Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by KJ Charles

36 reviews

crystalisreading's review

adventurous emotional hopeful

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

More violence and tension than i expected, but nevertheless absolutely delightful. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Abandonment, Violence, Medical trauma, Medical content, Death of parent, Death, Blood, Alcohol, Murder, Gun violence, Classism, Child abuse, and Bullying

Moderate: Outing, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Homophobia, Racism, Grief, Domestic abuse, and Sexual assault

Minor: Pregnancy, Slavery, Colonisation, and Misogyny

maxinesf's review

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Classism, Homophobia, Grief, Trafficking, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Abandonment, Child abuse, and Murder

Minor: Sexual violence

tuhkasirius's review against another edition

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Abandonment, Outing, Child abuse, Death of parent, Homophobia, Grief, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Blood, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

gold_star_reader's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Very spicy!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Abandonment

Moderate: Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Outing, Homophobia, Classism, and Violence

Minor: Bullying and Alcohol

ramakn22's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Bullying, Alcoholism, Violence, Murder, Sexual content, Death of parent, Child abuse, Abandonment, Physical abuse, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Cursing, Confinement, Ableism, Slavery, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Outing, Grief, Infertility, and Homophobia

galleytrot's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

READ: Apr 2024 

FORMAT: Audio 

ENTERTAINMENT VALUE: 4.25 / 5⭐ 

TECHNICAL / PRODUCTION: 4.5 / 5⭐ 

FINAL – OVERALL: 4.5 / 5⭐ 

In this book, a sudden and unexpected death pulls Gareth from his life as a clerk in London into his birthright position of Baronet out in the smuggler-infested back country of Romney Marsh. He’s left with managing a half-sister he never met, a home he never got to live in, accounts that don't make sense, and social expectations that no honest man ought to be asked to uphold. The marsh and his home are in Doomsday territory, and the clan's gaffer – Josiah Doomsday himself – turns out to be a man with a very intimate (and rather recent) knowledge of Gareth's own law-breaking interests. Blackmail, secret dealings, and unpaid debts haunt Gareth, who wants nothing more than to simply observe the bugs and the newts that captured all of his father's attention when his very own firstborn son could not. 

I'm honestly not sure where to begin with this review. This book’s intricate story, its intriguing characters, and its strange and wonderful setting all converge together to create an incredible experience from cover to cover. I've read it twice now, and the second pass was not made any less interesting by already knowing what was going on or who was hiding what secrets. Poor Gareth has been pulled into a world he’d never expected to be a part of, with debts and responsibilities he could never have predicted, inheriting a wide and varied set of enemies he had no hand in making. 

KJ Charles writes some of my favourite historical fiction romances out there, and I’m happy to add this one to the stack. I’m also very excited to move into the second book of the series at some point, although I am waiting for a day where I can truly focus all of my attention into it. One of the things that really interested me about this book was the growth and understanding of Gareth’s father’s character, a man who never has a single moment on-page (and in fact, spends the entire length of the book very much not alive). I love that he is never redeemed for his failures as a father, and while we learn enough to have some theories about his potential neurodivergence, we also end the book with the certainty of his involvement in nefarious plotting and profiteering. 

This book has representation for gays. One of the main characters is mix-raced, with several other mixed-race and non-white family members. 

The following elaborates on my content warnings. These may be interpreted as spoilers, but I do not go into deep detail.

This book contains:

parent deaths (past, recent, off-page); child abandonment; mentions of war; mentions of deaths, fighting, and injuries; intimidation, blackmail; sexual assault (off-page); alcohol use; weapon violence (knives, cane, fists, gun); assault; mention of past slavery; homophobia; child abuse (physical); serious injury, blood; body shaming; kidnapping, confinement; and, murder (off-page).

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Sexual content

Moderate: Classism, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Violence, Bullying, Cursing, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, Body shaming, Gun violence, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, Confinement, Death, and Medical trauma

Minor: War, Slavery, and Sexual assault

booksthatburn's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

THE SECRET LIVES OF COUNTRY GENTLEMEN is another excellent gay romance from K.J. Charles, this time between a noble and a smuggler... with the complication that the noble, Sir Gareth, didn’t get his inheritance until his twenties when his estranged father died unexpectedly. Gareth pushes away a man with whom he'd spent a very pleasant week, only to have it turn out that this man lives near his late father's home and their lives keep intertwining in unexpected ways. 

I don’t generally like the miscommunication trope, but this one is handled well without making anyone behave nonsensically (as much as I'd prefer they'd made different decisions earlier) Much of the tension is over people who think the Gareth has information which he does not, and this was overall delightful to read the missed the violence in murder and other dangers of smuggling as a profession. I like Joss, I generally enjoy roguish characters, and as a smuggler he fits that both in occupation and in personality. 

I love the Doomsdays as a family and as individuals. The ways they behave collectively and individually just make so much sense and written so well. There's a real sense of identity to the people in the Marsh without turning them into a single mass. There's also a focus on Luke, a boy whose father uses his position within the Doomsdays to mistreat him and wield power as a petty tyrant over a child with limited recourse.

I wanted a romance with danger and maybe a little death, and this delivered on all fronts with a fascinating narrative to boot. The ending leaves room for some kind of follow-up on Luke, and I plan to read the sequel which features him as an adult.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Confinement, Violence, Kidnapping, and Sexual content

Moderate: Medical content, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Murder, Death, Abandonment, Death of parent, and Blood

ptaradactyl's review

adventurous funny hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

It was really sweet and fun. I liked the characters and the setting, and it was nice to see them growing together. Their decisions, good and bad, make sense in context, and the romance was charming. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Abandonment

Moderate: Violence and Murder

katelynnelawson's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

Opposites attract when self-righteous, upper-class London and plain-spoken, working-class Kent enjoy a splendid week-long affair together... that ends terribly when the two argue. But weeks later, Gareth (London) must travel to Kent after his father dies and he inherits his title. It's not until he testifies against Joss (Kent)'s sister in court that the two reunite, and despite the tense circumstances, the two eventually regain the connection they had against the backdrop of the Kentish marsh. But it's not just beetles the two uncover - it's dangerous secrets.

This romance will leave the reader swinging their feet in joy while also turning the pages out of a desperate need to uncover the mystery of what exactly Sir Gareth's father was up to alongside Gareth and Joss. It's both exciting and romantic, with beautifully described scenery and an interesting cast of characters sure to show up in the author's upcoming works.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Kidnapping, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Blood, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Grief, Bullying, Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, and Racism

potatogrr's review against another edition

emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Death, Murder, Abandonment, and Kidnapping

Minor: Racism, Sexual harassment, and Sexual assault