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kazz-brekker · 1 year

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less romances novels with third act drama consisting of contrived break-ups due to silly miscommunication, more romance novels with third act drama where one of the main characters is kidnapped due to supposedly knowing the location of a secret stash of ten thousand stolen guineas and gets rescued by his cool smuggler boyfriend

#pie says stuff #pie reads #the secret lives of country gentlemen #kj charles #books #EXCELLENT romance novel honestly a new favorite #marshes! smuggling! family drama! romantic walks to look at beetles!#what else could you want in a book honestly

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fourthleafluck · 6 months

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Me and the smuggler prince I pulled with my sincerity and childlike wonder

OR

Me and the baronet I pulled with my roguish charm and sense of whimsy

Queer Book Draw Challenge 17/20: The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by KJ Charles

(details under cut)

#queer book draw challenge #qbdc #kj charles #the doomsday books #joss doomsday #sir gareth #the secret lives of country gentlemen #queer books #queer romance #queer historical romance #lgbt books

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fortunatefires · 9 months

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geneseedraws · 5 months

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Drew more book fanart! Here's Gareth and Joss, from The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by KJ Charles💕💖

I just finished reading the sequel (A Nobleman's Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel) and AHHHHH all these boys live in my heart, their story was so astounding!! I loved Gareth & Joss, then also Luke & Rufus all sosososo very muchhh 🥺🥺💕✨ If any of y'all are like me and love historical romance, you don't wanna miss out on these!!

#the secret lives of country gentlemen #kj charles #bookblr #book fanart #my art

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bigdreamsandwildthings · 1 year

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Afraid I must report that this TBR stack has only gotten taller since I took this picture 😅

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lucky-numberme · 6 months

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(pls enjoy this low effort meme I made as a joke for my gf of Joss Doomsday while I wait for the art burnout to fade)

#i just love the doomsdays SO MUCH #(clenches fist)#kj charles #the doomsday books #joss doomsday #the secret lives of country gentlemen

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winged-fool · 7 months

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I've only just started A Nobleman's Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel, but it makes me unbelievably happy that Gareth has published a book on his beetles 🥹

#the secret lives of country gentlemen #a nobleman's guide to seducing a scoundrel #The doomsday books #kj charles #I'm just so happy for him

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poisindonottouch · 10 months

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Queer reads: K.J. Charles

As we leave fantasy, I bring you the last category of my recommendations: smutty smutty smut.

Okay, these are romance novels, but in my reading of romance novels, I’ve discovered that I thoroughly enjoy the spicier end of the spectrum. The smuttier the better.

So, for day 22, I bring you my favorite romance author KJ Charles.

I’m putting this under a cut, because it’s going to be long.

KJ Charles has written loads of books, but I’ve narrowed it down to my favorite 9.

I’ll take these by series.

First off, I give you the Will Darling Adventures. These books take place in 1920s London (and surrounding environs.) They are post WWI. Will Darling served in the war, came home to no one, and ended up inheriting a book shop. He’s gruff, manly, and really a giant cinnamon roll. Kim did not serve in the war (it’s a whole thing), and he’s anything but a manly cinnamon roll. He’s sharp and devious and manipulative. And of course, they fall in loooove. This trilogy follows the same pairing over three books, and it’s nice to see how KJC handles the deepening of their relationship from HFN to HEA. (That’s happily for now & happily ever after.)

The next two books, Proper English and Think of England, are actually in the same world as the Will Darling books, and you’ll see a cameo or two in the later trilogy. Proper English, set in 1902, tells the story of Pat and Fen meeting at a house party that involves a murder mystery and some sexy times. After all, if a murderer is on the loose, you can’t sleep alone, right? Think of England, set in 1904, tells the story of Archie and Daniel, at a different house party. Archie is there to investigate some shady business, but he’s a straightforward kind of man, and he is woefully out of his depth. Luckily, Daniel is there.

Any Old Diamonds and An Unnatural Vice are set in the same world, about 20 years apart. They aren’t the only books in their series, but they are my favorite of each. Any Old Diamonds follows Alec and Jerry as Alec hires Jerry to steal some jewels. There’s a great twist to this one, and I love Alec and Jerry. I want more of them. An Unnatural Vice is book two of the Sins of the City trilogy, but Justin Lazarus is the very best character ever, and Nathaniel is good for him. I recommend the all the books in both series, but these two are my favorite in the bunches.

Band Sinister is a stand alone novel, telling the story of Phillip and Guy, who have some bad history between their families, but unforeseen circumstances bring them together, and chemistry does the rest. I would love to read a book series about every side character in this book, but alas. I’ll keep reading fanfic instead.

Which brings us to The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen, the most recent book out by KJC. It’s the first of a duology, and I’m super excited for the next one to come out in September. It’s marked on my calendar in my kitchen. This is a dual pov book switching between Garath, who recently inherited his late fathers title, home, and secrets, and Joss, the boss of the local smuggler family. This is a lovers to enemies to lovers book, and I love it. Really, one of KJCs best.

(Ack! I missed Spectered Isle, which is also fantastic. I really enjoy the relationship in this one, and I’d happily read a bunch of books set in this world, but alas, I think this series is over. Spectered Isle follows after The Casebooks of Simon Feximal (also good. Think smutty, magical Sherlock Holmes.) Like the Will Darling books, Spectered Isle takes place post the Great War, and everyone in the novel is scarred from it. It’s not a shared universe though, because this one has magic, and the Will Darling books are not fantasy, but similar time frame.)

#sandi reads #queer books #romance novels #lgbtq romance #happy pride 🌈#the will darling adventures #Any Old Diamonds #An Unnatural Vice #Band Sinister #The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen #Spectered Isle #Think of England #Proper English #KJ Charles

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aurorawest · 8 months

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Reading update

A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers - 3.75/5 stars

I hate myself a little bit for using this word to describe this book, but it's a meditation on modern (western) culture, the drumbeat of living a purposeful life, and, imo, the millennial condition.

It also, separately from that, made me think of the song 'New Constellations' by Ryn Weaver: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13EX7qGdUGI

The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by KJ Charles - 5/5 stars

This book features Gareth Inglis, a member of the gentry whose father shipped him off to his uncle when his mother died. Gareth never saw or heard from his father (who remarried and had another child) again, and no one knew he existed because his father was a piece of human garbage. Which meant I couldn't stop thinking about my former father-in-law, who had two sons from his first marriage whom he, as far as I could tell, never had any contact with after remarrying and having another child. Life imitates art?

Anyway, it's KJ Charles, so you pretty much can't go wrong. I saw someone refer to this as enemies-to-lovers and realized my toxic trait is railing against people who want to apply enemies-to-lovers to everything. Spoiler alert, this is not enemies-to-lovers. But it is lovely, and includes Gareth and Joss Doomsday (a smuggler) bonding over beetles.

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by SA Chakraborty - 4.5/5 stars

It was no Daevabad Trilogy, but then again, I remember finishing City of Brass and being like, yeah, it was fine, I'll probably pick up the sequel at some point. It wasn't until Kingdom of Copper that I grew to really love the series, so I'm hoping the same happens with this. This book was a lot of fun, and the fact that all the characters were middle-aged was pretty delightful. I'm definitely excited to see where this series goes.

The Long Run by James Acker - 5/5 stars

Excellent YA book about two lonely jocks in New Jersey.

Feel the Fire by Annabeth Albert - 3.75/5 stars

His Accidental Cowboy by AM Arthur - 4/5 stars

Brida by Paul Coelho - 1/5 stars

One of the reviews for this book on Storygraph says it 'aged like milk' and I can't put it better than that. This is a soul mate AU where souls undergo cell division, essentially, and your soul mate is from your same base soul from before the soul split in half. Okay, great. Oh but wait, the soul always divides into male and female. And your soul mate is always someone of the opposite sex, even though that doesn't make sense because as souls divide again and again, that means there are a lot of people out there who came from the same original soul as you. Also, witchcraft? Also also, even though the book is called Brida and is ostensibly about the title character, her whole journey was really just to serve the unnamed male character, the Magus. This isn't implicit either, it's completely explicit. At the end it's like, 'sometimes young women come along to show men the way' (I'm paraphrasing but...not much).

This went straight to my give away pile, and I hated it so much that the rest of my Coelho books joined it (except The Alchemist).

Enlightened by Joanna Chambers - 5/5 stars

Or, For The Love Of God Please Give David Lauriston And Murdo Balfour A Break, And Preferably A Happy Ending.

They got one, btw.

Song of Silver, Flame Like Night by Amélie Wen Zhao - DNF

Honestly, the Mad Libs YA title should have warned me off of this one, but I always give my Illumicrate books a try. Cartoonish villains and protagonists I find myself liking less the more we get to know them. The prose is quite good but not enough to make up for the character deficiencies.

Solomon's Crown by Natasha Siegel - 5/5 stars

Blurbed by no less than Tamora Pierce (Song of the Lioness supremacy!), Rainbow Rowell, Freya Marske, and CS Pacat. Did I go into this book with insanely high expectations? Yes. Did it mostly meet them? Yes! If you're a Captive Prince fan, this one's for you.

Siegel tells us up front, before the book even starts, that it's a romance and not historically accurate. So don't go into this expecting a historically accurate love story between King Richard of England and King Philip of France. It is, however, a gorgeous romance. The world-building is top notch. Even if it's not totally accurate to the High Middle Ages, it feels accurate, if that makes sense? Siegel really captures the feeling of being in a different world. Lush writing, amazing sexual/romantic tension, lovely sad boys. Highly, highly recommend.

Daniel Cabot Puts Down Roots by Cat Sebastian - 4.75/5 stars

I docked .25 stars because it bugged me that they didn't move in together at the end. Idk, just felt too 'look, I'm subverting romance conventions!' Still good, obviously.

Like Real People Do by EL Massey - 4/5 stars

A very wholesome and low stakes hockey romance. I found myself often thinking that the interactions of the men on the hockey teams seemed unrealistic, but it was charming and sweet enough that I didn't care.

The book reads like fanfiction, which is because it was fanfiction—but it's in a mostly good way, not a bad way (*cough* All The Way Happy *cough*). Apparently the original version was Check, Please! fanfiction, which I am vaguely familiar with as a thing that exists. Apparently it's a web comic? Anyway, I enjoyed the book enough to pick up the sequel.

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meadowphillips · 18 days

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I'm loving "The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen" so far! I was pleasantly surprised by the sex scene in the first chapter (it was GOOD!), as well as the book mentioning trans people in a way that I feel was very respectful, especially for the era where it's set. I was also pleasantly surprised by how much the plot has grabbed me.

I'm also realizing that I'm so invested in Gareth's character journey because I see myself in him: He's a stickler for the rules he was brought up with, even when they hurt people. I hope he'll eventually learn to not be such a cop... He's not great at social interactions. I feel like he struggles to truly relate to people. And he's more interested in his Thing(tm) (beetles, etc.) than in what people expect him to do.

I'm eight chapters in and excited to keep reading!

-Cedar

#the secret lives of country gentlemen #kj charles #bookblr

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bangbangwhoa · 1 year

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books I’ve read in 2023 📖 no. 042

The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by K.J. Charles

“I like the way the world looks to you.”

#books #2023 reads #the secret lives of country gentlemen #k.j. Charles #booklr #lit edit

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cherismomish · 29 days

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“Just one side,” Joss said. “Ours. And us both on it, always.”

The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen

#the doomsday books #kj charles #the secret lives of country gentlemen #joss doomsday #gareth inglis

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barkilphedros-hat · 1 year

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The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen is the literary equivalent of wrapping yourself in a soft blanket in a rainy day with a cup of tea and eating a whole tub of ice cream to yourself.

I love it so much but it’s VERY difficult to stop myself reading when I need to do actual things

#fun fact that’s exactly how I curled up to read it #ice cream and all #it’s actually pulled me out of my reading slump 😍#the secret lives of country gentlemen #kj Charles #booklr #currently reading

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geneseedraws · 2 months

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Art trade this time! Drew this for the lovely @fourthleafluck of Gareth and Joss, who are characters from the book The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by KJ Charles 💕💖

#the secret lives of country gentlemen #kj charles #book fanart #my art

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bigdreamsandwildthings · 11 months

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A stack of May reads 🖤 I loved my books this month!

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theivorybilledwoodpecker · 5 months

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If you want to read about a smuggler and a gentleman in a relationship, I suggest you try The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen, by KJ Charles.

It's about a man named Gareth who was sent to live with his uncle as a kid. His father's a baronet, but Gareth was only kinda raised as a noble? Like, he had the education and never had to worry about going hungry, but he also wasn't really trained in being a baron.

Anyway, he has a series of hookups with this man in an inn. They really like each other, but due to misunderstandings, part on bad terms.

Then Gareth's dad dies, so Garerth goes to inherit the title and land, which is in Romney Marsh. Only he runs into the man from the inn. Who also happens to lead a pack of smugglers in the area.

For anyone who follows me, no, it's not quite the same vibe as Our Flag Means Death. Similar themes, but it's not an equivalent story. Gareth also struggles with the things Stede does, but he's not yearning to be a pirate.

However, if you're looking for a romance (not really comedic) between a scoundrel and nobleman that's sweet and sexy, and if you can't bring yourself to watch a certain show because of a certain progenocide actor, this might be worth givinh a shot.

#The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen #Books #LGBTQIA+ literature #kj charles

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