and our h/h were underdone.
Three stars.
Onto the next historical f/f, I guess. Rose Lerner is writing one and announced on Twitter this week that she has a publisher so I shall pin my hopes on that.
February 28, 2024
Feeling lazy, so you're not getting much. This was a blast. I'm not generally interested in f/f. Why? idk. I don't expect to like a lot of things that turn out perfectly fine, or even great. But I liked these two a lot in Think of England, so I figured I'd make their story my next KJ Charles read. It's not perfect. It felt overly similar to ToE in the setup, and the murder and investigation bit doesn't get going till past the halfway point. Maybe not the greatest if you're looking at it strictly from a mystery perspective. However! Pat's very likable / relatable, the goings on were a lot of fun, and my interest never really flagged at any point. I didn't guess the murderer either, always a nice treat.
June 11, 2024
Reread June '24, both as an extension of my Will Darling Adventures reread and because I needed a palate cleanser after two disappointing books. What a joyous bit of f/f delight and murder this is! I think my favourite parts this time around involved the no-nonsense, queer-AF Merton siblings awkwardly hugging it out in a fine dread of overdoing the sentiments, lol.
Original review:
Wooooo! Nothing like a witty, Clue-like, atmospheric, fun, steamy f/f Edwardian murder mystery (by someone you already know can pull off both the Edwardian murder mystery and the f/f part) to pull you out of a super-shitty week and remind you that there's good stuff in the world. I adored Pat and Fen in Think of England, and I have been waiting for KJ Charles to do a full-length f/f story for several thousand years (only a tiiiiny exaggeration), so when word came out that not only was that happening, but also it was going to be THIS pairing, I may have squealed like a society miss in a too-tight corset.
And it was fully as lovely as expected! Pat's POV is a complete delight - I love her and her completely sensible, no-nonsense, pragmatic, society-avoiding, outdoorsy ways, as well as the deep strength of character, kindness and generosity underpinning that. And Fen in all her fluffy glory was a fantastic counterpoint. I loved how she and Pat grew to really see each other as the people they were rather than what society, bias or flawed self-esteem might have them show the world. And in Fen's case, it was really nice to have a love interest who was a product of her upbringing and the supremely unfair social mores of her time (i.e. someone who was brought up to act silly and helpless and air-headed and then was at best dismissed or at worst outright mocked and despised for the very qualities that had been drilled into her as befitting her gender), and to see her overcoming that, without compromising on her genuine charm. The chemistry between them was great as well, and if I have any tiny complaints, it's maybe that these two don't get quite as much action as the lads usually do, but then again I guess it's hard to find much time to shag while you're also trying to untangle everyone else's problems, sit through hours of ghastly dinners, shoot some partridge, and solve murders.
As always, KJ Charles is great at bringing the period to life (and making you grateful you don't live in it - good lord, what an absolutely exhausting production formal dinners must have been). You can always rely on her having done her research and using it to get the language right and flavour her setting accordingly without absolutely drowning you in detail. (I did enjoy my extensive Google search of combinations undergarments.)
The murder mystery was great guess-along fun, as well, even though I would rather have liked a floor plan to follow all the ups and downs and sideways through the house. The Northumbrian backdrop and obligingly stormy weather added greatly to the atmosphere. The villain was appropriately vile, and all the side characters were well fleshed out and wonderful - I adored Victoria in particular, and Bill is a total Remus, which is about the highest compliment I have to give to any bloke.
So yeah, a grand old time was had. Plus I learned a new word for tits and will absolutely go around referring to everyone's embonpoint from now on.
I am also totally going to reread Think of England now just to catch up with these two again.
PS: Ok, that cover, though. It's neat that it's in the same style as Think of England, but what's with the super-airbrushed model who looks like... well, maybe Lady Anna at best, but certainly neither of the MCs as described, and also why are we looking up her nostrils? (Are we checking for cocaine?) Sigh. Covers are hard.
ARC kindly provided by author in exchange for an honest review.
Original review:
Wooooo! Nothing like a witty, Clue-like, atmospheric, fun, steamy f/f Edwardian murder mystery (by someone you already know can pull off both the Edwardian murder mystery and the f/f part) to pull you out of a super-shitty week and remind you that there's good stuff in the world. I adored Pat and Fen in Think of England, and I have been waiting for KJ Charles to do a full-length f/f story for several thousand years (only a tiiiiny exaggeration), so when word came out that not only was that happening, but also it was going to be THIS pairing, I may have squealed like a society miss in a too-tight corset.
And it was fully as lovely as expected! Pat's POV is a complete delight - I love her and her completely sensible, no-nonsense, pragmatic, society-avoiding, outdoorsy ways, as well as the deep strength of character, kindness and generosity underpinning that. And Fen in all her fluffy glory was a fantastic counterpoint. I loved how she and Pat grew to really see each other as the people they were rather than what society, bias or flawed self-esteem might have them show the world. And in Fen's case, it was really nice to have a love interest who was a product of her upbringing and the supremely unfair social mores of her time (i.e. someone who was brought up to act silly and helpless and air-headed and then was at best dismissed or at worst outright mocked and despised for the very qualities that had been drilled into her as befitting her gender), and to see her overcoming that, without compromising on her genuine charm. The chemistry between them was great as well, and if I have any tiny complaints, it's maybe that these two don't get quite as much action as the lads usually do, but then again I guess it's hard to find much time to shag while you're also trying to untangle everyone else's problems, sit through hours of ghastly dinners, shoot some partridge, and solve murders.
As always, KJ Charles is great at bringing the period to life (and making you grateful you don't live in it - good lord, what an absolutely exhausting production formal dinners must have been). You can always rely on her having done her research and using it to get the language right and flavour her setting accordingly without absolutely drowning you in detail. (I did enjoy my extensive Google search of combinations undergarments.)
The murder mystery was great guess-along fun, as well, even though I would rather have liked a floor plan to follow all the ups and downs and sideways through the house. The Northumbrian backdrop and obligingly stormy weather added greatly to the atmosphere. The villain was appropriately vile, and all the side characters were well fleshed out and wonderful - I adored Victoria in particular, and Bill is a total Remus, which is about the highest compliment I have to give to any bloke.
So yeah, a grand old time was had. Plus I learned a new word for tits and will absolutely go around referring to everyone's embonpoint from now on.
I am also totally going to reread Think of England now just to catch up with these two again.
PS: Ok, that cover, though. It's neat that it's in the same style as Think of England, but what's with the super-airbrushed model who looks like... well, maybe Lady Anna at best, but certainly neither of the MCs as described, and also why are we looking up her nostrils? (Are we checking for cocaine?) Sigh. Covers are hard.
ARC kindly provided by author in exchange for an honest review.
July 18, 2020
Reread July 17, 2020.
I've finished a book and it is a good one. I mention this as I've been turned off of the usual ff romances lately as being somewhat formulaic. "Proper English" does not feel formulaic in the slightest and it is one of my favorites of the genre. This is a story of Pat, an intelligent bold woman living in a man's world of early 1900s Britain. She's supremely confident in her abilities, quite opinionated and a marvelous shot with her guns and hunting fowl in the English countryside. For all of this confidence, she's a novice when it comes to relationships and her love of women and is quite nervous about it.
She's invited by a family friend to go shooting/hunting, to "be a gun" to use a phrase of the time, accepted by the men as she is so skilled at a country estate owned by her friend's parents. Once ensconced in the house she is confronted by all manner of personalities, mystery, intrigue, and, luckily for me, romance. Very diverse characters involved in the story help it along.
For a re-read, I was surprised that my opinion of the story had not changed. It goes on a bit long with the mystery that pops up but the romance is fine indeed.
I finished this story literally as a 'beach read' on the shores of Lake Michigan, squinting at my iPhone and holding up my hat for shade so I could read the words. You like to know the background of my reading experience, don't you?
Unfortunately, the author seems to write primarily M/M romance so this might be it for me and this author.
Original review was rubbish.
Positives: Well written with two enjoyable main characters, Pat and (XXXXX *edit) involved in romance and a murder mystery. This mystery was in the last third of the book after the romance and was not a slow burn but none too quick either.
I haven't read any historical romance in a long while and this felt well done (though I couldn't determine the exact time period with the references to the Boer Wars and motorcars). The'Proper English' or language of the time, seemed to fade as the book progressed (or I just became accustomed). There's modernity to the story.
I've finished a book and it is a good one. I mention this as I've been turned off of the usual ff romances lately as being somewhat formulaic. "Proper English" does not feel formulaic in the slightest and it is one of my favorites of the genre. This is a story of Pat, an intelligent bold woman living in a man's world of early 1900s Britain. She's supremely confident in her abilities, quite opinionated and a marvelous shot with her guns and hunting fowl in the English countryside. For all of this confidence, she's a novice when it comes to relationships and her love of women and is quite nervous about it.
She's invited by a family friend to go shooting/hunting, to "be a gun" to use a phrase of the time, accepted by the men as she is so skilled at a country estate owned by her friend's parents. Once ensconced in the house she is confronted by all manner of personalities, mystery, intrigue, and, luckily for me, romance. Very diverse characters involved in the story help it along.
For a re-read, I was surprised that my opinion of the story had not changed. It goes on a bit long with the mystery that pops up but the romance is fine indeed.
I finished this story literally as a 'beach read' on the shores of Lake Michigan, squinting at my iPhone and holding up my hat for shade so I could read the words. You like to know the background of my reading experience, don't you?
Unfortunately, the author seems to write primarily M/M romance so this might be it for me and this author.
Original review was rubbish.
Positives: Well written with two enjoyable main characters, Pat and (XXXXX *edit) involved in romance and a murder mystery. This mystery was in the last third of the book after the romance and was not a slow burn but none too quick either.
I haven't read any historical romance in a long while and this felt well done (though I couldn't determine the exact time period with the references to the Boer Wars and motorcars). The'Proper English' or language of the time, seemed to fade as the book progressed (or I just became accustomed). There's modernity to the story.
August 14, 2021
This was fun and I was excited when my theory panned out. Fen and Pat were such a great couple, they complimented each other well.
June 6, 2023
What a nice surprise! My first f/f romance and I enjoyed it a lot. You always can trust in KJ Charles and this being part of Think of England universe made things more interesting.
I'm still not too used to audiobooks and this one the first time I listened to something I hadn't read before. It went quite well despite that. I think the narrator did a very good job, it was difficult for me to understand her at times, but that's a me thing, I always have more difficulties understanding female voices than male ones. I suppose it has to do with frequencies and all that...
About the book, I'm not going to go into details not to spoil things to anyone, I wasn't surprised by the culprit and... I KNEW it!
I'm still not too used to audiobooks and this one the first time I listened to something I hadn't read before. It went quite well despite that. I think the narrator did a very good job, it was difficult for me to understand her at times, but that's a me thing, I always have more difficulties understanding female voices than male ones. I suppose it has to do with frequencies and all that...
About the book, I'm not going to go into details not to spoil things to anyone, I wasn't surprised by the culprit and... I KNEW it!
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