The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen
Books | FIC011000
4.2
(172)
KJ Charles
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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Author
KJ Charles
Pages
352
Publisher
Sourcebooks Casablanca
Published Date
2023
ISBN
1728281806 9781728281803
Community ReviewsSee all
"Finished November 30th. Really enjoyed this book! Such good characters and a wonderful story. The writing is really well done also. Can’t wait to read the next one! "
Nikki Nienhaus
"This book was gorgeous.
❤️🔥 Gareth and Joss, meet in an inn with a reputation for providing a place for discreet (and illegal) liaisons between gay men, leading to a hot weeklong affair and an intense emotional connection. They don't exchange names, calling each other London and Kent after their respective homes.
🏰 Gareth learns that his estranged father has died, leaving Gareth his baronetcy and his estate in County Kent. When Gareth arrives there, he is confronted with a younger half sister who never knew he existed, his father's mistress, and a local economy dominated by illicit smuggling with France, despite England's ongoing war with Napoleon.
One of those smugglers just happens to be Joss.
🔍 Questions emerge regarding the nature of Gareth's father's business and how it relates to the local smuggling enterprise, pushing Gareth and Joss to work together to investigate.
💖 The connection between these two men is so vivid, tender, and romantic. It's impossible not to fall in love with both of them. And the spicy bits were every bit as immersively sexy as I've come to expect from KJ Charles' books.
🪲 I also loved the way that KJ Charles made use of the setting, Romney Marsh, and the love both men end up sharing for it. Joss grew up on the Marsh, which has its own unique culture. Gareth approaches the marsh as a naturalist first, finding beauty in every newt and beetle as Joss teaches him about life on the Marsh.
🦎 IF YOU FIND A MAN WHO WILL TAKE YOU OUT NEWT SPOTTING JUST TO SPEND TIME WITH YOU, KEEP HIM.🦎
🎧 I listened to the book as an audiobook, and Martyn Swain's performance was excellent. Kentish accents are...a lot, yet he managed to give each character their own voice.
In short, I loved everything about this book."
Nadia
"Loved both the romance and mystery aspects, and the details like period-accurate slang and historical references were well done."
T
Thomas
"this isn’t Romeo and Juliet, we can’t do love at first site anymore "
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brissia
"Sweet m/m romance, a bit of mystery and a lot of emotional thinking on how we never really say what we mean. And how we should try to make it right "
S H
Sara Hewitt
