Overall: 3.5 rounded to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Plot/Storyline: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋
Intimate Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Humor: Yes
Perspective: Third person from both heroes
Cliffhanger: No
Format: audiobook checked out on Hoopla

Should I read in order?
This is the first of The Doomsday Books series.

Basic plot:
Sir Gareth finds a new home when he claims the family title upon his father’s death. He is rather shocked when the local smuggler is the same man he had met in London for a brief affair.

Give this a try if you want:
- Regency (1810)
- Country setting
- mystery to solve
- class difference – Gareth is a baronet and Joss is a smuggler
- found family
- refreshing communication between the mains including apologies
- M/M pairing
- touch of enemies to lovers
- medium to high steam – 4 full scenes (I didn’t count the beginning one because it felt a bit short to me)

Ages:
- Joss is 26, didn’t catch Gareth

My thoughts:
This is my first KJ Charles and I’ll definitely be back for more.

I enjoyed the characters so much. Both Gareth and Joss wove their way into my heart. I adored their relationship. So, so many unexpected sweet scenes between them.

The narrator...I was not in love with. He sounded a bit stilted to me in some parts with unnecessary pauses that I focused on and couldn’t stop. But, his dialogue and voices were fantastic. And I adored the sexy scenes, I thought he did a really great job with the emotions there. It was more the general description scenes I struggled with his speech.

The plot did get a little too much for me about halfway. I felt like I lost the two of them in the immense amount of danger and drama between the two families. But I’m excited to try more.