Mutual Consent

By: Gayle Buck

Narrated by: Julia Eve

Length: 7 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

Caught between her iron-willed father and the powerful, attractive earl.

Barbara Cribbage has been sold into marriage by her common-born father in his bid to attain social status.

He is forced into marriage.

The Earl of Chatworth weds Babs in exchange for mortgages he inherited and his debts of honor, which Mr. Cribbage has fraudulently acquired.

She takes a desperate gamble.

Babs is not willing to be used as a pawn any longer. Summoning all her courage, Babs strikes a bargain with the formidable earl.

©2014 Gayle Buck (P)2022 Gayle Buck

Great Story!

Once again, Gayle Buck pulled me into her fascinating story about the hardships endured by Babs and her husband of convenience, Malcolm, as both of them go up against her abusive and controlling father.
I loved that in the end love won out and that they got their well deserved happy ever after.
This beautiful romance with a twist was enhanced by the fabulous narration of Julia Eve who made it so much more enjoyable.
I listened to a promotional copy of the audiobook and my voluntary review is recorded above.

An arranged marriage, with a twist

Story: 5 stars

Gayle Buck writes wonderful Regency romance and this book doesn't disappoint! Our protagonists are both trapped into a marriage of convenience and make a pact with one another since neither has a choice: each can live his/her own life and pursue his/her own love interest.

Normally, that would really put me off of a book, but I trust Gayle Buck and she delivered.

Barbara Cribbage (Babs) has a social climbing merchant father. He is also cruel. Babs escaped his cruelty when her mother died and has been trained by her high-born aunt in all the traits of a true lady.

The Earl of Chatworth has been well and truly caught by Babs' father, and not in an honorable way. Her father has, over much time, gathered gambling vowels and mortgages belonging to the Earl. He truly holds power over the Earl.

Babs and the Earl get along well enough because of the bargain made before their wedding.

But when the Earl's mother comes for a visit and sees the true state of things, the Earl is slowly awakened to the true character of his wife and the power of her upbringing. He is also awakened to the fact that he hasn't treated her with any sort of consideration at all.

From there on out, things become rather lovely.

Narration: 5 stars
Julia Eve is a favorite narrator of mine! She does wonderful male voices and has a number of accents at her disposal. She reads with natural expression and phrasing. It's always a treat to listen to her voice acting!

Good story, difficult to listen to

It is difficult to have a unique regency romance, this one is different and entertaining. There are no "sex scenes" although it is clear what has happened, good writing. The characters are likable but not always agreeable, more good writing. I found the narrator very difficult to listen to. Not a pleasant voice and the cadence was off. I think I would have liked the book very much if I had read it instead of listening to it. I will avoid this narrator in the future.

a delightful tale

Despite less than promising beginnings, Babs and Marcus slowly progress to build a relationship that develops into more than paid debts. I loved how each of them put old man Cribbs in his place, but it's not easily done. I liked
that both H and h had resilience and tenacity along with integrity. I really wanted one more chapter to see the effects of the trap after it was sprung. Enjoyable and entertaining. I voluntarily listened to a free copy of this and am giving an honest review. The narrator did a great job bringing it to life.

Mutual consent

Struggle to complete, a decent premise at first but turned into way too much dialogue, and a horrible narrator that made the entire story long, dull and extremely boring. I will never listen to anything else by Julia Eve