An Unsuitable Heir

Sins of the Cities, Book 3

By: KJ Charles

Narrated by: Matthew Lloyd Davies

Length: 7 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

A private detective finds passion, danger, and the love of a lifetime when he hunts down a lost earl in Victorian London.

On the trail of an aristocrat's secret son, enquiry agent Mark Braglewicz finds his quarry in a music hall, performing as a trapeze artist with his twin sister. Graceful, beautiful, elusive, and strong, Pen Starling is like nobody Mark's ever met - and everything he's ever wanted. But the long-haired acrobat has an earldom and a fortune to claim.

Pen doesn't want to live as any sort of man, least of all a nobleman. The thought of being wealthy, titled, and always in the public eye is horrifying. He likes his life now - his days on the trapeze, his nights with Mark. And he won't be pushed into taking a title that would destroy his soul.

But there's a killer stalking London's foggy streets, and more lives than just Pen's are at risk. Mark decides he must force the reluctant heir from music hall to manor house, to save Pen's neck. Betrayed by the one man he thought he could trust, Pen never wants to see his lover again. But when the killer comes after him, Pen must find a way to forgive - or he might not live long enough for Mark to make amends.

Don't miss any of the captivating Sins of the Cities novels:

• An Unseen Attraction
• An Unnatural Vice
• An Unsuitable Heir

And look for the enticing Society of Gentlemen series by KJ Charles:

• The Ruin of Gabriel Ashleigh
• A Fashionable Indulgence
• A Seditious Affair
• A Gentleman's Position

©2017 K. J. Charles (P)2017 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"I'll read anything KJ Charles writes!" ( New York Times best-selling author Kate Pearce)

"KJ Charles has long been one of my favorite authors." ( USA Today best-selling author Carole Mortimer)

love it

I liked the whole series, but this was probably my favorite. I loved the way a nonbinary character was presented. I loved the relationship between Penn and Greta. Justin is always a favorite and I'm glad he had a few parts.

Amazing and horrible that a reader had to label a review Ick and criticize Penn for being unrelatable and whiny. As information becomes more widely available, as people's (true) stories are shared, it's unforgivable to give a poor review for a work of fiction because one of the characters presents or acts differently than you. The open prejudice against trans and non-binary people is disgusting... and disappointing. Presumably someone who is reading this series isn't homophobic, but somehow feels its ok it have such a narrow view about gender and sensuality. I could go on and on. I edited to make this shorter. Getting off my soap box. I believe strongly that more books that push readers out of their comfort zone are needed, and I'm always happy to read one.

Suitably entertaining romantic mystery

There’s an earl’s contested heir and a pile of trouble to keep the heir missing. Because who wouldn’t want to be a fabulously wealthy earl? Sensitively written to explain who’s who & what everyone’s motivations are for finding or silencing the heir, it’s a fine tale of misfits trying to just be themselves. Which means they all have learned to view the world a little sideways, and thus are more interesting characters than in an average story about earls.

Somewhat unexpected (to me) this conclusion to the trilogy was neatly written to overlap the previous two books’ timelines without rehashing more than a moment or two. We see Clem, Roly, Lazarus & Nathaniel while Mark does his best to figure out what is going on. And falls in love.

Steam: Med-Low Some details on page but not a lot of dwell time. Mostly concerns how to be comfortable in a body that doesn’t fit in, in one way or another.

Narration: Same solid narration as previous installments. Emotional moments done empathetically, easy to follow along. Good quality.

Fitting Conclusion

I enjoyed listening to An Unsuitable Heir , Book 3 and the last in the Sin of the City series.

All the plotlines were nicely closed . Some of the resolutions were unexpected yet welcomed. It did fit with the narrative, the time period and the characters.
The reason why and the villain/villains of murders mystery were explained ; I was surprised by who/whom turned out to be.

Matthew Lloyd Davies narration was superb.

Listened through Audible Catalog Plus

Very good read!

Such a good read. Very serious at some points, but also very funny at others. Very mysterious, thrilling type story and I loved it! I also loved Pen as a beautiful character 💘.

What a beautiful book and series.

This might be my favorite in this very lovely trilogy. Excellent narration on all three, and really enjoyable characters.

Such a great series

Characters: great, story: great; writing: great. The way the three books are interwoven is brilliant. Definitely a series I was sad to see end.

Love IS Love!

This was my favorite book in the series! I had no idea how the crimes were going to be solved, or how things were going to work out for Mark and Pen, but it all came together so well! I'm sure everyone had their own ideas of "whodunit" like I did, but I was second guessing myself up until the very end, and I still got it wrong. Bravo to Ms. Charles for a well thought out, well plotted storyline.
I didn't expect all the emotions I'd feel in this book. To be honest, I never read the blurb for this one- I knew it was Mark's story, but I didn't know what was coming when it came to Pen's character.
I'm not well versed at all in the trans/non-binary world so I'm not going to even try to delve into those aspects of the story for fear of offending someone, but I felt so much for Pen and all he was having to deal with- wanting to live life on his own terms, and scared of not being able to if he had to take his position in the family he never knew.
I didn't think there was any way that Ms. Charles could make it so that Pen could live a happy life, one where he didn't have to hide who he was, but I really liked how everything worked out for all involved.

Matthew Lloyd Davis was a fantastic narrator. I'm not sure I would have enjoyed these stories as much as I did if I had read them instead of listened- he really brought these stories to life.



***Borrowed through the RP.

KJ Charles has quite a talent

This is my third series of books I have read by KJ Charles. TBH, Sins of the Cities was my least favorite of those three, with A Charm of Magpies series being my fav (of KJ Charles and at the top of my list otherwise) and Society of Gentlemen series coming in second. I was never really attached to the characters of this Sins of the Cities series but still enjoyed the read/listen . KJ Charles has such a gift for creating characters that have opposing views/lifestyles with very compelling arguments for each of their POV's and working up situations that seem like there would be no comfortable way for them to survive much less reach their HEA, and yet they do and I am impressed by how all the tangles of story wind around to end up with me being happy with the outcome each time. I know this is an overall review of KJ Charles, but with this being my least fav of the three series I have read but still find the writing passionate, intelligent and clever I don't want to sound negative. In An Unsuitable Heir I found the characters interesting, esp. Penn of course.. and I liked Mark and how Mark saw Penn. The mystery was less interesting that the other two series to me and for the first time in a KJ Charles book I was able to predict how this story would play out. The narration by Matthew Lloyd Davies always brings these books to life. The varied characters voices , the passion and the rough edged moments, all done so well , he breathes life into these characters.

This was a fine conclusion

I was afraid that this series was going to end with someone dreadfully unhappy, and I like for my romances to have a HEA ending. But it all worked out in the end and I'm satisfied. lol

LOVED this ending to the series!

Wow. Mark and Pen are such a charming pair - loved seeing the story from book one concluded here - very unique way to organize a series. Will be listening to this one again - so much love for these two and their HEA. Listen to all 3 for the full effect!