A Nobleman’s Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel

Charles continues her series about the Doomsday family of smugglers with a steamy Regency romance embedded with a twisty mystery. This story picks up 13 years after the first book in the series, The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen, and catches up with a grown-up Luke Doomsday, part of a family of marsh smugglers. Luke has gone legit and becomes secretary to Rufus d’Aumesty, the new and unexpected Earl of Oxney, as Rufus fends off his uncle’s attempts to steal the title. Luke and Rufus fall in love as they work together, but Luke is hiding secrets that could unravel the romance they’ve started to build. This sequel can stand alone, but Luke’s journey and eventual happily-ever-after is all the sweeter after the first series installment’s glimpse into his teen years. The evocative setting—most of the book takes place in an ancient manor on the edge of a marsh—creates the perfect mood for this intensely readable, gothic-tinged tale.