Twice a Rake

Lord Rotheby's Influence, Book 1

By: Catherine Gayle

Narrated by: Pearl Hewitt

Some scandals are meant to be...

When Aurora Hyatt loses her journal in Hyde Park, her ruin is a foregone conclusion. After all, if anyone discovers her writings, they'll find scandalous fantasies involving the newest rake in town alongside entirely-too-candid thoughts about her typical dreary suitors. Aurora will either be forced into a loveless marriage with the first nodcock to make an offer, or she'll be assigned a permanent position on the shelf. Oh, dear good Lord. What catastrophe will God smite down upon her next?

If Niles Thornton, Baron Quinton, desires to maintain any semblance of his current lifestyle, he must fulfill the requirements his grandfather, Lord Rotheby, has set for him. First and foremost: he must marry and begin filling his nursery within the year.

When he is nearly barreled over by a racing curricle and a journal flies out to land at his feet, his troubles are over. Inside the journals pages, Quin discovers a scandal waiting to happen. Surely a young lady who would write such brazen things in a journal (and then dare to lose it) must recognize the necessity of a hasty marriage, even if the gentleman making the offer is rather less than honorable.

In a drunken haze, Quin kisses Aurora on a crowded ballroom floor, necessitating their immediate marriage. Quin's troubles are only beginning, however, as Aurora's writings are soon the focus of both gossip rags and drawing room conversation. When word arrives of an even greater scandal following in his wife's wake, will he prove himself a drunken abuser like his father, or will he become the loving husband of Aurora's fantasies?

©2011 Catherine Gayle (P)2013 Catherine Gayle

Quite entertaining

I wasn't quite sure what to expect after seeing some less-than-flattering reviews. But, after a confusing start (I lost the characters listening to the audiobook; I had to refer back to the kindle edition to sort it out) this turned out to be an enjoyable story. Flawed characters and secrets are ubiquitous is this genre and I think they were done well by Catherine Gayle here. Yes, Quin is a rake but he has his redeeming qualities, although I wanted to shake him at times.

The narration was good. This book kept my interest and makes me look for the next book in the series.

It was okay, somewhat annoying characters.

It was a bit annoying that the heroine, Aurora was sometimes strong and willful and sometimes constantly crying. And the hero, Quin most of the time a jerk to her which was causing her to cry. I think the story would have been better if he wasn't such a jerk most of the time and she stood up to him more.

Oh and the fact that for most of the book (90%) they didn't even speak to each other or get to know each other. The only time they spoke was when they were in in bed and not enough to even get to know each other.

Otherwise it was an okay story.

The narration I thought was pretty good. I would have liked the men's voices to be a bit deeper. It was not the best or the worst narration I have listened to.

Horrible narrator..Great story..

Any additional comments?

I loved the story. Loved Quin and Aurora. Lots of excellent secondary characters, with the exception of Lord Griffen, of course. Oh, and it had some really good sex, too.I was a little creeped out by Aurora trying to constantly trying to fix-up Jonas and Nia. I mean, he was 30 and she was 17. That's why I gave it 4 stars instead of 5.

However, the narrator absolutely killed the book (I finally had to give up listening and just read the rest.) ALL the older men had awful nasal-y sounds and ALL the younger were either just a nasal-y as the old ones or they simply sounded like the narrators voice. The hero sounded just like the heroine. UGH.. Lord Norcutt was the worst I've ever heard..Well, maybe it's a toss-up between Norcutt and Lord Rothbury.
If a narrator can't even try to do a man's voice she shouldn't be a narrator!!
I would never listen to Pearl Hewitt again. Sorry..

Naughty good fun

Twice a Rake was twice the fun! Engaging story, well written and easy to loose yourself in. The vocal talent here is what makes these stories so successful. Pearl Hewitt is one of the best narrators I've ever heard! I wouldn't want to hear anyone else read these books for me! She's captivating!

Better than expected

The story was only so so. At first the narration was annoying but quickly grew on me. The story dragged at points but I found that I wanted to know what happened. I can't say that I would read the others in the series .