Surrender to the Devil

By: Lorraine Heath

Narrated by: Susan Ericksen

Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

A Devilish Duke on a Quest for Pleasure...

Frannie Darling was once a child of London's roughest streets, surrounded by petty thieves, pickpockets, and worse. But though she survived this harsh upbringing to become a woman of incomparable beauty, Frannie wants nothing to do with the men who lust for her, the rogues who frequent the gaming hall where she works. She can take care of herself and feels perfectly safe on her own-safe, that is, until he strides into her world, and once again it becomes a very dangerous place indeed.

To bed her but not wed her. That's what Sterling Mabry, the eighth Duke of Greystone, wants. But Frannie abhors arrogant aristocrats interested only in their own pleasure. So why then does the thought of an illicit tryst with the devilish duke leave her trembling with desire? Her willing body begs for release . . . and a wicked, wonderful surrender.

©2009, 2011 Jan Nowasky (P)2012 HarperCollinsPublishers

Frannie Darling found Love :)

Read from April 19 to 21, 2013

Read/Listened for Fun (Paperback/Kindle/Audio)
Overall Rating: 4.00
Story Rating: 3.75
Character Rating: 4.25

Audio Rating: 4.25 (not part of the overall rating)

First thought after finishing: Frannie Darling deserved love and I am so glad she finally found it!

Story Thoughts: I knew that Frannie’s story would be a tough read. Her back story is heartbreaking and her plight for the orphaned children is heart-string pulling. I adored her part of the story and was really happy when she found love. It took a bit for to get into the romance between Frannie and Sterling but that all clicked about half way through the story. This was another fantastic addition to this series.

Character Thoughts:Frannie was the “scoundrel” that I was most looking forward too! She is a fantastic leading lady and has a wonderful heart. Her back story is heartbreaking but she over came it all. Sterling took a bit too like. Seriously, his attitude and I did not quite mesh. Though as Frannie fell in love so did I! I love when characters make me love them even though I am opposed

Audio Thoughts:

Narrated By Susan Ericksen /Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins

I wasn’t sure if I would like switching over to one narrator but Susan did a fantastic job. She was FRANNIE! I don’t think anyone else would be as good at getting her emotion and cadence. It just worked!

Final Thoughts: I need to get the last in this series soon!

boring story, struggled

it's a typical Cinderella story nothing special or creative. narrator has a nice voice but boring

Frannie was not believable

Frannie or Franny however she is spelled is a character outlined in the first two novels as a woman who raped, beaten and while not fearful of men completely and utterly disinterested and dressing drab to not catch attention.

Lorraine Heath seemed to forget her own story and had this four book series take a turn for the worst in book 3. While I love Frannie as a character, I found it absolutely unbelievable she would end up with who she does because A) he is snobby and would never show interested regardless of lush as was outlined in book 2 and B) she would never cross a room to talk to a man just plain and simple.

So the motivation behind the characters during the first few chapters is not only not believable but it doesn't match the first two books in the least.

Thumbs down on this one. Not terrible - you'll like it but if you like a good story and you get annoyed when authors forget the characteristics of their own characters...well then you'll be very annoyed until you get happy 3/4 of the way through because you get drawn in anyway.

Least Favorite of the Series

Just could not get into this audiobook. All the other books in this series were terrific. This one had a weak storyline.

Not my cup of tea.

Found the story distasteful,unpleasant and depressing. I should have known by the cover it wasn't my kind of reading.

Sadly lacking

Any additional comments?

The story had promise as we follow Franny Darling's life. However, the plot plodded with altogether too much angst and too little progression. I suffered through 2/3 of the book before deciding I was bored, frustrated and unable to continue to listen. A complete disappointment since I liked the first books in the series.
Normally, I love Susan Ericksen's narration but this one was poorly edited with character switches and conversations blurry. It also matched the the sloooow plot but could not be corrected by speeding up the recording.
Save your money and credits - and teeth gritting.