A review by just_one_more_paige
The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by KJ Charles

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious 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

4.0

 
Oh hi, I'm back on my romance game. A Power Unbound had me looking for more m/m historical romances, and this one had been on my radar - I've been wanting to try something by K.J. Charles for some time, I've read nothing but great reviews for their work - so I grabbed it. 
 
As per Goodreads (because life is out of control right now and I'm just barely keeping up with reviews, so writing my own blurbs is just not happening), here's a synopsis: Abandoned by his father as a small child, Sir Gareth Inglis has grown up prickly, cold, and well-used to disappointment. Even so, he longs for a connection, falling headfirst into a passionate anonymous affair that's over almost as quickly as it began. Gareth has little time to lick his wounds though: his father has died, leaving him the family title, a rambling manor on the remote Romney Marsh...and the den of cutthroats and thieves that make its intricate waterways their home. Joss Doomsday has run the Doomsday smuggling clan since he was a boy. His family is his life...which is why when the all-too-familiar new baronet testifies against Joss's sister for a hanging offense, Joss acts fast, blackmailing Gareth with the secret of their relationship to force him to recant. Their reunion is anything but happy and the path forward is everything but smooth, yet after the dust settles, neither can stay away. It's a long road from there - lots of danger and mystery - but along the way, one well-mannered gentleman may at last find true love with the least likely of scoundrels. 
 
This was a super fun regency romance! It had bootleggers/smugglers and blackmail and treason and kidnapping and lots of fights. Like really, the plot itself was a highlight, which is not always the case with romances. It was page-turning, the drama and conflict and conspiracy, and I was as desperate to know how that would all play out as I was for our MCs happily ever after. It had the classic historical vibes of propriety, in language and societal rules, but also managed one of my favorite subversions of that propriety: wielding propriety as a weapon against the higher classes when they try to profligately use their power and privilege to run over/take advantage of others. It is truly one of the most satisfying things to read - I can never get enough of it. The banter between Joss and Gareth was similarly well done, using "proper" back-and-forth but with heavy euphemism. So good. I love when the dialogue shines like it does here. And while there weren't an overly high number of steamy scenes, I enjoyed the ones we got greatly. They were really nicely written, and tender, and I will be coming back for more from Charles as a result, because non-cringey steam is not always a given. 
 
 The side characters in this novel were fantastic too, pretty well developed for all that they weren't our central characters (again, not always a given in a romance). NAME and NAME were great, as Gareth got to know them and they became more comfortable with/sure of him. And Goldie/Luke...just yes. Getting to see Gareth come into his own and stand up for himself (and be there for Joss to lean on too) was great. I loved it. But I loved even more that Gareth was able to stand up for what basically amounted to a younger version of himself too. The comfort redemption in that is something I could not get enough of. I'm also really appreciating the way lots of the recent historical romance I have been reading is not ignoring the greater world around it, but instead addressing the social/class issues and general inequality of the time in question.A Power Unbound did it spectacularly. And The Queer Principles of Kitt Webb and We Could Be So Good also did a nice job with those aspects. In that case, Charles weaved it into the greater story smoothly, and it was addressed, but also the HEA did sort of allow us to pretend it wasn't an issue still. I'm not mad about that, but just want to be clear. 
 
Look, overall, the principled “blackguard” who will break a jaw and a law for those they care for and the "proper" gentleman who finally loses his control to defend those he cares for, are tropes for a reason. We got both here. And I cannot help but swoon for them. I love a man with a good heart - mess and all, but trying their best - and this book had two. 
 
 “I…I would like to be just for you.” 
 
“If you want something, you ask for it. You told me so, before. Is that always how you get what you want? / You don't get what you want by not asking for it.” 
 
“They kissed their way past the hurt and the loneliness, kissed themselves back together…” 
 
“…wondered how it was possible to be at once annoyed and hopelessly charmed.” (ahhhh, relationships, haha) 
 
“…the way he looked could break a man’s heart and mend it all at once.” (GAH what a line!) 
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