The Earl's Conquest

By: L.L. Diamond

Narrated by: Verona Westbrook

Length: 5 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

Fascinated upon a first acquaintance, the earl of Matlock is a determined suitor, but Rebecca Fairchild is not so certain. The earl is kind, yet he is always so frustrating and stubborn! He is not what she had planned or what she ever imagined in a partner. Other ladies have also laid claim to the handsome Lord Matlock despite his preferences.

Can he convince Rebecca he is her future, or will other forces stand in the way of their happily ever after?

A prequel to An Unwavering Trust!

©2015 L.L. Diamond (P)2018 L.L. Diamond

The Earl's Conquest

Great story. It was nice to hear some of the background of past generations. Those were great memories. And I enjoyed hearing it in the First person narrative.

Fabulous!

This prequel is divine: relatively short at just over six hours; snappy, often hilarious dialogue; characters a reader truly comes to care for (young Grandmama, her earl Gerald, even the couple’s families get filled out - I especially appreciate Sophie, Gerald’s sister, who likely had been yearning for a friend just like Rebecca who didn’t exist in her high society world in London); appreciation for the frame-tale structure that powers the story and makes one eager for the next chapter, in both 1813 and 1757; a cool explanation three generations in the making for how the scion of nearly noble house and the first circles might deign to marry beneath himself socially and for love; and, most importantly, a deep, abiding love story that Diamond builds from the bottom up even as AN UNWAVERING TRUST provides a top down view in the margins of that variation on the Elizabeth Bennet § Fitzwilliam Darcy romance.

Finally, to our dear couple forever changed by a country house party in the autumn during the heart of the Georgian Era - so Grandmama is aged 77 as she recounts this tale to sooth a laboring Elizabeth who’s been brought to bed for their child. I love novels in which it’s the male figure who falls in love at first sight. I also admire the complexity of young adult Rebecca’s childhood - careening from her mother’s benign then malicious neglect back to the intense love and care of her father and brother - whose formidable character that is so important in AUT. I appreciate all these disparate parts and have enjoyed this audiobook several times already.

Worth a DEFINITE CREDIT

Great story

I loved it. So interesting tale about Darcy’s grandmother Rebecka Fairchild. The courtship of her and Lord Matlock. The author is great at spinning tales. And the narrator is great. I could not stop listening.

Great, minus the narrator

That was a lovely tale. I never knew how much I wanted a non-ODC tale until I read An Unwavering Trust and was so moved by Grandmamma Matlock. She's a forceful and enjoyable character. This story was very good. If you forget that this narrator sounds more like an elegant and eloquent robot and less like a human being with emotion and feeling, it's very good.