What a Rogue Wants

Lords of Deception, Book 1

By: Julie Johnstone

Narrated by: Tim Campbell

Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

Lady Madelaine Aldridge might be the worst lady-in-waiting to ever grace King George III's court. An oddball who prefers archery to embroidery and honesty to deception, she earns the dislike of the Queen, the cruelty of the other ladies-in-waiting and the advances of a lecherous fiend who wants to make her his whore. Her father demands she find a proper husband? A task that seems hopeless until Lord Grey Adlard rides into court.

Grey Adlard lives up to his reputation as a dangerously handsome rake when he proposes Madelaine meet him in the stables for a tumble. Yet when she needs a protector the most, Grey offers his services and vows he wants to court her. Wary yet intrigued by the mystery he presents, Madelaine slowly allows Grey to capture her confidence and then her heart.

Things seem perfect until her father is imprisoned for plotting against the King and Madelaine learns Grey is not who he pretends. As King George III sinks deeper into insanity, Madelaine must prove her father's innocence in order to save his life. With the future of England hanging in the balance and a ruthless murderer hunting them Grey and Madelaine engage in a clash of wills and a battle fraught with suspicion, secrets, betrayal and two hearts that cannot deny the impossible, irresistible love between them.

©2013 Julie Johnstone (P)2014 Julie Johnstone

Entertaining but flawed

This was the first book I've read (listened to) by this author. The story was entertaining. I like the time period and "the King's spies" always make for an exciting genre. Kudos to the author. However, there were numerous distractions that should have been caught by a good editor or even proofreader.

People are hung not hanged. Someone COULDN'T care less, not could care less. And there was constant repetition. One word that always popped out at me was "material." It was overused. Why not use the name of the material or another word. Fabric? I found the narrator easy to listen to but I found fault with the production. What I assume to be do-over sentences were very obvious. The sound quality was very different. Like I said, these were all distractions from an entertaining story. I did expect Lady Grace to pop up in some sinister manner.

I hope to listen to another book by Julie Johnstone.

Loved the story plot

I enjoyed the story nut sometimes the characters were a little dense. Good listen though.

Very long story. Decent narration.

This story was about 3.5 hours too long. It became kind of boring and there were some very annoying cheesy parts. It was a struggle to get through.

Too many inner thoughts not a fan of books written where the whole story is pretty much written in Court with the ladies in waiting.

It started out very interesting for the first 25 pages then went down hill from there. A lot of unnecessary details and description. A bit repetitive at times. The dialogue was rough.

The story line and plot ended up kind of stupid to me. Just my opinion.

As for the narration, it was decent. I like Tim Campbell he does a pretty good job on the women's voices. He has a nice reading voice too.

What a reader wants....

.....is what a reader gets, if what you wanted was a regency romance spy story told with exquisite perfection!

Julie Johnstone does it again!
Tim Campbell brings it to life superbly!
There's not much sex....

I'd buy it again!

Refreshing historical romance!

Where does What a Rogue Wants rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

One of my favorites!

Who was your favorite character and why?

I loved the character Madelaine, who was not like the ordinary lady we usually read of, she did not like embroidery she loved archery!

What about Tim Campbell’s performance did you like?

Beautiful voice perfect for this book!

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

No, I love to listen to it by sequences/periods!

Any additional comments?

Ms. Johnstone nicely blended her characters into her suspense. It was very well written! It’s a story filled with betrayals and secrets. Great characters, a tight plot, an atmospheric historical setting! I recommend this historical romance as an audio, especially if you like stories set in that era. I liked the epilogue at the end! I will be looking for her next audio in this series.

Wonderful!

Could not stop listening! Julie Johnstone is a master story teller and Tim Campbell a gifted narrator. I'm hooked and can't wait to start the next book.

What a Rogue Wants

Mystery, deception, romance and the thin line between love and hate all rolled into an exciting and unpredictable adventure fill this new Book 1 of Julie Johnstone's Rogue series.. Yes, the end leaves you expectant and surprised.

Tim Campbell, as always, is the gifted narrator who pulls these characters off the page and into your head for a perfect visualization.

Don't miss this wonderful performance (5 Stars) and the creative genius of Julie Johnstone, also 5 Stars for her story.

too slow and overly complicated

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

I think someone who is retired and has a lot of time to kill. The book makes time drag. I was at the 6 hour mark and thought I had been listening all day.

Has What a Rogue Wants turned you off from other books in this genre?

I don't think one bad book is indicative of an entire genre. This question is not really relevant for a review and should be changed to something more meaningful.

What three words best describe Tim Campbell’s voice?

hauty, upper-class and overbearing

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

Yes, I think the story was very good and had a lot of potential. There was just a lot of unnecessary details and themes that made a good story overly complicated for no apparent reason. Sometime a character would have internal dialogue and then say the same thing. It just did not make sense as to why the internal dialogue .
Also a scene like the one where you are provided with the details on a "spy code" that is being used for secret messages. I am not sure why , as there is never a scene where there is a note the reader has to decode. It just seemed like a filler.

Any additional comments?

I really like this author, but am not sure if I will read the other books in the series .