The Soldier

Windham, Book 2

By: Grace Burrowes

Narrated by: James Langton

Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

His idyllic estate is falling down from neglect, and nightmares of war give him no rest. Then Devlin St. Just meets his new neighbor....

With her confident manner hiding a devastating secret, his lovely neighbor commands all of his attention, and protecting Emmaline becomes Devlin's most urgent mission.

Contains mature themes.

©2011 Grace Burrowes (P)2016 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Burrowes continues her winning streak with a delicious, sensual historical romance capturing the spirit of the time." ( Booklist)

Loved this book!

The writer captures the internal conflict of love and keeps you on edge until the end. Great Book.

The Soldier

The story was great! , performance perfect, characters endearing, especially Winny. I could not stop listening.

Nice

I really liked this book because the hero was kind and gentle and had weaknesses, but was still very strong and manly. The heroine was also strong and beautiful and went her way. There's a little girl as well.

Just so-so

This should have been wrapped up in about 4 less chapters. At the end I wanted to yell at the heroine - come on already! One of the male character’s voices is really irritating. I thought he was 90 but was actually 30

Communication Breakdown?

Let me be clear that I have really liked all of Grace Burrowes’ books. The Soldier has a nice storyline but the last half of this book was annoying as relates to the two main characters. Their total lack of understanding with one another was too hard to believe...and they kept sleeping with each other then giving grand farewells for no real reason. I enjoyed The Heir and The Virtuoso but The Soldier was hard to finish.

Unfortunate OMG book

Emmy, the heroine (?) in this book is so aggravating that I couldn't wait to get to the end. In fact, I fast-forwarded through the last 3 chapters. James Langton did a great job in narrating. Even though there were some strong, likeable characters, Emmy's stupid vacillation took away their strength.
A testament to Burrowe's character development & writing skills....she makes the characters seem real. So, I REALLY disliked Emmy.

Only okay

Any additional comments?

I liked Devlin in the previous book, but he seems to be a different character in this book. Previously he seemed more upbeat and witty. He now is brooding and seemingly helpless. I like the story of little girl, Winnie, who lived on Devlin's estate, I did not get too turned on by Emmie and I did not feel the chemistry between Devlin and Emmie. In fact, I was turned off by the idea of the two of them in intimate scenes. The narrator was good but the book was only okay.

Story of Two Wounded Souls

The Soldier is a beautiful tale of two wounded souls - St. Just suffers from PTSD and a feeling of never quite belonging to his family after his mother left him with the Duke and Duchess of Windham. Emmy is is not accepted by her neighbors and is trying to handle her young cousin Winnie, who has a tendency to wander off for long periods of time. Watching St Just and Emmy come to terms with their past and realize they are deserving of love was a wonderful experience. Grace Burrowes has a wonderful way of bringing emotional depth to her stories and showing the little things that show caring in a relationship. I look forward to Lord Val's story. I also just saw Tantor is picking up the rest of the Windham stories about the daughters later this year and I will be making sure to hoard credits so I can get them on release day.

I just don’t get it!

It may be because I am an American, born and raised, but I just don’t get the rules of the English aristocracy. They would rather live out their lives miserable and unloved but have the “right” lineage than find someone they truly love beyond reason and live joyously until they are old and grey. Stupid if you ask me. With all the sorrow Emmy has gone through in her life she still refuses Devlin’s marriage proposal even though she knows she loves him and he loves her. She knows they can not only love well but they like each other, they can help each other and they can give Winn the type of life that the little girl longs for. This story frustrated me all the way around. Read something else if you think you will be frustrated too. It’s not worth the time and energy.

lovely

i love this reading, have listened many times.
one of the best elements for me is Langton's rendering of st just ... i could listen to that imaginary man all day.
but this brings me to a small flaw in the audible story that has worried me ... would not a child, even one with a strong accent, have lost most mother-tongue influence, having been handed into an aristocratic family at the tender age of five? boys going to eton in their teens lose most of their regional speech patterns. however i forgive this flaw with an open heart as it gives us the wonderful speech of Langton's st just.