Narrated by Martyn Swain
This second installment of The Doomsday Books takes place thirteen years after the events in the excellent predecessor, The Secret Lives of Country Gentleman. It can be read as a standalone, but it’s very helpful to know Luke Doomsday’s backstory, plus it’s a great book.
Rufus D’Aumesty has finally been named the lawful Earl of Oxney after seven long months of being investigated by the Privileges Committee; an investigation instigated by Conrad D’Aumesty, Rufus’s uncle. Rufus is the son of the old Earl’s middle son, Raymond, who was disowned for marrying below his station. Rufus was believed to have died in the war, but when it turns out Rufus is alive the cantankerous old Earl never sees fit to tell Conrad about Rufus’s continued existence. Raised thinking that he would be the next Earl after the death of both his older brothers, Conrad is infuriated to learn about Rufus and launches several challenges to his claim. Rufus now believes his position as Earl is finally settled, but he doesn’t take into account Conrad’s unwavering sense of entitlement and his determination to be named the Earl of Oxney.
In his newest scheme to oust Rufus, Conrad claims Rufus’s mother was never legally married to Raymond because he had previously married someone else. This possibility has been suggested to Conrad by Luke Doomsday, who says he has hearsay evidence that his own mother was married to Raymond D’Aumesty before his marriage to Rufus’s mom. The thing is, Rufus doesn’t actually want to be Earl. His main reason for continuing to fight for the Earldom is to remedy the damage done to the estates and its tenants due to years of neglect. But first and foremost Rufus is a man who values honesty, so while frustrated by the newest challenge to his title, he summons Luke Doomsday to Stone Manor to hear the full story.
With a name like Doomsday, Rufus is expecting someone sketchy and poorly dressed, so he’s surprised to see a young man standing in his study, well-dressed, well-spoken and handsome except for a long scar across his face. Luke tells them that shortly before his death, his aging grandfather shared a tale of a secret marriage between Luke’s mother and Raymond D’Aumesty. No one else seems to know about the marriage, and it’s obvious Raymond left his supposed wife after only a few months. This was years before Luke was born, and Luke is clear that he’s the illegitimate son of Elijah Doomsday, left with the Doomsdays by his mother. Even with no real evidence to support the story, Rufus hires Luke to find his mother, who he’s not in contact with, and get to the truth.
As soon as he’s ensconced at Stone Manor, Luke makes himself indispensable to the Earl by helping him organize his work and navigate the interactions with his family and tenants. It’s obvious to the reader that Luke is at Stone Manor for some other purpose than simply sharing his dubious story, but the reason isn’t immediately revealed. Complicating matters is the definite attraction between Rufus and Luke, but while Rufus tries to stay away because he’s conscious of the power imbalance, Luke is more worried that giving into this attraction will make it difficult to keep his secret.
The developing relationship is incredibly well done. I love the mutual pining and the way it affects how the men interact. There is a push and pull, a lowering of barriers only to snap them back up and that palpable longing that finally ends in glorious capitulation. But that also sets up the inevitable clash between the lovers. Since Rufus holds honesty as perhaps the highest virtue, what will happen when he realizes Luke has a hidden agenda?
In TSLoCG, I wasn’t completely sold on Martyn Swain’s narration. It’s obvious he’s very talented, with a wonderful voice and a mastery of local dialects and accents. He handles the large cast of characters with ease and his distinct character voices are easy to follow and identify. My problem has been the pauses between words that break the expected rhythm of the narration. Interestingly, while listening to this book I found I quickly adapted to his style of narration and thoroughly enjoyed it. I reveled in Mr. Swain’s wonderful voice acting and realistic accents. Perhaps it says more about me and what I value in a narration. I find I prioritize character accents, delivery of emotional content, and clear differentiation of characters. Even if I would prefer a slightly smoother delivery, Martyn Swain delivers on the most important aspects and I would be happy to listen to him again.
A Nobleman’s Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel has risen to near the top of my already crowded list of favorite K.J. Charles books, and is on my Best of 2023 list. The development of the relationship, its inevitable break, and the bumpy road to healing are all beautifully done. It’s raw and emotional, funny, intriguing, rich in details and utterly delightful. Highly recommended.
Carrie
Buy A Nobleman's Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel by K.J. Charles on Amazon
I liked the perforamance, too. It’s not perfect – as you say, the speech rhythms are off at times and there are pauses in the wrong places, but he absolutely gets the characters and their emotional connection. There’s a lot of hate for Martyn Swain in KJ’s FB group, which seens mostly to be because he’s not Cornell Collins, and that’s unfair.
I saw that on FB, and posted my views, similar to what I said here. I would definitely trade some some smoothness of delivery for such fine voice acting. I think you and I have both recently experienced a much different senario, where the inability to do the correct accents or even good character voices can ruin a narration, no matter if the phrasing is correct.