Her Baseborn Bridegroom

Vawdrey Brothers, Book 1

By: Alice Coldbreath

Narrated by: Anne Flosnik

Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's Summary

Lady Linnet Cadwallader has been raised a helpless invalid in her own castle. Brought up to believe she will "never make old bones" she lives a quiet and lonely existence, hiding away her excessive freckles and red hair from a world that believes her to be hideously misshapen and ugly.

Until one day her uncle arranges a marriage of convenience for her, a marriage in name only with a young puppet groom...but Sir Roland does not show up. In his place turns up his base-born brother Mason Vawdrey. And dark, forceful Mason is no one's puppet.

Things are about to get interesting at Cadwallader Castle. And Linnet is about to discover that maybe a golden leopardess does not need to change her glorious spots.

Contains mature themes.

©2017 Alice Coldbreath (P)2019 Tantor

A Fairytale Romance for adults

Overall, it feels like a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, but with a few key elements switched around AND seriously hot action. Our story opens in the make-believe medieval Kingdom of Karadok, with similar norms to medieval Europe. This time, it’s Beauty who’s trapped in the “enchanted” castle, when Beast, our jerk of a hero, bursts onto the scene. It’s Beauty who sets events in motion for her own rescue, with Beast playing a star role- however, he’s not happy about it. He’s a Man-Baby who needs to be tamed, and she’s the perfect one to do it. Oh, but don’t be fooled by the very tame cover art- this one is red-hot! The romance between the H/h is your typical caveman clumsy wooing of the delicate innocent flower, with PLENTY of steam. Their relationship is ruled by dominant/submissive roles without any physical pain, which I find just delicious. I just love watching our big, strong obnoxious Hero learn to trust himself and his Little Lady Love as he transforms into a super spicy alpha hottie. Just as rewarding is the growth of our heroine from being a doormat into a Devastating Diva, with a firm grip on our Hero’s heartstrings. The overall tale is good, with enough supporting characters to satisfy the plot progression. In particular, the town’s healer plays a hilarious role. One of my favorite moments is when our heroine visits this wise woman for yet another remedy to a physical trait she perceives as problematic. Being wise, the healer/relationship guru/seer knows the Hero is already thoroughly captivated, and instead cleverly fills a jar with a tasty placebo (honey) and very specific directions for its use. Holy Hotness, Batman! Yes, yes I would love for my doctor to prescribe such a treatment...That part alone is worth another listen. And so, while you know the fairytale, this adult remix still feels fresh. As usual, Anne Flosnik serves up top notch narration to breathe life into each word. Sure, you have to dive right into this parallel historical country without trying to square up the details with true history, but isn’t that sometimes why we listen anyway? Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to listen to it again right now...

Awesome historical romance

Wow what a great book. I’ve missed this kind of writing. It seems all historical romances lately are on the same themes. They get monotonous. However this one had real meat and a truly beautiful story. I must say I don’t care for books narrated by Anne Flosnik. She has a nasally sound and not enough distinction for the characters. I purposely avoid books if I see she is narrator. I’m glad I took a chance on this book. She actually did a really good job. I think if Ashford Mcnab or Kate Reading has narrated it I would have given it full 5 ⭐️. However it was still a great story with very tasteful sex scenes which I really enjoy 😉. Definitely worth the credit. Don’t worry about your returning this one. It’s a true treasure. Can’t wait for the next story about Oswald.

Not Much Tension

It's pat, easy and predictable. The "tough" hero isn't tough, he's not even a little mean. It's a good book for a an easy read with no challenges.

Controlling Hero

He was too jealous and controlling for my taste although the basic premise was interesting.
Maybe Anne Flosnik is an acquired taste but I like her narration.

I liked it but...

I liked the story, I really enjoyed it actually. But towards the end I started to get bored. I thought the epilogue was just ok and could have just been the last chapter instead. I also didn’t care for how the narrator spoke as Linnet sometimes. She sort of came off sounding dumb or something. I don’t have a problem with this narrator, in fact I just listened to her on a different book where everyone hated her but I thought she did fine. But this book... eh.

Good!

I liked this book. The heroine not a wimp. She stands up to her new unexpected bridegroom. But i liked him too.

Very Boring: DNF

No chemistry, no originality. Inoffensive writing, but can't imagine why the author bothered writing it

A tame romance story

Overall I thought there was good character development and the narrator is alright. If you're looking for a mellow romance novel with an actual plot that's not overbearing with raw smut, this is the one.

highly enjoyable

i found myself doing stuff around the house just to listen to this. Both leads were very engaging with the female making me laugh with her innocence.
His jealous fits were also highly entertaining. The reader did a very good job of bringing it to life.

slow

I enjoyed the story well enough, but the narrator was so blah! she was lulling me to sleep with her efforts.

Perfect for fans of Julie Garwood

Alice Coldbreath is one of the best new authors on the historical romance scene. I came to her via one of her paranormal stories Love Potion for the Alpha (which could definitely spawn a series - hint, hint!) and I really like her style.

Her Baseborn Bridegroom is for me the best of the Vawdrey Brothers series. I actually started with the offshoot series The Brides of Karadok, and find that I prefer that series.

Karadok is a fictional kingdom that very much corresponds to medieval England - but with room for artistic licence.

This book really reminds me of Honor's Splendour by Julie Garwood (which also happens to be narrated by Anne Flosnik). If you enjoy Garwood's warrior-tamed-by-a-tiny-woman style, you will enjoy this.

As for Anne Flosnik, you can either get on with her narration or you can't. The first time I listened to her it was a total wtf moment, but I have now listened to lots of books narrated by her and I have a fondness for her very individual style.

My suggested reading order for the Karadok books are:

Her Baseborn Bridegroom (Vawdrey)
His Forsaken Bride (Vawdrey)
Wed by Proxy (Brides)
The Consolation Prize (Brides)
An Ill-Made Match (Vawdrey)
The Unlovely Bride (Brides)

I'm looking forward to the release of the next Karadok book: Her Bridegroom, Bought and Paid For.

Good book

This was a bit of a surprise because I wasn’t expecting much, but I enjoyed this book. I’ll get more by this author.

Loved this story

I loved this story, the characters were well drawn and the storyline was interesting. Not all that keen on the narrator but I still enjoyed it.