My Wicked Marquess

By: Gaelen Foley

Narrated by: Annette Chown

Length: 12 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's Summary

The Inferno Club, a scandalous gathering of wealthy libertines and highborn rakehells devoted to their wicked pleasures. Or so they are known to London society. Little does the world suspect the true purpose of the Inferno Club - or the unseen threat looming over England, which these select, powerful lords are secretly sworn to fight.

Recruited as lads from noble families, trained in an array of deadly arts, they are the operatives of a covert order so mysterious that few beyond the crown even know it exists. As dutiful peers of the realm, however, they are expected to take wives - and marriage may prove their most perilous mission yet! For it takes a lady of uncommon spirit to love an especially dangerous hero.

With the war against Napoleon winding down, the Marquess of Rotherstone decides it's time to restore his family's tainted reputation. But as a member of the Inferno Club, he knows there is only one way to redeem himself in society's eyes: marry an impeccable young lady of beauty and breeding, whose behavior is well beyond reproach.

Someone quite unlike Miss Daphne Starling. True, she is temptingly lovely, but a whiff of scandal suggests the blond beauty may be a jilt who enjoys toying with her suitors' emotions. Still, Max cannot resist her allure - or the challenge of proving London's gossips wrong. Pursuing her with a spy's cool, calm calculation, he is soon swept up in the chase. He would do anything to win her hand...and prove that even a very wicked marquess can become the ideal husband.

©2009 Gaelen Foley (P)2015 Gaelen Foley

Critic Reviews

>"Foley's most powerful novel to date!" ( RT Book Reviews)

Regency Romance With a Bit of Suspense

What made the experience of listening to My Wicked Marquess the most enjoyable?

The contrast of personalities between Daphne and Max.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Daphine's great aunt the dowager dragon duchess. Every one is afraid of Daphine's great aunt and she sets the trends. She has the control that Daphine yearns for.

What aspect of Annette Chown’s performance would you have changed?

Her voice was sort of weak and timid. A more commanding distinctive voice would of been nice.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

It was a fairly good book and enjoyable but not so much as to want to listen to it in one sitting.

Any additional comments?

Daphine is somewhat spoiled in some ways, is very generous and loving, wears her heart on her sleeve and is very trusting and sometimes a bit silly. Max hides his emotions and is very pragmatic. He is closed and secretive as he has had to be in order to survive. Max and Daphine balance each other, however besides being very open Daphine is curious, demands to be in control and not controlled by others and will not accept Max's secrets. As Max is a spy, Daphine snoops and learns things things best left unopened.

The book ends on a bit of a cliffhanger with an introduction to the next book. I am hooked and am eagerly awaiting the next book.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

HMMM, IT'S A SERIES-AUDIBLE LAGGING

Disappointed to realise (at end of this audible) this is part of a series which is not yet available on audible or amazon Australia! I have had this occur on other series and it starts to become quite annoying. As for this audible, I liked Max the main male lead, the female lead, Daphne drove me crazy with her continual annoying thought process regarding male control and dishonesty etc. etc. etc.. but hung in there as the story had promise and I hoped the ending would bring it all together gloriously only to get a quick wind up of My Wicked Marquees and the confusing introduction to book 2, which is not available on audible or amazon Australia yet... Searched for series and alas there is currently 7 books in the series written, yet only 1 available on audible. Not happy and will not bother following through with this series. I suggest Australian audible listeners browse net prior to downloading any audible to check if part of a series or check author through audible to see what is available to download in Australia. I get very annoyed when I download an audible only to find the next book, (in a series) is not available. If I wanted to read a hard copy, I wouldn't be an audible listener. Will request return on this audible, very disappointed all round.

8 of 10 people found this review helpful

I couldn't even finish it.

The story was slow and the narration was immature. I couldn't finish it. Not for me.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

The narrator is too sugary sweet.

Started out with strong, almost too hard edge. Towards the end it was so sugary sweet I had to skip forward and sighed with relief when it ended.

3 of 4 people found this review helpful

Thanks be to have this in audio!

Daphne is something of a twit, but she is only 20 and a product of the time in which she lives. She falls for the man who wants her but doesn't know how to deal with himself, let alone her. I don't know any spies, but I do know about military who return from war and law enforcement men who can't share the things they've seen and done. Just like Max. He has been involved in Good vs Evil for a very long time, and has never known a family life. So, there's the background, and the publisher's summary gives hints to the action. There is also a secondary story line which is a set-up for the rest of this fascinating series. Jump in and enjoy the ride!
Annette is a fine audio performer and is able to project the emotions of the characters. But. She is in a higher voice range which I cannot like and it is especially annoying when portraying men.
I was provided this audiobook at no charge by the author, publisher and/or narrator in exchange for an unbiased review via AudiobookBlast

3 of 4 people found this review helpful

Wicked Good Book!

YEAH! That is what i want in my Historical romance! My Wicked Marquess: Inferno Club is that book. I loved this! Good vs Evil storyline is also a fun thing i like. iI's hard to stop listening to the story, and that is saying something. I never had so much fun from a author i never ever heard about before. Gaelen Foley is so good as it gets when it comes to historical romance,

12 hrs and 54 mins with Annette Chown never feels like i am lost. her english accent fits this book like a hand to a glove. I am amazed about how few books there is with her as a narrator. She is just as fantastic as the book is. And that is saying something about the quality in this book.

I was provided this audiobook at no charge by the author, publisher and/or narrator in exchange for an unbiased review via AudiobookBlast dot com

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

loved it!

wonderful ztory telling! read out of order but it did noy matter! I loved it!

So very good!

There are so many threads weaving this story that I can't wait to read the next book in the series!

Great story from Gaelen Foley

My only 2 negative comments are:
1) The narrator's voice was too high to convincingly portray most of the male characters. A narrator who can portray and shuttle between the higher pitch and lower pitch at the right time will always make the story more interesting.
2) The female leading character Daphne is too self righteous by half and demands as well as expects too much emotional involvement too soon of any realistic situation. She sounds hypocritical by one moment denying any glimpse of Max and cursing him to high hell and the next declaring undying love and a promise of marriage. If I were Max, I would have abandoned all efforts to pursue her earlier on.
Other than these comments I love the story of the fight between the Order of St Michael and the Promethians immensely. Can't wait to follow the next leg of the story.

Just average at best

This is difficult to rate. It's almost like there were two different books. The first part of the book was great. I really liked Daphne and the Marquess looking for a bride from a list was cute. The developing romance was fun and I was enjoying it. Then things became odd. It's hard for me to put a finger on what happened exactly. Obviously things were left unresolved for the series to continue but that doesn't really explain the last third of the book that seemed a bit disjointed.

I've read MANY series and some will end with a cliffhanger but this book left me with wondering just what really happened. It's odd.

The narration was quite good. That helped a bit.