Games in a Ballroom

The Proper Romance Regency Series

By: Jentry Flint

Narrated by: Justine Eyre

Length: 6 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

London, 1815

Olivia Wilde has resigned herself to never finding a love match. Her father has insisted she marry a man with a title, if only to increase his own standing and reputation in society. But the men her father deems acceptable are, at best, boring and uninspiring, and at worse, are as brutish as her father and are only looking to increase their own diminishing coffers. With her future looking dismal, Olivia decides to enjoy the last few months of freedom with her childhood friends, including the handsome Emerson Latham. His devilish smile and flirtatious teasing stirs up feelings she knows she cannot entertain.

Emerson is struggling to rise to his responsibilities after the death of his father. Though he might still be learning what he needs to do as the head of his household, one thing he knows for sure is that he wants Olivia Wilde to be his wife. Having grown up as childhood friends with Olivia, Emerson long ago had fallen in love with her quick wit, beauty, and passionate heart. However, without a title, he will never be permitted to court Olivia openly. But he has a plan that may give him a chance to court her in secret.

As the season kicks off, Emerson proposes a bit of fun with a playful game of tag. Olivia’s friends are delighted by the idea, though Olivia is more wary. After all, the game must be played in secret, and they must be discreet when tagging each other at dinners and balls and the theater. As the romance builds between Olivia and Emerson, so does the risk of being discovered. Not only are their reputations at stake, so is their safety if they are caught by Olivia’s father, who has an explosive, and at times violent, temper.

Can their love find a happily ever after before the game ends?

©2022 Jentry Flint (P)2022 Blackstone Publishing

Ending didn't feel right; possible spoilers.

I just like stories, I don't need literary genius to be entertained. That said, I do need a story to pick a lane so that I can set an expectation. I can only accept unrealistic endings to books that were unrealistic to start. I thought most of this story was charming and that the characters were extremely lovable. Towards the end the author really starts to play up the drama, which is great, but if you're going to give me real problems, I need conflict resolution that matches. You can't give me a serious issue like a father who is a controlling, abusive tyrant with money and power and then end it so simply. The father just has too much at his disposal for everything to work out as written. I was left with the feeling that the book ended too quickly, that if the characters woke up tomorrow, the whole plan would have fallen apart and THEN the real, solid solutions would have been sorted out, but the author didn't want to play it out that far. Like I said, it was charming, but the end really just kind of left me irritated. The narrator did great, she always does.

A sweet love story 

I really liked how the love between the characters grew over time. As usual, this reader did a fabulous job with her performance. Great friendship between the men. And what a fun idea to include so many different games in the story. My only critique is that it seemed like the author either has no personal experience with abusive men or has not watched enough psychological thrillers that portray how scary abusive men are. Also, in the time the story was placed, abusive men would be even more terrifying, because they had so many more rights. It didn’t seem realistic that the characters would stop for a spot of lovemaking when they were in such danger. It was hard for me to concentrate on what they were doing as I was continually thinking, “Fly you fools!” That being said, it was a sweet story and I will probably listen to it again at some point.

Emerson is annoying

IMO the author failed to have me rooting for this relationship. A grown man playing all these games is just annoying. The whole storyline is just basic. No intriguing characters, no intense conflict. Just a bunch of basic annoying characters.

Good clean romance!!

It is so rare to read a clean romance. I truly enjoyed this book. Justine Eyre is my favorite narrator and she made this
story perfect.

A wonderful blend of humor, romance, and suspense!

I love the characters, the tasteful way romance was depicted, and the humor. Thank you for this entertaining story.

Amazing Amazing Book!!

I loved this book!! It wasn't just a regency romance but an intriguing story and mystery as well!! The suspense nearly killed me. Emerson coming up with a game to court a woman was so amazing and I think would work in real life. I'm getting more and more into audiobooks and loved the voice of the reader of this book. What a great listen!!

Stellar!!

I absolutely loved this book! It made me laugh and kept me guessing what would happen next. Absolutely recommend!!

Cute and fun

Light hearted and sweet. Enjoyed the story. Justine Eyre did a great job with narrating.

They created their own entertainment

Sometimes I forget that this time period I enjoy so much actually had very little in the way of entertainment & so was at first surprised at their game causing them such excitement, but eventually "got it" and found it a lot of fun.
I love these "Proper romance" stories where the build up to a kiss is almost suspenseful and as always, Justine Erye is wonderful.
Have just pre-ordered the next book relating to Arabella who was an engaging character in this first book.

Thumbs Down

I was intrigued by the premise of this book and wanted to love it going in. However, it started falling apart for me pretty quickly. Emerson is an immature man-child who is driven by nothing but emotion and impulse throughout the entire story. The contrived idea of danger in the game itself fell flat as it’s not like they’re actually running around the ballroom. No one even has reason to suspect something’s going on outside of the 5 of them. And the conclusion to the actual danger in the story takes place in the most utterly absurd and asinine chapter I’ve ever read in a book. The only part of the whole book that I genuinely enjoyed were all of Arabella’s Shakespeare quotes. The rest was “much ado about nothing”.