Miss Fiona's Fancy

The Royal Ambition Series, Book 3

By: M. C. Beaton

Narrated by: Charlotte Anne Dore

Length: 5 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's Summary

From beloved historical romance author Marion Chesney comes the third installment in the Royal Ambition series.

The Misses Penelope Yarwood, Euphemia Perkins, and Letitia Helmsdale all smugly informed her that the Marquess of Cleveden was at once the most eligible and the most elusive catch in the London marriage mart. Society's most dazzling beauties had failed to win him over yet, and a newcomer like Fiona didn't stand a ghost of a chance of having him look at her twice.

That was all that fiery-tempered Fiona needed to hear, and she bet - far more wealth than she possessed - that she would snare the maddeningly elusive marquess before the season's end.

Now Fiona faces the risk of losing a wager she cannot repay - and more, the even greater danger of losing her heart.

©1987 Marion Chesney (P)2014 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Sweetest of all Beaton’s Regency Romances

This is the typical Chesney/Beaton’s regency romance, but the characters are softer and more kind. Even the antagonist, although very malicious,
doesn’t seem quite a sinister as one would expect.

Despite the usually, abysmal narration of Charlotte Anne Dore (Seriously, how does this woman get work?!?) you’ll be left feeling warm and cheerful after reading this little gem.

Fancy the fastest way to ruin a good book?

Simply have it “read” by this so called narrator. Stilted, unnatural, mispronounced, mangled and utterly ruined is what you call any book that this narrator attempts to read.

READ this book, but do NOT waste money or credits thinking you’d like to listen to it. I can’t imagine how a book makes it to audible with no one listening to it first, it only takes a moment to realize it might make your ears bleed.

Liked it OK

It's difficult for women to do men's voices. In this one our hero sounds a bit limp. The heroine wasn't given the best voice. If you go for this genre it was a pretty good story, but the narration does not hold up.

worst narrator

Just when I thought I'd never have to hear this woman again (after the second book of the School of Manners series) here she is again in all her overly precise and weirdly loud speaking glory. So annoying I may just skip to the next book.

Loved the story, not the narrator

I guess I will say this about the narration of every book that Charlotte Anne Dore reads. I’m sorry, but I think she is a terrible narrator.

Kind of story. Narrator isn't that bad.

First: if you get this you have to listen to the narration at a higher speed. Either 1.20 or 1.15. I think they took her original and slowed it down for the 1 speed. She didn't do a very good Hero voice, but the rest are good. The story is both cute and annoying. The Heroine is just super immature. But she is 19. People are mad about her behavior, but they need to remember she is just a child!

Poor choices

I only enjoy stories where the main character is making choices that I might make and doing everything to remain as honest as possible. I did not enjoy this story because I feel that the main character should have been willing to tell the truth as soon as possible and dragged the story out. I also feel the main character lacked intuition, and it’s hard to like a main character without good sense. Perhaps if there was real pressure to remain silent and a few adventures the story would have picked up. Maybe the next story in the series will be better.

A light listen

I do like Charlotte Anne Dore's voice for the narration as her voice is soft and youthgful sounding, perfect for the young heroines voices in Chesney's novels. This story is a light listen and I enjoyed it.

Best in series

This is the best book in the series so far. I will now download the next