Unclaimed

By: Courtney Milan

Narrated by: Polly Lee

Length: 11 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

Her only hope for survival….

Handsome, wealthy, and respected, Sir Mark Turner is the most sought-after bachelor in all of London—and he's known far and wide for his irreproachable character. But behind his virtuous reputation lies a passionate nature he keeps carefully in check… until he meets the beautiful Jessica Farleigh, the woman he’s waited for all his life.

But Jessica is a courtesan, not the genteel lady Sir Mark believes. Desperate to be free of a life she despises, she seizes her chance when Mark's enemies make her an offer she can’t refuse: seduce Mark and tarnish his good name, and a princely sum will be hers. Yet as she comes to know the man she’s sworn to destroy, Jessica will be forced to choose between the future she needs… and the love she knows is impossible.

©2011 Courtney Milan (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

I'm a virgin, not dead

Although he is in the public eye a lot due to the popularity of his book, Mark is not comfortable with his fame. He ventures to the town of his youth to get away from the public eye. Unbeknownst to him, there is bounty on his chastity.

Jessica is a desperate woman. She wants out of the position dealt to her by poor past decisions and so she willingly strikes a bargain to ruin the author of the manual on chastity. As prepared as she is in the art of seduction and ruination, she has not a clue in protecting her heart.

Mark and Jessica are a match so perfect yet without the cliche of opposites attract. They have become one of my favorite fictional couples. However, more than just the clever banter and heartbreaking to later heart-soothing circumstances depicted, Milan addresses some strong points in this book. Although it may have teetered, at times, on lecture, I found a lot of good qualities in the morals of the characters as well as their complexity in their stances and values. this was entertaining and thoughtful, romantic and heartbreaking all at once. I enjoyed this installment very much and look forward to listening to the next one with the mysterious Smite Turner.


Narration:
Narrator: Polly Lee
Performance: 4/5
Speed: 1.5x
To be quite honest, I couldn't tell the difference between this new narrator and the one who read for the first book. Both did a superb job with narration, pace, tone, and differentiation of the characters. Accents were done well and I didn't have trouble with volume levels

Enjoyable

I like this series. It takes a bit long. She throws obstacles up even once we want them to be over FINALLY. But I listen and enjoy and recommend. I loved Ash and Margaret and Marc so it was fun to find out about his book and see him get his wife. I would have liked a bit more about Ash an Margaret. Will read the next one

Fun, interesting, steamy romance!

The 2nd in a the Turners Brothers trilogy, this story about Sir Mark Turner, famous author and proponent of male chastity is an exciting, romantic story. Polly Lee is a great narrator -- her performance kept me hanging on, dying to know what was going to happen next. Jessica, the "fallen woman" who captures Mark's attention and his heart, was an interesting and, at times, frustrating heroine, but Courtney Milan's story about love, sex, and the value that society puts on men and women was timely and fun. A definite 5 star selection!

It was a good story until...

Any additional comments?

I choose this book to start with rather than the first book in this series because of the unusual plot line and it was great until the last few chapters...the sub-plot became repetitious, when I thought they've solved the main problem, it popped up again a second time then I thought ok that should solve it, the author again repeated it a third time and I finally said enough is enough..I would've thought the author should know when a story line becomes irritating and should stop when the going gets good not when it pales and makes the whole book redundant. I'm having second thoughts about keeping this one.,what's the point in listening to it again when I have to stop the book before the last few chapters because it got irritating and you suddenly don't feel like listening to it until the very end?

Pretty good!!!

What did you like best about Unclaimed? What did you like least?

I like the narrator and I like the characters. I thought the story was a bit unrealistic, but it didn't bother me. This is fiction after all.

The only thing I didn't like about the book was Jessica's constant wavering and self-doubt. It was just too much, too often. She lost it a couple of times with Mark which was fine, it was the last time that she lost it after receiving the letter from her former protector that was too much for me.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

I thought there was at least one contradiction in the ending. Mark said that his sister-in-law Margaret was going to give Jessica a "season", but that never happened and wasn't ever really the plan. Other than that and the item previously mentioned, I liked the ending.

Any additional comments?

I gave this book three stars because I thought that the addition of the MCB was unrealistic. Mark has a great story and he has very valid and completely understandable reasons for being chaste. His reasoning and how he explained his reasoning made me LOVE Mark. I like that he ended up with a fallen woman; however, I thought she chewed Mark out one too many times and too furiously the last time for my taste. She had already broken his heart and even Mark voiced concerns that her self doubts would be re-occurring in the future. This was never really addressed in my opinion.

Not one of Courtney Milan's best

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

I have no idea.

What was most disappointing about Courtney Milan’s story?

It was an awkward story and I couldn't get interested in it. It was actually painful to finish.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Polly Lee?

Sure.

What character would you cut from Unclaimed?

The Queen. Her appearance was unnecessary.

Any additional comments?

I was surprised this was a Milan book.

Very disappointing book

I'm sorry I wasted my money. I liked the first book in the series but this one just didn't have my interest right from the start and it went downhill from there. My advice is to pass on this book. I wish I had. Two thumbs down.

I don't understand why!

I don't understand why the author got so repetitive ...
Whilst the story centers around the life-style of Jessica . Found myself cursing at the author for repeating the word "whore" so much. It was a turn off.
I won't keep the book as I will not re-read it

bad narrator annoying heroine = BAD

I love Courtney Milan and this series. Mark was one of my favorites in previous books in the series. This book just didn't work for me.

Couldn’t finish it

It’s on a very rare occasion I can’t finish a book. I listened to about 2 hours of this and can’t find myself finishing it. Just not right for me.