*I had the absolute privilege of getting an audio ARC from Dreamscape Media and Netgalley and I could not be more grateful. All thoughts and comments are my own.

I always enjoy KJ Charles' historical romances, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to read this one.

We start our story in London with Gareth Ingles meeting his anonymous lover at a bar for a dalliance. Afterward, his lover informs him that he has to go back home and that he would like to see him again when he comes back at some heretofore indeterminate time. Gareth, having had enough people leaving him, decides to push his lover away. Then as fates go, Gareth ends up being called to the Baronetcy at his late father's estate and ends up being at his lover's mercy.

Honestly, I wasn't exactly sure how much I was going to love this being a sort of second-chance romance, but I worries for nothing. I truly enjoyed both Gareth and Joss' on-page growth and acceptance of the other where they were. Gareth learned to step off of his high horse and stop lashing out and Joss actualized his place in the family business and where his true loyalties were.

The narration, by Martyn Swain, created an excellent backdrop for the Welsh countryside. His voice and pacing were a bit slower but I feel that helped set the pace for the story. I do feel like his character's voices were a bit similar and it was sometimes distracting if you missed a part that told you who was saying what. But, overall, I felt his narration really added to the story and created an immersive experience.

I am really looking forward to book 2, A Nobleman's Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel, which features our loveable Luke Doomsday.

I had to quit after the first forty-five minutes because the narrator's voice is just too grating. Ridiculous drawn-out pauses for effect and weird emphasis on certain phrases. I will seek out a print or ebook copy instead because I was enjoying the content too much to let the narrator ruin it for me.

I need more Queer Regency Romances
Before discovering this book on Netgalley, I haven’t had heard of the author or even the possibility of a queer Regency Romance. Apparently, this is a successful combination as KJ Charles has already published quite some books. I was immediately and completely sold for this cover. It’s as enchanting as the content that got me after about five percent. Before that, I needed to get familiar with the reader and the unfamiliar setting. As needed Gareth to.

The beauty of the countryside
We meet our two protagonists in London. Soon we accompany them onto an unexpected adventure to the countryside. I enjoyed their second, not too surprising but intriguing meeting more than their first. Nonetheless, their relation was tense and exciting from the very first second when we believed them to not even have one. Seeing them grow onto each other and learning from each other was an amazing experience. Given that Joss lives a somewhat outlawed life but otherwise seems perfect from the beginning, I was surprised to encounter his weaknesses. Gareth, on the other side, is a nobleman experiencing the country for the first time. And new to Kent and the march myself, I loved seeing this region through his eyes. His affiliation for bugs gives his character, moreover, a lovely twist.

The book is much more than a love story.
I enjoyed every scene with our main characters, but also with their families. Gareth needs to get to know his true one for the first time and cut some ties with what he believed to be his family. Joss has a complex, big family himself but similarly needs to figure some dynamics and secrets out. Their sexual interest that could even make their familial relationships and their social standing more complicated, is not the only secret that will trouble them soon. Some crimes are happening, some murders as well, but Gareth and Joss learn to deal with them – together.

In Conclusion
I loved diving into this unfamiliar setting and encountering these endearing characters and their families. Their individual and joint struggles served as a beautiful manner to figure out where to stand up for one another and where to solely have each other’s back. Their dynamic and love brightened my days.

I really enjoyed this. It’s incredibly romantic, wildly tense and dramatic, and the dynamic between the two leads can’t be described in any other way but *chef’s kiss*. This book manages to do things against a historical backdrop that the other regency romances I’ve read haven’t been able to pull off — a convincing cross-class relationship, and a high-stakes crime-related plot that actually makes sense and plays into the internal conflicts within the relationship. KJ Charles delivered a novel with complex characters who manage to find each other in a complex world (the characters also don’t feel like their views are shoe-horned in from 2023, which is one of my biggest pet peeves in historical romances). There are smugglers, secrets, horrible family members, found family and of course a few corpses. And I was there for all of it. Great book. It was a blast and I will definitely be checking out the author’s other work.
Last but not least, I listened to an audio version of this book and the narrator did a great job! Some of his voices were a little similar but it wasn't a huge distraction. Otherwise, I enjoyed it.

I NEED the next book immediately. I got adventure, I got sex, I got communication, and conflict founded on character flaws and growth needed from both characters in order to further their relationship in a more trusting manner. And because I listened to the audiobook, I sometimes got funny voices. It was tense, it was heartfelt, it was saucy, and I loved every moment of it.

This also reminded me a lot of The Secret Garden. An outsider comes to the marsh to live in a new home and discovers mysteries and learns to love the land and scenery. Except that book is horribly racist, and this book is fun. So if you want an adult version of The Secret Garden without the racism then this is the book for you.

First in a new series, Sir Gareth Inglis was abandoned as a child by his father regains his family manor once his father dies.This story is full of blackmail, thieves and secrets.

This book was so much fun and I loved the characters right away even if they both made me angry for different reasons.
The story starts with a bang in every sense of the word and it just kept on giving me everything I like. Misunderstandings that bring problems and heartbreak but also second chances in the middle of something much more dangerous and a lot of mysteries to unfold before it's too late.
A truly engaging story I really really enjoyed!

The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen is the second book by KJ Charles that I’ve read. The first being the audio novella, A Thief in the Night. I found these both similar, but TSLOCG being a full novel, felt more complete and fleshed out. If you enjoyed that novella you were going to LOVE this book!

We are introduced to the characters in London as Gareth Ingles meets his anonymous lover at a bar. They have a lovely time, but afterwards he finds out that the man he’s been falling for has to leave for London for business. Feeling abandoned Gareth pushes him away and decides to move on. Shortly after, Gareth finds that his estranged father has passed, and he now must take on the Welsh Baronetcy and the burden of the attached estate.

Newly arrived in Wales, Gareth meets his half sister that his father has kept him away from for the first time and he immediately starts to muck up his relations with his newfound family and in the close knit community known for its smuggling.

Riding high on his morals, Gareth goes against the smugglers, only to find out that they are led by his secret London lover, Joss Doomsday!

Fearful that their connection will be leaked Gareth backs down … but with Joss in his presence, he cannot resist the temptation of reinstating their relationship. Their journey is fraught with hazards but these two fight outside obstacles and internal fears to find a way to be together. All along the way, finding a family and community for both of them!

I absolutely loved all these characters in this story. Both Gareth and Joss work with their moral compass and fight for what they believe is right, and eventually what they deserve. As well, we have many secondary characters brightening up the story, and really adding a fun element to this star crossed lovers tale. I’m especially excited that this is the start of a series and we will get to see more of this rowdy bunch!

The narration provided by Martyn Swain, created an excellent backdrop for the welsh countryside. His voice work excellently delineated between the two male leads through variation and accent work. The pacing and vibe of this narration really added to the story and created a very subversive reading experience.

Thanks to sourcebooks for my gifted review copy. Opinions are my own.

#TheTheSecretLivesofCountryGentlemen #KJCharles

Thanks to NetGalley I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review :)

I was excited about reading this 'cause queer historical fiction is my thing and I wasn't disappointed!

The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen follows Sir Gareth, who suddenly inherits an estate in a swamp, and Joss Doomsday, the local smuggler. Law-following Gareth recognized Joss as the man he was romantically involved with in London, but now he's being threatened by him and everything is a mess.

I liked how light-hearted but still realistic to the time period this was; it dealt with homophobia and racism (Joss is mixed race). However, that didn't cause a lot of suffering or hindered their relationship.

The banter between them was fun to read. They had the kind of relationship that raises your standards. I liked their personalities as well. Gareth's interest in beetles was my favorite part! I love nerdy characters with very specific passions.
At times, I found it a bit hard to distinguish their voices and got confused about who's talking (that was probably the audiobook's fault).

Something that bothered me was the sexual language (there are some explicit scenes). Maybe it's just me, but it felt awkward. I've never read a spicy historical romance book before, and every time they said "spent" I had to laugh.

This book was okay, I guess. Just want to never hear the word prick again.

It wasn't entirely into this book, but I didn't completely hate it.

Thank you Netgalley for the audiobook version of this book.

I enjoyed the plot of this book a lot. It was both heartwarming and infuriating. I enjoyed each character and started to really get some feelings for them.
I listened to this at x2 speed because the narration was very very slow even at that speed. I like the narrators voice he just needed to pick up the speed for me.

Absolutely marvelous as always. No one writes historical romance like Charles. The characters are compelling, and the racy bits are delicious!

I received a copy of this audio book for review from NetGalley. This story was fantastic; KJ Charles can do no wrong, in my eyes. The characters were compelling, the plot was well paced, and the action was exciting. My only issue was that the narrator read juuust a bit too slowly, even at 1.5 speed, and it drove me nuts. Ymmv, but I had trouble listening to it.

Gareth and Joss took me on an emotional rollercoaster. Their banter was perfect. I fell in love with Joss. He wanted to show Gareth a different world and took time to show him the marsh. I cheered Joss on so much in the book. His nature of being the protector and always being the one to take on all the responsibility, I related to that so much. Its took a conflict to get Joss to realize that communication is key and he doesn't have to carry burdens on his own and that he has Gareth and his family. Gareth had his own growth as well dealing with his father's death, his uncle and cousin, and everything between him and Joss. Gareth settled into his roll as Baronet with all the drama. Both characters had supportive people in their corners that it is something in regency reads you don't see often.

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.

This sweet romance follows Gareth Inglis, who is surprised to inherit the land and titles of his absentee father in Romney Marsh. There, he must try to make a home with a half-sister and aunt who didn't know he existed until the reading of the will.
He's also faced with Joss Doomsday, the head smuggler in the marsh with whom he had a nameless extended affair in London.
Mystery and adventure ensue as Gareth and Joss discover his nobel father's criminal secrets.
Family loyalty, class systems, and societal expectations are all challenged.
I thoroughly enjoyed the way Joss and Gareth's relationship developed. Aside from being SUPER spicy, they learned to trust, love, and rely on each other over the course of the book.
I think I would have rated this higher if not for the audio narrator. I had to listen at 2x speed, and there were still. Odd pauses. In the middle. Of. Sentences. It felt like listening to a British William Shatner!
I'm definitely looking forward to more stories in the Doomsday series (I'm predicting it will invoke Luke using Gareth's father's map to treasure hunt).

*******
I received this audio ARC from Netgalley, publisher Dreamscape Media, and author KJ Charles in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoy KJ Charles as an author. Unfortunately I didn't really get attached to these characters the way I have with other characters she writes. That said, I really enjoyed the second half of the book quite a lot. The first half just felt sort of dry and unpleasant to me, but that might just be a me problem.

I don't recommend the audio version of this book. I found the narrator choppy to listen to. He took odd pauses and emphasized certain words or syllables in a weird way. It reminded me of the way that people mock William Shatner's acting in Star Trek.

A beautiful, thrilling lovestory a with criminal suspense swirl throughout. The conflict and the stakes of Jos and Gareth's love felt real and rooted the the period. The story was twisty and suspenseful while allowing for a ton of growth from all of the main characters. Plus, it was nice and spicy throughout! The narrator was wonderful and did a tremendous job with all of the accents.

This is truly the romance I needed to fulfill the gap in Poldark content in my life. We have the wonderful and natural world of coastal Britain where smugglers reign and code fiercely protects those they love.

Secret Lives of Gentlemen really is a wonderful MM romance that is perfectly portioned with amount of mystery, adventure, swoony romance and spice. I couldn’t put it down and felt so immersed in the world of the marsh.

Sir Gareth and Joss could not be more different, but that’s the beauty of their relationship. Gareth really helps Joss flourish in his complicated feelings around his family, while Joss helps Gareth connect with his newfound family and feeling at peace with his new life. They bring out the best in each other and carve out a beautiful new life together.

I cannot wait to continue with this series! Absolutely one of my favorite romances for this year and possibly even one of my favorite historical romances to date!

Review for Audiobook:

I have read the electronic version of this book and it was a straight 5-star read for me.

When the opportunity to listen to the audio version of this cropped up, I was more than ready to re-experience the brilliance of this story.

However, the audio version didn't go as I expected. The performance by the narrator was good in some spots , but something about the vocal delivery bordered on being "stilted" for me. The narrator paused a bit too often, which lead to a less than smooth experience.

Had I not already experienced and adored this book in it's initial form, It would have taken me more time to do so in this format because of reasons outlined above. As it was, it took some time to get used to the narrator which messed me up. I'll give the narrator 2-Stars, The story remains a 5-star read.

For the story, my review below applies:

This story had properly fleshed out characters , great pacing, gripping premise /plot and had an awesome set of protagonists. The sheer connection between Gareth and Joss was palpable and highly believable.

I rooted for them all throughout the book because they just “worked” as a couple. Of course, getting their HEA came with it’s own ups and downs but they managed to come out stronger together on the other side.

Honestly, I had thought it would be a simple love story between two people from vastly different backgrounds but this story was so much more. It had intrigue, humour, mystery and so much heart.

As the book ended, I was about to lament about missing all the wonderful characters in this book but a quick check on GR indicated that this was book 1 of the Doomsday Series. This news makes my heart so happy because it means we get to go back to the Marsh and I, for one, cannot wait!