One Less Scandalous Earl

Bluestockings Defying Rogues, Book 6

By: Dawn Brower

Narrated by: Matthew Keyes

Gregory Cain, the earl of Shelby, doesn't believe in love, more specifically he doesn't believe in it for himself. It's perfectly fine for other people. Scandalous behavior and roguish deeds are in his skill set and he doesn't mind flaunting both. He doesn't get involved with innocents or marriage minded ladies. So when Lady Kaitlin Evans asks him for a kiss he has no choice but to refuse her. Not only is she close to his sister, she's his mentor's niece. She's off limits. So why does he suddenly find her fascinating and kissing her is the one thing he desires more than anything....

Lady Kaitlin Evans is an orphan. She lost both of her parents at a young age and went to live with her uncle. She doesn't do well in social gatherings and would much rather become lost in a good book or learn something new. Because of her social awkwardness she's become one of the premier wallflowers...for three straight seasons. She's ready to give up and prepare for spinsterhood. It's less heartbreaking and she can read as much as she wants to without interruption. There is only one thing she wants before she retires from society forever - a kiss from the earl of Shelby. The scoundrel refuses her though and instead offers to help her find a husband.

Kaitlin and Gregory make an agreement, but both have ulterior motives. As they go forward it soon becomes obvious that nothing is going to work as they planned and passion is unleashed in ways neither would have imagined.

©2019 Dawn Brower (P)2019 Dawn Brower

The Regency Miss Asks for a Kiss, Gets Matchmaker

Caitlin, a Regency wallflower asks Gregory for a kiss, but while he refuses to kiss he does agree to matchmake. 3 hours of well narrated, predictable Regency romance.

Loved the Story, Despised the Narrator

During this year, I've fallen in love with audiobooks. I hadn't really listened to many prior, but as they started to be offered on book review sites, I've become enamored with them. Sometimes, my reviews barely mention the audiobook aspect, and in some, I don't even mention it at all, as in general, I prefer to focus on the writing, story, and characters.

However, sometimes the narration is so bad that it actually detracts from my enjoyment of the audiobook. Unfortunately, such was the case with this one. The narrator used weird, affected voices for almost every character—some incredibly bad and even insulting to particular regions of Europe! He couldn't voice women well to save his soul, and the men he voiced weren't much better, particularly older ones, servants, or the foreign prince. He even mispronounced words here and there. I've never heard the word “muslin” pronounced as if a muse had inspired it … but this narrator did! This book was actually painful to listen to, and at times, I nearly decided to stop listening.

But I persevered because I know and like other books in this series, and as happens in most of this author's series, we get to visit again with favorite characters in other books where they aren’t the sole focus of the story. Perhaps, too, that was why the narrator grated on my every last nerve. I had heard other narrators voice these characters well. These versions did not sound like the beloved characters I knew. I've listened to the books in this series out of order, and I was looking forward to this particular one because I had seen what a royal PITA the hero had been towards his sister, a beleaguered heroine in a future book of this series. I wanted to understand what made him tick. I did get that but with much aural pain. If you enjoyed this series and love these characters as I do, you may be better off reading the book!

Story 5
Narration 1 (or less if I could give it!)

A really nice one

Brilliant book which I thoroughly enjoyed and would highly recommend. The perfect combination for a balance that equals true love.

A wallflower and a Rake

Wonderfully romantic Gregory is a rake Kaitlin’s a wallflower whose been in love with him for years

Waiting for the right one

I loved this story by Dawn. To have a strong female character who knew what she wanted but was willing to walk away from him if he couldn’t love her. To have a Rake who didn’t want to be hurt and possibly lose his chance at love was wonderful. The narrator was good but the female voices were a bit tough at times. I would recommend this book to anyone wanting clean only kissing.

Horrible reading

everyone sounded 80 years old. it did not make the story come alive. I stopped listening and just read the story.

I loved the story, but....

...Matthew Keyes as a narrator is OK when he does ONLY male voices. He has terrible female voices though! In this story, he made a group of early twenty-something women sound as though they were all in their early 70s!! Caitlyn (the heroine) speaks like a slow-witted dolt, Marian, who is Caitlyn's peer sounds as though she is a 75 year old matron, Samantha always sounds perulant and demanding. He also made Jonas (Marian's husband) sound too old, like he was her matronly match in age. I enjoyed the storyline, but Matthew Keyes was not on point for this narration!!

Good Story

There isn't too much I want to say about One Less Scandalous Earl. It's fun and I liked it a lot. The author did a great job making the reader guess what will happen between Kaitlin and Gregory.

The story was a sweet, the narration not so much

It was a good, short romance story, but it would have been so much better with a different narrater. At the beginning Keyes' narration sounded like he was on a slow speed. Everything was slow and drawn out, but as the book progressed his narration for the descriptive parts got better, but the voices where awful. These characters are suppose to be young, but he made them all sound more like bored, disapproving great grandparents.

Great

This was a short and sweet historical romance, with an entertaining storyline. The writing is well-paced, clear and precise. The plot and characters are well developed and interesting. The narration by Matthew Keyes is excellent, I enjoyed his performance. This audiobook was given freely, and I have voluntarily left this review.