How to Woo a Reluctant Lady

Hellions of Halstead Hall, Book 3

By: Sabrina Jeffries

Narrated by: Sarah Coomes

Lady Minerva Sharpe has the perfect plan to thwart her grandmother’s demands: become engaged to a rogue! Surely Gran would rather release her inheritance than see her wed a scoundrel. And who better to play the part of Minerva’s would-be husband than wild barrister Giles Masters, the very inspiration for the handsome spy in the popular Gothic novels she writes?

The memory of his passionate kiss on her nineteenth birthday has lingered in Minerva’s imagination, though she has no intention of really falling for such a rakehell, much less marrying him. Little does she know, he really is a covert government operative. When they team up to investigate the mystery behind her parents’ deaths, their fake betrothal leads to red-hot desire. Then Minerva discovers Giles’s secret double life, and he must use all the cunning tricks of his trade to find his way back into her heart.

©2011 Sabrina Jeffries (P)2011 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Male voices sinister

Reader read well, but gave the male characters a very sinister tone. Love the series, and like the idea of different readers as main characters in some female and in other books in series are male.

Love this series!

I really enjoyed this 3rd book. Minerva has become one of my favorite siblings! I can't wait for the next installment!

love this series

the book and the reader were great I couldn't get enough of this book. listening was a great experience as well

Throughly Enjoyable

It was fun to read this book. Sabrina Jeffries combines humor and steamy love scenes. At first I wasn't sure I was going to like the narrator, but after awhile I felt she really captured the life and feel of the book. It was fun and light to listen to.

Story was great, narrator was awful.

I find it a little irritating when a series uses a different narrator for each book in the series, thereby changing how the characters voices, and tones, are expressed. The narrator in the first book (The Truth About Lord Stoneville) was great; loved how he portrayed the voices. The narrator of the second book (A Hellion in Her Bed) was okay, but again, the tone he used for the characters was different. (For example, using a snide tone for a character that was portrayed as insolent, but laid back in the first book.) The narrator in this book was just awful. She couldn't hold the accent and in parts the characters sounded Irish, not English. And, again, the tone wasn't right, especially for Oliver's character.

Some consistency would be nice. Do the narrators ever do their research before recording a book to see how the previous characters have been portrayed (e.g. sarcastic intsead of angry)? That would be helpful.

Very sweet Romance...

I really enjoyed this audio book, and I am picky. I thought the narrator did a great job with all the characters except for the 2 Americans. Good thing they weren't in the book too much. :-)

Best in the Series

This installment in the Stoneville series was the best. The narrator made the story come alive, as well as enjoyable to the end. I can't wait for the next brother or sister story.

Spies & writers & love, oh my!

I always love a story where the hero is gone for the heroine even before the first page. Minerva wants to thwart her grandmother’s marriage decree by announcing an engagement with the most unsuitable man of her acquaintance (who she just happened to be in love with for years). Little does she know he has an ulterior motive for going along with her plan: he wants to marry her for real. He would also like to get her to stop writing about the villainous spy Rockwell, a thinly veiled version of himself, as it threatens to reveal his own work as as a spy for the state. Secrets, passion, and adventure ensue. Plus, there is a lovely short story included at the end of the audiobook along with an interview with the author.

Best of the series

This, so far, is my favorite of the Hellions of Halstead Hall series. This can be a standalone novel; the author does a fine job of including the relevant tie-ins from the first two books. I adore Minerva. She is strong, intelligent, feisty, and a perfect match in both wit and passion to Giles. I disagree with another reviewer who said the continuous mention of Minerva???s writing was annoying. Writing is how Minerva copes with the tragic death of her parents, the resulting scandal, and where she allows her true self to show. It???s a significant part of her character and can???t be glossed over. Without her novels, Minerva would be a completely different person. The adventures of Giles and Minerva are sometimes funny and always charming. I was completely committed to seeing Giles and Minerva get their HEA. I think the narrator is very good. Her voices for the different characters are easily discernable, and her reading voice is pleasant enough. Just so you know how my tastes in narrators go for historicals; my favorite is Rosalyn Landor and I absolutely cannot stand Ann Flosnik. If you are a fan of the series this is an excellent addition, if you are just looking for a good historical romance, I think this will fit the bill nicely.

Another fine read from the author

The grandmother is a real dragon but has their best interests at heart. He is a man of law but has many secrets, including an interest in his friend's sister. She is an overachiever and feminist who writes novels and won't even admit to herself that he has interested her for years. A good yarn!