The Convenient Marriage

By: Georgette Heyer

Narrated by: Caroline Hunt

Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

When the most eligible Earl of Rule offers for the hand of the beauty of the Winwood family, he has no notion of the distress he causes his intended. For Miss Lizzie Winwood is promised to the excellent, but impoverished, Mr Edward Heron. Disaster can only be averted by the delightful impetuosity of her youngest sister, Horatia, who conceives her own, distinctly original plans . . .

©1934 Georgette Heyer (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Not interested in the heroine

I don’t like the heroine’s activities (gambling & high fashion) and so it was hard for me to relate and be interested. There are many other Heyer books I enjoy better. But a mediocre Georgette Heyer is still better than most books and there are quite a few fun parts.

Just wonderful!

I felt I was reading early Jane Austin. It was also a wonderful and positive surprise to have a very intelligent heroine with a disability, clearly aged 17, and watch her grow. The other characters were also well developed and flawed without anachronistic psychologizing as to motives, etc. I shall be reading more by Georgette Heyer!

hysterical

I don't normally write reviews but I think it's worth reviewing this one. I loved this story. I found myself laughing out loud so many times... it was very refreshing. The narrator, though her voice is lovely and charming to listen to, missed the mark a bit on the voice of Horatia. It's a shame because everything else was stellar. If you can forgive that bit, you're in for an absolute treat.

Almost stopped reading

The main lady character in this story is rather irritating at times and the beginning seemed slow, so I almost turned it off and listened to another book. I kept at it though and found that I liked it more as the story went on and the plot thickened. Such a cute ending although I would have liked more kissing. 😁

Wonderful narration brings out the best in this preposterous and adorable story

The narrator did such an amazing job I loved every single one of her character voices! She was especially good with Rule and Horry (although I was somewhat surprised that she made Rule’s secretary Irish). This was one of the first Heyer books I read, and I did not fully appreciate it at the time. Therefore, I avoided it on Audible until I basically ran out of other Heyer options. Now that I am much more familiar with Heyer’s style and the social norms she depicts in her Regency era novels, I was thoroughly charmed by this story. Listening to this excellent Audible was a delightful way to fall in love with Rule and Horry. What a romp!

Hmm. Not a favorite

These Regency novels are well beloved by their devouted followers as humorous and interesting i found this one tedious. For me it was a small story that used too much time to tell, so tedious. as an evety-word reader i fought throughout to NOT skip parts. I did stop listening several times to relieve my agony over the way overworked, not very interesting story. The performance was lively and facile w the (many) characterizations h the redeeming feature of this selection. There will be very many who loved this, just not me.

Not Heyer's Best

I've read virtually all of Georgette Heyer's Regency romances, and they're all good fun and well written. However, this one is really not one of my favourites. The situations are even more contrived than usual, and less believably portrayed, and the heroine vacillates between total simpering miss and heroic. The book _almost_ redeems itself during a scene late in the book where Horatia is in Lord Lethbridge's house, but other than the one scene, really doesn't have all that many high spots.

Caroline Hunt's narration is perfectly adequate, but she'll never be my favourite. I won't avoid a book she narrates, but I also won't go out of my way to look for one, either.

Very Humorous Antics

I enjoyed this improbable story of a stuttering seventeen year old girl married to a 35 year old earl. This was a Georgian England version of I Love Lucy with a villain and a sniveling, trouble-making cousin thrown in for good measure. This is a thoroughly enjoyable book.

Not “laugh out loud funny”!

Some of the reviews say this book is “laugh out loud funny”. I kept waiting but I never found those places.
The narrator did such a poor job with the female protagonist’s voice. It was really painful to listen to. The character stutters but the narrator gave the character a whispering stutter. It is so annoying. Her other voices were okay and I wonder why she was allowed to do Horatia’s voice in this manner. It took so much away from the enjoyment of this book and I wish I had knownI about the voice before I bought it.

Uncomfortable Read

Georgette Heyer is always wonderful to listen to. My issue was with the reading. Horatia is read like an 8-year old girl, which makes the already dodgy age gap feel even more uncomfortable.