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The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen

The Doomsday Books, Book 1

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The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen

By: KJ Charles
Narrated by: Martyn Swain
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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 Historical Mystery Regency Regency Romance Romance Heartfelt Fiction
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The story itself is excellent with lovely characters and a suspenseful and entertaining plot. Sadly the narration is pretty dire. To give Martyn Swain credit, his character voices aren't bad and in some cases they are pretty good, but his narrative voice is awful. He doesn't appear to know how to read a sentence without weird pacing and odd stresses. it means that, unlike pretty much every other one of KJ Charles' books, this is not one I can ever see myself listening to again. I am so disappointed by this as some of her books are real comfort listens at this point and, with a better narrator, this one probably would have been as well.

Lovely story but awful narration

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Not for nothing is KJ Charles my favourite living writer, and this is another banger - engaging characters, meticulously researched world building, thrilling plotty shenanigans and a satisfying denouement. I’m already champing at the bit for the sequel.

Martyn Swain’s narration is confident and well-judged throughout, with good work on the character voices (…okay, with maybe a slight quibble on his vocalisation for Cecelia, but male narrators very rarely do a great job with voicing women, let alone teenage girls: with most men that tends to be the point where their capacity for empathy collapses). However, the rest of the characters are grand, and Cecelia isn’t jarring.

A thoroughly enjoyable listen, all in all!

Another absolute gem from Charles

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Why would you even consider another narrator than Cornell Collins? Unfortunately, it seems there is a new publishing house involved..

I started with the audiobook but had to switch to the ebook after a couple of minutes as the performance was chipping away the fun (and my nerves).

The sorry is amazing (as always) with a fair bit of mystery, wild goose chases across the moor and complex entanglements. KJ Charles writes realistic, relatable, and unpredictable stories, and I can heartily recommend her novels to anyone who loves a good story, including the naughty bits (:

Great story, awful performance

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I love KJ Charles and this story is exactly what I hoped; full on swashbuckling, complicated and interesting characters and a wonderful love story.
The narrator was terrible and the story deserved so much better. I’m not sure why he felt the need to pause after ever other word, or somehow managed monotone for an entire novel.

Stick with it through the narration

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Ok - so once again I fell foul of buying the audio book without sampling the narrator - my fault!

But, in my personal opinion he’s totally wrong for this book and definitely made it a poorer experience for me.

I have complained before - when the main characters are clearly aged-defined - in this story both are 26 - don’t get a narrator who sounds like a middle aged middle class doctor or solicitor to read it.

It’s also painfully slow - the first 10 chapters were so plodding and pedestrian, including a lot of clunky dialogue.

After chapter 10 it perks up a bit and is more enjoyable - hence overall a 3 star review.

Others have commented that they liked the narrator so these things are always subjective - but he’s not for me.

A mixed review

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