Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen

The Doomsday Books #1

English language

Published Dec. 23, 2023 by Sourcebooks, Incorporated.

ISBN:
9781728255859

View on OpenLibrary

4 stars (1 review)

Bridgerton meets Poldark in this sweeping LGBTQIA+ Regency romance from award-winning author KJ Charles

Abandoned by his father as a small child, Sir Gareth Inglis has grown up prickly, cold, and well-used to disappointment. Even so, he longs for a connection, falling headfirst into a passionate anonymous affair that's over almost as quickly as it began. Bitter at the sudden rejection, Gareth has little time to lick his wounds: his father has died, leaving him the family title, a rambling manor on the remote Romney Marsh...and the den of cutthroats and thieves that make its intricate waterways their home.

Joss Doomsday has run the Doomsday smuggling clan since he was a boy. His family is his life...which is why when the all-too-familiar new baronet testifies against Joss's sister for a hanging offense, Joss acts fast, blackmailing Gareth with the secret of their relationship to force him to recant. Their reunion …

1 edition

A lot of moving pieces

4 stars

3.5 stars

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

He smiled, and the dazzling force of it close up rocked Gareth in his seat. “You’re London, then? Nice to meet you, London.” Gareth smiled back, hopelessly enthralled. “You too, Kent.”

After heated eye contact that lead to a week of secret rendezvouses, Gareth is devastated and hurt when “Kent” tells him he's leaving the London area to go back home. With a father that abandoned him to his uncaring uncle after his mother's death when he was six, Gareth leans into that childhood pain and feels unwanted and unloved all over again. Even though Kent is trying to tell him he still wants to meet up when he's in town, Gareth can't hear him and breaks it off with hurtful words. Two days later, Gareth learns …