The Aristocrat

By: Penelope Ward

Narrated by: Andi Arndt, Jacob Morgan

Length: 8 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

From New York Times best-selling author Penelope Ward, comes a new stand-alone novel.

The one that got away. Every girl has one, right?

Mine was a charming, British aristocrat who turned my world upside down one summer. From the moment I first spotted Leo in the distance through my binoculars, I’d been captivated. I certainly never expected to find a man showering outside of the property across the bay in his birthday suit.

Then I noticed his housemate staring back at me with binoculars of his own - watching me watching Leo. That made for an interesting conversation starter when I inevitably ran into them. Turned out, the handsome Brits were only renting that house for the summer in my seaside town.

Leo and I formed an instant connection, even though we were technically opposites by all appearances. I taught him how to dig for clams, and he taught me that not all wealthy and powerful guys are pretentious.

Despite knowing he was totally wrong for me, I couldn’t seem to stay away.

It was a wild and crazy few months. And before I knew it, we’d fallen in love. We both had one wish: more time together.

But Leo had obligations back home. He lived a life I’d never fit into. And I was going to law school. So, we decided to end it and never look back. A part of me always felt like I’d let my soulmate walk away.

I believed our story was over.

Until five years later when he sent me a letter that shook me to my core. I’d thought my world was turned upside down that first summer?

Well, I knew nothing yet.

©2021 Penelope Ward (P)2021 Penelope Ward

Sweet with a modicum of cringe...

Above all though – it was so real. It didn’t feel like a fairytale written with the same series of events. Instead it was more of a real life romance with the character’s very own HEA. I preferred the originality as opposed to an ending we’ve read about time and time again.
In summary, everyone has a first love. That summer you spent with the best person ever. Sweet kisses and fireworks! In true Penelope Ward fashion, she captured those moments and let us relive them through the story of Felicity and Leo. Like all great summers and sometimes great loves, they come to end as seasons of life change. As much as these two wanted to make it work, they understood that obligations would not allow their love to last. The end of their summer romance will make you tear up BIG time. It was apparent they didn’t want to part. They were kind to each other. And their honest conversation was a breath of fresh air!! No inner monologues about what they wanted to say – they actually spoke to each other about everything.

I expected a tie to bond them, perhaps a surprise baby or something but the story ends….then picks up again five years later! This is where to cringe comes in because obligations are now firmly in place but just like any other love stories – these two will have a happily ever after- but after a bit of a rollercoaster ride of emotions and uncertainty.

I just hate that it was at the expense of someone else’s happiness. As an empathetic person, I felt everyone’s pain so deeply (a result of amazing writing- cheers Penelope) and wanted everyone to come out with a happy ending. THANK GOODNESS Penelope felt the same way because things worked out as they should but more than likely not how you'd expect.

While you kind of guessed which ways things would go - it was usually an unpredictable outcome. Some version of what you'd expect but better. This is a must read!

As always - the secondary characters were GREAT. Now I want to know all about Sigmund's story! The narrators were amazing – of course.

Tear Jerker

If I’m being honest, this story started out a little slow for me…but soon enough I was enthralled. Felicity was so awkward in the beginning. I loved seeing Leo pull her our of her shell. Their chemistry and love for one another was so raw and genuine. When they said goodbye after their summer together, my heart felt like it was breaking right along with theirs. And of course, things got even worse before they got better…but often these HEAs are the most rewarding in the end. Beautifully written. Exceptional narration!! Don’t miss this one!

💖 A TRULY SPECIAL & DEEPLY SATISFYING SLOW-BURN 💖

A true romance that hits hard where star-crossed lovers destinies were Oceans apart and their beautiful Summer days together had a very definite end date. Leo’s a British Duke’s son with a title of his own, parental expectations, responsibilities and heavy commitments.. so he tried hard not to give his heart to a beautiful redhead with freckles while on holiday in the U.S. And Law student Felicity fought hard to stop the tempting Brit from slowly stealing her heart.. and yet, without uttering those three precious words, they both knew they’d completely fallen in love. But their time together in Rhode Island too quickly ended.. and, over the coming years, life is going to be very cruel and life is going to be very kind to these two destined soulmates.

Worth a credit? Yes it’s so romantic, heartfelt, tender, torturous, beautiful, bitter-sweet, heartbreaking and has sex, angst and splashes of humor too. I loved the fact that, despite their chemistry, they fell in love with each other’s personalities while they initially ‘friend zoned’ the relationship to stop a futile romance. And Leo’s rude cousin/sidekick Sig weaved in and out of the story bringing his unfiltered comments and was a crucial character - I hope he gets his own book. I also loved the character development and evolution over the years for all the characters. The dual POV narration was great and breathed life into the cast and the many emotional highs and lows held within this gifted author’s wonderful work.

Enjoyed💕

Let me start by saying I love Penelope Ward’s books. That being said this story a little stretched out. But all in all i enjoyed it!

The narration was perfection Andi & Jacob are an automatic buy for me & they never disappoint 🥰

hmm not interesting

the book wasn't awful but it was boring, nothing happened, no real conflict no resolution... very boring. oh well it was only the cost of a credit

Jacob Morgan & Andi Arndt made it great!!!!

The story is great but I was expecting more since Penelope Ward is a great author one of my favorites but I found this story lacking for some reason now for the performance Jacob’s voice is always on point! 🔥🥵 & Andi she’s one of my favorite female narrators never disappoints! Great performance guys!!

Outstanding

Not only did I love This story I just thought it was such an outstanding job. How 2 people can come from 2 different worlds fall in love and realize they can't be together. The story made me laugh cry was emotional. And the narrator's wooey Jacob did such a great job with his British accent. He definitely had me squirming in my seat. All in all this was a awesome listen. I feel bad for the people who don't do audio they don't know what they're missing.

Beautiful love story

Can’t beat a Penelope Ward book. It has all the perfect elements for a HEA. What else is there to say??

Prince and Me Vibes

Love the story line! The characters were so honest and open which I adored so much. The narrators blew it out of the park! Andi is a rockstar as always. Jacob going Brit was AMAZING!! Leo Covington and Felicity Dunleavy *chef’s kiss* are just gold as far as a true connection with standing so much to overcome.

Heartbreaking & Heartmending

This book ripped my heart apart, then put it back together. Loved the narrators!

loved this book

had me gripped from the 1st chapter
narrators helps make the story even better

Returned

I gave up on the book as I could not get into the story as every time the male narrator talked it took me out of the story as he was not at all convincing as British aristocrat. I do not know if this is due to the dialogue that the author has written reading more like a cliché of British phrases instead of how english people actually speak or if it is due to the narrators performance.

Emotional Roller coaster

Omg such a fantastic book filled with a roller coaster of emotions and excellent narration

Plot twist

As usual an excellent book with some funny moments and some sad , some very unexpected moments also , loved it and I hope for a book 2 x

The aristorcrat

I love this audio Andi and Jacob were fantastic although I found it was strange to hear Jacob with an English accent I just loved this story and I think I will hear this Audio again sometime

unfortunately had to return it

I couldn't listen to the English accent, I got 3 chapters in and gave up, awful accents!

Meh

The storyline this time was really poor. Started this book 3 times before I actually finished it. It’s slow and boring at best. No much happening, and the plot twist is pretty average.

Such a hearty story

This such a lovely love story. I have to admit, a few tears have been shed…
Great narrators have made the story line truly alive.

beautiful story

I absolutely loved this book. It's such a great story. I wish it could be made in to a movie.

Get ready for an emotional ride 💞

Loved this story about Felicity and Leo. He is torn between fulfilling his responsibilities towards his family and the developing feelings for Felicity.
There is a lot of rollercoaster emotions during this story and the narrators performed them so well that sometimes I felt as exhausted as the characters.
Well done Penelope for a first class storyline. ❤