Someone to Watch Over Me

Bow Street Runners Series, Book 1

By: Lisa Kleypas

Narrated by: Anna Parker-Naples

Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's Summary

Someone to Watch Over Me is a classic tale from New York Times best-selling author Lisa Kleypas. In this Regency romance, Kleypas, the author of Seduce Me at Sunrise, tells the story of a scandalous beauty with no memory of who she is and the man determined to unravel the secrets of her past.  

Contains mature themes.

©1999 Lisa Kleypas (P)2018 Tantor

Desperately Seeking Susan

The Bow Street Runner Series is one of my favorites from Lisa Kleypas. The stories are grittier and the characters are a bit more edgier. "Someone to Watch Over Me" is the first in the series but last to the Audible format. There are plenty of reviews posted in Amazon that summarize the plot and characters nicely so I won't be redundant. This is not the strongest one among them. Quite far from it but still an entertaining read. The biggest issue to me was not having Susan Duerdan narrate this book. Although Ms. Parker-Naples is a good narrator, it was jarring not to listen to Ms.Duerden perform this story. At times a change in narrator may work but in this case, it was annoying. I am not certain who makes these choices or what circumstances may lead to changes in a narrator but it is important enough to listeners that writers and producers should take heed.

PAINFUL TO LISTEN TO ...

This is one of my very favorite Lisa Kleypas stories and have always wondered WHY it was eliminated from the series initially. I was so happy to see it available!! Woohoo!! Except ... the narration is terrible. I soldiered on ... but didn't enjoy it and never really got use to her voice. Chalk on a blackboard disturbing.

Don't know who chooses the narrator for these, but PLEASE go back to Rosalyn Landor!! I'd listen to her read the phone book, as they say.

Highly recommend the book ... just not this narrator.

Why ruin a great strory with a poor narrator??????

I had to wait for SOOO long for the first (and best) of this series, only to have it ruined by a poor narrator! I couldn't believe my bad luck that first, the start of this series hadn't been on Audible before now; and, second, the great (perhaps the BEST female narrator), Susan Duerden, was not used for this one, even though she had narrated the other two in the series. I thought I would give it a try, though, since I loved the story. Blah! For the first 75% of the story, Grant and other male characters had the main parts in the story. Why not use a good male narrator?? To make it worse, the narrator sounded like a 5-year girl most of the time. Inexcusable, especially since Grant is described as such a physical man, a giant of a man. He deserved a Nicholas Boulton, not a squeaky mouse voice. So disappointing.

The story is worth it - but find it in print or as an ebook.

Toxic

The "hero" is a vengeful rapist, not a sympathetic character. The leading lady is repeatedly shamed for being promiscuous, which doesn't endear readers of romance. Besides that, the story was painfully obvious.

The narrator had a squeaky voice which made men sound whiny and grating or old and crotchety, even if young. Women sounded ridiculous (think Mrs. Doubtfire) or breathy and useless.

Yikes, this made me angry--and queasy

I read plenty of Regency and Victorian romance. I understand the tropes and don't expect modern gender roles, but this one crossed the line for me. Some things to know:

- In this book, no does NOT mean no. Ever. Apparently a man should always keep going, ignoring a woman's repeated protests, because eventually she's going to like it. Also, promising he won't touch her and then attacking her anyway is an admirable sign of his virility.

- A woman becomes a courtesan or prostitute because of her innate low character: sexually insatiable, devious, and incapable of fidelity. A courtesan with more than one (married) patron is "faithless" to the poor, heartbroken fellows. Needless to say, you need not seek consent from such a woman. Only virgins have any value.

- A man does not have to treat a woman well for her to fall in love with him. He can lie to her, insult her, and endanger her, as long as he's "irresistibly masculine." Which mostly consists of being physically large and violently jealous.

- A curricle is a closed carriage with a driver in front and footman in the rear. Ugh. In other words, don't expect realistic period detail.

I listened for a full 6 hours until I just couldn't take it any more. Your mileage may vary.

Very detailed and perfect romance for an audible!

This was my first audio book. So mesmerizing and immersive, I would get caught up in the story line. The narrator was great and made Loved it!

I miss Susan Duerden!

I think this was another high quality effort from Lisa Kleypas - one of my favorites! I miss some of the lighthearted wittiness of others of her novels, but it was still very engaging. The narrator read well, but her voices for males hadn’t near the range of Susan’s renditions, and it seemed to lack some of the interpretive nuances. Worth a listen, but I hope we can get the previous narrator back for future releases!

I miss Susan D.

I rarely write reviews but i have to write this one. After only 15 minutes or so I had to stop listening. Anna Parker-Naples is poor at the very best. She sounds like she has marbles in her mouth, her speech is unclear and really hard to listen to. I will be reading this book because i simply can't listen to this performance. Its an assault on the ears

Meh

I can’t tell you exactly why I didn’t like this book besides the fact the the hero is very one dimensional and the heroine is a weak disappointment. I finished the book with a general sense of irritation, anger at having wasted the time and overall dissatisfaction.

Good Plot and Mystery

I was not a huge fan of the hero in this one. In fact I really didn't like him until the end. I loved the story though and it keeps you guessing at the outcome.
It was steamy...but not as much as the 2nd and 3rd in the trilogy.

The Trilogy is worth it. The narration is not great - but deal with it - Susan D is back for the last 2 books.

Worth it!