A Nobleman's Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel cover art

A Nobleman's Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel

The Doomsday Books, Book 2

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A Nobleman's Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel

By: KJ Charles
Narrated by: Martyn Swain
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About this listen

When Major Rufus d’Aumesty unexpectedly becomes the Earl of Oxney, he finds himself living in a remote Norman manor on the edge of Romney Marsh with his noble, hostile, and decidedly odd family. His position is contested both by his greedy uncle and by unexpected claimant Luke Doomsday, a dashing member of the local smuggling clan. They should be natural enemies, but cocksure, enragingly competent Luke is a secretary by trade and quickly becomes an unexpected ally, the partner Rufus needs...and soon the lover he can't live without.

Unfortunately, Luke’s not telling anything like the truth. He came to Stone Manor with an ulterior motive, one he’s hiding even from the lord he can’t resist. And as family secrets unspool on both sides, master and man soon find their positions and their partnership in danger of falling apart…

©2023 KJ Charles (P)2023 Dreamscape Media Historical Historical Fiction Regency Regency Romance Romance Royal Romance Royalty

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Critic reviews

Martyn Swain narrates a delightfully gothic-tinged romance between an earl and his secretary.—Audiofile Magazine
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love the story but the narration is a bit stilted until you speed it up to about 1.4

needs listening to sped up

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A fabulous (slightly gentler) follow up to to The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen with the rich characters & historical details you’d expect from this author. Like some others, my only quibble was with the narrator. While his voice, accents etc. are all fine, he reads some lines a strangely punctuated, staccato way that distracts from the text. I found myself focusing on the delivery rather than the scene/dialogue in some cases, but it wasn’t enough to spoil the book overall.

KJ Charles never disappoints

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I've read or listened to everything kj Charles has written, she makes worlds I'll relisten to time again. The Doomsday books are among her best so it's a shame that Cornell Collins or Matthew Davies hadn't read this as it would become my favourite. The narrator isn't without skill, the speech and accents aren't bad, but the cadence of the narration is so stilted and flat. I would crowd fund to get this reread! Bought the book in the end to read first.

Story wins out over the narration

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Another rattling good tale from KJ Charles, focussing on a grown-up Luke from The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen. Rufus is a delightful counterpoint to Luke’s deviousness.

Sadly I don’t massively enjoy the narrator’s style with big pauses between words in sentences.

Another superb story from KJ Charles

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One of many things to love about KJ Charles' books is how anchored they are in their particular historical period. She doesn't hit you around the head with facts, or elevate research over plot. Instead, we join 'A Nobleman's guide to seducing a scoundrel' in the early 1820s when Gothic novels are still the rage, medievalism is becoming an academic study, the Napoleonic Wars are over, and smugglers now operate largely above board.

This isn't historical decoration. Rufus d'Aumesty, the new, disputed Earl of Oxney, spent more than a decade in the army and it's formed who he is. Luke Doomsday (remember him?) is a confidential secretary who's apparently left behind his days of belonging to Romney Marsh's foremost smuggling clan. They meet at the start of the novel in a maze of a house dating back to Norman times, both embroiled in a succession dispute worthy of Dickens.

Luke becomes the earl's right hand man as they both seek to right years' worth of estate neglect. At first, Luke's interest in the job appears genuine. Then we get hints otherwise, even as he and the new Earl fall for each other. Another thing to love about KJ Charles’ writing is how she quietly acknowledges that queer individuals have always existed. That they not only existed, but tried to make full, loving lives for themselves.

Finally, Luke is discovered at night somewhere he shouldn't be and everything goes full-on Gothic. Think 'Northanger Abbey' or 'Melmoth the wanderer' - all dark and stormy with strange, shadowed buildings, crazed, vengeful relatives, and a lone hero(ine) struggling against the odds to save themselves and solve the mystery. Of course, the clouds clear and the sun comes out at the end. No matter how hard KJ Charles makes you (and her characters) work and suffer, there’s always a happy ending.

This is great fun and a worthy sequel to 'The Secret lives of country gentlemen'. If you read this book first, it doesn't matter. KJ Charles has been very clever in linking both books firmly together but also making it possible to read them separately.

A Gothic romance

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great culmination to this story. so well balanced, witty and unpredictable. just what I have come to expect from KJ Charles. More like this, please.

outstanding as usual

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We return to Romney Marsh around thirteen years after the events of The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen, and are thrown into the middle of an acrimonious family dispute between Rufus d’Aumesty, formerly Major d’Aumesty and now, nineteenth Earl of Oxney, and his uncle Conrad, who believes himself to be the rightful holder of the title and estate. Conrad's latest angle is to insist that Rufus’ father was already married when he wed Rufus’ mother – a suggestion apparently made to Conrad by the son of Raymond’s supposed first wife. Furious – Rufus doesn’t really want to be the earl, and certainly doesn’t want to live in the middle of such hostility – he sends for the son to try to find out what the hell is going on.

Into the middle of all this hostility steps Luke Doomsday - whom we last met as a frightened, mistreated thirteen-year-old - now a poised and confident young man who makes his living as a confidential secrertary. Luke explains to Rufus that his ailing grandfather had rambled on about a marriage between his daughter - Luke's mother - and the previous earl's heir, but that there is no proof such an event ever took place. Rufus decides to hire Luke to track down his mother to find out the truth so Rufus can put this behind him and get on with his new life.

It quickly becomes clear to Luke that the estate is in a mess after years of neglect and mismanagement and that Rufus needs someone who can help him put it right. Luke is, of course, that someone, and Rufus is only too pleased to offer him the job,

The romance between these two seemingly mismatched characters is incredibly well done. They have terrific chemistry, and I liked them very much, both as individuals and as a couple, and their romance works because they really do complement each other. Their relationship is built on friendship, mutual respect and affection, and their interactions are light-hearted with a hint of subtle teasing (on Luke’s part) that just about toe the line of a master/servant relationship but don’t cross it. (Until they do, of course ;)) For Rufus, accustomed to being obeyed in the army, and now dealing with a bunch of people he doesn’t know but are (mostly) disposed to hate him, Luke’s cheery competence, intelligent conversation and support is like a breath of fresh air that makes him realise just how much he’s needed someone to be on his side.

I loved the emphasis on compassion and understanding and forgiveness in the story, the mystery is really well done, and I liked the hints of "gothic-ness" to the tale - especially given Luke's love of gothic novels. Plus - there's a good old-fashioned villain to boo and hiss at, and listening to them get their just desserts was utterly delicious.

Martyn Swain does an excellent job with the narration, although I do agree with what some others have said in that he does have a tendency to put pauses in at odd places on occasion (although they are NOT massively long or very frequent, as some other reviewers have stated). In fact, his performance is very enjoyable overall - his voice is pleasant to listen to, he has a good range of character voices and differentiates very clearly between the two leads. His portrayal of Rufus is spot on, confident and no-nonsense, while the softer, slightly higher pitch he adopts for Luke is a good contrast. He does a terrific job of conveying the strength of the emotional connection developing between them, which is so very important in romance narration.
(Special nod to his portrayal of Rufus' aunt Sybil, who wouldn't have been out of place declaring "A Hand-bag??")

A terrific story and a sensual romance wrapped up in a very strong performance gets A Nobleman's Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel a strong recommendation.

Good story & narration - another winner from KJC!

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KJ Charles is brilliant as always, and it was a delight to check back in with the Doomsday clan. However, the narrator is completely unbearable. I had hoped after the last book they would have recast but no, I had to sit through his awful reading again. Ruined the story for me a little bit.

KJ Charles is brilliant as always

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It's an alright story, quite short. Was caught off guard by the smut. There could have been more of a development in their romance, kinda feels like they started liking each other out of nowhere

not much stood out

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