#copper script

[edwin-paynes-bowtie]

One of my favourite authors, KJ Charles, has a new book out and ny pre-order came in the mail today. I'm around page 60 and am loving it, but I just wanted to share her gem of a copyright page:

She self publishes most of her books including this one which is how she gets to say these things. I love her

[bangbangwhoa]

books I’ve read in 2025 📖 no. 097

Copper Script by KJ Charles

“He should have known it was all going to end in tears; everything did, but he had thought they might have fun on the way.”

[yourstrulyanndy]

Every single K.J Charles book I have ever read has had the vibe of putting 2 cats in a room together until they become inseparable or kill each other.

[wearethekat]

June Book Reviews: Copper Script by KJ Charles

KJ Charles is one of my favorite authors, and the only reason this book wasn't one of my anticipated new releases for this year is because it was a surprise last minute announcement. In Copper Script, Aaron Fowler is a detective sergeant in 1920s London. When a cousin requests that he investigate a man who claims to read people based on their handwriting, he realizes that Joel Wildsmith can really do what he says he can...

I know Charles has done extensive research into spiritualism, con games, and cold reading. So I was extremely surprised to learn that Joel Wildsmith was not, in fact, a scammer, after spending a good hundred pages trying to figure out how he was pulling it off. But I'm willing to enter Charles' mind palace and entertain the notion of the graphology is real universe. It helps that Joel's method doesn't rely on analyzing the angle on the y or the way the i is dotted. Instead, he gets an overwhelming sense of someone's personality from their writing, to the extent that he can't work in an office handling letters. Much more clearly magical.

The plot is characteristically tightly plotted and very fast-paced. Multiple times I asked myself how she was going to manage to elegantly conclude the remaining plot in a mere 250 pages, but somehow she did it, despite multiple related murder investigations, a corruption investigation, the mob, and also the central romance. Both Joel and Aaron are strong, vividly drawn characters. Aaron is rigidly principled, and Joel is temperamental and still learning to deal with the loss of his hand in the war.

Snappy, vivid, intensely readable. I highly recommend KJ Charles' work for anyone who enjoys queer historical romances with a hefty sideplot.

[ezziebobezzie]

hello niche author??? hello niche author may i PLEASE have a second book??? hello????? is this thing on????

[outnumberedbybooks]

Joel/Aaron, 2600 words, E

“There’s so much pent up, so much feeling. God. If someone could just cut those laces for him…"

The corset vest was heavier than he'd anticipated, dyed dark blue-grey: the colour of the sky over the ocean during a storm. The textured laces were in stark contrast to the dark leather straps, sturdy brass and soft silk lining that warmed his skin within moments of slipping it on.

*

“Are you okay, Aaron?” Helen asked, her mouth turned down in concern. “You’ve hardly eaten anything.”

“Yes, Aaron,” Joel said, with a furrow to his brow and a sparkle in his eyes. “Are you quite well? You seem a little…tense. Tight-laced, even.”

For @cartograffiti 💛

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

[girldumas]

this woman tried to include a 2020s saying into a novel set in the 1920s and failed fucking miserably. girl PLEASE what they have done to you. your books are getting exponentially worse how is this even possible.

anyways copper script by kj charles review under the cut because i Lost It. the review is fucking LONG sorry. i did not like it and may regret posting this but i am pissed off :)

ive read many a bad book by many a great author but never in my life have i ever been so disappointed by an author who is 99% of the time a total hit for me.

first of all did you get this edited? like, at all? the pacing is absolutely fucking terrible, NOTHING happens for pages and pages and pages and everything else happens off-screen and the ending is so rushed it's actually offensive. what IS this.

second of all the STAGGERING lack of diverse characters (ESPECIALLY female ones) is absolutely fucking astounding considering ALL of kjc's books so far have featured a wide and heterogeneous cast of characters.

and i don't even mean Strong Likable Female Characters, some of them are extraordinarily annoying, but they are interesting and entertaining enough that they make me want to read them. there is ONE woman who's the first Woman Cop and her singular role is investigating sex crimes (which im assuming is a historical fact), but we know absolutely nothing else about her. and like i am reading an m/m romance for a reason, so my main complaint isn't that there are no female characters, it's just that we don't see ANYONE except for the two romance leads. we know absolutely NOTHING about their backgrounds (other than what serves to further their emotional bond which is comically bland), their friendships, their relationships, their HOBBIES. do you guys like doing stuff? like, do you read? write? draw? knit?

THIRD of all the romance is weak, the sex is also weak (PLEASE for the love of god stop using the word "milked" i am BEGGING!!!), there was a HINT of something interesting but long gone are the days of her BDSM Dom/sub CNC days.

FOURTH. the second main character is supposed to be some Justin Lazarus rip-off but Actually Morally Good which makes him fucking BORING!!! considering the whole appeal of JL was being a sleazy contemptible thief and scammer and THAT was what made him interesting. this one is genuinely a good guy i promise :( someone kill him.

FIFTH of all we are constantly being fed that they are sad and traumatised and emotionally constipated but we see NONE of it. both characters fought in wwi, do we get ANY conversation about that?. no we do not which is CRAZY you guys were in a FUCKING WORLD WAR and one of you was DISABLED, hello????

the cop character (cannot remember his name) apparently has a Complex Family Situation, do we actually meet any of him family members? do we get any of that? no we do not. we are constantly being told stuff about their feelings and emotions, and we never read about them. which works only up to a certain point.

FIFTH. the not-cop main character apparently has PLENTY of friends, but we don't see a SINGLE one of them which is fucking BONKERS to me and incredibly annoying considering, AGAIN, kjc is usually great at establishing interesting and well fleshed-out background characters (frank merrick of the magpie lord fame you will always be in my heart...) which CLEARLY means she is aware of how important having a varied cast of characters is.

anyways link to a much better review than mine :) and one last thing before i leave. kjc's books have been progressively getting worse and worse, i dont know if it's me but there is a CLEAR quality drop both in writing and character development.

like i understand that being an independent author&writer is difficult but also i am not that, i am simply a reader (and fanfic writer but that really doesn't count lmfao), and as a reader i expect (and want) better. the gentlemen of uncertain fortune saga was ok but not to my taste (some bits were incredibly cringe but it's fine i am willing to overlook that. i disliked the second installment mostly because i found the main character as flaccid and bland as a fish but the writing itself is FINE), the doomsday books was kinda mediocre (i had to read the sentence "tickle-attacks" with my own two fucking eyes), masters in this hall was... FINE mostly thanks to jerry crozier my beloved you will ALWAYS be in my heart. death in the spires was better (yay for the foot fetish and the constant palpable misery).

like the previous novels were FINE not her best work (NOTHING will ever top any old diamonds and spectred isle) but they were GOOD. perhaps not to my taste but there was some work, if a bit wonky at times but nothing out of the ordinary. but this book i am 100% convinced is an unfinished draft.

copper script is a failure on every level, if i am honest, and the cover is by far the best part of it.

[avuncularwalt]

One of my favorite parts of Copper Script is that Aaron’s love language is showing Joel new restaurants. And just the quiet little moments of recognition and care. Like when Joel orders Macaroni Cheese because he can eat it one-handed, and one of Aaron’s first thoughts is, well I know this great place that has lots of food you can eat with one hand.

This book is FULL of special moments.

Oh, KJC. Well done, you.