A Terrible Beauty

A Lady Emily Mystery

By: Tasha Alexander

Narrated by: Bianca Amato

Length: 8 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

In A Terrible Beauty, Tasha Alexander's gripping new audiobook in the New York Times bestselling series, Lady Emily travels to Greece where a ghost from her past returns to haunt her amid the ruins.

On a quest to distract her lifelong friend Jeremy from his recent heartbreak, Lady Emily organizes a holiday in Greece. As a lover of all things Greek, she quickly finds herself occupied with tours of ancient ruins, lively debates with Margaret, a devoted Latinist, and slightly more scandalous endeavors with her dashing husband, Colin Hargreaves. But the pleasantries are brought to an abrupt halt when a man long believed dead greets the party at their island villa. Lord Philip Ashton, Colin's childhood best friend and Emily's first husband, has returned. But can Philip really be who he claims, even if he has the scars and stories to prove it? Where has he been for all this time? And will his undying love for Emily drive him to claim what's his?

Intrigue mounts as Philip reveals that he has been plagued for the past few years by an illegal antiques trader who believes he is in possession of a piece of Achilles' helmet, a priceless relic that was stolen from him moments after he unearthed it on an archaeological dig. Emily must employ all of her cunning and expertise to thwart thieves who threaten not only her own safety, but that of those precious artifacts she holds so dear. A trail of overheard conversations, murderous assailants, and dead bodies leads her on a chase to uncover more than one buried truth.

©2016 Tasha Alexander (P)2016 Macmillan Audio

Something is Off...

There is definitely something off about this narrator. It's either mislabeled as Bianca Amato or poor Bianca had a cold. The voices sound too alike to tell who's talking and Bianca's narration isn't like that at all.

Boring story

Sorry, but I have listened to every book in the series and this story was not intriguing or interesting to me.

I feel deceived not about the story though

I am a very big fan of Bianca Amato. I have literally listened to books just because she has narrated them. It's how I found the lady Emily series to begin with. However, I do not believe this book was narrated by her. There were some similarities along the way but overall there's no way this is the same person I've been listening to on all these other books.

A bit over the top

Would you try another book from Tasha Alexander and/or Bianca Amato?

Yes, I would read another book by Tasha Alexander.

Would you be willing to try another book from Tasha Alexander? Why or why not?

Yes, I liked many of the Lady Emily series, this is not a favorite.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Bianca Amato?

To be honest, not so much.

Do you think A Terrible Beauty needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

Since it is a series, yes.

Any additional comments?

I could not get into the story, it was a bit much for me in its closeness to romance novels.

Wordy Story

Narration was great, very clear and easy to understand. At times, the reader did forget to change the pitch, accent, or tone of voice in order to distinguish a specific character directly. I read along with the actual book, as is my practice to make sure I heard the story correctly. The story had a bit too many distracting facts, but the story played out well. Also, she stressed the "good guys" in the story to harshly at times. It made the bad guys look wholly terrible without the reading understanding why, which forces you to root for the bad guys, do tha by the end you only half-life the good guys.

Love this series!

I really enjoy the Lady Emily series! I usually read them as summer and night time reads
in between more serious or challenging novels. I have to say that I was a little disappointed in the editing of this particular piece, a few dead seconds in the middle of paragraphs and sentences, but I Really like the reader!

Great!

The author is back in top form much more enjoyable for the last book Emily was again valiant hero

Great team work!

Wonderful performance interesting story line. You did it again Tasha and fantastic job Bianca taking us to another time and place.

Good story

Bianca Amato, as always, does an excellent job reading this book, but the editing almost ruins the entire thing.

Great story poorly read

If you could sum up A Terrible Beauty in three words, what would they be?

Fun engaging mystery.

What other book might you compare A Terrible Beauty to and why?

This book follows the style of Tasha's earlier books in a very welcome manner.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Bianca Amato?

Orlagh Cassidy. The performance of Bianca Amato was full of odd gaps and pauses in the wrong location in a sentence or thought. These mistimed gaps caused the meaning to be initially blurred. Very noticeable and increasingly annoying.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, very engaging. Good pace, fun listen. The characters were interesting and well formed. Many openings for future books to continue the Lady E saga.