The Heir and the Spare Audiobook By Kate Stradling cover art

The Heir and the Spare

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The Heir and the Spare

By: Kate Stradling
Narrated by: Susan Duerden
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An evil princess, a ruthless persecutor, a wretched match.

Tormented at home and bullied during her studies abroad, second-born Iona of Wessett hides in the quiet corners of her father's castle. Her art and music provide refuge, but her cruel sister Lisenn ever lurks like a monster stalking its prey.

Such has been her life for 20 years.

However, a promise of reprieve and retribution arrives when the neighboring kingdom of Capria proposes an alliance between their new crown prince and Wessett's heir to the throne. The treaty will rid Iona of the toxic Lisenn, and the potential groom is none other than her erstwhile bully, Jaoven of Deraval. The marriage could not be more poetic: Each deserves the misery the other might inflict.

Except that Jaoven, humbled by the war that elevated his rank, appears to have reformed, and the fate of both kingdoms now hinges on the disastrous union he's about to make.

Contains mature themes.

©2021 Kate Stradling (P)2021 Tantor Fairy Tales Fantasy Fiction Romance Royalty Magic
Engaging Characters • Original Story • Professional Recording • Intriguing Plot • Clean Romance • Unexpected Twists

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I found the story riveting and intense. It took me a little while to adjust to the accent of the reader, but I have to say that her performance of both male and female characters was superb.
I really enjoyed both the kindle and Audible versions.

Excellent

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The most important part of an audiobook review is that of the narrator--so I'll address that first. I thought it was very well read. While she doesn't have a wide vocal range, there was never any doubt about who was talking. Her delivery is sometimes a little breathy, but our main character still sounds like a young adult, so it worked for me. I honestly enjoyed the reading.

The story itself is a brutal romance. Iona's backstory is horror filled as she has had to contend with a psychopath or two in her family for her whole life. We have palace intrigue, good guys and bad guys, and the future of two kingdoms on the line. When I read the book, I read it in two days. When I listened to it, I did it in one day. Listening to it, I was once again on the edge of my seat, even knowing how it would end.

The relationship has a solid HEA. The kingdoms have a relatively firm HFN.

A Masterful Story

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I don't think it was plausible for the main character to have the love interest she developed after her own personal trauma elsewhere along with his torment towards her. I feel like it could have developed over several books, but the short timeframe was uncomfortable to watch. It was entertaining though.

Pretty Good

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Kate Straddling has done it again in creating a captivating page turner of a story. I'd already bought this as a Kindle book and read it, but happened to find it had been turned into an audio as well, so grabbed it to hear "again". The tale is still very good, but I found the narrator's reading cadence became irritating after awhile, and her pronunciation of a number of simple words was just odd. That won't keep me from listening to it again, but my enjoyment will definitely be lessened.

Freaky heir keeps this tale suspenseful

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I love this story. It is the reason I bought the audio book. But I did not like the narrator. I felt like she emphasized parts of sentences in weird way.

Interesting plot twists

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