An Unwilling Conquest

By: Stephanie Laurens

Narrated by: Nellie Chalfant

Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

Marriage is out of the question!

A successful horse breeder and self-proclaimed rake, Harry Lester samples women like wines. But after having his heart trampled upon by someone he actually loved, he has no intention of falling for a woman again, let alone be ensnared by the trap of marriage. Now, with a large inheritance to his name, Harry knows that he'd best start running from London's matchmaking mothers and widows.

Harry heads for the racing town of Newmarket, only to encounter Mrs. Lucinda Babbacombe, a beautiful, independent widow. And before he knows it, Harry vows to protect Lucinda from the town full of lonely gambling men, despite her refusal to accept his countless offers of help. Lucinda is extraordinary: an intelligent, tender, marriage-worthy woman... but will Harry let himself be taken prisoner in this most passionate of traps?

©1996 Nora Roberts (P)2007 Audible, Inc.

cute story but predictable

cute but not worth a second listen. Very predictable but still enjoyable.

An Unwilling Conquest

Really good listen; narrator was excellent;will definitely consider other books by this author and narrator

Good Historical!

This title was a very enjoyable historical romance. As with most in this genre, there's always an interesting Rake ( a goregeous one), a "Lady", etc. The story line was good, the book well written, and the story well read. I recommend.

Can you pronounce Leicestershire?

Would you try another book from Stephanie Laurens and/or Nellie Chalfant?

I believe this was one of her earlier books, she improved.

Would you be willing to try another one of Nellie Chalfant’s performances?

Not if I can avoid it.

Not Terrible, Just Trite

I almost gave up on this book, but since I actually paid for it (ie not a credit) I felt bound to finish.

It wasn't that the story was terrible, it was just pat and predictable. It seemed to take forever for the story get going, so long I almost didn't care what happened to the characters, I just wanted the book to end. The writing seemed lazy with repeating phrases and vocabulary. There were a couple amusing scenes, but I had to listen to a lot of drivle to get to them. As for the rake and his reformer, the romance between them was rather aseptic. The potential for passion was there, but it all seemed to fizzle with the exception of a token couple of romance scenes.

Ms Chalfant does add to the reading, by characterizing her voices, but at times her accent was grating. Most listeners will probably not be bothered, but if you are very familiar with British accents you may occasionally cringe. Not to take away from her talent, but I have to wonder, is it really that hard to get actual British born narrators to read British based historical romances?

I give this 2.5 stars, and an additional half-star for Ms Chalfant's attempt to make the characters sound interesting. It did deliver a standard Regency romance. If that is enough to make you happy, then buy away!

But if you like a little substance to your plot, then steer clear of this one, there are more engaging historical romances out there.

Enjoyable

An enjoyable historical romance, my first of Ms. Laurens. Well read by Ms. Chalfant.

Engaging romance about a lover’s reluctance to confess his being in love

The author’s excellent plot, character depiction and setting descriptions are not enhanced by the narrator who mispronounced at least a dozen words. Very annoying.

If Mispronunciation Makes You Crazy

Would you be willing to try another one of Nellie Chalfant’s performances?

no

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

I always enjoy Stephanie Laurens stories

Any additional comments?

I still just can't believe that Nellie Chalfant didn't know how to pronounce SIGNIFICANT words in this book. If you're familiar with Stephanie Laurens books you'll know how many times the word TON is mentioned. Ton as in Bon Ton -- NOT as in TON of bricks. I like this story, but literally found myself cringing every 2 to 5 minutes because of a mispronounced word. Once in a book, maybe twice you'll hear something and think "huh?" but this goes way beyond. If that sort of thing interferes with your enjoyment please try another title.

Don't waste your money

I bought this one because it was on sale but the old saying rings true: You get what you pay for. The story is trite and shallow and the reader is amateurish in the extreme. I definitely wouldn't recommend it.

Dreadful performance

Dreadful Accent and pitiful pronunciation. I enjoyed reading the story but listening to this narrator spoiled it.