The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen

The Doomsday Books, Book 1

By: KJ Charles

Narrated by: Martyn Swain

Length: 11 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

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

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.

Wow… Loved listening to this.

I’m going to miss getting to listen to this. Makes me want a London or Kent of my very own.

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!

Great book, great narration

Oh, this is so good. So, so good. I have yet to read a KJ Charles book that did not leave me with both a satisfied brain and a satisfied heart. The story of London and Kent is heartfelt and layered and very hot. The story of the smugglers is a page-turner. Also who knew beetles could play a pivotal role in a love story? (Well, other than KJ Charles).

I listened to the audiobook with narration by Martyn Swain. It is very well done. The interpretation is great, and I had no problem distinguishing who was speaking at any time.

In short, I loved this book. I am looking forward to the next. It is already pre-ordered.

One Of My Favorite Books So Far This Year

KJ Charles is one of my favorite authors. I was really looking forward to this book and I was not disappointed. I highly recomend reading or listening to it. The plot is fun with some intresting twiats and turns. The characters were well-developed and I enjoyed getting to know them.

The narrator is good. He has a pleasant voice and he gives the character distinct voices. However, the pace of the narration is odd. It's weirdly slow with long pauses. At first i found it unlistenable. I'm not sure what happened but I think it might be a production issue. ThankfullyI read other reviews and followed their advice. Speeding up the narration to 1.35x fixed the problem for me and made the narratation sound normal except for the occassional misplaced pause, I was able to listen and enjoy the story.

Good Love Story

Great story. KJ Charles is a wonderful story teller. Always a lot of interesting details that enrich the story

A delightful listen

I have long since learned that I should always just read novels by KJ Charles regardless of the summery; somehow the plot always steps elegantly around my pet peeve pitfalls!
The atmosphere is sublime, the world just feels very textural to me; the excellent narration definitely supports this. Both the language and local flair feel authentic. It is just a delight to be immersed in a world with people very different from me yet recognisable.
Aside from world building and characters, the story is interesting and engaging. It moves fast and stays interesting without spinning out of control.
I loved this book and can't wait for the sequel (the plot of which I am already speculating about)

Kj Charles never disappoints

I loved this story - like all the others! It did take a second to get used to an unfamiliar-to-me narrator, but really hardly any time at all & I thought it was very well narrated overall & fit the setting.