What I'm Reading: A Nobleman's Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel by KJ Charles (2023)

[delphi]

✓ kingstoken's 2025 Book Bingo: Book in a Series

A Nobleman's Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel by KJ Charles is the second in the Doomsday Books series. This series focuses on the Doomsdays, a family of smugglers on the Romney Marsh in Kent in the early 1800s, and the local gentleman landowners whose lives intersect with the clan's business. In this book, Major Rufus d’Aumesty unexpectedly inherits the Earldom of Oxney, but finds the line of succession and his personal life complicated by the appearance Luke Doomsday, a seemingly respectable young secretary who's pulling a grift to present himself as the reluctant rightful heir.

I'm going to be trying something different with these posts when it comes to romance novels, since the way romance novels land is such a personal thing. More of a "note to self" format than a review. I've been wanting to check out more romance and have had trouble finding the kind I like, but I've admittedly been half-assing the attempt. I know that authors, publishers, and the surrounding fandom are good at categorizing romance novels in ways that advertise what you can expect, and I should really learn the lingo and make more effort to track down the right book rather than just picking up whatever's on the library staff recs shelf. So, under the cut, I'm going to make some notes about what worked and didn't work for me, with the aim of better defining what I'm looking for.

But first, I'll say upfront that this was a very well put together romance novel that I think will be enjoyed by anyone who finds the premise and excerpt appealing. If it was my kind of love story with my kind of leads, I would have been over the moon to find this.


What Worked for Me:

1. The plot and the plot-to-romance ratio. The plot itself, with Rufus's uncle trying to disinherit him and Luke running his own scam, was interesting and solid enough that I could imagine a gen version of this story where Luke/Rufus was a side plot or just something readers shipped. I don't need my romance to be plot-heavy, but having the plot feel like a freestanding set of circumstances instead of a contrivance speaks to how well-realized the world, the characters, and their interactions with each other were. It was also the sort of right-sized plot that was time-sensitive and relevant to the protagonists' lives but also left plenty of space for them to just spend time together.

2. The writing in general. It's really good. The point of view alternated in this one, and both characters' voices were clear and distinct. There was a lot of charm and colour in the narration, wit and bounce in the dialogue, and deft efficiency in the plotting. No complaints at all there.

3. The specificity of the characters, even if they didn't turn out to be the kind of characters I clicked with enough to care about their romance. As mentioned above, they felt like they could hold up a novel on their own without the romance, which I think is the mark of good romance novel characters.

4. The specificity of the setting. I can't say how it reads for anyone familiar with the area, but I'm a sucker for a strong sense of place in a story, especially a less common setting that it's clear the author had fun researching.

5. The overall balance of historical accuracy with romantic fantasy. Imagined alternate realities where queer relationships have always been open and celebrated isn't my thing. But neither are stories that exist solely in the moments of oppression and fear rather than in the spaces many queer people throughout history have carved out to happily be themselves in. This walked a good line of characters needing to be discreet but still just going about their lives.


What Wasn't for Me:

1. The premise. I know I said I liked the plot, and I did. I'm just not into the romantic trope where one character starts out plotting against the other, feels conflicted when they start catching feelings, then has to deal with the fallout when their plot is revealed or they come clean.

I get why it's efficient storytelling for a romance. One character is forced into confronting their feelings and making a choice about whether their old life is worth giving up for love, and the other one then also has to choose whether or not they can forgive them and risk trusting them again. And I do love romance stories where characters realize they actually like someone they didn't think they would. I just prefer that to play out more internally, without the external crunches of deceitful plans and exposure.

2. The nobleman. Don't get me wrong, I understand why the nobility are the default for at least half the pairing in a historical romance. There's power and wealth fantasies there, and they've got the closest things to modern luxuries and hygiene. They wear beautiful clothes and attend lavish events. They have a lot of freedom and leisure time, but they're also subject to potential limitations and conflict when it comes to decisions about love and marriage.

An aristocratic lead or love interest isn't a dealbreaker, but it leans just slightly to the negative side for me unless the character is principally defined by other character traits. Like, I would be all in on a gentleman-entomologist determined to capture a rare beetle to bring back to the naysayers at the Royal Society or something. But while Rufus never expected to inherit a title and was "just" a commissioned military officer, neither type is my thing. He's noble, responsible, law-abiding, a little intense but generally good-natured. He's fine, I just didn't click with him enough to be invested in his personal life.

3. The scoundrel. Opposite to the above, I'm not uninterested in scoundrels as a class of character. Love me a good scoundrel. But just like how the book makes Rufus brand new to being a nobleman, Luke isn't all that much of a scoundrel even at the beginning of the story and very quickly feels bad about duping Rufus. Which takes me to the next point.

4. Nobleman/Scoundrel. I get that it's a deliberate subversion, having the nobleman and the poor scoundrel be on more equal footing for the purposes of coming together as a couple (and maybe to lean away from the power imbalance?). I'm also seeing from a review that apparently a lot of Luke's character development started in the first book. But at the end of the day, the story mostly just felt like it was about two normal guys in their late 20s/early 30s, one a little more straitlaced and one a little more roguish, who were attracted to each other and got together. Nothing wrong with that, but again, nothing really hooked me into caring about their love story.

Leaning harder into the more straightforward interpretation of that ship and the power and morality issues in the premise still wouldn't be my romantic fantasy, but I think I could have been a little more interested or compelled by the drama or erotic potential there.

5. The romantic dynamic. More pettily specific than the issue above, I'm just not into anything where some variation of "He wanted to kiss that cocky smirk off his mouth" occurs. I have a few fandom ships where friction is a feature, but not quite that exact flavour. I can intellectually understand the whole thing about the blurred line between different kinds of provocation and sparks flying, but it generally doesn't do it for me. I found some of Rufus and Luke's later flirtation as things heated up...kind of off-putting, but in a way where I know I'd enjoy it if that were my thing. As in, I get that it's running with a narrative kink, but it's far enough away from my own ones that when I first paged through the book at the library and came across one of their early sex scenes, I assumed Rufus/Luke wasn't the main couple and I was looking at some incompatible hookup that the real relationship was going to contrast with.

6. The sex scenes. Not liking the sex scenes in a romance isn't a dealbreaker. I read plenty of M- and E-rated fic where I don't find the sex erotic and just roll with it. I've since returned the book to the library, so I can't go back and figure out if I can stand by my first thoughts about them, so I'll just go with them maybe being more of that "kiss the cocky smirk off his mouth" dynamic that I wasn't digging.

Takeaways:

1. I probably want to skip Regency or Regency-adjacent stuff unless there's something unusual about the characters that really appeals to me.

2. Ditto for stories that hinge on one character deceiving the other.

3. Blurbs describing a love interest as "cocksure" and "enragingly [adjective]" are a signal something isn't for me.

4. I would definitely try another KJ Charles book featuring a different kind of couple, because I feel like everything I didn't enjoy here was in fact good execution of someone else's tastes.

Lord Oxney ushered Luke into an extremely depressing room. It had small leaded windows that needed cleaning, dull and very dark wood panelling, a rug on the floor that had had the pattern walked out of it, as his Aunt Mary might say, a couple of etchings of Stone Manor with some suspiciously egg-headed figures in the foreground, and an extremely faded armchair which was sprouting horsehair and had been sat on to the point that the seat had an arse-shaped dint. A clock ticked like doom.

“Apparently my grandfather sat here every day for eighty years,” Lord Oxney said, adding sourly, “You can hardly tell.”

“New furniture?” Luke suggested.

“When I’ve summoned up the energy.”

“Would you care for me to organise it?”

Lord Oxney cocked an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Well, I’m a secretary,” Luke said. “This is the kind of thing I do. And if you don’t have anyone else to do it—”

“Won’t you be busy in the archives?”

“I like to be busy. And I’d like to be of help.”

“Very kind, but I’d advise you to make sure of your ground before you go into battle,” Oxney said. “Changing anything from how ‘dear Father’ liked it is a mortal insult round here, and while it might be amusing to pit you against Matilda in full tragedy-queen voice, it would be a little unfair on you.”

Luke tilted his head. “Have you heard of Ma Doomsday, at all, Lord Oxney?”

“My valet mentioned something. A local legend, yes? Some appalling ogress who led smugglers into pitched battles, and whose name is used to frighten the children.”

“My Aunt Sybil,” Luke said. “She chased the Aldington gang off Dymchurch turf outnumbered two to one, and broke their leader’s arm with a fence post. I grew up in her house. Do you have an idea of what you’d like for the room?”

Oxney took a step back and surveyed him. “I am having trouble placing you, Doomsday. Are you a smuggler or a secretary?”

“I had an unusual upbringing,” Luke admitted. “And I tend to be quite, uh—”

“Cocksure?” Oxney suggested.

“Confident, perhaps.”

“Overbearing?”

“Helpful. Competent. Invaluable.”

“And unquestionably modest,” Oxney concluded, with a grin. “What would you do with the room, given your head?”

Luke had no idea. He looked around. “What colours do you like?”

“God, I don’t know. Red.”

The room was north-facing, with its windows set in deep bays, and the wood panelling meant it was dark even at close to noon. “I’d recommend golds and greens.”

“I’m sure I just said red. My mouth moved, and I distinctly heard sounds emerge.”

“Yes, but you were guessing.”

Oxney choked. He generally had a rather grim expression—Luke wasn’t sure if that was natural to his face, habitual after the war, or just the effect of Stone Manor—but when he laughed, the effect was transforming. It made him look like a man you’d laugh with, shoulders shaking, eyes meeting, joining in pleasure.

“Insolent, but accurate,” Oxney said. “What’s wrong with red?”

“Too dark. Paler colours will reflect the light better.” Green would bring his eyes out, too. “I’d suggest we—you have the furniture reupholstered—” he gave the chair a careful prod “—replaced, and perhaps add a mirror or two. That’s an excellent way to increase the light. Although, if you had the panelling removed—”

“It’s a few hundred years old, apparently. It’s linenfold oak, Odo says, or possibly oakfold linen. Special, anyway.”

If Luke were the earl of Oxney, he’d rip all this ancient rubbish out without thinking twice. He inclined his head. “Shall I send for some samples? And look for paintings more suited to your tastes. Less Norman.”

“You’ll be lucky,” Oxney said. “All right, yes, why not. Carry on. And come on.” He led the way through a second door, into a room with a four-poster bed.

Luke couldn’t help an exclamation. It was a spectacular piece of furniture, about seven feet long and the same width, obviously extremely old and made of very dark wood. Headboard, columns, and canopy were ornately carved with flowers, foliage, and fruit, through which fantastical creatures rioted, like some monstrous physical version of a Hieronymus Bosch painting. The little light in the room caught the edges and depths, so that the strange shapes gleamed. Luke stepped sideways, and the shift made dragons twist and writhe, a monk wink.

“Good heavens. That is quite a bed.”

“It is, isn’t it.”

“Imposing.”

“Ancestral,” Oxney suggested.

“A challenge to live up to?”

That came out of his mouth faster than his brain could stop it. He glanced over, but Oxney was grinning. “You’re not wrong. It’s made for begetting warriors, or possibly being murdered in, nothing so mundane as sleep. I ought to be exercising my droit de seigneur in it at this very moment.”

Luke’s mouth opened. Oxney added, hastily, “Not this moment, obviously. That was a joke. I’m not a Norman.” He coughed. “Poor taste.”

It was a joke that had given Luke some very vivid ideas. The room was hung with ancient tapestries, the windows even less generous than in the Earl’s Salon, and he could just imagine how it would look at night, lit by lamplight, with deep shadows leaping on the walls and darkening the bed, and maybe the heavy-set master of Stone Manor giving him a severe look...

He put the notion to one side for private enjoyment at a more convenient juncture.

Comments

[skygiants]

Some of Charles' books work very well for me and some don't at all, but I do find she has an interestingly broad range of tropes that she's hitting so I think it's quite likely there's at least one or two that will be your cup of tea!

[delphi]

Excellent! I'll definitely be checking out another one.