The Bastard

By: Brenda Novak

Narrated by: Sarah Coomes

Jeannette Boucher, a young French beauty from a family left penniless by the revolution, must marry against her will to save them all from ruin. But almost immediately after the vows are spoken, she learns that her old English husband is impotent - and in his desire for an heir, he plans to compromise her in the worst way. Determined to escape such a fate, she stows away on one of His Majesty’s frigates. But a woman alone is in constant danger.

To Lieutenant Treynor, honor means everything…. Born a bastard to a wayward marquise, Lieutenant Crawford Treynor was given to a poor farmer to raise and was maltreated until he ran away to join the Royal Navy. Treynor is determined to prove he’s as good as any other man and rise to captain his own frigate. But once he finds Jeannette aboard The Tempest he must decide whether to return her to the man he knows would abuse her - or risk everything, even his life, to keep her safe.

©2011 Brenda Novak (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Loved the story, but not the narrator.

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Yes. But I might suggest they read it. I really didn't like the male voices the narrator created. I amost stopped listening to it because of it. The story, however, captivated me and I continued. Happy that I did because it's a very well written story.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

the male voices all had a nasal / whiney sound to them. Very unappealing. I would suggest she work on them.

What would have made this romance irresistible?

a better narrator.

Any additional comments?

A very good story line. Kept me interested. Lots of twists and turns.

Romantic adventure

I really enjoyed this book. It is passion filled without needing to be explicit, a quality I wish more books had.

Good story

I would have liked this book much more without the narration, as always the audio never fits the characters.

The bastard

I called him that a few times but he wasn't. I enjoyed the story but hello.....all that and no romance lol just a tease, it will keep you wanting to know what's next

Good, easy listen.

I enjoyed the plot, the characters, and the outcome. Very visually stimulating read. The voices were very distinct and allowed for an easy listen.

Love on the High Seas

The Bastard by Brenda Novak is a historical romance set on the sea between England and France. Janette and her family, in fear for their lives, fled France during the Revolution. She was offered in an arranged marriage to a much older man to help her family financially but before the marriage could be consummated she learned of the horrendous wedding night her husband had waiting for her. She fled, dressed as a boy, to a ship setting sail for London.

Lt. Trainer is the bastard son of a Lady who will not tell him of his sire. He hates her and has most of his life as she sent him away to be raised by a brutal family. Others aboard ship treat him poorly because of his birth and of the boy who he has taken under his wing. Eventually, Lt. Trainer learns Janette’s secret and must fight his growing desire for the woman beneath the rags.

The author is pretty descriptive of life aboard ship, from the hierarchy of the crew to the hogs and rats in the hold. I wasn’t sure I would like this one, but stayed with it and got swept away.

Needs to recorded

What made the experience of listening to The Bastard the most enjoyable?

The story is good, or what I could get through.

How could the performance have been better?

The reader is awful! So bad I could not finish listening.

A great adventure

I liked this. I found it very entertaining. The shipboard scenes were quite accurate. It was more of an adventure story than a typical historical romance and I liked it.

Alright PG-13 romance....

This book had a great premise and I think it could have been better. I got used to the narration quickly as I have listened to Coomes before and she is one of the narrators that I like her regular voice but she is kinda overboard with character voices. This is PG-13.....so if you want steamy...this is not it. I got this on sale..BOGO I think and it was worth it. I probably wouldn't get it at full price.

Another good story ruined by a bad narrator

Omg this woman should never be allowed to narrate any book. Her voice of the hero makes him sound like a pompous feminine idiot, only a shade different than his mother's voice, and the heroine's voice is no better.

Oh, the story. Ms Novak has written a number of good romances and this is one of them.