The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen

Written by KJ Charles

Narrated by Martyn Swain

Bridgerton meets Poldark in this sweeping Regency romance of smugglers, adventure, mystery, and life-changing love from celebrated author KJ Charles.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dreamscape Media
• Release date: Mar 7, 2023
• ISBN: 9781666632378

KJ Charles

KJ Charles writes romance, mostly m/m, mostly paranormal, fantastical, magical, historical, and wordy. She is the author of The Magpie Lord and a Rainbow Award-winner for A Case of Possession, Think of England and the Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal, all published by Samhain. She is an editor by trade, and lives in London.

Reviews for The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen

[Ida Ang · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Good characters who improve over the course of the book, and compelling mysterious plot.

[Kam · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

KJ Charles is masterful. I loved this book. The characters are so three-dimensional, the love between London and Kent so intoxicating and believable. So good. Can't get enough

[Shawna · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This story had so much. Territory fueds, missed chances, things unspoken, family fueds, spicy scenes, lots of kissing, revenge, and ginnies. Lindon and Kent have had a couple of weeks' fling. When Kent announces, he has to go back home for a couple of weeks. London assumes it's the brushoff. When London gets back to his childhood home, he now owns with his father's death and a Barron's title. He seems lost and soon runs into Kent, whose family are the runners or a vit of an infamous clan to Romney Marsh. Will these two finally get together? The chemistry is there, and they soon come to rely on each other. What with the death threats were those fueds I mentioned, and of yeah, his father may have stolen a lot of money. This truly has everything, and you will adore London and Kent .

[Biva Siddiki · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellent story telling and character development. The main characters were superb and loveable.

[Laura · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved this. It was very sweet and fun, and the narration is great.

[Donna McGee · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book was imaginative and Romantic I Love this author!

[Andrea Author · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Gareth inherits a baronetcy upon the death of his estranged father. When he moves into the manor house, he discovers that the town is a den of smuggling—and his former lover, Joss, is their leader. Gareth gets caught in a web of rivalries that threaten to strangle him. Can Joss help him save himself?

This is a fascinating novel, as much mystery as romance. The author does a great job of dramatizing Gareth's struggles to come to terms with the ethics of the society in which he finds himself, which differ from the ethics of London. The book also examines the internal conflict between self-reliance and community. But it's also got a strong, engaging plot and a steamy, heartwarming love story. You really can't go wrong with a KJ Charles book.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

[Anne-Marie Paul · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The story is excellent and serious and fun at the same time. The book's universe is vivid and the story paints a many coloured picture of the marsh it's people and the trade. It was lovely to read.

Praise for KJ Charles' books.

[Theo · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Set against the backdrop of 19th century Romney Marsh on the shores of the English Channel, KJ Charles has written a gothic romance about a young baronet with daddy issues and his Kentish lover who happens to run a very successful smuggling operation. The story is engaging and was a quick, enjoyable read. The bad guys are a little one note, and the mystery isn't terribly suspenseful, but the romance, which is probably the reason most people are reading, is strong. I think the author did a great job of creating a sense of place with the remote setting and historical time period.

I was disappointed in the audio. It was nice to hear the difference between Sir Gareth's posh London dialect and Joss's rough Kentish one, but sometimes it seemed the narrator lost track of who he was in the scene. He also seemed to have a stilted cadence that was a bit awkward, and his Southern American drawl for one character was completely wrong to my rural southern ears.

[sarinhamac48 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I've read quite a few KJ Charles's books & I've enjoyed them all, but this one left a lot to be desired to me...

I suppose it's both because of the narration, which was stilted, almost as if the narrator was trying to sound out the words & his choice of a geriatric voice for Joss was also decidedly unsexy, but also because there were far too many unlikeable characters... it even took me a while to warm to Gareth, tbh!

Cecilia was both a pointless character & beyond irritating.

Ma Doomsday was a bit too dumb for the ruling matriarch of a crime family. Loyalty can only go so far when it means a choice between life, death, imprisonment, hanging &/or transportation...

Being overprotective of a fully grown man who has not only been consistently incompetent for over 15 years, has been racist towards your own child(ren), something she odiously tries to excuse & brush under the carpet (vile), a man who has nearly caused your daughter's death & brutalises his own son is not only foolhardy, but downright stupid, especially if you're a crime boss...

It's beautifully written as usual, but also lacking... there's far too little common sense considering it's a book about a crime family!

[ysabear · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I thought the narrator was AI but no he was just weirdly pausing every 3rd word for no reason and has the driest robotic delivery ever. The story is great though so it's such a shame that they chose an older, very dry narrator for a book about two younger men with two different accents