Heartless

By: Mary Balogh

Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor

From New York Times best-selling legend Mary Balogh - the beloved author of Longing, Silent Melody, and Beyond the Sunrise - comes a ravishing novel of passion and duty, love, and menace....

Life has taught Lucas Kendrick, duke of Harndon, that a heart is a decided liability. Betrayed by his elder brother, rejected by his fiancée, banished by his father, and shunned by his mother, Luke fled to Paris, where he became the most sought-after bachelor in fashionable society. Ten years later fate has brought him back home to England as head of the family who rejected him. Unwilling as he is to be involved with them, he must assume responsibility for his younger siblings, the family estate he once loved - and the succession. He faces the prospect of marrying with the greatest reluctance - until he sees beguiling Lady Anna Marlowe across a ballroom one night.

Anna, far from being the bright-eyed innocent Luke takes her for, is no more a stranger to the shadows of a painful past than he is. But for her, marriage cannot so easily solve what is wrong in her life - not when a tormentor stalks her to the very doors of Bowden Abbey, where Luke and Anna must learn to trust in each other or risk any chance they may have for a happy future.

©1995 Mary Balogh (P)2015 Recorded Books

This is engaging and charming!

Luke has steeled himself to block out love after losing his first love. He is a consummate dandy but all man, skilled at pistol, sword and women. He has returned from Paris to London at the request of his Uncle to take on the responsibilities of being a Duke and head of the family since his elder brother died two years before. He has been away since he was banished ten years before over a family quarrel. Although he hasn't thought about marriage, and doesn't have love to offer, he decides he should marry before going to face his country home and his widowed sister-in-law.

Lady Anna is a young woman of bright, sunny disposition which hides pain and secrets. She has not planned to marry due to the threat of a man in her not too distant past. But he has not returned from America and she decides to enjoy this taste of freedom in London.

Luke and Anna agree to marry after a three day acquaintance. They have much to learn about each other and the secrets begin to unravel on the wedding night. They both experienced betrayal in their past and current situations and have to reach beyond that if they are going to save their marriage.

I really enjoyed the tone of this story and I loved the growth and transition for these characters. There is good conflict and suspense that carries through to the end. I don't agree that Anna should have held her secrets so long but she had cause to be fearful. I really liked Emily as a character and other secondary characters added to the delightful package. A little more sexual spice than I like which is surprising as this is a back title (1995 I think) set to audio. I do enjoy this author and highly recommend her stories to readers who love historical fiction.

Audio Notes: Rosalyn Landor is a wonderful narrator. She nails the voices and emotions and I love listening to her.
My rating overall 4.5; narration 5.0.

Enjoyment

I think this goes down as among her best. Great conclusion To the story. I would have liked to see her other nemesis get her due.

Wonderful Story

Balogh takes a Harlequin novel and adds class and drama. Landon has an incredible voice. Somewhere the two blended...drag. I’m not sure if it’s in the wording or it merely requires speeding it up a bit. I found this in their other novels as well, I become bored and race to the end not in anticipation and impatience but pure boredom to put a good plot to rest.

Story was a bit boring

Not sure if maybe I was just turned off by the time period or if the story was just boring. I lost interest several times and found the main characters annoying. I did however like the secondary characters of Emily and Ashley and hope that they have their own story. I enjoyed the narrator very much and thought she did an amazing job. The narrative is probably the only reason I was able to get through the book.

Could have been 2 hours shorter.

Was an ok romance but I’ve liked her other stories better. This was too long and too light on action and intrigue in my opinion. Will probably not continue to follow her for more stories when there are so many others to try.

One of my favorite books

I have read this book over and over , about two good people who are suffering, but finally, through courage and fortitude, find their way to self- worth and love for each other. Love it! I understand her fear of being exposed and his hurt over being rejected, as they thought. Well written dialogue and plot points.

A great read!

Story, narration & characters were all great in this regency romance by Mary Balough. The narrator does such a good job with the accents that one does not hesitate over male & female characters. Clever plot twists & tension built in story line. A nice romance too.

Good storyline, but gets tedious.

The book has a good storyline, but it gets very tedious, it could have been 50 to 100 pages shorter with no loss to the story itself. The repeated descriptions of the traumatic events of the H/H past made you want to ( and I did several times) yell at the book "OMG we know, we know, just get on with it PLEASE".

While I'm a fan of Balogh and usually like her heroines, I feel she really missed the mark on this one. I'm hard pressed to even call her a heroine, the term doormat seems more fitting. I know things in that era were socially different, but how this character, in light of the things that happened to her in her past, could remain so weakly naive, trusting and basically spineless was hard to swallow. I found myself thinking "oh for the love of Oreos, woman, get a backbone".

My other complaint is one that I have noticed happening repeatedly in several of Balogh's books and that's the over use of the term "for pleasure". The term is used ad nauseam by and about the hero. It has started to feel like it's a drop in that's copied and pasted from place to place in the books and from book to book.

The book is worth the read for the story, but it's not Balogh at her best. I'm hoping Book 2 is not so tedious and her heroine is back up to her usual standards.

excellent story!

I've read/ listened to every Mary Balogh book I could get my hands on. this one was new to me and the story was excellent. sucked me in from very early in the story and I listened every waking moment because I kept wanting to know what happened in Anna's past asks how the story was going to play out.

Magnificent book,

Mary does not disappoint.
Rosalyn is an amazing performer.
Amazing book that never dragged on.