Saving Shadow

By: Laura Beers

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

For England's top spy, love is not an option

Born with a perfect memory, Lady Elizabeth Beckett has become one of the world’s most notorious spies, despite being the daughter of a duke. She is shielded only by her code name: Shadow. When young ladies of High Society begin disappearing from London, Eliza has no doubt who is orchestrating these crimes; a heinous man she has been investigating for years. Vowing to save them before they are sold to the highest bidder, she must risk everything to stop him.

Lord Sinclair was perfectly content being the second son of a marquess, but when his brother is murdered, he is thrust into a position he has not been prepared for and does not desire. As an agent for the Crown, he is expected to retire now that he is the heir, but he’s been granted special permission for one more mission... to obtain justice for his murdered brother.

Used to keeping secrets, Lady Eliza and Lord Sinclair must learn to open up to each other when they are assigned as partners to bring down the same ruthless man and his brutal empire of abduction and slavery. As Eliza’s tainted past becomes too much for her to bear alone, can she learn to trust her new partner with her secrets, her life, and possibly her heart?


As the first novel in this series by author Laura Beers, this story begins The Beckett Files series. This is a sweet spy series that is set in the Regency period.

The series includes:

Saving Shadow
A Peculiar Courtship
To Love a Spy
A Tangled Ruse
A Deceptive Bargain
The Baron's Daughter
The Unfortunate Debutante

Other books by Laura Beers include the Regency Brides: A Promise of Love, Sweet Regency Matchmakers and the Regency Spies & Secrets.

Loved it

Great story. Kept me engaged. Loved that there is no explicit love scenes. Keep up the good work.

The storyline had just the right amount of tension

I loved the story. The romance and intrigue were perfect.
The artificial voice was a zero. AI mispronounced words, there were no voice inflections and you couldn’t tell what character it was.

Amazing story. Narration is Bleh.

I bought this book a long time ago and loved the read. And all its sequels. The Virtual Voice narration is very emotionless. The story is strong enough to keep me engaged and continuing to listen, but it's startling sometimes how bland and the same the voice is even in highly emotional moments within the story. Moments of yelling or whispering are all voiced in the same tone. I love that this book is available in audio format, but the AI voice generation is not quite there yet.

AI narration needs lots of work

The AI narration was flat and incorrect pronunciation in many places. Story was inconsistent, could have been really good with a little more editing. For someone who was supposed to be so intelligent, she made numerous errors as a spy. Her emotional turmoil was understandable and a big part of the plot. I was glad this was free with the plus catalog, not sure I’ll listen to more.

Excellent novel!

I enjoyed this book very much. I love a strong female lead with relatable vulnerabilities. there were even a few twists along the way. The virtual voice AI reader is definitely not as good as an A-rated narrator who knows how to do the voices and accents. Nevertheless, I found that speeding it up to 1.1 and thinking of the book as a "reading" and not a "dramatic reading" made it completely palatable. The story was so excellent that after a while, I didn't notice the lack of acting. I will say that I prefer this non-dramtic AI over a narrator with cadence or style issues. I've stopped several books because the narrators voice doesn't match the book's vibe, but at least the AI voice doesn't get in the way of the story.

Great book, hate virtual voice

I love this series. I initially read it on Kindle a couple of years ago, and wanted to get audio versions, and was bummed to find audio was not available. I occasionally check and was excited to see the series is FINALLY available in audio format. Unfortunately, it’s disappointing that it’s narrated by virtual voice. I still love the book and characters, but this series could be so much better with a great narrator. There is a lot of affection and banter between all of the characters throughout the series, and the virtual voice really does not do it justice. I’ve enjoyed revisiting the series, but would never recommend these audio books as great finds, solely because of virtual voice. I would absolutely rather pay for an actual narrator than get these free with virtual voice.

Virtual voice is not an option.

Disliked the virtual voice narration. Forced myself to listen but was so distracted but mispronounced words and the lack of emotion that I gave up. Will make sure I never try one again. Couldn’t tell if the book was as bad as it sounded.