I’m over at AudioGals with a review of Kate Noble’s latest release, The Game and The Governess, narrated by Beverley A. Crick. Unfortunately, this one was not a success for me.
Tag: historical (Page 18 of 22)
I make a return to the Speaking of Audiobooks column at All About Romance today with a review of Written in My Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon, narrated by the magnificent Davina Porter. I found this instalment to be generally much happier in tone than some of the other books and less violent too. Plus: JAMIE FRASER.
I’m at AudioGals today with a review of Shadows on the Nile by Kate Furnivall, narrated by Alison Larkin. It’s one I read last year but it’s a long review so it took my editor there a while to work her way up to it. 😀 I talk about how I’m bad at mysteries, a little about colonialism and ableism and, how some things work better on audio and some things don’t.
Everyone throw streamers, In For A Penny is back on digital shelves again and a whole new audience can discover the joy of it. Originally released by Dorchester (who went bust), the author finally got her rights back and Samhain have now re-released it, with a pretty new cover and everything.
Rose Lerner is having a giveaway to celebrate the event – go here for details.
In honour of the occasion, here is my review – originally posted on 29 March 2010 (my birthday so extra special!). I was pretty new to blogging and review writing back then but the sentiment holds true and I have resisted any edits.
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I bought In For A Penny after reading AnimeJune’s review over at Gossamer Obsessions. Thank you AnimeJune!!
The Blurb: No more drinking. No more gambling. And definitely no more mistress. Now that he’s inherited a mountain of debts and responsibility, Lord Nevinstoke has no choice but to start acting respectable. Especially if he wants to find a wife-better yet, a rich wife. Penelope Brown, a manufacturing heiress, seems the perfect choice. She’s pretty, rational, ladylike, and looking for a marriage based on companionship and mutual esteem. But when they actually get to Nev’s family estate, all the respectability and reason in the world won’t be enough to deal with tenants on the edge of revolt, a menacing neighbor, and Nev’s family’s propensity for scandal. Overwhelmed but determined to set things right, Nev and Penelope have no one to turn to but each other. And to their surprise, that just might be enough. Continue reading
I’m over at AudioGals today with a review of Fool Me Twice by Meredith Duran, narrated by Alison Larkin. I enjoyed this very much – I wonder if the audio format makes the prose seem less dense? (Or, is it just that this book was different to her other work?) I love Duran’s prose – but I find it takes concentration to read. It’s something I need to sink myself into. I think maybe the narrator did some of that “work” for me here. It’s a theory anyway.
Why I read it: I’ve had my eye on this series for a while. I knew from the author that there was no HEA until the third book and that by the end of the first book, the protagonists are apart. That being the case, I decided to wait until the third book was out before I read any of them. That way I could get my HEA fix. While there are no cliffhangers, and book two does have a kind of happy for now ending, the big payoff is in book three.
I decided to review them all together because I think it is a story in three parts. Unless the writing style doesn’t work for a particular reader, anyone who picks up Provoked will read Beguiled and Enlightened as well. I read them one after the other and I suspect new readers are likely to do the same.
Necessarily, the blurbs for the second and third books contain some spoilerish things for the previous stories but given that readers know that it is a romantic trilogy, I don’t think they give that much away.
Provoked
Lowborn David Lauriston lacks the family connections needed to rise in Edinburgh’s privileged legal world. Worse, his latest case—defending weavers accused of treason—has brought him under suspicion of harbouring radical sympathies.
Troubled by his sexuality, tormented by memories of a man he once platonically loved, David lives a largely celibate life—until a rare sexual encounter with a compelling stranger turns his world on its head.
Cynical and worldly, Lord Murdo Balfour is more at home in hedonistic London than dingy, repressed Edinburgh. Unlike David, he intends to eventually marry while continuing to enjoy the company of men whenever he pleases. Yet sex with David is different. It’s personal, intimate, and instead of extinguishing his desire, it only leaves him hungry for more.
As David’s search for the man who betrayed the weavers deepens, he begins to suspect that his mysterious lover has more sinister reasons for his presence in Edinburgh. The truth could leave his heart broken…and more necks stretching on the gallows.
What worked for me (and what didn’t): I’m really glad I waited for all three books before I read this one. While it is the necessary first chapter and provides context to the relationship between David and Murdo, it doesn’t have a satisfying ending in terms of romance. The story was complete – the mystery regarding the agent provocateur was resolved and there really was no other way for the story to end – neither man was remotely read for a happy ending but my romance loving soul was not soothed. I was very happy to be able to move straight Beguiled. It would have been a mistake for me to read Provoked when it was first released.
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