When Beauty Tamed the Beast

By: Eloisa James

Narrated by: Susan Duerden

Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

Miss Linnet Berry Thrynne is a Beauty... Naturally, she's betrothed to a Beast.

Piers Yelverton, Earl of Marchant, lives in a castle in Wales where, it is rumored, his bad temper flays everyone he crosses. And rumor also has it that a wound has left the earl immune to the charms of any woman.

Linnet is not just any woman.

She is more than merely lovely: her wit and charm brought a prince to his knees. She estimates the earl will fall madly in love - in just two weeks.

She is more than merely lovely: her wit and charm brought a prince to his knees. She estimates the earl will fall madly in love - in just two weeks.

If she decides to be very wicked indeed... what price will she pay for taming his wild heart?

©2011 Eloisa James (P)2011 HarperCollinsPublishers

Loved it

The female protagonist Linnette was strong, smart and funny. I loved her. Even do the guy was a JERK, one can't help but like him. He is very smart, logical, selfless, very masculine, and extremely rude and arrogant. Yes he is all of that and more. He is not handsome in the traditional sense of the word but he is a MAN, and he makes love to his lady like there is no tomorrow. Great love scenes. Not a predictable book. It had many twist and turns.

A great listen

I was pleasantly surprised by this listen. the write up did not do it justice.
It was filled with witty banter from start to finish plus the narration was excellent!
If you are in the mood for a great, witty romance, look no further.

Love Love Loved it!

What did you love best about When Beauty Tamed the Beast?

There wasn't a lot of repetitive dialogue between characters. Many historical romance characters rehash the same complaints about each other in a million different ways over and over again. This book had witty banter, clever characters, and was simply a fun read. The main male character was just arrogant enough that you liked him, but didn't feel like he was a complete ass. The female protagonist was sweet/innocent enough, but not so much you would want to vomit. Overall, It was a fun read.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I didn't have a favorite. I thought they were all well written.

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

I thought Ms. Duerden did a great job with the voices. Then again, I almost never write negative reviews of the readers. I could listen to a frog read a book.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I did listen to it in once sitting. I spent the day cleaning my house and doing chores. Nine hours later the book was done.

Any additional comments?

I will be checking out several more of Eloisa James books.

Loved it!

Loved the spin on the story but have to admire, I loved the narrator! Simply fantastic!

My favorite audiobook to date!

Full of witty and sassy dialogue! I loved both main characters- masculine and feminine as it should be. Lots of tension and steamy romance. You will not regret getting this! It's worth three credits! Not to mention the narrator is my all time favorite- the men sound like men and the women sound like women.

Wonderful...Just Wonderful :)

What made the experience of listening to When Beauty Tamed the Beast the most enjoyable?

I love the books with the brooding and snarky heroes with lots of witty repartee...and this book fits that description perfectly :)

What was one of the most memorable moments of When Beauty Tamed the Beast?

When Piers finds LInnet half dead of scarlet fever and fights the fight of his life to save her....absolutely wonderful :)

The characters come alive in this novel.

Where does When Beauty Tamed the Beast rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is, by far, my favorite audiobook that I have listened to so far! The story is captivating and the narrator really brought them to life!

What did you like best about this story?

A love story to remember. Again, the narration just brought this story to life.

Which scene was your favorite?

I especially liked the scene when the characters in the book first visited the seaside pool together.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

The author's wit really shined in this story. It made me laugh a time or two.

Any additional comments?

Definitely a must listen!

A five stars fairytale!

This has been one of those audiobooks that makes me want to pause my everyday life and just listen to it. I loooooved it!! This is a Beauty and the Beast tale. Beauty is a good girl with bad luck who is a victim of vicious gossip that destroys her reputation. Her circumstances lead her to be engaged to the Beast.

I loved to hate the Beast. He is very much like Gregory House from the series House MD. A handsome brilliant doctor who has a very painful traumatic injury. The constant pain from his injury makes him angry and very easily irritable. The evolution of the relationship from this unlikely pair is absolutely amazing and consuming. Character development in this story was superb!

This is the second book in a series but each can be read individually. Each story is completely separate from the others. I highly recommend it to anyone that enjoys a good historical romance. The narrator did a very good job with this story too. I just found it perfect!

Surprising Combination!

No topic is safe, divorce, drug addiction, child abuse, to forgive or not to forgive... James manages to touch on all of these topics without leaving the listener feeling depressed. Piers Yelverton, The Earl of Merchant, is a gifted physician in the area of diagnosis and treatment with the added gift of making his bedside insults scathing. Linnet Thynne is the beautiful young woman who finds herself in the unfortunate position of needing a husband to avoid scandal. In between insults they seem to find a happy medium by agreeing they would never suit each other. In addition, the sub plot of Piers’ divorced parents is also captivating. As the listener you will find yourself switching sides throughout the novel as each character’s full story is revealed you will think them justified in their feelings. Set in a castle in Wales, a more realistic scene as compared to that of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, the story moves along at a steady pace without all of the repetition usually found in historical romances and with enough twists and turns to leave you wanting to listen.

Absolutely Fabulous!!!!!

What a terrific book from start to finish. And I was very sad when it ended. The story made me laugh out loud. Loved how the relationship developed. Susan Duerden is one of my favorite narrators. She does all the accents so well and consistently. Its a pleasure to listen to her.