Ladies and Scoundrels, Volume One

De: Amanda Mariel

Narrado por: Anne Damman

Duración: 13 h y 45 m

Resumen del Editor

Get swept away in the first three novels of the Ladies and Scoundrels series! These previous released, best-selling romances of love, loss, and redemption will keep you enthralled and leave you satisfied.

Scandalous Endeavors

Lady Amelia has only known the comfort of life in mid-18th century English aristocracy. But when her father dies, she finds herself alone, grief stricken and not of age. Adding to her mounting problems, her appointed guardian, ordered her to relocate to America where she must remain until she comes of age.

With the help of Grace and Sarah, Amelia gets her uncle to agree to give her four weeks to settle her affairs and unbeknownst to him...find an English lord to marry. Despite her mourning period she endeavors to trap one of London’s eligible bachelors in matrimony so she can remain in her beloved England.

The Duke of Goldstone is devilishly handsome, but a Scottish Duke is entirely unacceptable as a possible husband. After all Scotland is not her beloved England. Goldstone has a nasty habit of showing up at all the wrong moments and thwarting her carefully laid plans to ensnare a suitable husband. Sparks fly as the pair find themselves at odds with each other and drawn to each other at the same time. Can they find a way to stop arguing long enough to explore their growing passion?

Scandalous Intentions

When faced with losing his father’s support, notorious rake Lord Julian Luvington sets his sights on Lady Sarah. She is as respectable as they come, just what his father ordered. But the lady shall not be easily won.

Lady Sarah Roseington is determined to marry for love or not at all, and she will do anything to obtain the freedom granted to men. A blackguard like Lord Luvington could destroy her hard-won reputation, but marriage to him also offers her the opportunities she cannot achieve on her own,

When Lord Luvington refuses to abandon his pursuit, Lady Sarah proposes an arrangement. Only the price may be more than either bargained for. Lady Sarah could lose more than her social standing and Julian could lose his heart.

Scandalous Redemption

Ruined by scandal, Claudia Akford survived years of marriage to a cruel brute. Widowed, she is determined to regain her standing in society, but Lord Shillington personifies temptation. Kind and gentle, yet masculine and sinfully handsome, he would make the perfect lover, but he wants more than she is willing to give.

While Henry Shillington knows a little of the beautiful but notorious Lady Claudia Akford, he is struck by her kindhearted, accomplished, and witty demeanor. The more time he spends in her company, the more he dreams of a future with her. But the lady resists his honorable overtures, and a mistress will never do for him.

Can two wary people overcome past hurts, an old scandal, and social strictures to embrace true love?

©2017 Amanda Siemen (P)2019 Amanda Siemen

Romance galore

I received a free code to listen to this book and I did so willingly

Very good story line. Truly enjoyable reading.

Love concurs all.

Fantastic narration

Enjoyable Regency romances

I had such fun with these romances, I loved the way the stories led into one another and shared characters. I especially loved seeing "villains" being redeemed and finding out that they weren't such villains after all or had reasons for the things they did. I especially loved the final story and seeing Henry find the lady for him, especially after he was made fun of in the first two books. I loved the Duchess and how she helped the other ladies. She was truly the voice of wisdom.

The narration was good, although I did speed it up a little to 1.1x. Very good voice for these type of romances.

I received a free copy via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving this honest review.

enjoyed them all

Would I listen to it again: yes
Did the stories keep me engaged: yes
Was I invested in the characters: yes
What did I like? Each story has a good pace, characters are engaging and is well written. There is an intertwining story tying them all together, but each story can be listened to on its own.
○ Scandalous Endeavours: Ameila is strong, witty and smart and her banter with Richard is delightful.
○ Scandalous Intentions: Julian sets his sights on Sara and isn't giving up until he gets what he wants.
○ Scandalous Redemption: widowed Claudia is finally free of an abusive husband - can stuffed shirt Henry convince her he is what she needs?

Narrator comment: I enjoyed Anne Damman's narration, she's done a great job bringing these three stories to life, each character is clear and I enjoyed the audio experience.

Somewhat Uneven Bundle, Good Narrator

Here’s my take on the three books in this bundle. All are super-quick listens. These are best enjoyed if you like short-form Regency romance with little character or plot development and are just willing to roll with it when things seem unlikely or silly. For me, that all depends on my mood!

Review of Scandalous Endeavors (Book 1 of Ladies and Scoundrels) by Amanda Mariel
Accept As Silly, and You’ll Enjoy

Some heroines and plots in Regency Romance are more silly than others. Sometimes, that frustrates me, but at other times, I am fine with it if I just run with the premise and do not judge it too harshly for excellent characterization and plot. This particular heroine I found exceedingly silly, so I just decided to enjoy it as-is with no deep delving into the mechanics of good story and character. As that, this story is a fun romp, though at times even then the heroine became a little tedious. Newly an orphan a few years away from her majority and under the protection of an American uncle, she was bound and determined to wed an English lord by forcing a compromise and was even helped in that by her friend (and the chosen man’s sister) and also the Duchess of Abernathy (a character I just adore in this series. Just when she decides to do so, however, she meets the duchess's nephew, a duke from Scotland, and he provokes physical feelings and powerful emotions she had never had and was not prepared for. Will she stay with the quest for compromise by an English Lord, or will she seek to find out more about this strange attraction? The duke has his own issues as well, of course, as he has thwarted a few attempts at compromise in his day! As is usual with this author, I thought the heroine seemed a bit more worldly in her desires than a sheltered maiden of that time would be. But as I was simply going to let the minor annoyances roll off my back and see this as a fun, silly romp, I let that go and enjoyed the story as such. The narrator did a fantastic job. I love her posh English accent, which is so perfect for Regency and especially brings the conversations to life.

Review of Scandalous Intentions (Book 2 of Ladies and Scoundrels): Excellent Narrator Smooths Story’s Lacks

Like some contemporary romance authors, Ms. Mariel is releasing her back catalog as audiobooks. As a new fan of audiobooks, I appreciate this trend! I love the narrator of this book. As this is a Regency romance, it feels very appropriate to have a very proper-sounding English lady narrating it. I actually think her well-done narration smoothed over some of the more awkward parts of the story. I've been reading this author for years, and I've actually noticed her writing ability getting better and better over time. As this book is from her back catalog some years ago, it does actually point up how much she has improved! This is a relatively quick-listen novella, a little over 4 hours long, yet so much happens. That's one flaw inherent to too much short-form fiction: trying to stuff too much story into a short form. This couple's past and present deserved a bit more showing than telling on the fly. As the book does share all their courtship and the early first months of their marriage, it needed more room to breathe, to explore their present romantic arc both during courtship and marriage as well as provide insights into their characters beyond who they are as a couple. These are both fascinating characters; share more about them, pretty please! (I would have loved to have seen more about the heroine’s bluestocking leanings as well as why, in particular, she had those specific demands when they set up the construct for their marriage.) Instead, we just got some tantalizing tidbits, but it felt like there was more to the story—and characters—that needed to be told.

Review of Scandalous Redemption (Book 3 of Ladies and Scoundrels)
Love the Narrator, Not Wild About the Hero

I've now listened to several audiobooks by this author, and I love the female British narrator she's chosen. The woman’s voice is perfect for Regency romance! Unfortunately, I wasn't as wild about the story. I just didn't like the hero until the end because of how he treated her for most of the book. While he wasn't outright cruel, the way he saw her as less than because of a perceived youthful romantic issue was exceedingly unkind. This went beyond the confines of just his thoughts; he didn't treat her as well as he should have, given that he's supposed to be a gentleman and especially given that he has an undeniable attraction to her…one that he even acts on occasionally! I felt sorry for the heroine for how the ton treats her because of what happened between her and another gentleman when she was quite young and naïve. I really hope it wasn't that bad in the Regency Era, that one could be treated so shabbily for years because of the folly of youth. By the way, the heroine's first husband was abusive. We don't learn the full details until much later in the book, but this could certainly be a trigger for some readers as there is a discussion of physical abuse and forced marital intimacy. I've enjoyed many books by this author, but this is not one of them.

Enjoyable!

This was a surprisingly good story, I really enjoyed it. The storyline is well-developed, and characters are engaging. It's well-plotted, well- written, and well-paced.

The Narration by Anne Damman is excellent. She does a great job with the different character's voices. I was given a free copy of this audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this unbiased review.

Who is the scoundrel?

This is 3 books in one and well worth the credit. Historical romance at it's best. Woman had it bad in those days and must have a man. The women in these stories knew they must have a man all but one. Sarah said she would only marry for love. Amelia must find a husband or her uncle is going to send her to America. Claudia never wants a man to own her again. The Narrator Ann Damman did a great job.


This book
was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

3 Cinderella fairytale stories

if you want a carefree, no worry, fake, story these 3 short stories are it. waste of a credit!