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Any Old Diamonds
Any Old Diamonds | KJ Charles
12 posts | 14 read | 4 to read
Lord Alexander Pyne-ffoulkes, the younger son of the Duke of Ilvar, holds a bitter grudge against his wealthy father. The Duke intends to give his Duchess a priceless diamond parure on their wedding anniversary-so Alec hires a pair of jewel thieves to steal it. The Duke's remote castle is a difficult target, and Alec needs a way to get the thieves in. Soldier-turned-criminal Jerry Crozier has the answer: he'll pose as a Society gentleman and become Alec's new best friend.But Jerry is a dangerous man: controlling, remote, and devastating. He effortlessly teases out the lonely young nobleman's most secret desires, and soon he's got Alec in his bed-and the palm of his hand. Or maybe not. Because as the plot thickens, betrayals, secrets, new loves, and old evils come to light. Now the jewel thief and the aristocrat must keep up the pretence, find their way through a maze of privilege and deceit, and confront the truth of what's between them...all without getting caught.
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Faranae
Any Old Diamonds | KJ Charles
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I didn't actually read anything in May for the #FRC2023, but I realized I had failed to apply Any Old Diamonds to anything and decided to be cheeky and let it count for “composting the rich“. To be fair, “divesting the wealthy of their riches“ IS a passion of the Lilywhite Boys, and well, the way the plot goes... The actions may be unprincipled, but the result is rather close to propoganda of the deed anyhow.😂☠

willaful Oh, now that I sorta understand canva, I really should make boards for these. Do you have templates? 1y
Faranae @willaful I do! They're linked on the 2023 New Year's post, just below the subheading for each challenge. https://harpgriffinbooks.wordpress.com/2023/01/01/happy-new-year-welcome-to-2023... They're the “1:1 Square Image“ and “1:1 Blank“ links. 1y
willaful Thanks!

I realized a while back that I wasn't keeping much track of my URC reads because it just wasn't as fun as when I used to have a whole bunch of different challenges to try to fit a book into. Maybe this will make it more fun again.
1y
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willaful P.S. The links for the URC are giving me the A4 image. The others are okay. 1y
willaful And now I'm absolutely kicking myself for cleaning the old book covers out of Canva. 😫 1y
Faranae @willaful I edited the post and re-applied the links to see if that works. On my end, it is linked correctly so I'm not sure what Wordpress is doing. Here's the URC templates: https://harpgriffinbooks.files.wordpress.com/2022/12/urc-2023.png and https://harpgriffinbooks.files.wordpress.com/2023/01/urc-2023-blank.png 1y
Faranae @willaful Oh nooooo. The storage limit for uploaded media on Canva is 5GB, so I never bother to clear old images out. I suppose I'll have to someday... 1y
Faranae @willaful Awww. I know you took a break from challenges at the beginning of the year. I do hope this makes it fun again! I'd miss your URC submissions too much if you stopped participating. 😭 1y
willaful @Faranae I'm just anal that way. I hate anything unnecessary lying around, even on my computer. 😂

On the bright side, it occurred to me I might be able to restore them--and I can!

I was looking for a bingo board, but of course the URC is too big and you use a checkbox for it. 🙄

I don't know if I'll complete the challenges without habitica to inspire me, but I'll definitely do some. Would hate to let you down with no Life of Pi entry. 😂

1y
Faranae @willaful There's 52 prompts, which I assure you, do not fit on a single bingo card in any legible way. I did think about making multiple bingo cards for it, and I could still do so if you'd like? I definitely prefer the bingo cards to the checklist myself, which is how all of the Hex World books ended up on the FRC. 1y
willaful @Faranae I think that way lies madness. 1y
Faranae @willaful It really does. I've got an idea for single book updates, though, I could do a sample post? It might make it more fun for future entries, even if the running tally is still just a checklist. 1y
1 like12 comments
review
CarolynM
Any Old Diamonds | KJ Charles
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Pickpick

This book isn‘t in the database yet but it‘s part of the Lilywhite Boys universe so the tagged book will do. A quick Christmassy take on the kind of historical caper/romance that KJ Charles does so well. Lots of fun. #romantsy

batsy Oooh! This sounds fun. 2y
LeahBergen Great cover! 2y
Aimeesue That font! ❤️ 2y
52 likes3 comments
review
Verity
Any Old Diamonds | KJ Charles
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Pickpick

Oh I really enjoyed this. It‘s a heist caper romance with more twists and kinks in the plot than I was expecting. Wonderful fun.

CarolynM I loved this one🙂 5y
Verity @CarolynM it‘s so good isn‘t it. I‘ve gone straight on to the next one! 5y
18 likes2 comments
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Verity
Any Old Diamonds | KJ Charles
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Latest historical read.

19 likes1 stack add
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shanaqui
Any Old Diamonds | KJ Charles
Pickpick

Very enjoyable; I loved the way Jerry took care of Alec, and Alec's constant honesty and decency.

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shanaqui
Any Old Diamonds | KJ Charles

I would like to register a complaint.

I had to stop reading this last night to sleep and then again this morning to work, and this morning's stopping point was the worst. Someone tell my bosses I need time off!

(I am self-employed, technically, but committed to working specific hours for the two websites I do support for.)

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Christy2318
Any Old Diamonds | KJ Charles
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Mehso-so

This wasn‘t my fave KJ Charles. It had a huge plot twist that was not adequately resolved. The last part of the book felt rushed. #romantsy 💍💍💍

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Mandigolightly
Any Old Diamonds | KJ Charles
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Pickpick

This is another great story from KJC. I love that she officially connected several of her series with this one, and liked Alec and Jerry together, as well as that nice plot twist

CarolynM Ooh I like KJ Charles but I don't know this one. Thanks for the heads up🙂 6y
Mandigolightly @CarolynM totally! This connects the Sins of the Cities series with the Society of gentlemen series! 6y
69 likes3 comments
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llwheeler
Any Old Diamonds | KJ Charles
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When life gives you stress, impulse buy a book from your wishlist. That's how the saying goes, right? Couldn't resist for only $1.99! Not sure if that's a sale or a "hook you into a series" price - either way *grabs*

Currently reading Cat Sebastian's latest, probably will dive right into this after. #romantsy has become my go-to when I'm stressed and brainless. Really looking forward to my staycation coming up!

jpmcwisemorgan I LOVED THIS ONE!!! The opening line was so great and there‘s consent - consent is so sexy. 6y
llwheeler @jpmcwisemorgan I'm really looking forward to it! I really liked the Magpie books and from the blurb this one sounds even more up my alley - and I love the cover art. Glad to hear you liked it! Couldn't agree more about consent! 6y
jpmcwisemorgan The consent part is really good because there‘s lite BDSM undertones, the sexy times are done well in my opinion. 6y
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llwheeler @jpmcwisemorgan 👍 good to know, thanks 6y
Dragon Sounds good! I enjoyed the tagged book and this one sounds just as fun, stacking! 😀🐉 6y
llwheeler @Dragon Henchmen of Zenda is definitely on my wishlist! A comic book version of Prisoner of Zenda was one of my faves as a kid. So super excited to read a slashy version now lol! 😀 6y
Dragon 👍 ⚔️😀🐉 6y
39 likes1 stack add7 comments
review
xicanti
Any Old Diamonds | KJ Charles
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Pickpick

I stayed up laaaaate last night to finish ANY OLD DIAMONDS because there was no way I could sleep until I knew how it ended. KJ Charles delivers a long con story packaged with:

1. A kinky romance.

2. A revenge plot that leads the protagonist to consider the psychological cost of vengeance.

3. Updates on some characters from her Sins of the Cities series, set 20 years before this.

It‘s layered and emotional and exactly what I wanted. 4.5 stars.

43 likes3 stack adds
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xicanti
Any Old Diamonds | KJ Charles
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Heartbreaking days call for tomato soup and KJ. Charles. I‘m having a great time with the book so far, but it was a mistake to put green onion on the soup. It‘s tough to tell when it‘s all diced up, but this was a BIG green onion, which meant it tasted a lot like a regular onion. And I hate regular onions. I ended up picking most of it out.

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suzisteffen
Any Old Diamonds | KJ Charles
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Mehso-so

Another one that I bought on #Kobo because of the Maya Rodale NPR romance column. This one is a book with nesting doll levels of crimes, lies, and betrayal, plus a lot of sex between the protagonist and one of the criminals. The resolution is almost too magical, but, hey, romance.