Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen
SERIES: The Doomsday Books
AUTHOR: K.J. Charles
NARRATOR: Martyn Swain
PUBLISHER: Dreamscape Media
LENGTH: 11 hours and 16 minutes
RELEASE DATE: March 7, 2023
BLURB:
Abandoned by his father, Gareth Inglis grew up lonely, prickly, and used to disappointment. Still, he longs for a connection. When he meets a charming stranger, 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 also with their lives.
REVIEW:
Gareth Inglis has been abandoned his whole life. His mother died. His father sent him away to his brother, Gareth’s Uncle Henry, a lawyer in London who had no desire to raise him. His awful cousin Lionel bullied him but he never saw his father again. After his father dies suddenly, Gareth returns to his home where he learns of a half-sister who never knew of his existence. His father’s mistress, his sister’s aunt is in charge of the household. His father hadn’t changed his will and had left nothing for his daughter’s protection. Gareth is appalled by how completely thoughtless and selfish his father had always been. Sigh.
While in London, Gareth had met a particular lover – a man from Kent. Imagine his surprise when at the first sign of trouble and Gareth is to testify against a smuggler, he learns that his former lover is said smuggler’s older brother, Joss Doomsday, leader of the Doomsday smuggling family at Dymchurch. And so begins a series of events that continues to push Joss and Gareth together. Although things ended rather badly in London, Joss and Gareth find themselves needing to work together to solve a mystery that affects both of their families.
There is treachery afoot! Gareth’s Uncle Henry and Cousin Lionel show up unexpectedly at Gareth’s home. Joss is having a lot of trouble from his loutish Uncle who is being supported by Joss’s mother. And then there is the mysterious attack on Gareth’s sister and then himself by men from a rival smuggling gang in another village. Gareth begins to realize that being a smuggler doesn’t mean that Joss is a man of poor character. He begins to understand that his own family have a lot more skeletons and may involved in something far worse. Joss swears to make sure that nobody touches what’s his – the Doomsdays protect their own people. Gareth has NEVER had this kind of support before.
When things turn dire for these two, it looks bad. But the marsh folk take care of their own. And those who break the code will pay the price. Joss and Gareth and their families come to an understanding 😉
Oh my! This was quite the exciting read. It starts off a bit sedate, but soon we have mysteries and action and danger and betrayal. I absolutely loved the way Gareth figures out that what he thought about the marsh folks and smuggling (free traders) and the rest of his assumptions about Joss and his family are dead wrong. Joss had a hard time getting things right with Gareth too, but together they figured out their way. I was not prepared for the whole story on the smuggling, but it intrigued me enough to read up about the history of Romney Marsh – I LOVE when I learn something new in a story. So well done 🙂 I also really enjoyed all the strong female characters. This was a really fun romp!
Now to the narration. Have to say, not my favorite only because the cadence was so slow. I sped the audio up to 1.5 and enjoyed it a lot more. There is some great accent work here and I also really enjoyed the narrators performance – from the violent scenes to the tender to the satisfying erotic moments. Not sure why the narrator chose such a pace, but I made it work in the end.
Such a great story and I can’t wait to see what happens next 🙂 I hope we learn more about Joss’s grandfather. What a fascinating backstory that must be!
RATING: 
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