Lady Derring Takes a Lover

The Palace of Rogues

By: Julie Anne Long

Narrated by: Justine Eyre

Length: 9 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

A mistress. A mountain of debt. A mysterious wreck of a building.

Delilah Swanpoole, countess of Derring, learns the hard way that her husband, “Dear Dull Derring”, is a lot more interesting - and perfidious - dead than alive. It’s a devil of an inheritance, but in the grand ruins of the one building Derring left her are the seeds of her liberation. And she vows never again to place herself at the mercy of a man.

But battle-hardened Captain Tristan Hardy is nothing if not merciless. When the charismatic naval hero tracks a notorious smuggler to a London boarding house known as the Rogue’s Palace, seducing the beautiful, blue-blooded proprietress to get his man seems like a small sacrifice.

They both believe love is a myth. But a desire beyond reason threatens to destroy the armor around their hearts. Now, a shattering decision looms: Will Tristan betray his own code of honor...or choose a love that might be the truest thing he’s ever known?

©2019 Julie Anne Long (P)2019 HarperCollins Publishers

Funny and no Dukes!

Such an enjoyable change from spunky virgins and rakish dukes. A widow and her husband’s former mistress pool their resources to open a genteel boarding house after they are both left without support. An amusing and somewhat eccentric group of boarders end up living at the Grand Palace on the Thames. Of course there is a dashing hero with a secret motive for moving in, a pair of villains, a pair of silly young lovers, a clumsy maid, and more, all making their way to a satisfying conclusion. Justine Eyre does her usual excellent job. Looking forward to more books by Julie Anne Long becoming available in audio.

Disappointment from JAL

It started out well, classic JAL, and then - soon after the meet cute - things get into a rut:
new guests arrive - same vetting with ladies on the sofa - lots and lots of tea - Captain Hardy out on business - rinse and repeat. Predictable and boring. The ladies are stuck inside the Grand Palace (!!!) and the air is getting stale. No surprises. No moving scenes. Not even entertaining or distracting enough for my commute to/from work.
JAL has written the historic romantic masterpieces The Perils of Pleasure and Like No Other Lover (no Dukes) and compared to those, this is Taco Bell versus Fine Mexican Dining.
It makes be very, very sad.
Also, Justine Eyre is terrible at doing men's voices. She ruined the Matrimonial Advertisement for me. Any book with her as the narrator is now on auto-ignore.

Slightly off beat, 💕

A little different, but in such a good way. I read/listen to keep my mind busy while I do other things, and for this I like the feels that always end good, might offer a tear, a little suspense and some heat. I’ve been disappointed lately when I find things too dark, TOO complicated, too too bloody even. This book hit all the right notes for me yet was not a typical formula. It was enjoyable and I look forward to the series.

As usual Justine Eyre was in her element and truly delivered!

Loved it!

Funny, witty, heartwarming. I loved the relationships between the ladies. What a wonderful start to a new historical romance series by my favorite romance author. And Justine Eyre was the perfect compliment. Yay Harper Collins for getting this 100% right.

It has a nice setup, but the ending felt weak

I was attracted to this book because of the first couple of chapters, where a nobleman's wife, left in the lurch when he dies thoroughly in debt, accidentally runs into his mistress. After a couple of awkward moments they become friends and start up a boarding house in a "picturesque" location in the docks.

Enter a small handful of colourful boarders, a smuggling plot, a handsome customs agent...

It all sounds lovely on paper, but the things I was looking for at the start didn't really come through - we don't see a lot of Delila and Angelique's friendship after they set up the house, the wacky patrons don't get to be as wacky as I was expecting them to be, the smuggling plot is ridiculously easy to solve, and the tension goes out of the romance about two-thirds of the way through.

That said, there's some nice prose and description, and the smutty bits were fun for what they were. I just didn't find the end of the story satisfying. Oh well, Justine Eyre is a good reader, there's that.

not really a race but definitely a fun adventure

It did have a small romance but the book mainly focused around several woman striving for independence during a time that women were reliant on men. The story had some really funny subplots and scenes. I can't say enough how thoroughly I enjoy the author's vocabulary, though I did feel like it was a drinking game any time they said The Grand Palace on the  Thames.

Rock bottom beginning.

When you start a heroine at rock bottom, there is no way to go but up. Such is the journey of Lady Derring. Justine Eyre’s performance is exceptional. The set up of the story and time until the hero and heroine meet is a bit long but overall the story is enjoyable.

Certainly Enjoyed it!

I thought this was a great story. One that takes a bit of a different view of the time period where we read so much of Dukes and Duchesses and the like. Don't get me wrong, I love reading those but every once in a while, I do like the outlier. This was pretty much just a fun little story. Nothing intense, nothing deep, nothing passionate (for me at least) but definitely a fun read.

I don't really need to carry on about the plot as I know many reviewers have already done so, however I will say that I was a little annoyed at the end when something we'd been waiting the entire book to learn the answer to, will only be answered in the next novel. I'm certainly not enchanted enough to pay a whole credit for a 7 hour book (which is the next in the series) however, if it were on a 2/1 sale I would probably get it.

Narration was fine. JE is someone I listen to often. She's not my favorite, but nor do I shy away when I see she's narrating.

I did get this one in a 2/1 sale and I feel it was totally worth it. I wouldn't have paid a whole credit for it but that's because I'm extremely particular about what I spend a single credit on.

A Good Start

Lady Derringer Takes a Lover is a good has such an interesting story line, and is a good start. I enjoyed the romance and the intrigue of the smugglers plot.

A good start

This series is amazing and I wanted to start from the beginning, this book isn't as good as the others but it's a lovey story with a fair amount of spice.

Omg I loved this

Genuinely cannot understand why this hasn’t been reviewed better. Julie Anne Long is probably one of my favourite HR writers... and this rivals Pennyroyal Green for me. She flawlessly weaves humor, romance, very steamy sex, and a compelling narrative that really is hard to rival. This is no different. I really liked Tristan, because he was unusual. He wasn’t a seducer, a rogue, or even particularly interested in women... which is different from most HR heroes. Delilah was a joy and also very sharp witted, again making her a little different from the usual heroine. They were wonderfully matched and the story is excellently paced. As usual, Justine Eyre is impeccable, ruining all of narrators for me forever. Something about her male voices and delivery is perfect. Highly recommend this listen, and can’t wait for Angelique’s story now!

Fab narration

…as Justine Eyre always delivers. The story felt like it lagged. Maybe not enough conflict? Or the MCs were less interesting than the supporting characters? I wasn’t smitten with either Delilah or Tristan — they were fine. The Grand Palace on the Thames felt like it would have great atmosphere, but otherwise, this book felt flat.