BOOK REVIEW: A Thief in the Night by KJ Charles

If you’re in need of a super quick read to pass the time on a train commute, or even something to keep you occupied for an hour in the afternoon, I can now recommend A Thief in the Night by KJ Charles as perfect for this purpose.

This queer Regency era romance is, tragically, not even 100 pages long, but Charles manages the task of compressing a quality storyline admirably.

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The novella follows Toby, permanently down on his luck and getting on by hopping from job to job and stealing to make ends meet, and Miles, a decorated Napoleonic wars veteran returning home to take up his title as Earl of Avron following the death of his estranged and deteriorated father. After an initial meeting in a tavern where Toby seduces Miles in order to steal his watch, through chance Toby ends up in service in Avron.

Charles genuinely could have left the plot there, and proceeded to fill the rest of the novella with the slow development of a romance in the halls of Avron, and that would have made this a fun and cute but sadly generic novella. However, she decided to take it further by following the story of Miles’ relationship to his father, his addiction, and his inheritance (specifically, where on Earth did it go?).

In my opinion, this plot would have been better serviced in a longer work, because there would have been more time for readers to really witness character development and the growth of the romance. However, I still maintain that Charles managed to do it reasonable justice even in the small number of pages she allotted.

Either way, I prefer this storyline to the more generic ‘aristocrat, servant, forbidden romance’ plot that’s been overdone — the only spin Charles could’ve added there would’ve been the fact that the characters are queer. The secondary plot takes this novella up another level.

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Evidently, though, not everyone supports the move to add more complexity to the story:

I will say that I am not someone who reads smut just for the sake of it. If it’s part of the book, yes, it’s fine — I read Bridgerton after all — but I do prefer books that have some actual substance underneath all the sexual tension. Charles, to me, does a good job with that.

However, if you are looking for a romantic novella solely for the sake of smut, you won’t find it here. There are only two explicit scenes in the book, each only a page or two long, so nothing excessive. I’d say there’s a roughly equal emphasis on plot and romance.

Overall, I thought A Thief in the Night was a cute and sweet read, with interest outside of just romance, and generally was a nice way to spend my Friday evening. I’ve queued up a couple more of Charles’ books on my TBR list, so if you are interested in her work, stay tuned for more reviews.

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