The Duke's Wayward Ward

By: Claudia Stone

Narrated by: Duke DeFoix, Duchess DeFoix

Length: 5 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

When Lady Emma Percival's father dies, leaving her penniless and alone, she fears that she will end up on the streets. Help is at hand, albeit from an unlikely source, when it transpires that her father has appointed his greatest enemy to be her guardian. The Duke of Liscarroll is a cold-hearted brute whom Emma spars with at every turn, but soon their angry altercations turn to something else entirely....

Peter William Brazil, Sixth Duke of Liscarroll, finds himself strong-armed by his mother into accepting Lady Emma as his ward. Though he is loath to have anything to do with the Percival family, he does want to get his hands on the priceless manuscript the late Earl bequeathed him in his will, on condition that he finds Lady Emma a suitable husband. Peter fully intends to have Lady Emma married off and out of his house within a fortnight, but there's something about the fiery, young lady that sparks his interest, and soon he's not sure that he wants to let her go at all.

When someone attempts to shoot him and the ton label Emma as the prime suspect, Peter knows that he must clear her name before he makes her his bride. The only problem is, there's more than one person with reason to want him dead, and his bride-to-be is less than enamoured with the idea of becoming his....

Can these two warring enemies find the culprit and a happily ever after? Find out in the sweet, Regency listen!

©2018 Claudia Stone (P)2019 Claudia Stone

Entertaining and very well interpreted:)

It's another book by Ms Stone that I really enjoyed:)

When we meet Lady Emma Percival and Peter Brazil, the Duke of Liscarroll, for the first time, they seem to be like fire and ice, with nothing in common and the background of a family feud... Yet appearances do deceive and with every page/minute of listening we wait more and more impatiently for them to finally find their happily ever after. The plot is deceptively simple at first, but then unexpected events complicate it enough for us to feel the tension and anxiety along with our H and h. The background characters are colourful and memorable (I especially liked Peter's mother, the Duchess:)) and the mystery behind the murder attempts well developed. What I also like a lot is that it's not really the 'love at first sight' kind of story, but that we see love between Emma and Peter grow and mature and we witness their doubts, uncertainties and fears about the other's feelings - it's so much closer to real life that the 'insta-love' kinds of romances...:)

It's the second book I listened to in the interpretation of Duke and Duchess DeFoix (the previous one was also written by Ms Stone) and I will repeat what I already wrote once: I like the male-female narration mirroring the male-female point of view chapter pattern of the book, it is very well done, with all the voices of individual characters sounding really natural. I also liked the pace of the couple's reading, it was just about right, no need to speed it up (as I usually do). Generally it's a great interpretation of the book.

DISCLAIMER: I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Great Regency romance

This listen has an interesting backstory - the Duke ruins a man and the man leaves the Duke the guardianship of his daughter at the man's death. (I know, right?)

I liked the slow burn that was the Duke and his ward. Someone is trying to kill the Duke but they find their way to each other anyway. I guessed the whodunnit right away. I was surprised when I was right but yup, nailed it!

The duo narration worked well. I preferred the male voice but the female held her own. Regency romances can be a tricky genre but the narration for this book stayed true.

Sweet Historical Romance

Peter Brazil, the Duke of Liscarroll, is shocked when the will of his father's enemy is read. Peter has been appointed as the guardian of the man's daughter, Emma Percival. Peter is determined to marry Emma off as soon as possible, but when he meets his young ward, no man seems quite worthy of her. But matters are complicated when someone tries to kill him, and all fingers are pointed at Emma.

This was a sweet clean read with great characters. Emma and Peter spark and spar with each other, and it's all a ton of fun. Peter seems a bit heartless at first but it soon becomes obvious that he's just hopeless at courting. He can flirt with the experienced ladies of the ton but when it comes to winning the heart of the innocent yet feisty Emma, he's a lost cause. And Emma is at her best when she stands up to him. Throw in a meddling and adorable Dowager Duchess and this one gets five stars from me.

The narration was great, as always. the male and female narrators perform each chapter from Emma and Peter's point of view and also perform the male or female speaking parts. It's seamless and immerses you right into the story. I requested an audiobook, and I'm voluntarily leaving a review.

love it

Cute often funny story with a splash of naughty.

Both narrators did an excellent job reading. love the accents making them perfect for this story.

I received this audible free at my request. I gladly and freely post my review.

A Great Listen

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request, and have voluntarily left this review. This is not my usual type of book, but it was a lot of fun. Emma, orphaned but at marrying age, fate is left in the hands of her father's worst enemy when her deceased father appoints him her guardian in his will. The Duke's mother decides it will be her duty to find the poor girl a husband at her son's expense. The Duke's perfect world is turned upside down. Between the well written characters, the fast moving plot and the narration that brings it you life, you'll keep listening longer than you intended.

Amazing Regency Romance and Fantastic Narration!

I love this author writing! She definitely is one of my favorite Regency Romance authors. The story has is all: romance, twists and turns, intrigue, and a little suspense. Duke DeFoix and Duchesse DeFoix are amazing narrators. I love their voices together. The story, and the narration, are fantastic. I HIGHLY recommend it.

Excellent story & narration!

I really enjoyed this audiobook! The story was fun, the mystery engaging, and the h/H love story enjoyable (I am a sucker for enemies-to-lovers or "just don't want to know you" tales to "can't live without you plots!) The mystery gave the story some meat and I thought it was a great combination of both (romance and mystery in one). What more could a girl ask for? The story was well-written and engaging, and I was rooting for Lady Emma and Peter (the Duke) to reach their happy ending.

The voice actors ("Duke DeFoix" & "Duchess DeFoix") were marvelous! I hadn't listened to a multi-narrator audiobook up until now; for all my years of listening, they somehow have slipped my notice. But it's a great audio format and I preferred the male/female narrators' voices and performances of the story made it more of an immersive listen.

I will definitely seek out Claudia Stone's other works and more audio performances by both narrators. I thoroughly enjoyed this book for both story and narration, and it's on my re-listen shelf.

Note: I received this title for free in exchange for an unbiased review.

:)

This charming story with its brooding duke, loving mother, and witty, sweet ward was full of danger, mystery, and potential suspects, plus a few too many potential suitors, at least according to some people. The narration was superb as well.

I listened to this at 1.75x speed.

An ARC of this audiobook was given to me in exchange for my review, but that did not affect my opinion.

All-around great regency romance

I liked the storyline with the two main characters often at odds and trying to fight their attraction to each other. The humor Claudia Stone wrote in made it a fun listen. It is rare to have a book with more than one narrator, and the Duke and Duchess DeFoix did an nice job with the narration and there was a seamless audio production changing between male and female voices. I would read another Claudia Stone book.

I received a promotional copy of this audiobook and this is my voluntary, honest review.

A Good Listen!

This story had its moments of romance and falling in love between two lovely and interesting people, Lady Emma and Peter, sixth Duke of Liscarroll. There is also a potential murderer, a delightful mother, an ex mistress and so on, all of whom help make this story into a page turner.
I loved how the romance almost didn't happen because the two main characters didn't believe it was possible and also because of what was happening in the story, but it did happen or we wouldn't have had such a delightful book to read or listen to.
It is well written by Claudia Stone and very competently narrated by the Duke & Duchess DeFoix. Good teamwork between all three parties!
I requested and listened to an audiobook version and my review above is unbiased and given voluntarily.