Pride Comes Before a Fall

A Novel

By: Virginia Heath

Narrated by: Eva Feiler, Shane East

In the third installment of this witty Regency romcom series, a headstrong chaperone is torn between following her rigid principles or her heart.

Despite his many responsibilities, there is nothing Leopold Sloane, the 11th Duke of Debden, takes more seriously than the safety of those he loves. When one of his sisters is injured at a protest rally, he drags his family to Bath for the summer to keep his reckless and rebellious siblings out of harm’s way. The only flaw in his plan is his overwhelming but inexplicable attraction to the new chaperone he has hired to watch out for them. An outspoken conundrum of a woman who soon causes him more trouble than both his sisters combined...but who calls to his soul regardless.

From the moment Portia Kendall read her first revolutionary pamphlet beneath her bedcovers at Miss Prentice’s School for Girls, she realized that her true calling was to make the world a fairer place for the masses downtrodden by the aristocracy. A calling that led her to Equitas, a radical newspaper that champions reform. But as Portia discovers, writing doesn’t pay the bills. To make a living, she must push aside her principles and serve the very people she criticizes weekly in her column. A temporary position as a chaperone in the home of a pompous duke seems like the perfect way to earn enough to follow her heart. Unfortunately, the duke who hires her seems to be more dashing and noble than pompous and soon begins to call to her heart too—as much as she tries to deny it. But dare she risk her principles for love or will her pride always come before a fall?

A well-balanced story

I’m weary of audiobooks that advertise themselves as rom-coms because it’s often a miss and rarely a hit. Even if the writing is funny, the delivery by the voice actor isn’t. Or maybe the voice actor is really good, but the material just isn’t that funny. Or maybe the voice actor and the writing are funny, but the story is so far fetched or cringey that it’s too ridiculous to be enjoyed.

This book did a great job of not slacking in what it was promising. There were laugh-out-loud funny sections to it that the author did an awesome job describing and the voice actors were wonderful and silly. The spicy scenes were well done as well, and not full of cringey language about “oh is it gonna fit” “oh alabaster orbs with rosy peaks” nonsense.

The story was good, I enjoyed it for about 90% of the book and understood why each part of the story was important, but the last 10% I could’ve done without. I didn’t personally feel that the big fight in the end needed to happen. But I did appreciate that not one of the characters were flawless. The main male and female leads? Cute but they kind of sucked sometimes. The sisters sucked. The mom sucked. Justice for Leo. BUT I like that they were all flawed humans and no one was perfect in the end. No one was the smartest person in the room or the most virtuous or the wisest. Everyone was loudly wrong in some way and that was very relatable.

Overall I really enjoyed this book, and look forward to future work from this author.

The Duke and the Reformer

When sixteen-year-old Portia Kendall read a pamphlet by the reformer Mary Wollstonecraft under the covers of her bed at Miss Prentice’s School for Girls, she determined to make the world better for commoners. She eventually went to work at Equitas, a radical reform-minded newspaper. She also became a governess (money to pay the bills). Leopold Sloane, Duke of Debden, seems overwhelmed with responsibilities, including riding herd over his reckless sisters. When one of them is injured at a protest rally, he brings the family to Bath for the summer. He soon discovers he needs help, and Portia, who has come to Bath to work at Equitas, finds employment with him as a temporary chaperone to the sisters. They fight it, but the attraction between them was almost immediate and grows strong. Things are not easy. There is trouble with the girls, at the paper, and with the law. This is an interesting story with complex characters. The duke and Portia have much more in common than they think. The path to their marriage is a bit different. There are some humorous moments. Don’t miss the cat and the blackbird or a visit to the House of Lords.
I enjoyed the dual narration by Eve Feller and Shane East.