KJ Charles | |
|---|---|
 Charles in 2021 | |
| Other names | K.J. Charles |
| Years active | 2013–present |
| Website | kjcharleswriter |
KJ Charles is a British author of historical and fantasy romance. She has authored over 30 novels, mostly M/M romances set in 19th and early 20th-century England, [1] beginning with The Magpie Lord (2013). Her work has received a number of accolades, including nominations for a RITA Award and a Lambda Literary Award.
Charles worked in publishing for over twenty years, including a stint at Mills & Boon. She began her writing career as a self-publisher. Despite the challenges that come with self-publishing, she felt it would allow her more creative freedom and ability to publish on her own schedule. In addition, at the time, she knew major publishers were unlikely to pick up the kinds of M/M romances she wanted to write. [2]
Charles published her debut novel The Magpie Lord in 2013, the first in her A Charm of Magpies Victorian-set fantasy trilogy. [3] The Magpie Lord was nominated for the 2014 Gaylactic Spectrum Award for Best Novel. The second and third novels in the trilogy were A Case of Possession and Flight of Magpies in 2014. Charles would expand on her A Charm of Magpies world with further works set in the same universe, including Jackdaw (2015) and Rag and Bone (2016). [4] Also in 2014, Charles published another novel Think of England, set in the early 20th-century. [5] [6] Both A Case of Possession and Think of England won 2014 Rainbow Awards in the Fantasy Romance and Historical Romance categories. Think of England would later be followed up by a prequel Proper English in 2019, [7] plus the Will Darling Adventures series in 2020, which consisted of Slippery Creatures, The Sugared Game, and Subtle Blood. [8]
In 2015, Charles published The Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal, [9] described as a fantasy "pastiche/tribute" of Sherlock Holmes , [4] and began her London Sequence with the Society of Gentlemen trilogy, consisting of A Fashionable Indulgence, A Seditious Affair, and A Gentleman's Position. [10] A Seditious Affair was a runner-up to Nalini Singh's Shards of Hope for Best Romance on the All About Romance Reader Poll. Charles' 2017 novel Spectred Isle takes place in the same universe as The Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal in the aftermath of World War I and introduces the "Green Men", [4] [11] while her 2017 Sins of the Cities trilogy is the next in the London Sequence. [12] [6] Spectred Isle was a finalist for the 2018 RITA Award for Paranormal Romance. Also published in 2017 and 2018 were the Jonathan'verse series, including Wanted, A Gentleman, Band Sinister, and the novella Unfit to Print, [6] and the standalones The Price of Meat and The Henchmen of Zenda. In her column for The Washington Post , Sarah MacLean named Wanted, A Gentleman one of the top 5 romance novels of the year. [13] Next in the London Sequence came Charles' The Lilywhite Boys trilogy of Any Old Diamonds and Gilded Cage in 2019 and Masters in This Hall in 2022, in addition to prequel The Rat Catcher [14] and an epilogue short story, [Lily] White Wedding. [15]
Charles initially self-published The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting in 2021 [16] before it was picked up by Orion Publishing Group. [2] The novel became part of the loosely-connected Gentlemen of an Uncertain Fortune books, followed by A Thief in the Night and The Duke at Hazard.
Both The Secret Lives of Country Gentleman and A Nobleman's Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel, [17] part of the Doomsday series, were published in 2023. Set in Romney Marsh, the character Gareth is based on parson-naturalist Gilbert White. The second novel takes place 13 years after the first. [18] [19] The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen was nominated for the 2024 Lambda Literary Award for Gay Romance. It was also a Library Journal Best Romance Book of 2023. [20] A Nobleman's Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel was a September 2023 LibraryReads pick [21] and shortlisted for a Libby Book Award.
Charles signed a single book deal with Storm Publishing in 2023 for Come to Dust [22] [23] and a three-book deal with Tor Books in 2025, starting with How to Fake it in Society. [24]
Charles' influences include Georgette Heyer, Charles Dickens, TS Eliot, Beverly Jenkins, and Terry Pratchett. [18] She has mentioned reading the works of Rozina Visram, David Olusoga and Rictor Norton in her historical research. [25] While Charles' novels tend to centre the romance, they also overlap in genre with historical fiction, fantasy, [4] [6] and mystery. [26]
Charles lives in London with her husband. They have two children. [27]
| Year | Award | Category | Title | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Gaylactic Spectrum Awards | Best Novel | The Magpie Lord | Shortlisted | [29] |
| Rainbow Awards | Best Gay Fantasy Romance | A Case of Possession | Won | [30] [31] | |
| Best Gay Historical Romance | Think of England | Won | |||
| 2015 | Gaylactic Spectrum Awards | Best Novel | A Case of Possession / Flight of Magpies | Shortlisted | [29] |
| Rainbow Awards | Best Gay Paranormal Romance | The Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal | Won | [31] | |
| Best Gay Historical Romance | A Fashionable Indulgence | Shortlisted | |||
| 2016 | Best Gay Fantasy Romance | Rag and Bone | Shortlisted | ||
| All About Romance Reader Poll | Best Romance | A Seditious Affair | Runner-up | [32] | |
| 2018 | RITA Award | Paranormal Romance | Spectred Isle | Shortlisted | [33] |
| 2024 | Libby Book Awards | Best Romance Book of the Year | A Nobleman's Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel | Shortlisted | [34] |
| Lambda Literary Awards | Gay Romance | The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen | Shortlisted | [35] | |