So, I've already told you, as far as I'm concerned, KJ Charles is the queen of queer historical romance. My second-favourite book series of hers is the Doomsday Books Series, and in particular the first instalment, * The Secret Lives of Country Gentlmen*. Set in Georgian England, in the remote area known for smuggling called Romney Marsh, it focuses on the improbable love affair between a baronet and the head of a famous local smuggling family. Except my description doesn't do it justice at all. The synopsis on GoodReads is not bad. This has a tremendous sense of place, two flawed main characters who experience actual emotional growth, real high-stakes and problems, and lots of plot. Also, as someone who loves the English language with all her heart, I found the use of the local Kent dialect so interesting (no worries, if I got it all as a non-native speaker, anyone will). The sequel, A Nobleman's Guide to Seducing A Scoundrel, set in the same place, 15 years later and is about a minor character of the first book who gets to have his own romance with an earl and solves a mystery that was left unresolved in the first book. It's a lovely book too, I just love the two MCs for the previous book more.
Hearts Alive! by SpaceJackalope. 2.3K. Gen. Set two years after the first book. Fifteen-year-old Luke Doomsday asks Joss for advice about feelings and guys, because he's fallen hopelessly, embarrassingly in love for the first time...with Gareth. This is adorable and so in character. Poor Luke. Being fifteen sucks. There's also a podfic available!
Hearts Alive by innie. I haven't accidentally copied the same link twice, it's a different story, this is just a very popular Kentish exclamation in the books. :D 1.3K. Joss/Gareth, explicit. Joss gets his hands on Gareth The language and the character voices are perfect, it totally reads as a vignette from canon.
Jonathan's Regards by L_Monster. 8K words. Luke/Lord Corvin, explicit. This could totally be a short story bridging a gap in the canon we know of (i.e. when Luke was worked as a secreterary for Lord Corvin). Terrifically in character and hot.
The Pitt
IIRC, last time I recced a Mel/Frank story where Frank had issues and didn't treat Mel well. More in that vein, is this story be a better boyfriend than you by KH_Rogers. Mel/Shen. 31 K words. That’s what they’ll say, in the end: Dr. John Shen swooped Mel up, out of Langdon’s grasp. Good for him. Good for her, finally fucking higher on the food chain. Or, John asks Mel out on a date mid-Langdon turmoil. Mel/Shen wasn't even on my radar, before this fic, but I gave the story a chance because the author is that good...and man, I'm glad I did. KH_Rogers hasa fully fleshed-out version of Shen and he is adorable. Not to mention he doesn't come with all the baggage Langdon has. So, in this story Langdon is a bit of a bastard, if this interpretation sounds like something you can't bear, steer clear, please. However, you should keep an open mind and just read this.



