When Beauty Tamed the Beast

By: Eloisa James

Narrated by: Susan Duerden

Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

Miss Linnet Berry Thrynne is a Beauty... Naturally, she's betrothed to a Beast.

Piers Yelverton, Earl of Marchant, lives in a castle in Wales where, it is rumored, his bad temper flays everyone he crosses. And rumor also has it that a wound has left the earl immune to the charms of any woman.

Linnet is not just any woman.

She is more than merely lovely: her wit and charm brought a prince to his knees. She estimates the earl will fall madly in love - in just two weeks.

She is more than merely lovely: her wit and charm brought a prince to his knees. She estimates the earl will fall madly in love - in just two weeks.

If she decides to be very wicked indeed... what price will she pay for taming his wild heart?

©2011 Eloisa James (P)2011 HarperCollinsPublishers

4 ½ stars. Entertaining. Enjoyable. Engaging.

This reminds me of Georgette Heyer books. The dialogue was wonderful. There was a lot of it. I was pleased listening to the conversations throughout the book. It reminded me of what many books lack. I was pleased that I was surprised at times. And, this has relationship development. We get to know them through their interactions over time.

Piers was sardonic, sarcastic, and rude to everyone. He had a bad temper. The narrator Susan Duerden did a wonderful interpretation of Piers which might make the audiobook better than the book. I liked hearing him through her.

The beginning was funny with Linnet’s father and aunt assuming she was pregnant, even though Linnet kept insisting she was not. This is a good example of inaccurate assumptions (IA) being funny and well done. Normally I don’t like IA causing a fight or separation between two characters - with each of them believing inaccurate things about the other. But this was different because Linnet was honest and clear, they just wouldn’t listen.

Genre: regency romance.

Beautifully Hi-lar-I-ous!!

I enjoyed this book so much. I’m sure I caused quite a few raised eyebrows in the doctors waiting room and grocery store as I grinned from ear to ear while listening. Oh well. Thus the hazard of listening to such cleverly written dialogue while going about your every day life! I did manage to not (seemingly) randomly burst out laughing 😆.

I loved the equality between the two main characters Piers and Linnet. I was a fan of the television show House so I enjoyed that wicked sarcastic humor in both the main characters. The same as in the secondary characters of the butler (I can’t begin to guess how to spell his name!) and Piers' friend/cousin Sebastian. This story had some flawed characters, both obvious and not so obvious, but they somehow manage to find loving acceptance and forgiveness. Beauty and The Beast was never one of my favorite fairy tales, but written as James has, makes it so. Great book.

Beautiful prosodic language by the author: that drop of honey slowly dripping from the side of her aunts crumpet became a sensuous foretelling of its own. So many examples of that kind of brilliance I’ve got to listen to it again and again to see more. Yes! See more! In a audiobook! Such vividly descriptive language which does not take away from the story by sounding like a travel guide.

The narrator’s performance was masterful. The timing of the quips and one liners was crucial to the story and she delivered! The voices were varied and I lost myself in the story. I can’t ask for more. Well worth the credit! May have even bought it if without credits. I’ve been an Audible member for years and this is my first review. Just had to put my two bits in about this gem of a book. Red hot ruby brilliance mounted in platinum!!

A five stars fairytale!

This has been one of those audiobooks that makes me want to pause my everyday life and just listen to it. I loooooved it!! This is a Beauty and the Beast tale. Beauty is a good girl with bad luck who is a victim of vicious gossip that destroys her reputation. Her circumstances lead her to be engaged to the Beast.

I loved to hate the Beast. He is very much like Gregory House from the series House MD. A handsome brilliant doctor who has a very painful traumatic injury. The constant pain from his injury makes him angry and very easily irritable. The evolution of the relationship from this unlikely pair is absolutely amazing and consuming. Character development in this story was superb!

This is the second book in a series but each can be read individually. Each story is completely separate from the others. I highly recommend it to anyone that enjoys a good historical romance. The narrator did a very good job with this story too. I just found it perfect!

Surprising Combination!

No topic is safe, divorce, drug addiction, child abuse, to forgive or not to forgive... James manages to touch on all of these topics without leaving the listener feeling depressed. Piers Yelverton, The Earl of Merchant, is a gifted physician in the area of diagnosis and treatment with the added gift of making his bedside insults scathing. Linnet Thynne is the beautiful young woman who finds herself in the unfortunate position of needing a husband to avoid scandal. In between insults they seem to find a happy medium by agreeing they would never suit each other. In addition, the sub plot of Piers’ divorced parents is also captivating. As the listener you will find yourself switching sides throughout the novel as each character’s full story is revealed you will think them justified in their feelings. Set in a castle in Wales, a more realistic scene as compared to that of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, the story moves along at a steady pace without all of the repetition usually found in historical romances and with enough twists and turns to leave you wanting to listen.

Absolutely Fabulous!!!!!

What a terrific book from start to finish. And I was very sad when it ended. The story made me laugh out loud. Loved how the relationship developed. Susan Duerden is one of my favorite narrators. She does all the accents so well and consistently. Its a pleasure to listen to her.

Lots of fun

I always enjoy a sassy woman. And lots of verbal fourplay is always fun. Would love to see this author convert more stories to Audio

Outstanding Eloisa James!

Wonderful performance and story. The absolute best in romance. I laughed and cried listening to this book and Susan Duerden's narration was phenomenal. I have listened to this book multiple times especially when I am feeling a little blue and never fails to cheer me up.

Great Adaption!

I really love this version of 'Beauty and the Beast'. Elosia gives it her own quick by adding a 'Dr. House-like' hero for us to root for. The narrator did a wonderful job and it was a pleasure to listen to.

Shouldn't have liked it but I did...

If you could sum up When Beauty Tamed the Beast in three words, what would they be?

Difficult romance story

What was one of the most memorable moments of When Beauty Tamed the Beast?

A long drawn out conversation between the two romantic leads on the planned direction of their relationship. I didn't particularly like the conversation and the way it was going so I was mentally thinking about what I would do in similar circumstances. In short, my actions would have differed greatly...which admittedly means I might have missed out on a great romance.

Have you listened to any of Susan Duerden???s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, I've not listed to her before but she did a great job with this book.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

When "the Beast" had to save "the Beauty". It was a turning point in his life and it was very touching.

Any additional comments?

I call this a difficult romance story because "the Beast" was a hard man to like, in the beginning. After awhile, as "the Beauty" peeled away the layers of his personality and you got a glimpse of the man he could be, he was more likeable. But that took a good bit of peeling. The book does have very romantic and sexy scenes that more than make up for the darker part so all in all, I would recommend it. In fact, I have never listened to an Eloisa James book that I don't like. She has a way of getting you so wrapped up into the lives and the romance of the characters that you feel a let down when the book is over; and just for that reason, the book is over. So, I'm now looking for another... :)

Dr. House Does the Regency Period

My first by the author. Very entertaining and a bit on the light side, although it was very witty. There were a few angsty parts and quite a bit about facing the fact that parents are flawed humans like everyone else and you either have to live your life angry and bitter or accept them and let it go.

My assumption about the hero being inspired by Dr. House was fair. The author actually mentioned at the end that the TV show was her primary inspiration even more so than the fairytale. Piers was a doctor who definitely had the snarky, living in pain, and inappropriately funny part of it down. He was his own character, however. For one thing he fought desperately NOT to depend on drugs or alcohol for his pain, but feared due to family history and the unrelenting pain that he may end up becoming an opiate addict at some point anyway. He was very afraid to marry and have children because of the nightmare his father, the Duke, put he and his mother through due to his opium addiction. I don't think this is a spoiler, because it seemed obvious to me -- but I'll put it behind a tag anyway. (view spoiler)

The Earl/Doctor can be a real ass, which shouldn't be a surprise. Linnet mostly puts him in his place and gives as good as she gets. She's no doormat by any stretch of the imagination.

If you're very bothered by anachronisms, there are certainly some here. Some of the phrases used, in particular, seemed very out of place in a Regency. i.e. "What happens in Wales, stays in Wales." Also, and this is very YMMV, I like the hero to have to convince the heroine he loves her even though he's acted like a complete jackass. Linett has his number, so his revelation is not surprising to her. Although his actions in the end do show his unconditional, deep love for her. I definitely won't spoil that part.

Re: the audio, Susan Duerden was excellent as always.