The Heir and the Spare

By: Kate Stradling

Narrated by: Susan Duerden

Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

An evil princess, a ruthless persecutor, a wretched match.

Tormented at home and bullied during her studies abroad, second-born Iona of Wessett hides in the quiet corners of her father's castle. Her art and music provide refuge, but her cruel sister Lisenn ever lurks like a monster stalking its prey.

Such has been her life for 20 years.

However, a promise of reprieve and retribution arrives when the neighboring kingdom of Capria proposes an alliance between their new crown prince and Wessett's heir to the throne. The treaty will rid Iona of the toxic Lisenn, and the potential groom is none other than her erstwhile bully, Jaoven of Deraval. The marriage could not be more poetic: Each deserves the misery the other might inflict.

Except that Jaoven, humbled by the war that elevated his rank, appears to have reformed, and the fate of both kingdoms now hinges on the disastrous union he's about to make.

Contains mature themes.

©2021 Kate Stradling (P)2021 Tantor

Excellent

I found the story riveting and intense. It took me a little while to adjust to the accent of the reader, but I have to say that her performance of both male and female characters was superb.
I really enjoyed both the kindle and Audible versions.

Liked it and recommend it

Great Story and characters! And clean from swear words and sex! Yippee!! I just didn’t really like the “sing-song” voice of the narrator. Really—not at all. She was amazing with all the different voices of the people!! But the narration of the story drove me nuts. I’m sure she is a lovely person. And I can’t believe she talks like that in real life. I hope future books in this series (because there has to be!) finds a different narrator.

great read with intrigue and a clean romance

Such a great story and the narration is fantastic. I've listened to this audio book repeatedly. there is just something about this story that just pulls me in.

Loved this!

I came into this blind off of a friend's recommendation and finished it in two days.

Freaky heir keeps this tale suspenseful

Kate Straddling has done it again in creating a captivating page turner of a story. I'd already bought this as a Kindle book and read it, but happened to find it had been turned into an audio as well, so grabbed it to hear "again". The tale is still very good, but I found the narrator's reading cadence became irritating after awhile, and her pronunciation of a number of simple words was just odd. That won't keep me from listening to it again, but my enjoyment will definitely be lessened.

A Masterful Story

The most important part of an audiobook review is that of the narrator--so I'll address that first. I thought it was very well read. While she doesn't have a wide vocal range, there was never any doubt about who was talking. Her delivery is sometimes a little breathy, but our main character still sounds like a young adult, so it worked for me. I honestly enjoyed the reading.

The story itself is a brutal romance. Iona's backstory is horror filled as she has had to contend with a psychopath or two in her family for her whole life. We have palace intrigue, good guys and bad guys, and the future of two kingdoms on the line. When I read the book, I read it in two days. When I listened to it, I did it in one day. Listening to it, I was once again on the edge of my seat, even knowing how it would end.

The relationship has a solid HEA. The kingdoms have a relatively firm HFN.

Pretty Good

I don't think it was plausible for the main character to have the love interest she developed after her own personal trauma elsewhere along with his torment towards her. I feel like it could have developed over several books, but the short timeframe was uncomfortable to watch. It was entertaining though.

Fantastic read!

It took me a minute to get used to the narrator, but the story is fantastic and I really appreciated the protagonist as a character—strong despite so much abuse. Plus, it’s clean! Well worth a listen!

Great story and clean romance

One of my all time favorites! Narrator does a great job. Story stays clean, no spice, no swearing

Very well done intrigue filled story

As with her other books, K. Stradling has written an excellent story with engaging characters and interesting plot.

I wasn't fond of the narrator, but she wasn't the worst I've heard. She just didn't use good inflection in the sentences. It was more like she was just reading through the book as though she wasn't sure what it was that she was reading. But, again, she wasn't terrible, just, off-putting.

Kate has so many books that I would love to listen to. I've read them all, and they are all so good. I just hope she finds a more emotive narrator, like she did for 'The Legendary Inge'.