The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen

The Doomsday Books, Book 1

By: KJ Charles

Narrated by: Martyn Swain

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.

©2023 KJ Charles (P)2023 Dreamscape Media

Another superb book from KJ Charles!

Another superb book from KJ Charles! The narrator does a fantastic job as well. The emotional arc and the action are well balanced and both are compelling in their own rights. Highly recommend.

Loved it!

I loved the story! I loved the narration!

I have loved KJ Charles other books and look forward to reading more of them!

Christmas in April

This novel was a surprise gift to me from the universe. How have I never found KJ Charles before? I was riveted all the way through.The novel has a gripping plot, main characters who grow and heal each other in the course of the story, a passionate romance, not to mention competent historical detail and a nail-biting finish. I agree with the listeners who found the narration an obstacle to enjoyment. Long pauses between words are unnatural. However, I was able to overlook the weird narration as I got more caught up in the story. Thank goodness the dialogue didn't get the same treatment and the voices were good. I count this a lucky find. I hope to be reading a lot more KJ Charles in future.

Wonderful book, intolerable narration

This book is lovely and I can’t recommend it highly enough… just not in audio. The narrator has a wonderful range of voices, and this could have been excellent, but he inserts. random. pauses. into the second half. of every. paragraph. regardless. of where emphasis. should. fall. It’s as if he was asked to slow down and didn’t know how to do that smoothly, so he starts out each sentence normally, then pauses and pronounces each word individually instead of letting them flow naturally. The effect is bizarre. It undercuts the emotional weight of the dialogue—which was delightful when I read it in print. All the sparkling wit falls flat in these stilted tones. I suspect this is less the narrator’s fault than the production team’s; he does an admirable job with the characters and accents, and a few better choices of direction could have saved this. The book is a keeper, but I’m not likely to listen to it in audio again.

Stunning

A remarkable and suspense filled story with great narration. Listen to it in 24 hours not to be missed.