Dearly Beloved

By: Mary Jo Putney

Narrated by: Christine Rendel

Love must find a way...

A sheltered life in the countryside has left Diana Lindsay restless to see the wider world, for both herself and the son she is raising alone. She cannot marry, but perhaps as a courtesan she will find love and protection despite her painful past. Gathering her courage, she moves to London - and finds herself the city's most desired woman, as admired for her charm as for her beauty. But it is one man who captivates her - handsome, haunted, and harboring a secret as deep as her own...

Bound by the sins of his youth, Gervase Brandelin, the Viscount St. Aubyn, has spent his adulthood seeking redemption through service to England. Now a spymaster, he can allow nothing to distract him from his duty. But when he meets Diana, his burdens seem to lift. Though she can never truly be his alone, their genuine love fills him with hope, until a treacherous deceit - and a deadly enemy - threatens to tear them apart forever...

©1990 Mary Jo Putney (P)2020 Tantor

Really held my interest

Mary Jo Pitney is a great story teller and the narration was good although the male voices were just a bit effeminate for my taste.

The best book move listened to in long time.

This story is heavy, heartbreaking and upsetting at times.. and utterly beautiful overall. Well done!

600 hours too long

I like the idea of this book and liked the narration but why did it have to be 13 hours long? If I could have removed about 6 chapters I probably would have enjoyed the book more.

Gawd, Make It Stop!

When did possessive violence, domineering control, and physical and verbal abuse become “romance?”

The cruel, vile male protagonist is as gross as the female protagonist’s continual assertion that love conquers all, even rape.

It’s a pity because this story had real promise, but it really went too far, shoving 10 pounds of Regency doo doo into a 5-pound reticule.

Loved it

Mary, this book is beautiful. The way you detailed every moment was amazing and I truly loved it. I’m hoping for a book 2! God bless you and yours.

Fantastic performance

I loved the story with its twists and turns, made all the more intriguing by the superb narration by Christine Rendel. Listen to this story, and you’ll find yourself searching for other titles she narrates.

enjoyed listening to this book

It was exciting and definitely worth listening to, I learned many things and recommended this book.

Pathologized DV..

The premise of this story suggests, no, heavily encourages that a woman can submit to her husband and love him enough to reform from being a violent man. Thats a dangerous rederict to be speaking into the world and completely untrue. Read, "Why Does He Do That", by Lundy Bangcroft for more stats and testiment to that.

bitter edge

Review of audiobook borrowed through Audible Plus.
Possible Spoilers:
Well written & edited but I didn’t particularly like either Diana Lindsay or Gervase Brandelin as main characters. This book, Sweet Savage Love, and Shanna are the earliest historicals that I know of that used the enemies to lovers trope. Although Shanna doesn’t have the bitter edge of the other two.
Rendel did a very decent job of narration.

Beautiful story

I think I had tears in my eyes through half of this book, the story was so heartfelt. I did not expect half the twists. The main characters pull you in and you can’t help but feel for them both, in different ways, and hope each will be redeemed. Parts were truly shocking but the resolution makes you, as well as the characters, feel so much better. We’ll worth the listen.