Dangerous Alliance: An Austentacious Romance

By: Jennieke Cohen

Narrated by: Morag Sims

Length: 11 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue meets Jane Austen in this witty, winking historical romance with a dash of mystery!

Lady Victoria Aston has everything she could want: an older sister happily wed, the future of her family estate secure, and ample opportunity to while her time away in the fields around her home.

But now Vicky must marry - or find herself and her family destitute. Armed only with the wisdom she has gained from her beloved novels by Jane Austen, she enters society’s treacherous season.

Sadly, Miss Austen has little to say about Vicky’s exact circumstances: whether the roguish Mr. Carmichael is indeed a scoundrel, if her former best friend, Tom Sherborne, is out for her dowry or for her heart, or even how to fend off the attentions of the foppish Mr. Silby, he of the unfortunate fashion sensibility.

Most unfortunately of all, Vicky’s books are silent on the topic of the mysterious accidents cropping up around her...ones that could prevent her from surviving until her wedding day.

©2019 Jennieke Cohen (P)2019 HarperTeen

Loved it

If you loved regency romance you will enjoy this book , some if it reminded me if Bridgerton without the spicy bits , overall great story and characters

Unnecessary Schtick

Content warnings: Intimate partner violence, rape, and child abuse. I didn't particularly feel the necessity for the schtick of our heroine having read the four extant Jane Austen novels, and calling the characters to mind in her own circumstances, nor for the epigraphs of Austen quotations that open each chapter. The story is a decent, if rather violent, regency mystery romance without these gimmicks.

Amazing and well performed!!

absolutely love this story and the narration is spot on! clean and entertaining ya historical romance.

Kim H

Dangerous Alliance is definitely worthy of five stars. An excellent historical fiction story that is beautifully written with everything you could ask for in a good book. I couldn’t put it down once I started listening to it!

Trigger warning: domestic abuse, rape, assault

I don't think a book with domestic abuse so central to the plot can honestly be called a "witty, winking historical romance". The brother in-law villan is more suited to something in the thriller genre and the minor women characters might be forgiven for thinking they are in a Thomas Hardy novel. The story is fine. The main romance is fine. But it is certainly not the lighthearted romantic mystery I was led to expect from the summary. There are a lot of light historical romances with Austin parallels and mysteries. Despite the cover, this is not one of them.

Quite a difficult listen

For starters, this book was too long. The author wasted too many words repeatedly describing “widened eyes”, flat lips, mouths opened to speak then closed without speaking. I suggest reading some Agatha Christie or Georgette Heyer. They never wasted words and their books were smooth as glass. To be fair, I will mention that the characters did somehow come to life for me even though I didn’t like most of them. I stuck with this book just to get it out of the way. It was a chore.

Historically accurate:)

This was a wonderful store up tell the ending and climax I found it a little anti-climactic but I loved the build up and enjoyed the story !