Among Intimate Acquaintances

By: Jann Rowland

Narrated by: Mary Sarah

Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

Elizabeth Bennet does not know what to think of Fitzwilliam Darcy. Having heard her new brother, Charles Bingley praise him to the skies, invited to accompany her brother and beloved, Jane, to stay at the man's estate, Elizabeth wonders how he can possibly be as good as Charles claims.

At Pemberley, Elizabeth learns that Mr. Darcy is a diligent man, one sober and upright, a man engaged in the welfare of his estate. His sister, Elizabeth also learns, is a wonderful girl, a girl unlike her own sisters, who are often wild and uncouth.

Settling in at Pemberley for a visit, Elizabeth grows to love the estate, and her esteem for the master and his sister grow apace. But while Elizabeth is happy there, she cannot forget the events of the past year, which continue to plague her peace of mind.

Then an old enemy of the Darcy family arrives to wreak havoc on the Darcys, pulling Elizabeth's own family into his schemes. The question, in Elizabeth's mind, is whether Mr. Darcy's newfound appreciation for her can withstand the machinations of a libertine and the silliness of a reprehensible sister.

©2021 Jann Rowland (P)2022 Tantor

liked the story

I liked the story, in spite of the staticky sounds at the end of many words. I increased the speed of the narration and that helped.

Poor Story

I found the narrator gave a fine performance but found the story very disappointing. There were two main issues for me, both exacerbated by the fact the book had little going on in it. The first being the treatment of Catoline. They spoke poorly of Caroline so often as to become very annoying and when they did speak, they often did so in mixed company. The fact that the ladies and gentlemen spoke poorly and disparaged Caroline when together just felt very inappropriate and didn't speak well to the character of the characters. The second issue I had was with how openly discussed/acknowledged/teased about, again in mixed company, the attraction between Darcy and Elizabeth is. Elizabeth even banters with Darcy about them getting married to the point that Darcy jokingly asks Elizabeth if she is proposing to him. It was so very outside of their characters to be making light of something so important as their future together that it took much away from what little chemistry was present.

I like low angst stories but there has to be enough else to take its place for the book to be enjoyable. Character growth, cute interactions, romance, etc. Little of that is present in this story.

Great Jaff

I really enjoyed the story. Only thing I can say is negative is that the narrator has a funny way of pronouncing father. It sounds like fodder and it is annoying. And lady Catherine is pronounced oddly. Other than that it is great read.

Narration ruined this book. Thank everything it was free.

Please, PLEASE re-do this audio book with another narrator. I could not get past chapter 3. I think AI would be better at this point.

No

Story is flat and boring. Darcy and Elizabeth have NO chemistry. Charles Bingley is more likable than Darcy. There is just too much wrong with this book for me to go on. And as for the narration - it is terrible. The first ten minutes are ridiculously bad. She does improve a little bit as the book goes on, meaning that the lisp is not quite as noticeable. Which makes me believe the narrator was trying on purpose to be obnoxious with her lisping. Her announcement of the Chapters was beyond irritating with the sing song pronunciatioin of "Chapter". I will NEVER listen to Mary Sarah again no matter what she is reading.

HORRIBLE NARRATOR!!!!

I turned it off after 1 chapter! I was every excited to listen to this too, but after trying to deal with the chick "preforming" it I couldn't bare another min. I even tried to go back to it. I honestly dont know if I can get my money back on it bc it may have been to long. I STRONGLY recommend listening to the sample before purchasing.

Irritating Narrator

I could hardly make it through this book because of the narrator. She is slow in speaking and makes weird and irritating noises when she talks. I've had to turn in books narrated by her before because I couldn't make it through. This one is no exception.

Terrible Narration

Narration:
I've tried to like this narrator, listening to several books she read for, but the way she speaks is like holding a cheese grater to my brain. She dramatically draws out every sentence like some highly emotional moment is occuring. That would be great if she only did this during such moments but for the duration of an entire book? Also she speaks with a strange accent that includes odd staccato word endings, a strange lisp and all the characters speak as though every line they utter is an iconic proverb that the listeners should be writing down for posterity. I believe this narrator could be more than tolerable if she tossed out all the pretentious and painful additions to her reading style.
Story:
The original premise was good but nothing really happened in the story 90 percent of the time. When potential trouble or a challenge arose it was almost instantly over as soon as it began with almost no effort. Also, everyone spoke too freely about private subjects in front of groups of people, like it wasn't against all rules of proprietary, and then concealed and fretted over things that were no big deal.
Conclusion:
After all that, I would have felt a little better if someone, anyone, would have given Lydia the slap she deserved, in front of everyone, and sent her off to a military style reform school, but alas no. Impotent threats, said in a grandiose manner, with absolutely no follow through were the order of the day. I end this review with a weary sigh.