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Series Review: The Brothers Sinister by Courtney Milan

Greetings and welcome to Reviews That Burn: Series Reviews, part of Books That Burn. Series Reviews discuss at least three books in a series and cover the overarching themes and development of the story across several books. This review is for The Brothers Sinister by Courtney Milan. Full Audio Here   The Governess Affair Miss Serena Barton intends to hold the petty, selfish duke who had her sacked responsible for his crimes. But the man who handles all the duke's dirty business has been ordered to get rid of her by fair means or foul. She’ll have to prove more than his match… The Duchess War The last time Minerva Lane was the center of attention, it ended badly—so badly that she changed her name to escape her scandalous past. So when a handsome duke comes to town, the last thing she wants is his attention. But that is precisely what she gets... A Kiss for Midwinter Miss Lydia Charingford does her best to forget the dark secret that nearly ruined her life, hiding it beneath her smi...
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Spectred Isle by KJ Charles (Green Men #1)

Archaeologist Saul Lazenby has been all but unemployable since his disgrace during the War. Now he scrapes a living working for a rich eccentric who believes in magic. Saul knows it’s a lot of nonsense...except that he begins to find himself in increasingly strange and frightening situations. And at every turn he runs into the sardonic, mysterious Randolph Glyde.

Randolph is the last of an ancient line of arcanists, commanding deep secrets and extraordinary powers as he struggles to fulfil his family duties in a war-torn world. He knows there's something odd going on with the haunted-looking man who keeps turning up in all the wrong places. The only question for Randolph is whether Saul is victim or villain.

Saul hasn’t trusted anyone in a long time. But as the supernatural threat grows, along with the desire between them, he’ll need to believe in evasive, enraging, devastatingly attractive Randolph. Because he may be the only man who can save Saul’s life—or his soul.

CONTRIBUTOR(S): Ruairi Carter (Narrator)
PUBLISHER: Tantor Audio
YEAR: 2017
LENGTH: 252 pages (7 hours 34 minutes)
AGE: Adult
GENRE: Fantasy, Historical, Romance
RECOMMENDED: Yes

Queer Rep Summary: Gay/Achillean Main Character(s), Genderqueer/Nonbinary Minor Character(s).

As the first book in the series, SPECTRED ISLE establishes the stakes for the main characters, mostly resolving relationship threads rather than logistical ones. This seems to indicate that the mystery at hand will be solved in later books, but that hopefully this main relationship can have a stable configuration going forward. My hope is that these two are good to go, and a new couple would be the focus of the next book. A quick look at the description for the sequel seems to indicate that my hope will bear out. 

I enjoyed this and I plan to read the sequel. I've had a good time with everything I've tried by this author, even if I don't always have a lot of specific things to say. One thing I appreciate is their ability to write so many different historical (usually fantasy) m/m romances while still making very different worlds for the stories. I'm particularly interested in the magical/political aftermath of the demise of Randolph's family, as the forces which led to that particularly terrible string of events seem determined to keep messing things up in the name of legacy.

Graphic/Explicit CW for confinement.

Moderate CW for alcohol, vomit, war, death.

Minor CW for homophobia, suicide, suicidal thoughts.

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