A Nobleman's Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel

It's always a pleasure to meet a new K.J. Charles couple. It's a given that their dynamics will be complex and nuanced, and not easily distilled into tropes such as “grumpy vs. sunshine” or “enemies-to-lovers.” [b:The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen 57102663 The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen (The Doomsday Books, #1) K.J. Charles https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1663091244l/57102663.SX50.jpg 89360006], the first half of The Doomsday Books duology, featured insecure, intellectual Gareth and outgoing but overburdened smuggler king Jess. There are similarities between the situations confronting Gareth and Nobleman's Guide's Rufus; both are unexpectedly thrust into elevated roles, but the two men's personalities couldn't be more different. While Gareth was a timid law clerk when his story began, Rufus is a former soldier - big, blunt and quick to anger. Luke, whom we met as a boy in Secret Lives, is now an organized, smooth-tongued secretary, with a carefree attitude that obscures layers of hurt and anger.Readers of Secret Lives will be aware that Luke is hiding a Big Secret. The suspenseful first half of Nobleman's Guide is shadowed by the knowledge that there will be fallout when the truth is inevitably revealed, even as the two MCs become friends and then lovers. The second half of the book truly rips your heart out as they gingerly start over, Luke determined to make amends and Rufus determined to uncover and address the reasons behind Luke's deceptive behavior. For readers who have ached for “Goldie” ever since he appeared in Secret Lives, the catharsis and closure is long-awaited and beautifully executed. As always, the found family aspect that Charles does so well enriches the story. Rufus starts out as the unexpected heir to an earldom, with his tenants, servants, and new family all resenting him. But thanks to his innate goodness and the assistance of his charming secretary, he slowly wins over most of them, with a few notable exceptions. Luke already has a large family, but he needs to resolve painful issues that have kept him at a distance from them for many years. For those of you who like to categorize KJC's work by the number of corpses, I'd say this one is definitely on the low end of the scale. Unlike Secret Lives, there is less external danger but more internal conflict, making the relationship between the MCs feel even more intimate. Two books into KJC's traditional publishing career and she has lost none of the sharpness that make her “romance with a body count” novels so uniquely satisfying.ARC gratefully received from Net Galley in exchange for objective review.