This book is a historical romance with a unique queer twist. It follows “London” and “Kent” as they meet, fall apart, stumble across each other again, then see where their lives can take them. Especially with a setting such as England, so you get to imagine everyone having an accent.

However; one of my personal issues with books sometimes comes from the author telling me what’s happening instead of showing me. Two of the major incidents of this happening is Gareth stumbling upon the smuggling incident at the beginning of the book. He just explains it all later with exposition instead of us being in that moment. It happens again later when he is recounting uncle coming to stay. I want to see those high pressure moments happening not have them told to me later on.

One think I can say about this is I like the representation in this book. There is racial diversity, different classes, and obviously the inclusion of a male/male romance. Aside from that I really enjoyed the plot and the mystery they were working to unravel. Aspects of the exposition made me struggle at times but overall this is definitely I would recommend for someone looking to fill the void that Aiden Turner left in our lives when Poldark came to an end.

4,25 out of 5 stars, 3 out of 5 spice.

Novels set in the regency period tend to be some of my favorite, there's so much material for fantastic stories. This one not being set in London actually makes more sense than some of the other stories, since the British Isles are filled with more than the grand country manors and the grand ballrooms in the fashionable sections of London. Lovely mlm story.

You first meet the main characters in a slightly seedier portion of London as Kent and London because they both thought it safer to not exchange names - oh you silly fools. The miscommunication, or actually the lack of communication, leads to some very impressive fights and situations that require some finagling to get through. The author does a fantastic job writing accents into the story, using words and phrases that seem to fit the characters, even including a Georgian (America) accent on a former slave who is living in England. The book seemed to be very well researched in terms of clothing and describing the architecture, the use of the language of the time period required an adjustment from the stereotypical modern language, so I made liberal use of my dictionary to make sure that I understood the meanings when I came across words I was not immediately familiar with.

I really enjoyed the book, the characters are engaging, and the fact that you had 3rd person points of view for both main characters helped with understanding the characters motives and interests.

Highly recommend if you like historical queer romances, with a decent level of spice, and mystery. Similar vibes to Alexis Hall and Cat Sebastian novels.

DNF. Clearly not for me. I love regency romances and would love to read a m/m romance but this one had me rolling my eyes from the beginning. These men just met and are having a fight about one of them leaving for their hometown? It was so childish. The language was also superrrr hard to understand — I know the setting was 1810, but still, it was not digestible. Especially with the UK accent nitpicking (I’m from the US). Thanks for the copy — I hope others love this more than I did!

Gareth Inglis has had a disappointing life. His mother died when he was a child, and his father left him behind in London with an uncaring uncle while he headed off to the Romney Marsh to start a new family. He falls for “Kent” in a London molly house, but is once again disappointed as his lover is soon going back home for the family business.

Gareth’s father dies, leaving him the title of Baronet, as well as his new home that comes complete with a younger sister he never knew, as well as her aunt, who had been his father’s mistress. The area is also notorious for smuggler’s and once he reports to the authorities about their activity and is to go to court, he learns that the smuggler on trial has a big brother, Joss Doomsday, who is “Kent” from the molly house. Let’s just say our lovers are not off to a great start in the communications department, and it takes them a while to do so.

Gareth has to deal with his newfound family, and is also trying to understand how his own father treated him the way he did. He begins to wander the marsh, looking for the various things his naturalist father wrote about, but he soon finds his new life threatened in the literal sense.

Joss Doomsday is the young head of a well-known local smuggling family, who will do anything to keep his sister from being hanged or shipped off to a penal colony in Australia. There are also some family members chafing at his rules thinking they can do better, as well as other smuggling clans to deal with. He has a supportive family, though it appears only his sister knows he’s queer at the beginning of the story. Joss is also mixed race, with a grandfather who was born a slave in Georgia, but that’s not a huge plot point.

On top of the leads getting (rightfully) angry at each other and having to figure out their feelings, there’s also some suspense with threats against Gareth for unknown reasons. Joss intervenes, of course. There are some threads left hanging at the end, which I’m assuming is a set up for the sequel schedule for release in September 2023. I was relatively certain I knew who one of the protagonists would be, and I’m delighted to see I was right.

ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

What a fun story! I have never read a historical romance quite like it! The story was great, the characters were compelling and it was all around enjoyable read. It wasn't my favorite style of writing for a historical romance, but the story was so great that it didn't bother me.

"London" and "Kent's" relationship was hot, sad, beautiful, daring, and more all at once. I loved their differences and how they work through their relationship in spite of them. The plot of smuggling and the hidden secrets of the town and the families in it had me continuing to reach back to the book every time I had to put it down!

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC!

I LOVE that KJ Charles finally gets her paperback debut, and I adore her unique blend of heart and mystery.

This book takes us to the wild marsh of Kent, where a newly made baronet inherited his estranged father's estate and retreated to the country to lick his wounds after a bad break up which left him reeling. Too bad his ex turns out to be the head of a smuggling clan. Soon Gareth finds himself torn between being outraged that everyone around is involved in smuggling and those pesky feelings that just won't go away...
Add to that a wicked uncle and cousin, a brutal rival smuggling gang, and things get pretty adventurous.

I loved the relationship between Gareth and Joss. Love love LOVE it. The pining, the overwhelming feelings, and the struggle is so well done. They actually talk about things and resolve their issues maturely. By talking about them!

But for me, the beauty of the relationship was sometimes overshadowed by the smuggling drama, the violence, and the ending left some things open (which I'm hoping means another book?).

Excuse me while I try to gather my rather salacious and swoon inducing thoughts about Joss and Gareth's hedonistic and illustrious adventures from The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by K.J. Charles. This is my first ever historical romannce, not counting the classics. And definitely my first MM historical romance. I would undoubtedly say it has been a more than delightful experience.

Gareth Inglis suddenly found himself as the heir to his father’s Baronhood and estate..The very father who sent him away to London to his uncle about twenty years back. Romney Marsh is a very unique place. The sea, the sea wall, the marshlands, the insects and .. The naturalist in Gareth is excited. But not so pleased when he faces the man he had a sinful tryst with in London. Josiah "Joss" Doomsday is the gaffer, the king of free traders aka smugglers. When some lowlife come threatening Gareth's family, it appears his life is much more mixed with Joss than he thought.


Gareth had a different mindset before he came to marsh. He had a clean idea of right and wrong. His title put him in the upper society but he never really thought so though he didn't have any idea of the complicated dealings of Marsh. How the people survive here by free trading and that may be criminal activity under King's laws but it is not black and white. He got caught in the middle of the squire, the Preventives, the divisions of smugglers..and initially he faced Joss in a rather hostile situation. The misunderstanding cleared but the suspense of why some criminals after him didn't get solved. They were trying to navigate through the feelings about each other. They have to keep their liason secret. And all these external factors were interfering constantly. Joss the rogue is my favorite indeed. He has a commanding and controlled personality who is respected by the marshmen. But he also has pressure of responsibility on his broad shoulders. The witty grumpy baron is his escape. Gareth has shown a lot of courage in marsh and he was slowly accepted by the people. The main power of this story is the plot. The France England war is mixed very subtly with the woes of common people. The suspense kept me on the edge. I genuinely thought I would be bored stuck in the past but I was fascinated. I also dreaded that the language will be difficult but I dare say the author did a fine job of making it extremely pleasant. Did K.J. Charles made me a new admirer of historical romance?Most possibly yes.


I reviewed an early copy voluntarily from Netgalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca

As always KJ Charles books are a delight. Both MC's feel like real people you'd want to know and the side characters are likewise well developed. (Even the villains). The writing is heartfelt and enough plotty plot to make the story compelling.

All Gareth wants to do with his new Baronet title is walk around town and study bugs and instead everyone is ruining his peace with crime. His plans to neck with the local bad boy are thwarted even before they really get off the ground after his very public arrival.

Turns out his sneaky hookup from before he moved to town (Joss) is the head of the local smugglers ring and Gareth is testifying against a smuggler aka Joss' sister. He very publicly threatens to let some things be known about Gareth's preferences and he's forced to back down.

To be clear, I did not love this plot point at all. I get why it had to be in the book based on the time period but still. Gareth was mortified and terrified and they went far too long without making him feel safe again. Joss does apologize and explain his reasoning and after awhile they have something resembling friendship then more.

I appreciated that these two got angry, needed time to cool off and then actually talked to each other instead of getting upset and storming off. Gareth was very quick to say, please let me sleep on this to figure out where my brain is so we don't get upset with each other and I enjoyed that immensely.

Over time, more people come to threaten Gareth and his household and after a bit of apologizing, Joss helps him to figure out the why and who of it all. They do manage to cobble together something of a life together and I thought the way the book ended was very sweet.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media, Sourcebooks Casablanca, and Netgalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are my own.

The Secret Lives Of Country Gentlemen is a fun historical romp. With romance, smuggling, and find a place you never expected to call home.

I think this may have been my first LGBTQIA+ historical fiction read, and it was for sure my first by this author, who seems to have a decent backlist (always fun to learn). In both cases, I can't imagine this will be my last. I'm already looking forward to the second in this series and I'm also going to look into the author's backlist because this one was fun! Quick, entertaining read where all sorts of drama commences and all along your pulling for love to win. I will say, it's a little more steamy than I tend to like, but I just skipped those pages, easy enough! Highly recommend for those who like a regency romance with a side of high jinks.

I can see how this was a good book and if I were a different person I would probably have liked it! It’s a queer historical romance with a smuggling intrigue sub plot and… I just couldn’t hang? It took me like a week and a half to get through this which is very rare for me but I didn’t dislike any of it. I just need to make better choices of advanced reader copies because if I had spent like an eighth of a second reflecting on what I know about myself I could have predicted this review without reading the book.

Drama, action and romance for the first in book in a planned duet (The Doomsday Books). Historical suspense. POC representation. Newly inheriting a baronet title, along with manor and funds, Sir Gareth gladly leaves London behind and tries to establish a family connection with an unexpected half-sister and follows his neglectful father’s naturalist studies of the surrounding marshlands in order to find some commonality. However, an encounter with smugglers reveals that his last illicit encounter in London was actually with the local hero Josiah Doomsday, who protects his family and locals alongside his job of procuring illegal items. This story includes beautifully written descriptions of the locale, interesting and compelling secondary cast of characters, discussions of historical legalities, politics and the necessity of hiding same sex relationships and the suspense of a secret plot Gareth and Joss must uncover together. I really enjoyed the push and pull of Gareth and Joss in their interactions, which included lust, anger, forgiveness, protectiveness, understanding, companionship and love. Both Gareth and Joss have important and well developed backgrounds, and share their struggles with each other as they build a relationship, after many stumbles and bettering their communication so they can be together. Danger was ever present, personal growth for both Gareth and Joss, and a well deserved HFN, this book was entertaining from beginning to end.

I was able to read this as an ARC thanks to NetGalley.

I can honestly say I was hoping to love this story and I didn't, at all. I didn't like the character development (or lack there of) and I didn't like the writing style (hard to tell who's point of view it was). I did, however, like the plot/story. I thought that was incredibly interesting and just could have been executed better.

Great Regency-era adventure story!😍

4.5🌟 stars
This was so different than I had expected, but in a good way! The adventure and action component was especially strong. The whole concept of dangerous smuggler outlaws roaming the English marshlands took me right back on a nostalgic journey to my first reading of the classic Lorna Doone. For me, this story was just as good, though it did center on same sex couple Joss and Gareth instead of Lorna and her farmer John.

The reading went much quicker than I had anticipated, especially once gentleman Gareth's shady uncle and cousin arrive on the scene and an elusive gold treasure comes into the plot. I liked that it focused on the adventure elements with the medium heat romance as an enhancement. Joss was a great character, bearing such a heavy burden of responsibility for his huge family and their smuggling activities to the extent that he despairs of finding longer-term personal happiness with the man he loves. He's courageous, protective and a wildly romantic lead. I liked Gareth, too; he's got a good emotional backstory and shows courage when it's most needed.

I would definitely read more by the author who really provided an entertaining, action-filled plot.

Thanks to publishers SOURCEBOOKS Casablanca and NetGalley for sharing a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest opinion.

Gareth inherits a baronetcy upon the death of his estranged father. When he moves into the manor house, he discovers that the town is a den of smuggling—and his former lover, Joss, is their leader. Gareth gets caught in a web of rivalries that threaten to strangle him. Can Joss help him save himself?

This is a fascinating novel, as much mystery as romance. The author does a great job of dramatizing Gareth's struggles to come to terms with the ethics of the society in which he finds himself, which differ from the ethics of London. The book also examines the internal conflict between self-reliance and community. But it's also got a strong, engaging plot and a steamy, heartwarming love story. You really can't go wrong with a KJ Charles book.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

I've been looking forward to this book since it was announced and I was thrilled to receive and ARC! It took me a little while to get into this book, but I enjoyed the characters from the get-go. Gareth and Joss are the perfect pair of opposites attract and they bring out the best in one another. They are both a little stubborn and independent in different ways and that's where the main issues come from, but it all works out in the end. We don't see many books set in the Marshes of Kent and it was a joy to delve into this world a little bit. I look forward to reading more in this series and more from this author down the road!

4.5 stars

This was such a beautifully quiet novel. The opposites attract romance between Joss and Gareth was set up so well and I loved how it unfolded through the course of the novel. The complicated Inglis and Doomsday family dynamics as well as the smuggling plot lines kept the action going in this M/M historical romance, but it's the love story between Gareth and Joss that's the heart of this book. I fell in love with them (and the Marsh) and my heart nearly burst from the sweet and tender moments they shared. The book is also wonderfully steamy and those scenes had me blushing and fanning myself.

As happy as I was to see Gareth take charge of his life and stand up for himself, I was also somewhat disturbed by his role in Lionel's ultimate fate. Things also got a smidge too chaotic at the end with everything seeming to happen as all the plot lines came together. No matter what though, I loved that Joss and Gareth's feelings never wavered and that they truly saw and understood the other. The grass at the end had me melting into a puddle of mush and all the heart eyes for that gorgeous ending. This was my first book by KJ Charles and I can't wait to read more!

Tropes: forced proximity, just a fling, touch him and die, class difference, opposites attract, cinnamon roll heroes, small town

CW: death of parent (past), parental abandonment (past), grief, complicated family relationships, physical and emotional child abuse (secondary character, on page), assault, murder, racism, threats of sexual assault and violence

My first book (finally) by KJ Charles, 'The secret life of country gentleman' is an entertaining historical M/M romance between a Joss Doomsday, the charming leader of a smuggling clan, and Sir Gareth Inglis, who recently inherited a title and home in the middle of Romney Marsh - Joss' territory. There's adventure, mystery, and forbidden yet life-changing love.

Sir Gareth stood out to me with regards to how open he was to learning and bettering himself - even if it's with regards to situations that he's either afraid of or doesn't have a favorable opinion about. He remains curious despite what he's been through, and shows courage in ways that are not always so obvious right away.

Joss plays the sunshine part in this romance even though he carries some pretty heavy and dangerous burdens himself. The relationships with his supportive sister and granddad found a special place in my heart. And I adore that his dark skin colour is not part of the plot.

I loved the authentic voices and that KJ used dialects/ phrases of the area while also beautifully painting a wonderful picture of the epic scenery which plays an important role as part of the story.

Tropes: grump & sunshine, lovers to enemies to lovers, forbidden love
Spice: 3/5
Overall rating: 4/5
Publication date: March 7th, 2023

While I would have wished at times for a speedier plot development (but I get that the set pace goes well with the sprawling marsh setting), and more time between Joss and Gareth (I so wanted an epilogue!), this was still an entertaining romance, It will definitely not be my last romance by KJ Charles.

Content guidance:
> mentions of drowning, war time struggles, homophobia, racism
> mentions of past and depictions of current mental and physical harm (including death, assault, and attempted murder) to adults and minors
> explicit sex scenes between consenting men
Special mention goes out to the wonderful cover art that accurately and beautifully depicts scenes of the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher Sourcebooks Casablanca for allowing me to read a copy ahead of the publication in exchange for an independent review.

Gareth is a newly established baronet. He moves to his country seat in Kent for the first time and stumbles across a smuggling gang. And it turns out that Joss, the mystery man he met in London, is the leader of the group.

I really enjoyed how well described the smuggling trade was. I learned a great deal and especially enjoyed the Kentish vocabulary included throughout.

Joss is presented as mixed race with his grandfather a former slave from Georgia. However, that is glossed over pretty quickly. I would have liked to know more.

I found this a fun romance with great chemistry. And more, it's a romantic suspense with an interesting mystery. I would have liked a more thorough conclusion and hope the lack is just leaving us room for the sequel. This is the first of the Doomsday Books, and I look forward to more set here.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy. These opinions are my own.

CW: racism, homophobia