The Marquess Method

The Beautiful Barringtons, Book 3

De: Kathleen Ayers

Narrado por: Stevie Zimmerman

Lady Theodosia Barrington is practically begging to be ruined.

That’s the assumption of the Marquess of Haven after spying Theodosia at a house party given by the Duke of Granby. After his father left him little else but a title and a crumbling estate, Haven is in desperate need of an heiress. Not only is Theodosia rich as Croesus and beautiful, but she’s also a Barrington. Her brother is Leo Murphy, owner of Elysium and the man Haven holds responsible for ruining his father. Theodosia is the solution to all of Haven’s problems.

Theodosia has long been infatuated with the Earl of Blythe. In an effort to prove her affection and perhaps induce him to offer for her, Theodosia paints a scandalous self-portrait of herself for Blythe as a birthday gift. The small token of affection is incredibly improper. Her behavior reckless. She regrets gifting the miniature to Blythe immediately. Desperate to save her reputation before it can be destroyed and escape humiliation, Theodosia makes another rash decision. Retrieve the miniature from Blythe’s study. Except the miniature is gone. And the only thing waiting for her is the Marquess of Haven. And her own ruination.

©2021 Kathleen Ayers (P)2023 Kathleen Ayers

Enemies to Lovers Trope is SUPERIOR

Loved the narrator! The story was fun and had a few twists and turns that kept me on my toes. I do hope Ambrose’s sister gets her own book soon. 🙂‍↕️

Long winded but nice

It was too long by 20%, but interesting elements in the story made the book engaging.
My other complaint is a regular one: They should spring for a man AND woman narrators. Without that, the effect is always lessened.

Narrator does a great job with the hero

I’m a bit torn with the rating. There were things that really stood out in this book that I loved and wish I encountered in other romances but then other aspects that downgraded my rating averaging it out at 3 stars.

Regarding the story:
The strengths are first and foremost the hero. Haven is mature, funny, fully fleshed, and pretty clearly in love with the heroine (Theodora “Theo”). I loved that he wasn’t wushu washy about her and was patient but persistent, it refreshing from heroes that wait till the last chapter of the book to admit they actually love the heroine. He was a perfect hero worthy of 5 stars easily.

Not the same for the heroine. I liked Theo initially. And I loved moments we’re she was teasing Haven, I wish there were more interactions like that between them. Most of the book though is him teasing her and her sort of overlooking him entirely or expressing extremely unkind opinions about his impoverished state (one he didn’t create). I was exhausted by the superficial reasons she chased Blythe and not impressed by the superficial reasons she began to like Haven. The story would’ve been stronger if she gradually started liking Haven for who he was and for their banter rather than being attracted to him only physically and very late in the story developing real feelings for him.

Even though the story provides a lot of opportunities for their relationship to build in a gradual and realistic manner. Theo’s stubbornness and the way she is written stops this from happening. I was left feeling like I could believe Haven loved Theo but not the other way around. Even at the end when she received the letter, she never gave him the slightest benefit of the doubt and came off incredibly childish and unsympathetic.

Regarding the narrator:
Stevie Zimmerman is clearly talented but I do think her narration needs some finessing. For Haven she does an incredible job. His voice is made raspy and she delivers his lines perfectly that you can’t help but smile each time. This is not as much the case with the other characters especially Theodora. Theo’s voice/tone changes so often in the book you couldn’t recognize her throughout. Also, Zimmerman doesnt really differentiate between an internal though to external speech which leaves the listener incredibly confused wheb the two sort of run into each other. I think she has incredible potential and reminds me partially of the way Mary Jane Wells narrates —- in that she does bring the characters to life and distinguishes between them with her voice acting. But where you could hear Mary Jane Wells and identify a character distinguish each character easily as well as distinguish speech from thought, you can’t do the with Zimmerman yet.

Narrator really brings Lord Haven to Life

I wouldn't say this story was as good as the first two books but still worth a credit and it was lovely to see Theo learn what true love was in the arms of the sexy yet sensitive Lord Haven. I loved how the narrator performed Lord Haven, she made him extra dreamy lol. I liked Lord Haven's character as he had gone through a lot but still had an open heart and a funny/teasing personality. The only downsides were that after a while Theo's argumentativeness got annoying . She started to come off as airheaded and selfish especially when she actually had a man that truly wanted her, she didn't have to chase this one and I still don't think she told him she loved him at the end after throwing in his face time and time again how she wanted his friend. I felt that after the marriage and the move to his estate, the story kind of dragged with so much explanation of Haven's past and his father/uncle relationship. The revenge plot with Leo was made such an issue at the beginning of the story but felt like it was not revisited until the very end of the story as a last minute tie up of loose ends but was anticlimactic. Also, the epilogue brought about an abrupt ending.