Romamce with a bit of mystery

This is a new author to me and she does have a different style insofar as there is mystery and  suspense as well as romance.

The hero is the third son who has spent a deal of time in an asylum, with what I would suggest is autism, but in those days was considered mad. This can be seen very clearly early on by his love of Ming porcelain and his love of the widow, Beth Ackerley, who he saves from a disastrous marriage. 

In the meantime, however, there has been a murder for which a police officer is convinced that our hero did it. Added to the mix is Ian' family that to say the least are rather eccentric.

I loved the hero and his love and devotion for the Beth was very touching. I loved his slow seduction and the way that Beth was undaunted by everything that was thrown at her.

There were bits of the book that droned on and a good editor would have been of benefit, but having said this, he was a great hero and if you are after romance, this book has it in spades.

I was also left intrigued enough to read the next book in the series.

The narration was excellent.

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1 person found this helpful

Wonderful book, inconsistent performance

I love this book. A wonderful story about two imperfect people finding home in each other. Lord Ian is a Scottish laird who has something akin to autism. In his younger years he was locked away in an insane asylum and subjected to horrific treatments. Beth is a young widow with an impoverished and background who unexpectedly inherited a fortune. To save her from an awful marriage to a penniless scoundrel with twisted tastes, Ian warns her about his numerous kept women and offers to save her through marriage. She ends the engagement and travels to Paris, and Ian follows. they reconnect and a romance begins.

Performance - it took me a while to figure out what I didn't like about this. The narrator did a wonderful job with the male characters and the Scottish burr (not always easy) and Beth's voice was well paced and it was a good tone. If you liked the sample you should give this a go, I don't want to spoil it for you. If you want to know what the issue was, scroll down.


The issue came in the recitation of the prose - the RP was fake and not well done. It was like someone putting on what they think someone from the tonne might sound like, but the vowels are all wrong. Intonations in sentences overly heavy, stresses on broad vowels, long when they should be short and vice versa - but not consistently. Examples grande pronounced 'grawnd' arms - alwms. Part-pawht. Softly -sawhftly gone - ghawn Once you notice it's really hard to ignore. It's a real shame, because there are moving moments of sincerity and lovely gentle conversations that are delightful. If the narrater had just used her normal voice, which seems to have a lovely tone, it would have been so much better.

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love it, love the character, and how they develop.

great read..
narrator did a great job. making me enjoy the story more.. I was able to picture each character by the description.

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Loved it

Loved every second of it. This is the first time listening to a book by this author. And will definitely not be the last. The love scenes were beautiful. I loved both the heroine and the hero, and all the family.
The narrator was very good. Will definitely continue the series.
So on you the next one.

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