The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen

The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen (2023) KJ Charles (The Doomsday Books #1)

Set in Kent in 1810

Gareth Inglis was raised by his uncle who made it clear to Gareth that he wasn’t wanted. When his father dies he learns just how awful his father was.

“Your father decided that. He thought it was for the best.”

“Best? Whose best?” Gareth demanded savagely.

“You were settled. Sir Hugo thought it would be wrong to change that. His brother and wife had taken you as their own—”

“Let me assure you, they did not.”

Joss Doomsday has run the Doomsday clan in deed–if not in name–since he was young. But things have come to a head and Joss needs to be the Upright Man in deed and word.

“There’s enough of us to deal with him.”

“Yes, there are.” Anger crackled through Gareth’s voice. “And yet it seems nobody has before now.” Several people breathed in sharply, and someone whistled. Ma’s face was not a pretty sight.

Garath may have seemed weak initially, but he really wasn’t, not when it counted.

And he was thoughtful, which I always appreciate in a person.

“I would rather turn this over in my head a little because—well, I think you must be wrong, but I can’t put my finger on where. And I’d rather think about why that is and what you said than argue about it.”

That’s a hard thing to do.

One of my favorite characters was Asa Doomsday, for all he rarely left his chair.

He took the name when he married my grandma, who was a Doomsday born. He had no attachment to his other.”

“That’s unusual.”

“He came from Georgia.”

There is actually an explanation that followed, but no one with the slightest knowledge of American history needs it; it could have been left there and I would have completely and fully understood.

I also adored Catherine, who had been dealt a rather poor hand yet made the most of what she had.

They went through and shut the door. Joss said, “Look, first thing, how’s Luke?”

“If you haven’t beaten Elijah Doomsday to death, you ought to,” Mrs. Inglis said, so calmly that it brought the hairs on Joss’s arms up.

One of the things I like about KJ Charles stories is that those who on the face of it have little power often have the better deal.

“If you want something, you ask for it. You told me so, before. Is that always how you get what you want?”

Joss shrugged. “You don’t get what you want by not asking for it.” Gareth contemplated the obvious truth of that statement. “I may have to change my approach to life.”

“You don’t get what you want by not asking for it” is a hard truth to learn.

Characters: Sir Gareth Inglis, Catherine Inglis, Cecilia Inglis, Sophia Doomsday, Josiah Doomsday, Granda / Asa Doomsday, Sybil Doomsday, Uncle Elijah Doomsday, Isaac Doomsday, Cousin Emily Doomsday, Goldie / Luke Doomsday, Cousin Tom, Graveyard, Matt Molash, John Groom, Sir Anthony Topgood, Bovey, John Graves, Pagan d’Aumesty, Bowring, Nadgett, Nate Sweetwater, Mrs. Sweetwater, Bill Sweetwater, Uncle Henry Inglis, Lionel Inglis, Jabez Whalebone, Adam Drake

Cover art by Jyotirmaryee Patra

Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca

Rating: 8.5/10

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