Lord of Darkness

By: Elizabeth Hoyt

Narrated by: Emma Taylor

Length: 12 hrs

Publisher's summary

Three men who made a sacred pact years before: to defend and protect the innocent of St. Giles - no matter the cost to themselves...

Since the death of his first wife, Godric St. John has devoted his nights to protecting the innocent of London disguised as the notorious Ghost of St. Giles. When Lord Griffin Reading discovers Godric's secret double life he presents him with an offer he can't refuse, and Godric finds himself married to a young - and pregnant - stranger.

Two years ago Lady Margaret "Megs" Reading lost both her lover and her unborn child - but not before being forced into a marriage of convenience with Godric St. John, an older, dour gentleman she barely knew. No longer content to spend her days at her husband's country estate, Megs leaves for London to get the two things she wants most: to find and bring to justice the man who murdered Roger, her lover, and to have a child of her own. But in order to conceive a baby, she's going to have to seduce the husband she hasn't seen since their marriage breakfast. (Maiden Lane, Book 5)

©2013 Elizabeth Hoyt (P)2013 Hachette Audio

New narrator - not a good idea

Any additional comments?

Overall this series is great. Good stories, well written with just enough steam to keep them interesting for the modern women. Very disappointed that a different narrator was used for this book. Please, please have Ashford McNab return for book 6.

Spectacular and Thrilling 2nd Chance at Love!

What did you like best about this story?

This is a beautiful story about the second chance at love. Elizabeth Hoyt weaves a delicately, tangled web of emotions that both the hero and heroine experience when initiating a relationship for a second time after a powerful first love. Godric St. John and Lady Margaret's "Megs" internal, and very personal struggles are revealed and conquered with courage and tender moments that bind them together.

I admire Hoyt's ability to create rich characters that complement each other psychologically, emotionally and physically. It's a complete joy to see the unfolding of the characters' love for one another develop and deepen.

I LOVE Godric & I was so happy that his book was just wonderful. His love story was completely deserving. Godric is a strong, virile man who is a skilled fighter and natural protector of the weak & defenseless. He made such a fitting Ghost of St. Giles. He's also an intellectual man who has a strong capacity to love and connect emotionally. The loss of his first wife was tragic as Clara slowly died from consumption. Godric watched her suffer for about 9 years before she passed.

Megs is super-special and perfect for Godric. Although she lost her lover quickly when he was found murdered one night (2 years back as she was still young), her ability to survive her lover's death is ingrained in her person. Megs is a vivacious, full-of-life and determined woman. Her potent dose of beauty and love for others provides the perfect antidote to Godric's stubborn and set ways. The way both she and Godric are able to come together to heal & find closure from their first love is magical....just magical.

There were so many opportunities for this book to be a complete flop because whenever you're dealing with a deceived 1st love, it's hard to balance the memories with the new blossoming love within the characters. And, when you have two people who have lost their cherished first loves....what a challenge to make the story sound fresh without having to counter the memory of two deceived loved ones. However, Elizabeth was superb in how she allowed the reader to feel the emotional loss of both Godric and Megs without sounding tedious and stuffy. The depth of the emotional loss made the romance even more triumphant and unifying when Godric and Meg realize their insatiable need for one another.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

The narration is a problem. Poor Emma Taylor, bless her heart, I'm sure she tried her best, but her voice for Godric was just disgraceful. She made him sound like a decrepit old man. It is a constant challenge to reconcile his physical descriptors in the book, & the cover with the voicing Emma provides for him.

I don't understand why the publishers did not see , or more aptly, hear the problem with Emma's narration. Why would they not use Ashford MacNab????? I hope she narrates Duke of Midnight....Please!!!!

However, the story and book is so amazing...the reader just has to get over the narrator's male voicing issues. Emma Taylor does do a good job with the female voices....so at least that piece of the narration was in tact.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I was so relieved when Megs found out early on that Godric was the Ghost of St. Giles. When she attacks the Ghost of St. Giles and fights him fiercely, it was such a great moment when he called her Megs & she just fell apart after realizing she was assaulting her husband.

Another tender moment was when Godric started calling Megs, "Meggy-Mine." That was so special since he had such a hard time referring to her as "Megs" instead of Margaret as he first insisted.

Any additional comments?

Elizabeth Hoyt should save her energy & stop writing the silly little fairy tales she embeds at the start of each chapter in the novel. On audio, it's such a waste of time. The first thing I do is figure out how much time each fair tale is so that I can forward it immediately without missing the meat of the novel. It feels like one of those advertisements before a presentation that you just can't wait to fast forward on utube.

I hope "Duke of Midnight" is released soon....I can hardly wait!

Age does not matter

Lord of Darkness ( Maiden Lane Book 5 ) by Elizabeth Hoyt. I absolutely love this series with a little Mystery and Romance. Godric and Megs story was beautifully written. How one woman can come move in to her husband of convenience. The age different what's what I loved most. This story had me on edges because of both their past love relationship. The aunt was hilarious I could NOT put the book down, I give it more than 5 stars. On Book 6 in audible. Happy Reading :)

What happened to Ashford McNab??

I do enjoy Elizabeth Hoyt's books and I enjoyed this one as well. However, why the change in narrators?
Emma Taylor is a good narrator in her own right, but standard has been set with Ashford that Emma isn't reaching.
I still gave the story 5 stars because the book was great but Emma just ruined the performance IMO.
I understand that Godrich is a older gentleman but the reader makes him sound like a 80 year old man and Megs sounds like a maiden aunt of 65.
On a higher note, I like how the Ghost of St, Giles has a new person playing him. This has been an enjoyable series for me. I have the complete series but I'm going back and re-listening to them because it's a tried and true series and guaranteed to be a great listen. I just hate when the writers change the narrators mid-way through a series, it kind of ruins it for you.

Skip the audio version of this book!

I love this author but the narrator just wrecked the story. Pretty monotone and made it hard to actually focus on the story. Going to have to buy the book instead. Was grating the way she pronounced harlequin. Definitely not the voice for this type of story.

This series ❤️❤️❤️

These are fabulous books. Can’t wait to start the next one! So glad there are many more

Great book!

Yet another wonderful love story in the Maiden lane series ! I simply loved Godric’s character he embraced his love for his wife a lot easier than she did. Megs took a while to get over her misplaced loyalty to a guy she wasn’t married to but thank God for patient men ! The narration was ok but it took a while to get used to her style.

Classic Hoyt! Touching story.great love.super sexy

Okay, first off .... yes the new narrator is not nearly as good as Ashford but she's not the worst i have ever heard. Unfortunately she makes pretty much every one of the men sound really POMPUS and a lot of the women, especially the ones that we've seen in the past 4 books. That was a little disturbing. The biggest problem I had was the fact that she did make Godric St. John sound really old. She did change a few names but I was able to get past that.
Now on to the actual book! When I first realized it was about Godric St John I was a little surprised. I didn't expect him to be a main focus of an entire book so the first couple of hours I spent trying to wrap my mind around this and it wasn't the easiest thing in the world. But then, in Hoyt's amazing way, she convinced me and I started to really get into the book. I started to really like Megs a lot more than I originally thought I would.
I have to say Her Grace is one of my favorite characters in this book. I love how Hoyt inserts dogs in each book. Her Grace is hilarious. I think her interaction with Godric and Megs was so adorable.
While I usually don't mind the fairy tales right and most of the time enjoy the fairy tales....this books Fairy Tale I just couldn't get into it and I probably fast forwarded through most of this particular fairy tale. I don't know why but it just didn't do it for me.
Such a great HEA.....I had tears in my eyes. So wonderful. HIGHLY CREDIT WORTHY!

Awful narration

Setting: London, England 1740
Genre: Romance
Margaret Reading’s brother arranged her marriage to Godric St. John after her lover was murdered and she needed a husband for her unborn child. At that time she retreated to Godric’s country estate, but she subsequently miscarried. She has lived in the country contentedly for 2 years, but has decided she needs a baby, so she returns to London to get Godric to do the deed. She also wants to bring the Ghost of St. Giles to justice for the murder of her lover. For his part, Godric had married Megs under the condition that it would be in name only. He is still mourning the death of his wife of 10 years, even though he has now been widowed for 3. He is also one iteration of the Ghost, and he knows that Roger was killed by someone else. He agrees that he will impregnate Megs, but then she has to return to the country and leave finding Roger’s murderer to him. So that makes two aspects of this story, but there is a third. As the Ghost, Godric is hunting for the “lassie snatchers” who have been kidnapping little girls and using them to make clocked stockings, often working them to death.
The plot of this story is good, both the romance and the interlinking mystery/adventure of the Ghost of St. Giles. The characters are well-rounded, the action is dynamic, and the dialogue is believable and moves the story along. Even the sex scenes, while graphic, are tastefully written. Overall, this is a wonderful story. Definitely 4 - 4 1/2 stars. However...
While Emma Taylor isn’t the worst narrator I’ve ever heard, this particular performance comes close. Though she doesn’t do a bad job of differentiating genders, her accent overall is just horrible. A very fake sounding accent. Out of curiosity I checked her other work, and the majority is contemporary romance and she uses a North American accent. I don’t know where she is from, but her reading of this book is horrible. For instance, every time she said a word ending with Y was comical. It reminded me of Mike Myers playing Fat Bastard in the Austin Powers movie - “get in my bell-ay”. Baby is beb-ay. Lady is led-ay. Etc. Where was Ashford McNab, who read all but one other of the books in this series? Really, they should re-record this with her. Or just about anyone.

Initially scared by reviews...but I loved it.

What did you love best about Lord of Darkness?

The overall story and the Ghost being a different character than the other men of the times.

What did you like best about this story?

There were a couple of scences which made me smile...no chuckle. :)

Have you listened to any of Emma Taylor’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No I haven't, but overall I enjoyed her performance even though there were a couple of characters' voices were too "stuffy" and drawn out...especially compared to the previous narrator's choices of intonation.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

When one character realizes looking back is not the optimum course in life.

Any additional comments?

Well worth the "read" - ok the listen! :)