The Most to Lose

By: Laura Landon

Narrated by: Sarah Coomes

Length: 7 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's Summary

A High-Stakes Courtship

When Jonah Armstrong, the Earl of Haywood, returns to London after a three year absence, his plan is simple: reenter society, find a wealthy bride, and save the Haywood name from ruin. He has no time for distractions. Yet when he encounters Lady Cecelia Randolph, Jonah can’t resist a flirtation. After all, his feud with her brother, the Duke of Hadleigh, necessitated Jonah’s recent exile; he’s entitled to his revenge. But within seconds Jonah realizes he’s underestimated Cecelia. The gangly girl he once knew has blossomed into a beauty of rare intellect and character. He can’t possibly marry the Duke of Hadleigh’s sister...can he?

A Gamble of the Heart

Cecelia has loved Jonah forever, but she’s no fool. His attentions are motivated not by passion but by her generous dowry - and his thirst for vengeance against her brother. Yet when Jonah risks everything to protect her from her brother’s crazed fury, Cecelia dares to hope true love is within her reach at last.

©2012 Laura Landon (P)2012 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

ANOTHER GOOD BOOK NEARLY RUINED BY THE NARRATION

My first venture with this author and it was all nice. A nice plot, a nice romance but not earthshattering and some nice characters - all just 'nice'! Penniless hero must marry rich heroine, she has always loved him but he hadn't noticed her - that is until his return from the war - but her brother hates him and wants revenge (but you know what they say about revenge - 2 graves).

I felt it lacked passion, especially between the two lovers, right up until near the end which could have been due to the narrator's voice. Her female voices were terrible they all sounded rich spoilt and arrogant and her male voices weren't much better. I think this book would've been so much better if it had been read by more talented narrators like Anne Flosnik or Rosalyn Landor so a star, sadly, was dropped off for this. I'm glad to see another of her books has been narrated by R.L.

Worth a credit? Mmmmmm because of the price, it's one of those debatable ones, but I'd put it in your Wish List and wait for a sale. But with a different narrator then I would have said it was worth buying.

7 of 7 people found this review helpful

The narrator nearly ruined the story

This is a story about how terrible revenge can be and how true love conquers all obstacles. This love story will appeal to people who enjoys a romance that takes time to develop and is not full of descriptive sex scenes. The story per se is pretty good and the ending is very satisfying. The secondary character (Celia's brother the duke) is despicable and is so full of grief and blinded by vengeance that uses his sister as pawn for revenge against his ex best friend and Celia's love interest. For those of you who like this story I did some research to see if there was a second book because the dynamic between Celia's brother and best friend is so explosive that I knew the author wouldn't leave it unresolved and I found that there is a second book: The Dark Duke that is the love story between them. That book is not currently available in audiobook format but hopefully it will be added since I'm curious and would like to know their story.

Narration: Terrible. I don't know what happened to Ms. Coomes but she did not do her best work. I've listened to other books narrated by her and this is not her level of work. Her male voices were winny. Amanda's voice sounded just like the men and sometimes it was difficult to know which character was speaking because they sounded the same. The narrator emphasized the drama and bitterness and not the tender moments between the main couple which really took away from the story.

This is love story for people who like their books rated PG-13 and that can stand barely passable narration. If you get it via Whispersync it will be quite inexpensive so you don't have to wait for a sale. I listened to the whole book and found it ok. My rating most likely would have been higher with a better narrator so you may want to try it.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Great Female Lead

Enjoyed the story but loved the main female's character and attitude. So refreshing to have a positive happy female character. Enjoyed all of the characters in the book, not bad.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

story is good, narrator bad

As soon as I saw the name of the narrator I was unsure I wanted to listen to this book, but I like this author so I tried. I ended up reading the Kindle version instead. You'd think a woman with a British accent would be perfect for this type of story, and her regular narration voice is perfectly fine. Her character voices are terrible. She somehow manages to make every character unlikable and makes them come across completely different than intended. Every character has an annoying, sour type voice. She also emphasises words incorrectly which makes everything worse. The characters in this particular story are supposed to be quick witted and intelligent, but the narrator makes them sound ridiculous.

The Most to Lose

Great characters in an interesting times and situations.
Will get more from this author soon.

terrible narrator

What disappointed you about The Most to Lose?

Horrible narration. The women either sound unbearably snobbish or like they are 12 or both. Men are not much better, they pretty much all sound the same.
Story was so-so, but the narrator made it much worse

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Sarah Coomes?

Rosalyn Landor does a great job on Historical romances

Narration ruined this book

Would you try another book from Laura Landon and/or Sarah Coomes?

Anothoer book by Laura Landon - Yes.
Another book by Sarah Coomes - No

Would you be willing to try another book from Laura Landon? Why or why not?

See above

Would you be willing to try another one of Sarah Coomes’s performances?

No, Sarah over dramatizes to the point that I just couldn't listen any longer. She has a pleasant voice and her accent is a plus. She needs to believe the story can carry itself and she doesn't need to over dramatize. No one enjoys listening to a drama queen. Her male voice is poor also.

Was The Most to Lose worth the listening time?

The story, yes. But I just couldn't finish the book due to the narrator.

Any additional comments?

Glad I bought this book through Kindle Unlimited and paid just a few dollars. Wait, the book was free and I PAID only for the narration! How ironic!

Good, sweet, but not exceptional.

This is a good story...not exceptional...but I truly enjoyed it.
I especially enjoyed the back and forth between Amanda and Hadliegh. They weren't the main couple...but were actually extremely entertaining. I would have enjoyed a story of their own...but not to be! The characters dialogue was entertainng and we'll written.

I'm glad I listened to this story...but it didn't make me think of it for days after I finished it...so it's just a good story.

It was an easy listen and I looked forward to listening to it everytime I could....but I didnt lose sleep or work time to listen.

Get it on sale...it's worth that!

I wanted to like this book

I tried, I really did. I made it through those awful first 10 minutes. It took more than 3 times that long because I kept turning it off. Then I'd try again. Because I forced myself through the screeching voice in that first 10 minutes of the audiobook, I thought it was clear sailing. I was wrong. What was wrong with this book? I checked back through my history. Nope, I'd heard the reader before and while her voice is not one of my favorites, it has never stood out as one of worst I have ever heard. She did an adequate job on the previous books I'd listened to, one of them written by Laura Landon. So what was it about this book that made her voice so annoying that it set my teeth on edge.

Halfway through this torture, I figured it out. The book wasn't very good! And while sometimes a great reader can carry a bad book forward, an inferior reader cannot.

The plot was implausible, the characters not only uninteresting, but for the most part, downright unpleasant. The hero and heroine might have been ok if they had been given some kind of story to work with, but this just wasn't it.

Please, don't disregard Laura Landon because of this book! Try one of her others. But don't waste your credit or your money on this one.

That's 4 hours and 26 minutes I'm never going to get back. I'll leave the other 3 hours till sometime in the future when the awful memory of that first 10 minutes has faded from view.

a great surprise

If you could sum up The Most to Lose in three words, what would they be?

Surprising
Mysterious
Loving

What other book might you compare The Most to Lose to and why?

Every book is its own entity! Perhaps 'the most to lose' or .... its too hatd to compare...

Which scene was your favorite?

Swimming lessons in the pond... very touching and comical and heartstopping!

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

Yes

Any additional comments?

I will probably listen again at some point... that's a good recommendation!