Sweet Home Alabarden Park

De: TJ O'Shea

Narrado por: Jen Jayden

Fiona Turner wonders which challenge will be the death of her: the renovation of a massive, crumbling, centuries-old English castle to make it fit for the King and Queen of England, or turning an American into a proper English duchess.

As Princess Beryl's lady-in-waiting, Fiona's duties are usually limited to the tedium and tradition of royal functions. However, in preparation to host the king and queen's anniversary party, Princess Beryl has tasked Fiona to spearhead the renovation of a neglected but beautiful estate called Alabarden Park. The castle's latest young duchess, Alice Stewart, has agreed to the renovation and hosting the party, on the condition Fiona also help her manage the estate while she gets her bearings with a new peerage and sprawling inheritance. There is only one problem.

The new duchess is American. A reckless, cheerful, ebullient American.

Fiona's introversion and devotion to tradition has met its match against Alice's relentless effervescence and unorthodox ideas—but the constant friction creates an undeniable heat between them. When tragedy strikes, Fiona must choose between the royal duties close to her heart, or the duty she has to follow her heart.

©2025 TJ O'Shea (P)2025 Tantor Media

literally the best book ever

the book had a bit of a slow start but so so so so worth it 1000/10 would recommend

Great book—performance challenges

Ok…the book was very good. The performance has a difficult, halting cadence with confusing accents at times. Another reviewer suggested listening to it at 1.2 speed. By chapter 9, I could tolerate it and was able to get into the story. It’s worth it.

A Lovely, Extended Escape

At 19 hours and 22 minutes, it's longer than most sapphic romcoms, but it's well-paced, and provided a lovely escape to a nicer world with nicer problems. As the author states, you need to suspend what you know about the real British monarcy and the way titles and inheritance work-as well as the unlikelihood of most of the events occuring in real life, but if you want to relax and forget about the grittiness of real life, this is a good. dependable, "mini vacation" in the Britain that only exists in novels and Hallmark movies (which is not necessarily a bad thing).

The narrator was given a task that few people in the world could do well, and one that would require the skills of not only a good voice actor, but a VERY agile dialect expert as well, so it's not so much that the narrator can do it well, but that they can do it at all. As someone who watches a lot of British TV shows, the parts that depend on dialogue for plot development are a little challenging (especially in the first chapters, where there are more characters) and the accents seem to be inconsistent both regionally and in terms of social class, but if you tough it through and it focuses on the MCs, it gets better.

The "spice" wasn't all to my taste, but takes up a relatively small percentage of the book.

Another small criticism (and this applies to many authors-and this author is far from the worst offender), but there are sometimes fairly minor characters who might appear in the beginning, and then be referred to later, who are little more than a name and a relationship, and it would be helpful if the various authors could write in "clues"-especially for those of us who might read or listen over a period of time. For instance, instead of saying, "Jack...", it would be helpful if they could give us a reminder such as "Fiona's brother Jack...".

Agree with other readers!

The story was fantastic, and imo a bit spicier than average (def not a bad thing.) The performance, however, was awful. I didn't have an issue with the southern accents, but the english ones were just atrocious. Listening at 1.2 speed made it tolerable, and I'm glad I stuck it out. The story was worth it.

Should have read this one.

This was a fun, well written story.
Did I mention fun, cause it was fun!
Down side.....the narration.....I don't know where to go with it, I want to be aware kind as Alice, but......
Take the time, read the book. The narrators voices were hard to listen to, and she stops and starts in no particular rhyme or reason, It was brutal.
If you have no choice but to listen, here is a tip, turn the speed up to 1.20, it helps it sound less like a chain saw with broken teeth trying to cut through stainless steel pipe filled with cheap tin foil.