The Sugared Game is out!
Here is is: The Sugared Game, book 2 of the Will Darling Adventures, my 1920s pulp adventure series. Meet some of the cast!
- Will Darling: soldier turned bookseller
- The Messer: Will’s emotional support knife
- Kim Secretan: disgraced aristocrat and secret agent, apparently?
- Phoebe Stephens-Prince: Kim’s emotional support flapper
- Maisie Jones: it would save a lot of trouble if someone just put her in charge
There are also dodgy nightclub people, Bright Young Things (I use the word ‘bright’ EXTREMELY loosely), unlikeable aristos, couturiers, cocktails, champagne, dog-rough whisky, and some really yummy chocolates. Enjoy!
All buy links for The Sugared Game
Gumroad (direct files, epub or mobi)
For the avoidance of doubt: this is book 2 of a three-book arc. The series won’t have a full HEA till #3 (Subtle Blood, working on it) and it will make a lot more sense if you start at #1, Slippery Creatures.
As it goes, Slippery Creatures will be a $0.99 Kindle Deal in September, which I will price match at other stores, so if you’re not sure whether you want WILD 1920s PULP ADVENTURE ROMANCE WITH SINISTER GANGS AND CARS AND BOOKS AND FLAPPERS, for whatever reason, maybe take a punt then.
I’ve really loved writing this series despite the, er, hiccups of 2020, and I’m rolling around in Subtle Blood right now. I hope you enjoy it!
It is a real effort to actually work today and not read this. The instant I log off from the Job I am rolling around in Sugar.
yay!
I liked it very much. I hope in next book we find more about DS. I have a filling that we met him before.
You did indeed! 😀 😀
Oohh!! SO EXCITED
Ooh, came here partially in hopes of confirming this. The Kim/Will relationship reminds me a lot of the dynamic in DS’s book and has curbed some of my longing for a sequel. 🙂 This is a truly wonderful series and I’m looking forward to book 3.
When will the audiobook version be released?
I’m afraid I don’t have a date. It’s a bit late because I was far too close to the wire with this one, not their fault!
I loved it, even the parts that broke my heart, had me tearing my hair out (goddamn it, Kim!), or clutching my phone so hard I thought I might dent it because the tension just. Kept. Building. Thank goodness the weekend is coming up so I can reread it three more times. Phoebe would be my favorite were it not for Kim, who would be my absolute favorite were it not for Will, who would hold first place in my heart were it not for Maisie who I adore beyond hope and reason! And I was thrilled to see William Merton working with DS.
I went back to reread “Proper English” because the name “Merton” sounded familiar to me.
Phoebe summed up one facet of Kim in “Slippery Creatures,” about (paraphrasing) how he’d be his own worst enemy if he wasn’t so busy making other people his enemies. Kim did some of both here. Will is used to expecting that Kim will lie a lot, which helped him in the first part of this book. I wasn’t surprised that Will eventually got fed up with it, though.
Will even started to pick up Kim’s habit of secrecy, but Maisie quickly cured him of that. Phoebe and Maisie nearly stole the show for me. I enjoy those characters and admired the way they worked hard to have some agency in their lives.
A good amount of the dialogue was hilarious, and also some of Will’s thoughts about people who play “silly buggers.” Will doesn’t have time for that nonsense, whether from gangsters or not-so-Bright Young Things. (lol)
DS at the end had some great lines, too. I thought his summary and classification of Will’s activities was hysterical. I wouldn’t have known who DS was, but I looked under a spoiler cut of a review, and thought that made sense. I was looking forward to seeing him.
I liked that there was humor mixed in with the suspense.
I have fallen in love with both Will & Kim, I am borderline obsessed with this universe. I have to say it took me some amount of digging around (in my mind) as to remember where DS is from (Still kicking myself for not figuring it out sooner), I adore DS & his Partner-in-crime and would love to read their further adventures. I have read most of your books, Love your writing and cannot wait for ‘Subtle Blood’.
Loved Slippery Creatures and impatient to dig into the second book!
Are there any news about the audiobook release date?