Josephine

Lady Archer's Creed, Book 4

By: Amanda Mariel, Christina McKnight

Narrated by: Anne Marie Damman

Length: 2 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

Lady Josephine Watkins never meant to shoot the duke of Constantan. Driven by guilt and determined to see him well, she refuses to leave his side. She could not have guessed the devilish duke would capture her heart.

Devon Mowbray, duke of Constantan, came to Favershame Abbey out of curiosity. He'd only planned to meet the earl known as the beast of Favershame and then be on his way. He never intended on the headstrong beauty sticking him with her arrow and stealing his heart in the process.

Despite the magic burning between them, a dangerous secret leaves Devon no choice but to push Josie away. Unbeknownst to him, she's already unraveled the truth and become more determined than ever to have his heart.

Is their love strong enough to withstand what threatens to keep them apart?

©2017 Amanda Siemen (P)2018 Amanda Siemen

Delightful!

What a delightful story to listen to! The narrator did a wonderful job!
Lady Josephine shot an arrow meant for a turkey and ended up shooting Duke Devon. She felt so bad she had shot him, so she insisted on doctoring him! The spark was ignited for each of them. He pushed her away because he was afraid that madness was in his blood. His mother was quite mad. A must listen! I loved it!

Historical YA

Josephine (Lady Archer's Creed, Book 4) is the final standalone novel with interconnected characters and wraps up the series ideally. I loved encountering the other lady creed characters again. A cyclonic romance with a secret exposed and a perfect hea. A sweet victorian romance with compelling characters and a entertaining narrative.

Anne Marie Damman naration was fine. However, I would have preferred someone with a british accent rather than an american as this series takes place in England, UK.

A fun listen.

Loved the Characters and Their Sweet Romance

What an enjoyable listen! Even though this is a quick-listen audiobook, the book was well paced until the end, which felt slightly abrupt. The narrator is an English woman, and her accent adds to the enjoyment of the story. She brings the author's words, especially the dialogue, to life. I like how the book started, flashing back to when the heroine first became a pupil at a school for young women. As she and her mother are relatively poor, she feels out of her depth with the more affluent young ladies. Luckily, the girls bond quickly, with the wealthiest one even assisting the poorer girls with clothing and other accoutrements. After this prologue, we meet the heroine, her good friends, and their gentlemen as they're preparing for one of the other young women to be married. Another wedding guest happens to be a local duke, who becomes entranced by Josephine. The way they get to know each other is surprising: she accidentally shoots him with an arrow while she's practicing archery! She has a personal interest and reads a lot about medicine, so she knows just what to do while they wait for the doctor. The duke is sweet and charming as he comes to appreciate this very different young lady. Though he's drawn to her, there's a deep, dark family secret he believes will prevent him from ever marrying.

I loved all the romantic aspects of this book. The heroine is smart, kind, and dedicated to her patient, the duke. The hero appreciates a well-read, commanding young lady and is not at all put off by her leadership and medical skills.

As a registered nurse who has studied the history of microbiology, though, I do have quibbles with the book. How infection and its treatment in the 1820s were presented is not at all the way it was back in George IV’s time. (Yes, the bulk of the book takes place in the late reign of that king.) At that time, the concept that bacteria and other germs caused some illnesses was not known or accepted anywhere. Instead, the miasma theory of illness held sway. This theory posited that it was something in the air that caused things like wound rot. Certainly, even if our heroine were widely read in all things medical, she would probably not have encountered anything about sterilizing a wound with either heat or alcohol. Even the infamous English surgeon Lister, who first widely applied the concept of antiseptic surgery in the 1860s, was mocked and reviled, even though his patients were more apt to survive his surgeries than other surgeons. Even when germ theory was debated in the 1860s and 1870s—far later than when this book takes place in the 1820s—it took a long time for the concept to be both accepted and acted upon. It drives me a little crazy when Regency and Victorian heroes and heroines have prescient knowledge that none would have had in their time! We conform their world to what we know and understand. It would be like having an average person in the 1970s having and knowing how to use a desktop computer to connect to the internet! It just wasn't a part of that reality. To be more faithful to the times, the heroine would have been more likely to open windows and doors to bring in fresh air and would likely regularly apply poultices. She would use willow bark tea to help bring down his fever and perhaps use ice baths for the same purpose if ice were available. She wouldn’t think to use a knife that's been put through a flame to sterilize it. Sterility during medical procedures was not a concept back in the 1820s! While this detracted a bit from my enjoyment as a nurse and microbiology nerd, I'm sure it won't bother most people. Despite these era-inappropriate medical practices, I enjoyed the romance and the delightful characters.

Finding Love

Josephine
Lady Archer's Creed, Book 4
By: Amanda Mariel, Christina McKnight

A short sweet historical fition romance. Lots of nice twists with what some would consider quirky characters. Now when I find time, I will go back to the beginning of this series.




The narration was well done. The characters were well portrayed.



I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

A beautiful, sweet story.

This story is absolutely precious. Upon the introduction of the heroine Josephine, I felt like I was one of her friends rooting for her to have a grand love and a happily ever after. Josephine is such a likable character. Oh the hero made me melt. He is powerful, but gentle, kind and sweet. You will fall in love with him.
A good performance by narrator Anne Marie Damman. This is a very well written romantic story with all the right elements to capture your heart. I highly recommend this book.

Very Sweet!

Josephine is one of the four Lady Archers who met at Miss Emmeline's School of Education and Decorum for Ladies of Outstanding Quality as a young girl. At a house party for the wedding of her dear friend, Josephine accidentally shoots Devon, the Duke of Constantan. Guilt drives her to nurse him back to health. Devon is happy to be tended by the lovely beauty he had glimpsed the day before, but his own secrets will stop him from pursuing more with Josephine.

This is the first book I've read in this series, and I plan on going back to learn more about the other Archers! This was a quick listen, but very sweet. I loved that Josephine was a strong woman, talented and driven to learn. She may have started out shy, but she definitely went for what she wanted. Devon was a sweetheart. The narration was really well done, and pulled me right into the story. I requested a copy of the audiobook, and I'm voluntarily leaving a review.

Josephine

This group of ladies Josephine meets when she is sent off to school is fantastic. Best friends now for life. When Josephine is attending a wedding of one of her close friends she meets one of his neighbors and is intrigued by him. Only he leaves without saying goodbye. What choice does a lady have but to follow him. Fun book! The narration is very nice, I did notice a couple of spots it repeats, but it takes nothing away from the story.

delightful

Would I listen to it again: yes
Did the story keep me engaged: yes
Was I invested in the characters: yes
What did I like about the story? good pace with entertaining characters
Was there anything that didn't work for me? nope - totally entertained.

Overall comment: light, easy listen. Josephine goes after what she wants and Devon was a sweetie. 😊

Narrator comment: I enjoyed Anne Marie Damman's narration, she's done a great job bringing "Josephine" to life and I enjoyed the audio experience.

Josephine

A very short, quick read for when you only have a few hours of free time. I'm glad for poor little Josie to finally be able to find her HEA! Such likeable characters set amid an unconventional regency era. Easy to recommend for almost any age since its a sweet romance without explicit sex scenes to limit the audience. Its nice to read for the pure romance to calm my nerves sometimes. Also comes in audio book format with a beautiful narration by Anne Marie Damman as well as print and ebook. Enjoy! 😍

it's very pleasant read

Though the book was short it was very nice to listen to the narration was excellent I enjoyed the narrator's voice. The story itself was quite Pleasant and would be a good recommendation for anybody who likes historical romance