Temperance

The Shackleford Sisters, Book 2

By: Beverley Watts

Narrated by: Deirdra Whelan, Mark Elstob

Length: 5 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

In this funny romantic series, the Shackleford sisters descend on a Regency society that doesn't know what's hit it… Perfect for fans of funny, lighthearted Regency Romances with a little bit of steam.

Reverend Shackleford was at a loss. He'd truly believed that in marrying his eldest daughter Grace to an extremely wealthy peer of the realm, his problems would be over. But as the Reverend was now beginning to realize, it wasn't sufficient to have a wealthy Duke in the family if the daughter he was trying to marry off had the manners of a stable hand. And to Reverend Shackleford's knowledge, his second eldest daughter Temperance is the exact opposite of her name and a harpy to boot. In fact the Reverend very much feared that unless he could find someone to teach her at the very least how to hold her temper, he would be stuck with her forever. But as he was always telling his curate, the Almighty works in mysterious ways. Indeed, Reverend Shackleford believed his prayers were finally answered when he found the very person to take Temperance in hand.

©2021 Beverley Watts (P)2023 W. F. Howes Ltd

I enjoy a series, the continuation of characters.

The winey voice of the earl. I almost couldn't listen. Female reader did better. I wished she had read the whole story.

Predictible story but fun

I really found the narration terrible. Almost stopped listening it annoyed me so much. Male voices especially poorly done.

Cute story awful male narrator

Good lord the male narrator ruined this story. Seriously he is stunningly bad. It made the story almost impossible to enjoy.

Mediocre

The male narrator’s has annoying female voices and only ok male voices. His general narrator voice is good. If his character voices were better he would be quite good.
The story itself is ok. I got this as part of the Plus Category so free. I would have given up by now and asked for a return if I had used a credit.

Fun second installment in the series

Good reluctant hero, with no intention to marry. Engaging short-tempered, irritable heroine. Nice to see The Duke and Grace from the previous book playing a part in this romance. Didn’t care for the narrator at all. He made sound the hero like a foppish dandy and the female characters all spoke in falsetto.

Cute story

I love a good regency romance. This story was really cute and I like the way it ended and a couple of surprises.

Enjoyable story

Overall, I enjoyed the second book in the series. There were some chuckles and headshaking moments. I do wish, however, that the male narrator had used a deeper and more distinguished voice. I thought he came across very harsh for some characters.. I didn’t really enjoy his depiction. Maybe he was trying to come across as funny for those characters? The female narrator could have read the whole book and did all of the voices. I believe I would’ve enjoyed it more.

Hilarious Use of Language

The first thing that stands out in this series is the extraordinary use of English expressions that were probably common in this historical period. Insults are descriptive. Name calling is an art form. Combine this language with the raucous misadventures of the sisters Shackleford, and you get a pretty satisfying comedy. The fact that their father, the Reverend Shackleford has no small part in complicating, misunderstanding and bungling throughout, adds an touch of slapstick to the hilarity. The Reverend, saddled with 9 daughters to dispose of through marriage, concocts one sorry scheme or another to bring the young women in line.
The romantic heroes of these tales are as deeply flawed and personally challenged as are the sisters. Misunderstandings are part of each plot, and this book even has a villain. Temperance is completely delightful story. I am not a fan of the voice which the male narrator used for Adam (our hero) nor the one he used for Temperance, but he sure nailed both the Reverend and his Curate, Percy's voices. I intend to either read or listen to the rest of the sisters' stories.

Good Story

The narration was a little strange. it would be better acted out as a play or like a movie.

Story was ok

Nice girly story BUT the male vice and pretending voices cause me less enjoyment. The male voice was actually a great voice but not for this story.