Different kind of romance.

Well read and different from the usual historical romance. The ending was predictable but still enjoyable getting there. I will be looking out for her next book, and the next book narrated by Lana J. Weston.

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What happens in Scotland... should stay there.

I've had this book on my to-listen list for quite a while, but have put it off. I have previously listened to another McQuiston book 'Diary of an Accidental Wallflower' which had quite an unlikeable heroine, and did not incite me to seek any other of her books. However, I liked the premise of 'What happens in Scotland' so eventually gave it a listen.

I almost turned it off and returned the book within the first five minutes of listening. Mispronunciation of words such as 'penchant', 'dishabille', and most unforgivably, 'ton' as 'tone' had me wondering if anyone ever listens to these tihngs before they are sold to the public. Added to that the frankly awful voicing of James, and I was certain that this title was destined to languish on the Did Not Finish list. I decided to try to ignore these glaring problems, and soon found it surprisingly easy to keep listening.

The structure of this book is very different to most in the genre. The whole book takes place during a single (extremely eventful) day. Aside from the first five minutes, Georgette and James spend the first half of the book apart. Unfortunately, I enjoyed that time much more than when they do eventually come together again.

I quite liked Georgette, she is intelligent, resourceful, and with a dark sense of humour. James on the other hand is irritating in the extreme. We are given reason from his past as to why he is so distrustful and wilfully independent. I would have had more sympathy for James if he had expressed that this attitude was a regrettable result of his past experiences. But he has almost no self awareness, and doesn't appreciate how much his behaviour has hurt his parents, his brother, his best friend and now Georgette. He comes across as juvenile, petulant and resentful.

He throws accusation after accusation at Georgette, and demands hard evidence of her innocence before he will believe her. His training as a solicitor is cited as reason for this. This ignores one of the basic tenets of the law, that it is not for the accused to prove their innocence, but for their accusers to prove their guilt. At one point he tells Georgette that he loves her, but does not trust her. This clearly shows that the man is immature, and does not understand what love is. There is no love without trust, only some warped power game.

Georgette's response to James' behaviour just doesn't ring true. Her interactions with other characters are funny, quick witted and no-nonsense. With James she is constantly understanding why he might be distrustful of her, rather than raking him down as he rightly deserves, Considering the trials of her first marriage, the last thing she needs is an insecure, emotionally demanding second husband who feels her money is a threat to his masculinity, and will accuse her of wrongdoing anytime anything goes wrong. James and Georgette seem to bring out the worst in each other, he becomes angry and suspicious, she a doormat. I just can't see that a happily ever after is on the cards for these two.

As to Lana Weston's narration... I have already mentioned the glaring issues I had with the narration that almost had me switching off. I will say that on further listening, Weston's female voices are very good. She reads in an entertaining way, and her comic timing is excellent. Her male voices however, are just terrible. Somehow she reads the men's voices in a higher pitch than her normal speaking voice. Add to that her idea of a Scot's accent, and the result is rather whiny and irritating. This wasn't too much a disaster for a beta male like James, but would not do for a big strapping Scotsman.

One other important thing you should know about this book is that there is a character called DAVID CAMERON. Yep. They don't just call him David or Cameron, he is full-named all the way through the book. In this book, he is not a nice character (so not the greatest stretch in the world), but he is the HERO of the next book in this series, 'Summer is for Lovers'. A review of that book says that he is full-named 55 times throughout. I'm not sure I'd be able to ignore that.

I finished this book in two days, and it is good for a bit of light listening. However, there are many better books for that.

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