Any Old Diamonds (Lilywhite Boys Book 1) Kindle Edition

This one was SUCH a ride. LOVED IT TO PIECES! It was complex and intriguing with both MCs go through quite the journey on their own as well as together. I thought I had things figured out but I was WRONG. I had so much respect for both Alec and Jerry. They tried their best to keep pretenses, to do the job they signed to do, but with the emotions between them it became harder to do their job without considering the cost for both of them and how it's going to wreck everything they've build together in the past few months they staged becoming friends (and lovers) and realized it was never actually fake.Our whole novel is told from the POV of Lord Alexander Pyne-ffoulkes, though he calls himself simply Alec Pyne considering his estranged relationship with his father the Duke of Ilvar and horrible stepmother. Mostly he managed on his own, he is an illustrator and quite good at what he does so though he lives in a small attic he is able to pay his bills. But his brother and younger sister are having a hard time and he can't stand by and see their lives being wrecked when he has an idea to make things right for them. His idea might sound strange at a first thought and yet it makes perfect sense - stealing a priceless diamond parure his father intends to gift his wife for their 20 years anniversary. It's spiteful and it reeks of vengeance but it will also actually HELP his siblings even though it could never give back the one thing they all lost - their youngest sister Cara who died because they couldn't help her any better with the little means they have.Alec finds the Lilywhite Boys - Jerry Crozier and Tempelton Lane - and offers them a cut for stealing the jewels. Though he's the one who came for them he still feels unsure he'll be able to handle it. As he has to play a role himself - as the repentant son who feels sorry for his father and stepmother for how HE misbehaved as a child towards them and "made them" renounce him. It alienates his siblings (who can't know the real plot), it brings bile to his throat, yet it's a means to an end and with Jerry's help he is able to build a "character" he can act in front of his father and stepmother to try and pull this whole thing off.As we don't get Jerry's POV it's hard to know what he is thinking and what is the reasoning for his actions. At the beginning, when Jerry says he'll impersonate as Alec's new best friend, Alec is a bit skeptical and Jerry's behavior is on the one hand very civil and friendly, on the other hand there is something else under the surface as well that makes Alec feels how much of an act it actually is for him. Yet there is an attraction between then and what Alec needs is exactly the kind of sexual interaction Jerry loves best - the kind where he can takes control. Not in a mean way, Alec just enjoys being more submissive and being told what to do. He feels bad and even unmanly about what he enjoys and Jerry does his best showing him how much there is NOTHING wrong with what he wants especially with their needs meeting so wonderfully together. I really liked how Jerry handled the whole thing on the one hand taking control and on the other never letting Alec feel like he is "less than" because he chose at certain times to release his control to him.With every act between them, sexual or friendly, it starts to show Jerry is not as "professional" as maybe he would like to be. There is definitely something between them now, but when they finally arrive at the estate for the anniversary celebrations and Jerry is betrayed the relationship between them basically crumbles and even after both realize the circumstances of everything, they are still unsure how to act and react. How to interpret what happened between them and if it's possible to make it right and if they can even be more once this whole deal is somehow resolved.There is a lot going on with Jerry and Alec building a friendship (and relationship) together, trying to build this fictional and not so fictional character that can come running for his father for help without despising the man or himself for acting the part. There is also quite a bit of a mess once they get to the estate and things start to happen quickly. There is much more under the surface than we realized but in the end trust KJ to bring us a wonderful and sensitive resolution for these two.We get a few mentions from characters we've met "Sins in the Cities", though this series takes place 20 years later, and we also get a surprise character - the investigator Susan Lazarus. The last name sounds familiar? This is our dear little Sukey, the little girl Justin Lazarus took into his house and made a point to care for even after he decided to retire as the Seer of London. Susan has her role in this one, but she's going to have a much bigger role in the next installment as our main character together with Tempelton Lane.Beautifully written, engaging and exciting. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!More @ Ultra Meital Reviews.

Great fun, I do love a good heist story. Competence porn. Also, speaking of porn, this one is Very hot. It's a little hard for me to believe someone like Jerry could fall so hard for someone like Alec (Alec's not a bad chap, just a bit boring compared) but sexual chemistry can go a long way, and I very strongly believed in their chemistry.

I’ve never read K.J. Charles before but when I saw that cover on Twitter and then I read that blurb on Goodreads I knew I had to pre-order this book.Alec is looking to hire the Lilywhite boys to do a job for him - steal the family jewels. Jerry Crozier has written off the Duke and Duchess of Ilvar for theft previously because of the remoteness of Castle Speight and because of the state-of-the-art safe they have the jewels in. Suddenly, here is Lord Alexander - Alec - offering them something both challenging and lucrative. Why does he want his own father’s jewels robbed, and is he on the up-and-up about the reasons? Do they do this job? Does Alec have the stomach for the type of family betrayal this requires?"Are you going to tell us why you’re doing this?”“Well, the money—”Crozier’s eyes narrowed sceptically, as well they might. Alec scowled. “And because he’s a terrible person and he deserves something terrible to happen to him.”“Well, that’s us,” Lane said. “We happen to people, don’t we, Jerry?”“Better than having people happen to us. When’s the house party?”The scene is set, the Lillywhite boys will do the job in several months time at a party the Duke and Duchess are holding, but there needs to be an invite. Alec and his siblings are all estranged from their god-awful father and step-mother but Crozier needs him to get them in. So, the long-game plan is set in place to ingratiate Lord Alexander back into society, especially in the good graces of the Duke and Duchess. Jerry needs to be seen with Alec, and in all the right places, so it isn't suspicious that he would be a plus one to the event at Castle Speight. Of course, this simply means the two MCs will spend a large amount of time together, getting to know one another in many ways.Alec is likeable from the outset. He’s the 3rd son of an incredibly wealthy, titled man, one who does (worse than) as little as possible for his children. Alec makes a living as an illustrator and asks for no money from his older brother, George, the Ilvar heir, who is barely keeping his head above water as is. George takes on the responsibility for his other siblings as well as his own family with little in the way of a trust to make do. Still, he has to keep up appearances for now and for the future. Alec is also stuck in the awkward position of not doing anything that could make waves for his oldest brother and his family name in society but still be able to make a living. Having a title but nothing monetary to back it up is not an easy task.Jerry uses threats in a very civilised manner, for the most part, to make a point, although you certainly learn that you would not want to cross him or his associates. But he is cultured and clearly well educated, also incredibly certain that the ends justify the means, so I kept thinking, this dichotomy - who are you really, Jerry?“Uh, Jerry? Ought we not to, to...”“What?”“Send help? I think he might need a doctor,” Alec said, with some understatement.“Any f@ckster who tries to blackmail me may think himself lucky not to need a mortuary.” Jerry spoke with a certainty far more alarming than any threat.What I found to be most amusing is the fact that Jerry is this 'dangerous man', a criminal, but I remember looking at the percentage I was at on my Kindle, it wasn’t half way, and I knew Jerry was already a goner on Alec and how that meant something to a man who did not believe in worrying about anyone or anything.I can't talk further about plot without giving anything away and I certainly don't want to do that. It's best to go into this book having only read the blurb.Overall: Any Old Diamonds is moving, it’s romantic, sexy, with a bit of a kick, the MCs are multi-faceted, the period feels alive and affords the characters and the reader a great backdrop, the writing is stellar, the plot is gripping until the very end, the humour is perfect. That cover is a delight, the little artistic flourishes at the beginning of each chapter a lovely touch. Do yourself a big favour and grab a copy of this book. 5 Stars!I review in depth at On Top Down Under Book Reviews.

KJ Charles does romances like they were meant to be - complex characters who connect in powerful ways, with a lot of sex - and throw in a bit of English country murder mystery. This book, I think, tips over into erotica (in the best way).Any Old Diamonds is fun and sweet and tender... and extremely explicit in the many dominant/submissive sex scenes between the two men. It's a lot like Samantha Kane's At Love's Command, which, whoo, that's a huge compliment.

I’ve read this story several times and it never gets old. The premise itself is fun - Alec hires Jerry to steal jewels from his awful father’s awful wife. I was expecting a pretty cut and dry, but well written and run, story … and got so much more! There are several twists I wasn’t expecting and only made the book that much more interesting. Highly recommend!

This is an unalloyed delight from start to finish, which is precisely what I’ve come to expect from K J Charles.Engaging characters, detailed and careful world building, lovely prose and intricate plotting; this is a sparkling gem of a heist tale, which rattles us along from a music hall meeting to plotting and flirtation in an artist’s garret, culminating in a House Party of exceptional ghastliness where wheels within wheels had me on on the edge of my seat and then demanded an i. Exiate reread to appreciate, with hindsight, the sheer cleverness of the whole piece.Alec, our pov protagonist, is a precious cinnamon roll of a chap far out of his depth in the company of professional jewel thief and rakish cad Jerry - which makes it all the more delightful watching Jerry gradually being wrecked by Alec’s sheer disarming ALEC-ness, and before long both of them are up to their necks inadvisedly mixing business and pleasure.Look, stop reading the reviews and buy it already, ESPECIALLY if you’ve read the Sins of the Cities books. (There are cameos! They further the plot!)KJ Charles just goes from strength to strength, combining tight plotting with incisive characterisation and an eye for the nuances of intimacy and desire. There’s simply NOBODY out there who does this better.

“Then, I suppose, I’d remind you that I love you. Your kindness, your courage, the way you see the world, the way you see me. I want you to be happy. I’d like you to believe I love you, to know it so deeply you won’t doubt it again, and I’d very much like thirty years or so to prove it to you.”I loved this so damn much.There's diamonds to be robbed and hidden agendas to be had and it is wonderful.With the mission of stealing the diamonds and getting away with it there is this underlying tension of how it will go? What will happen?What will go right? What will go wrong? So it created this excitement. I was hooked.Jerry and Alec have to force their friendship so that it looks authentic so that the job Alec needs Jerry and Templeton to do can be pulled off. Yet within that there is a true friendship born and love follows. So it has a thread of friends to lovers. So damn good I wanted to weep.The vulnerability was amazing between these two. Ugh. Look, Jerry stole the show for me. He got in my heart that absolute b***ard. I loved that he created that safety for Alec and for them to explore that slight D/s relationship, the letting go of control for a moment. It was hot as hell and so damn sweet. At the core of it it was really sweet and wonderful.And *that* portrait. Ugh stupid idiots in stupid love. I love itttt.This story was built on the suspense and I loved it a lot. Usually those things send me running because anxiety and the unknown hello thanks for ruining my life but reading Kj Charles lately has me loving those kind of stories and pulling me in completely and reminding me of that escapism and adventure that I've always loved about reading. I guess, that it's not contrived is what I love most. Didn't feel that way for me anyway.But because it's driven forward on that tension of possibly being found out, the chances of being betrayed, what could go wrong, the romance which is so beyond lovely hit me differently, surprised me almost and it made me love it so much more. JERRRRRYYYYYYY 4EVAH.

Another 5 star read from KJ. I adored these two, but seriously wanted to kill the old hag of a murdering duchess and the spineless Duke who believed every word his new wife said...regardless of whether it made sense and what proof was otherwise shown to him by his children...whom he conveniently forgot.I caught the references to Justin and Nathaniel from An Unnatural Vice, which I also loved and just have to mention my fave line from the story..."Being with you—it’s like I was living in a pencil drawing, and you turned the world to oils. Colourful and rich."...big sigh, and puddle of goo time.

Romantic, dramatic, lots going on but not a word wasted. Funny and tragic as well. The love interest seemed so unpromising and the plot had that intriguing "how is this ever going to work?" aspect several times, like a good crime-caper film. I finished it as soon as I could, allowing for wanting to relish all the dialogue and the plot, and now I want to read it again! The only book I've read in the last year that I'd give more than 5 stars if I could.

I have read and loved all of this author's books, but this one is possibly my favourite (apart from the Magpie Trilogy, which I love beyond reason). This story was just so moving, romantic and surprising, and I had to keep stopping whilst reading so I didn't finish it too quickly. I don't want to accidentally leave spoilers, so will stop now, but just buy it and read it - you will be enraptured.