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The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen (The Doomsday Books) Paperback – 7 Mar. 2023

by KJ Charles (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 1,473 ratings
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Bridgerton meets Poldark in this sweeping Regency romance of smugglers, adventure, mystery, and life-changing love from celebrated author KJ Charles.

Abandoned by his father, Gareth Inglis grew up lonely, prickly, and well-used to disappointment. Still, he longs for a connection. When he meets a charming man in a London molly house, he falls head over heels-until everything goes wrong and he's left alone again. Then Gareth's father dies, turning the shabby London clerk into Sir Gareth, with a grand house on the remote Romney Marsh and a family he doesn't know.

The Marsh is another world, a strange, empty place notorious for its ruthless gangs of smugglers. And one of them is dangerously familiar...
Joss Doomsday has run the Doomsday smuggling clan since he was a boy. When the new baronet-his old lover-agrees to testify against Joss's sister, Joss acts fast to stop him. Their reunion is anything but happy, yet after the dust settles, neither can stay away. Soon, all Joss and Gareth want is the chance to be together. But the bleak, bare Marsh holds deadly secrets. And when Gareth finds himself threatened from every side, the gentleman and the smuggler must trust one another not just with their hearts, but with their lives.

"This felt like KJ's very own sexy and skullduggerous take on the romcom trend, and I loved it."-USA Today bestseller Talia Hibbert for The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting

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  1. Book 1 of 2
    The Doomsday Books
  2. Print length
    352 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    Sourcebooks Casablanca
  5. Publication date
    7 Mar. 2023
  6. Dimensions
    12.8 x 2.6 x 19.6 cm
  7. ISBN-10
    1728281806
  8. ISBN-13
    978-1728281803
  9. See all details
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  1. One argument might have been convincing; three was the opposite. Three was encouraging, even.
    Highlighted by 222 Kindle readers
  2. “If you want something, you ask for it. You told me so, before. Is that always how you get what you want?” Joss shrugged. “You don’t get what you want by not asking for it.” Gareth contemplated the obvious truth of that statement. “I may have to change my approach to life.”
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Product description

Review

Masterful prose, thrilling romance, fantastic wit, and gripping stakes. ― Talia Hibbert

KJ Charles is one of the best romance novelists writing today. Historical romance at its finest ― Sarah MacLean

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Sourcebooks Casablanca (7 Mar. 2023)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 352 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1728281806
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1728281803
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 12.8 x 2.6 x 19.6 cm
  • Customer reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 1,473 ratings

About the author

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KJ Charles

KJ Charles

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KJ Charles is a recovering editor and RITA-nominated author. She lives in London with her husband, two kids, an out-of-control garden and a cat of absolute night. She writes mostly historical: queer romance, paranormal, fantasy, mystery. Shenanigans may occur. High body count.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
1,473 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the writing style beautiful and a cracking good read. They also appreciate the well-rounded characters and storylines. Readers also mention the pacing is steady and balanced, with great sex scenes and satisfying ending.

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StorylineWriting styleCharacters
7 customers mention ‘Storyline’7 positive0 negative

Customers find the storylines loveable, impeccable, and action packed. They also appreciate the great sex scenes and satisfying ending. Readers also mention the pacing is steady and balanced.

"...The characters are well rounded, the pacing is steady and balanced, it's just such a concise book...." Read more

"...I loved the storylines and the supporting cast, terrifying though most of them appeared to be. A great tale of a bygone era, superbly told." Read more

"...KJ's books are always so deftly written and plotted and I love Gareth and Joss" Read more

"Great plot, well rounded characters, including minor players...." Read more

6 customers mention ‘Writing style’6 positive0 negative

Customers find the writing style beautiful, and say the book is a cracking good read.

"...The depth of colour and scene setting is wonderful and full of suspense...." Read more

"...London and Kent. Gareth and Joss. They were so lovely, even amidst the issues they faced, there was just something so soft and tender and quiet..." Read more

"...KJ's books are always so deftly written and plotted and I love Gareth and Joss" Read more

"...The cover work by Jyotirmaryee Patra is absolutely gorgeous, as is the cover for book 2 A Nobleman's Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel, which fingers..." Read more

4 customers mention ‘Characters’4 positive0 negative

Customers find the characters well rounded and the Kent accent well done.

"...Also all the secondary characters are as usual lovely (cannot WAIT to read Luke's book) and most importantly, as in all KJ Charles, horrible people..." Read more

"...The Kent accent was very well done - quite a few words were new to me, but where I live there are still traces of these speech patterns in older..." Read more

"...a collection of damaged heroes and dastardly villains, some delightful secondary characters, a HEA with some peril on the way, and a central couple..." Read more

"Original and well paced plot, with great, well drawn characters...." Read more

Top reviews from United Kingdom

Mashara
5.0 out of 5 stars Another great book from KJ Charles
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 13 March 2023
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There has been many years now that KJ Charles became an insta buy author but it is really interesting to me to see the marvelous progression of the writing.
And it is not like there was something off with the earlier books, I honestly have The Magpie Lord for ever as a favourite, but the latest books are such a joy. The characters are well rounded, the pacing is steady and balanced, it's just such a concise book.
I loved both Joss and Gareth, I love second chance in particular, and even if this is not fully one, I enjoy seeing characters that already know each other work their way back together.
The book is fun, funny, it has a strong moral compass, which does not mean it alligns with the law in any way shape or form, but it still has it, these characters are not morally grey, they just disagree with the law as it stands and I agree wholeheartedly, I am enjoying so much out of seeing several historical romances come to terms with what the aristocracy really is (luck and networking) and the damage the system does to the little people that are trying to live their lives, regardless of what German inbred cousin is currently wearing the crown - in this vein I remomend Cat Sebastian too.

It is also action packed, it has great sex scenes and a very satisfying ending.

Also all the secondary characters are as usual lovely (cannot WAIT to read Luke's book) and most importantly, as in all KJ Charles, horrible people deservedly die.
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Ms R Posy
5.0 out of 5 stars OutMarsh
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 4 May 2023
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I have long been a fan of KJ Charles's writing and this is an exceptional book. Thrown together again following an interlude in London, Joss manages to humiliate Gareth, in a trial, in order to protect his sister. Gareth, as a fine upstanding citizen holds no truck with those who operate outside the law and living in Dymchurch, Kent, where the locals run their smuggling operations, through bribery and backhanders, openly. Joss is on the wrong side of the law and Gareth thought his family were on the right side, however he soon learns that his father was the most underhanded man of them all. The depth of colour and scene setting is wonderful and full of suspense. I loved the storylines and the supporting cast, terrifying though most of them appeared to be. A great tale of a bygone era, superbly told.
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Jade
4.0 out of 5 stars Smuggling, danger and a lovely HEA
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 10 April 2023
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“I love you. It’s stupid how I love you. Baronet, for mercy’s sake. I’ve got no business loving you, and I can’t seem to do a blessed thing else.”

I enjoyed this so much.
Gareth thought he'd never see the man who's company he was enjoying very much after he pushed him away and later regretted. But when his father dies and now suddenly Gareth has inherited his father's home and everything else that comes with it he's about to meet him again but in the worst way possible since Gareth has managed to be in the middle of a smuggling family's business and a smuggler who he is very familiar with.

London and Kent. Gareth and Joss. They were so lovely, even amidst the issues they faced, there was just something so soft and tender and quiet about them and their relationship. There's plenty going on around them and to them, quite frankly that complicated things for them. New family for Gareth that he never knew and trying to do right by them. Smuggling business for Joss and all that entails. Murder and meddling family. Joss with his trying to take care of everything and everyone, Gareth with his abandonment issues thanks to his no good of a father and learning to stand up for himself. Even amidst all of that, there was always something so precious about these two together, the relationship making them see what matters and evolving them, I guess. They're just so lovely together.

There's also the doomsday family, even with their edges, I loved them, minus one or two of course. But Luke and Asa especially? I loved them. But there's a lot of family and found family here and standing up and fighting back as well as some danger and of course, a happily ever after.
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SH.
5.0 out of 5 stars Impeccable historical romance!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 20 June 2024
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KJ Charles has done it again! I've been saving this as a treat and I'm so glad I did. KJ's books are always so deftly written and plotted and I love Gareth and Joss
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123456
5.0 out of 5 stars Another fabulous story by KJ Charles
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 9 March 2023
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Great plot, well rounded characters, including minor players. As a Kentish person, it was great to read about an area close to home, and it really captured the eirieness of Romney Marsh. It's still quite empty, and very, very flat. I enjoyed the Dr Syn books many years ago, and this evoked feelings. The Kent accent was very well done - quite a few words were new to me, but where I live there are still traces of these speech patterns in older people. Really enjoyed and will read again - as with all of her books .
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Phil
5.0 out of 5 stars Another slice of KJ Charles loveliness
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 4 June 2023
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I adored this as much as I expected, which is a lot. Like everything KJ Charles writes, I got to the end and wanted to go right back to the beginning, because I couldn't bear to let go of the characters. As usual, we have a well observed setting, a collection of damaged heroes and dastardly villains, some delightful secondary characters, a HEA with some peril on the way, and a central couple who learn to deal with their trauma, communicate and work together in and out of bed. A delight from start to finish.
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Top reviews from other countries

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Aalah
5.0 out of 5 stars Phenomenal
Reviewed in Canada on 15 July 2024
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This book was highly recommended in a ScreenRant article for best LGBTQ+ romance novels for Pride Month 2024. What a great recommendation. I normally do not read historical romance but I digress. Their are authors who write books and than their are authors who write books with a story that is so compelling and well written you are swept within the pages and become a participant in the writers well choreographed environment. K.J. Charles is certainly the latter. The story is character driven and well researched as the language and dialect reflect the period in time for which it was written. So incredibly detailed you can envision the landscape and the inhabitants of Romney Marsh. Gareth and Joss hail from different backgrounds and class structure but share certain commonalities and come to understand one another's deeply entrenched nuances. Their love is organic and beautifully illustrated in this gripping suspenseful historical romance. K.J. Charles has been added to my must read authors list. Phenomenal novel.
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The Hopeless Romanticist
5.0 out of 5 stars In Which a Reluctant Gentleman Learns that Snitches Get Stitches
Reviewed in the United States on 1 June 2024
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The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen (Doomsday Series Book 1)
KJ Charles
2023
353 pages
Overall Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
MM Historical Romance (Regency Era)

Plot: Gareth Inglis has just been elevated to a Sir, and he’s not at all happy about it. Though his boring life as a legal clerk in his uncle’s practice leaves much to be desired, it’s what he knows, and there’s safety in what’s known. His entire life has been a string of disappointments and abandonment, and he’s not sure if he can handle another one– especially after a handsome stranger Gareth knows only as "Kent" steps in to fill a deep longing Gareth didn’t know he possessed, only to disappear off into the sunset and leaving Gareth to face his new future empty and alone. Again.

Gareth’s inheritance, a grand house and modest plot of land called Romney Marsh, is situated upon a long stretch of English coastline that appeals mightily to smugglers, some of whom Gareth accidentally becomes acquainted with during one of his habitual late night walks. Though he’d love nothing more than to keep his mouth shut about the entire business, his honor requires him to testify against them in favor of the law (as a former lawman himself, Gareth can hardly side with smugglers, now can he?).

At the eleventh hour, Gareth learns that Kent, the mysterious stranger who sets his blood on fire, is none other than Joss Doomsday, the head smuggler of Romney Marsh, and suddenly Gareth finds himself unable to say a bad word against them and he’s feeling very bitter about it. This leaves him in somewhat of a pickle, as the people of Romney Marsh aren’t exactly welcoming of strangers, and even more hostile to attempted snitches (you know what they say about snitches, and it doesn’t matter that Gareth didn’t fully snitch– intent is bad enough).

But Joss Doomsday is not one to forget when a debt is owed, and Gareth’s silence may have saved his family a trip to the gaol. If there’s a way to repay him, Joss would do so gladly, and once the bodies start piling up, Gareth is extremely glad to have Joss in his corner. But what kind of future is there for two men mixed up in a business as dirty as theirs?

First Take: Argh! KJ Charles is the best. It’s been a while since I’ve scratched my historical romance itch, and Charles’ books always remind me why I love it so much: there is something extra swoony about two dashing young men carousing about in ye old England just trying to find their bit of happiness in a world dead set against them. The stakes are high, banter supremely witty, looks of longing are surreptitious and adorable, and the ultimate payoff is glorious. I loved this one, and can’t wait to read the sequel.

Characters: Sir Gareth Inglis is a kind and honorable man who is so used to disappointment that at this point, he expects it. So he is extremely surprised when he learns that his father left him everything upon his death, the excitement of which is tempered by his discovery that his father never really cared about him at all. It’s no surprise then that Gareth finds himself unworthy of love and in desperate need of someone to convince him otherwise. Joss Doomsday lacks an education, manners, and a proper grasp of the King’s English. But what he lacks in sophistication he makes up for with good sense, street smarts, and a mean right hook. He is well aware of the fact that Gareth Inglis could do much better than him, but Joss has never been one to back down from a fight, especially when hearts are on the line.

Praises: I visited Scotland earlier this year and became well-acquainted with bogs and marshes, and it was so fun to go back, this time in my imagination. In this book, the setting is as important as the characters and plot, and KJ Charles gifts us with a serenely beautiful but dangerous place in Romney Marsh– it has more secrets than a courtesan’s Little Black Book and I had a great time discovering all of them along with Joss & Gareth. As always, the characters are complex and dynamic and a little quirky– I’ll certainly pay more attention to beetles from now on. In a time when MM relationships are illegal and dangerous, it’s hard to imagine ever getting a HEA, but Charles crafts her stories in a way that makes that reality feel believable and worth alllll the trouble it takes to get there.

Critiques: Absolutely nothing to critique here, this story is really well done!

Prose: 3rd person dual POV from Gareth and Joss. KJ Charles is so good at making a reader feel fully immersed in the past. It is hard sometimes with historical fiction/fantasy, to keep the present from seeping in somehow. But Charles does a great job of making the prose and dialogue feel appropriate for the time. So much delightful witty banter. The way Joss & Gareth talk to each other is heart-melty and sweet.

Steam: 4/5 Things get steamy, but not overly so. There’s plenty of plot to keep you interested, though when KJ Charles writes a love scene, she makes it count.

Trigger Warnings: Violence, Parental abandonment.

Tropes: Opposites Attract, Betrayal, Secrets & Lies, Blackmail, Aristocracy & a Commoner, Enemies to Lovers, Fish Out of Water, Forbidden Love, Forced Proximity, Hidden Identity, New Guy in Town, Partners in Fighting Crime, Rags to Riches, Shared Past, Wrong Side of the Tracks, Small Town, Unexpected Inheritance

Cliffhanger: HEA, no cliffhanger.

Memorable quotes:
One couldn’t ask for perfect, he told himself, and decided not to consider if there might be a middle way between ‘perfect’ and ‘professional criminal’.

It suited Joss, too: he had no desire to break heads. He considered himself an honest trader, apart from the criminal parts.

Gareth had no idea why Joss wanted him, of all men, but by some miracle he did, and Gareth Inglis was, at this moment, the luckiest man in Romney Marsh. Possibly in England.

Stand-Alones, Prequels, Sequels, & Tangents: Book one in the Doomsday series. Book two, The Nobleman’s Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel, is set ten years in the future and follows a different MM couple. It could probably be read as a standalone, but this series is likely best enjoyed when read in order, as one of the main characters in book 2, Luke Doomsday, is featured prominently in this book as a young boy.
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morganarosana
5.0 out of 5 stars Perfeita em tudo que se propõe
Reviewed in Brazil on 7 April 2023
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Eu adoro que a kj é simplesmente ótima em tudo que ela faz, cada livro que eu leio dela eu me apaixono. Rainha eterna.
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Amazing Catstomer
5.0 out of 5 stars What an utterly delightful book
Reviewed in Germany on 20 February 2024
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My first by the author, and I was hooked. I only wish there were more of her books in German
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Lyt
5.0 out of 5 stars Yes
Reviewed in France on 3 November 2023
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As always by KJ Charles, it's awesome. Please let us have more.
Love the Marsh, and the marsh-English spoken by Joss and his family.
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