Mostly Dangerous

The Women of Ambrose Estate, Book 1

By: Kimberley Montpetit

Narrated by: Reagan Boggs

Length: 7 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's Summary

A hall of secrets. A deadly curse. Can their love overcome her dark legacy, or is it doomed from the start?

Sofia Ambrose is on the brink of a new career, far away from the opulence and dark secrets of her family’s historic Texas estate, when she and her five sisters are summoned to the Ambrose Estate for a reading of her grandmother’s will - a grandmother who, at 88-years-old, is still alive and kicking. Sofia is both bewildered and intrigued. But the truth is more shocking than she could have imagined - her grandmother has turned Ambrose Estate over to her, and she must give up every hope of having a regular life in order to run it and protect her family’s legacy.

When an oil well disaster strikes, Sofia must act quickly to save the family fortune. Unfortunately, this means working with the rude and insufferable Gavin Spencer who assumes Sofia is just a spoiled, rich oil heiress. But once she gets to know him, Sofia discovers Gavin’s charm, intellect, and incredible bravery, and soon enough she is falling hard for the rugged firefighter.

Despite her feelings, Sofia knows their love is doomed. Ambrose Estate's mansion, with its Hall of the Dead, contains so many secrets Sofia can't even count them. An old family curse stands between her and happiness, and she must sacrifice Gavin’s love to save his life.

Desperately, Sofia searches for answers in her great-great-grandmother’s journal. Does it contain the key to breaking the curse - or will her heart have to break into 1,000 pieces?

©2019 Kimberley Montpetit (P)2019 Kimberley Montpetit

Intriguing

Mostly Dangerous is a fascinating book with storyline that grabbed me and wouldn’t let go til the last page was read. The characters are interesting and well developed and the narrator portrayed them nicely.

Clean, Gothic-esque romance

Story: (5 stars)
Mostly Dangerous: The Women of Ambrose Estate by Kimberly Monpetit (5 stars)

I really loved this story! The sense of location and the attitude of Texans regarding their heritage and land was spot-on! The details of putting out an oil-well fire were fascinating! Some serious research went into writing this book. Add in the element of the old journal and a family curse and you have the makings of an authentic and gripping story. There was the loose end of the lawyer but, meh, we all knew how that would end and didn’t need the boring details.

Some fun banter between the main characters and some wonderful attraction. I love that the Hero doesn’t dither. He tells her how he feels with no angst. The angst is on her side, but only because she doesn’t want him dead.

The book references Daphne du Maurier and although this is much, much shorter, the author has captured a bit of the feeling (it would take a lot more pages to write something as complex as du Maurier did).

Ms. Montpetit delivers again! An excellent book!

Narration: (4 stars)

Ms. Boggs has a lovely southern (Texan?) accent and I could listen to her narrate forever! (Loss of 1/2 a star because her attempts at a British accent, although good at differentiating that character's voice, made her sound more Deep South than British. It was such a small part of the whole, though, that I feel petty mentioning it...) With that small comment behind us, she read at a good pace, with good expression and her male voices sound male. I hope she narrates the whole series, because I love her voice!

*poor, **ok, ***good, ****very good, *****something special

Great beginning!

What a great beginning! I lived this story and can't wait to learn about the other sisters lives!

I didn't love the narrator. She was better than some I have listened to, but I would not seek her out again.

I couldn't put it down

This book is absolutely amazing. I could not put it down until I finished it. I don't know how Ms. Montpelit thought up all the ideas she put into this book. Fighting oil fires reminded of the John Wayne movie Hellfighters which is one of my favorite Wayne movies. Then all the mystery of the Ambrose curse just added so much to the story. I could not figure out how that curse would get broken. If you love mysteries you have to get this book. I love this story!! It's even better having it read to me. I received this audiobook free from the author.

Great clean romance

I really enjoyed this story. The narrator did a fantastic job with distinct voices for all characters. A creative love story and start to a series. I am glad that the curse was vague enough, there are no actual spells or voodoo. Just simply the topic. I hope the rest of the series is just as good as this first book.

On fire...

I loved the aspect of subtle danger from both sides! The chemistry between characters was fabulous while the mystery so intriguing!

Great story line

I enjoyed listening to this clean romance. I couldn't put this down. Good thing I was listening so I could get things done while listening to this very capturing story.

Really Loved it

This story grabbed me from the beginning. It was a well balanced mystery/romance set in Texas and Louisiana. With strong characters and a solid story it just flows. Reagan Boggs is incredible as the narrator. She brings it all to life. I highly recommend this book and the narrator! The Arc copy of this was gifted to me from Sweet Sounds Audiobooks but I chose to leave a review and the thoughts and opinion are mine.

Intriguing story

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this story. This is one of the rare instances where I loved listening over reading it myself. I think the narrator did a wonderful job, and I stayed up late because I couldn’t make myself turn it off until the end. Mostly Dangerous is book 1 of The Women of Ambrose Estate series, and I’m so looking forward to listening to the other books. I loved the well-written characters, the family history, the curse storyline, and the clean romance. I’m impatiently waiting for book 2 to be released on Audible.

Is there an Ambrose Curse? You decide.

Overall rating: 4.5 stars

What I enjoyed or found interesting about this book:

• The beginning of the story caught my interest and I began to root for Gavin and Sofia. Is there really an Ambrose Curse that will kill Gavin?
• I liked the unique storyline, that included Gavin owning a business that puts out oil well fires.
• I liked the relationship of caring that Gavin and Sofia had. I felt it throughout the book. They were people I easily became attached to.
• I laughed at some of the witty banter.
• How much baggage do we carry with us in life? Do we unconsciously drag it along life's pathway hindering our forward progression? These were questions I pondered as I read this book. I like books that make me think.
• The descriptions of locations and emotions were well done and easy to visualize. I felt a part of the scenes.
• The author writes with an easy-to-follow prose that guides the reader without confusion. 
• This story was well edited.
• This was a clean read.
• The narrator brought this story to life.

I enjoyed this book very much and highly recommend it. It is a unique romance with a touch of mystery. I think you'll enjoy it, too.