The Seduction of Elliot McBride

By: Jennifer Ashley

Narrated by: Angela Dawe

Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

USA Today best-selling author and RITA Award winner Jennifer Ashley pens heart-pounding tales that keep listeners spellbound with torrid romance and finely crafted intrigue.

Juliana St. John faces the ultimate mortification when she's stood up on her wedding day. But then fate places her face-to-face with her first love, Elliot McBride, and she finds herself falling for her half-mad former paramour.

©2012 Jennifer Ashley (P)2013 Recorded Books

Critic reviews

"Ashley simply has a gift with her storytelling.... " ( Night Owl Reviews)

Very Good but Not Great

Okay, I'm a fussy reader. That said, this is an entertaining book. It combines a troubled hero with a harsh backstory, a very sweet heroine, and tops it off with the most delightful group of secondary characters I've ever seen. The story has enough twists and turns to keep it unpredictable and fun. The writer obviously knows what she's doing. The narrator is Angela Dawes, and she does try. She's just not my cup of tea. When a novel is set in some place other than the US (where I reside), I do prefer a narrator that can handle the accents. There are plenty of narrators who can, but this one can't. Her Scottish accent needs work, and her English accent isn't any one of the broad spectrum of English accents I've ever heard. Bless her heart, she's probably a nice person. Sorry Angela.

great listen

Would you listen to The Seduction of Elliot McBride again? Why?

This is a must listen to again book. The story is a good one and the reader is really good.
I would compare this book to any of the others in the Mackenzie series, except for Ian Mackenzie's story which is one of the best book I have ever read or listened to.

What other book might you compare The Seduction of Elliot McBride to and why?

I have always enjoyed the Highland romances but Ashley's books have made me look outside of the "traditional" highland romances with the feudal Laird.

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

I wish she had more of a Scottish brogue - I understand that the Scottish aristocracy adopted a more "English" accent but I like the brogue and the Mackenzies and McBrides tiake a great deal of pride in being "Scottish"

Seduction of Elliot McBride: #5 Highland Pleasures

What made the experience of listening to The Seduction of Elliot McBride the most enjoyable?

This is the fifth in the Highland Pleasures series. I cannot wait for more.

Juliana St. John faces the ultimate mortification when she's stood up on her wedding day. But then fate places her face-to-face with her first love, Elliot McBride, and she finds herself falling for her half-mad former paramour.

What did you like best about this story?

Elliot & Juliana's relationship evolution. I also LOVE that it starts out hot and continues throughout.

Which character – as performed by Angela Dawe – was your favorite?

Elliot-Angela Dawe never lets me down with her Scottish accents.

Any additional comments?

Sexual Situations

wasn't at all what I expected

If your looking for a book about war time flashbacks or post traumatic syndrome I guess you would like this book, it jus t wasn't my idea of a highlander romance.

Did not enjoy.

I did not care for this narrator's style. Her pauses at the end of sentences are too long and strangely inflected. It almost felt like an AI reading. It was bothersome enough that I almost did not finish and I would not choose to listen to this narrator again. The story itself was good but there were parts of the author's style that I also did not enjoy. For example any of the steamy scenes, both parties ended up covered in sweat, including sometimes droplets of sweat dripping on to one another. That just sounds gross and not remotely sexy. Overall it was a fine romance for some light-hearted listening, but I would not listen to this again, and if I had paid money for this I would have been very unhappy. This was included as part of my audible plus subscription.

I lost interest...

I wanted to like this book because I like the author's style and the narrator is very good. But unfortunately About two thirds of the book in I lost interest completely. There was no conflict at all. It was just pretty monotonous. The hero is an ex soldier dealing with PTSD. The heroine was stood up at the altar. The hero happened to be there and in a very casual conversation decided to marry her. The story was hot but nothing interesting happened. I guess it was missing the Mackenzie spice of the previous books. I'm returning this one.

Beautiful, romantic duo!

Elliott is the brother of Ansley who is married to a Mackenzie and I love the Mackenzie brothers. They are mentioned from time to time but this story is about Elliott overcoming his darkness with the help of his first love Julianna. The narrator is perfect for these stories, she does a wonderful job!

Not my Favorite

This book sounded too much like the first book. Ian and Elliot were practically the same stories, both with their mannerisms and scars. Didn't help that the voices were done the same, as well. Hence the 4 overall rating on this one. Have enjoyed the series as a whole.

One of the best in the series!

Absolutely love the main characters from beginning to end. Just wish the author had included more acceptance. But loved the plot twist as usual and happy ever, ever after ending.

Not What I was Hoping For

I swore after I read the last book in this series I was done with it. If The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie had not been one of the best books I ever read, I would never have read the second book in the series. Each subsequent book has been less interesting than the one before it.

I read a detailed synopsis of this book and reluctantly decided to give it a try. The main character seemed off-beat and troubled enough that I thought the author might be able to recreate a little of the magic of Ian Mackenzie's book. Unfortunately she did not. This plot was flat, the two main characters seemed to have nothing in common and no spark between them. It was never explained and never clear why they cared for each other, what in their history showed that they were meant to be together or why we should care about them. The author barely used any of the most interesting characters from earlier books and while the secondary Indian and Scottish characters were interesting, they were hardley developed.

However, in case it isn't evident, I really enjoy this narrator. And I probably would have listened to this book even if I knew it would disappoint me, just to listen to her.