The Westerby Inheritance

By: M. C. Beaton

Narrated by: Kate Reading

Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's Summary

A lady of quality would not wager her honor to restore her family's fortunes - or would she?

Lady Jane Lovelace has conceived the idea of approaching the most notorious man-about-town, Lord Charles Welbourne, with a most unique proposition. When he counters her offer with a condition that he thinks will halt her impudence, much to the surprise of both, she accepts.

A novel of passion and intrigue, The Westerby Inheritance is a thrilling installment in an emotionally charged romantic saga, all played out against a backdrop of elegant 18th-century society.

©2014 M. C. Beaton (P)2014 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

NOT like Marion Chesney's other romances!

This book left me wondering if it really WAS written by the same Marion Chesney who had written all of the other wonderful historical romances I enjoy so much. These are the specific reasons: 1. While there are the usual conflicts of character/personality, there are entirely too many characters who are blindly selfish at best or outright evil at worst. From my perspective, there was only one truly likeable character whose actions I always supported, and it wasn't even the main character. 2. The ending is VERY dark. 3. Unlike the other Marion Chesney books that feature a mystery-of-sorts, this one does not have any kind of resolution or clear-cut happy ending (see again item 2). 4. Also as opposed to her other books, which leave me happy with the outcome and looking forward to re-listening to the story many times, I will NOT be re-listening to this one. I am glad I listened to it, but once was certainly enough. It says that this book is part of two separate series, which I believe are just collections of loosely related stand-alone novels rather than a true sequential series of interrelated stories about a consistent set of characters. Honestly, even if there were a direct sequel, I don't think I would listen to it or read it - this book left me feeling too unsettled and unsatisfied for me to want to invest more time in another book like it. There are good things about this book, though. As always, I enjoyed Chesney's creation of her main characters and how their relationships (especially the one between Jane and her stepmother) matured. Unlike another reviewer, I have always preferred Chesney's elaborately detailed descriptions of the day-to-day details of historic life. If I didn't want that sort of thing, I would not read historical novels. I would suggest that anyone who doesn't want historical details either not read historical novels OR read BAD historical novels by authors who do not do thorough research and, thus, end up writing about 21st century characters and settings with the occasional use of "ye olde English" to give it a bit of period flavor. Additionally - any references by the publishers to this being a "regency" romance are incorrect. The story takes place in 1751, and George III hadn't even taken over as king, let alone sired the son who would eventually assume the regency. And I absolutely adored Kate Reading's narration! She does such a wonderful job of creating the characters' voices, especially the male characters. She is definitely among my short list of favorite narrators now (this was the first I've heard her), and I will be looking for more books narrated by her in the future. To be honest, if the ending wasn't so horrendously dark and not at all what I had been expecting from a Marion Chesney historical romance novel, I probably wouldn't have felt the need to write this review. But I wanted other Chesney readers to know that this is NOT her typical romance fare.

Just treat it as a dark comedy and enjoy

Yes this is not the usual type of book by this author but as one character states “I feel like I’m living in a farce”. If you see the crazy turns of events as humorous then you’ll be fine. There actually is a second part to this book to help give some closure to the abrupt ending. It’s called “The Westerby Sisters” and it picks up with the daughters of the main characters years later.

cliffhanger! not just a first in a series....

but a book that ends BEFORE resolving anything.... it's only PART of a book. and I really dislike that!!!

Good story but no ending!

I expected a proper ending but the chapter just fell off in a way that did not make sense given the characters personalities. Shame.

Enjoyable Read... until

I was surprised how much I loved this story. It worked so well and the characters are well developed. But there wasn’t a proper ending. It left you hanging and “NO”, you don’t get an ending on Book 2 since that’s a completely different story. I’m so disappointed. I’m going to have to write the ending to this book so I can put it to rest. Sooooo annoyed.

Changed from 3 to 2 stars

This book was coming along just fine as an average Beaton novel that could easily and lightly entertain for a couple of evenings. Kate Reading did her usual superb narration. SPOILERS: I’ll try not to give too much away here, but I found the end of the book unable to end itself. It grew strange in a few places, and when it finally did end, was quite odd. The latter part of the book takes away a star. If there’s a sequel, I don’t find myself interested enough.

Not quite a romance....

First, let me say that I enjoyed this book very much. I listened to it compulsively every chance I had until it was done. With that said, this book has more of a dark air to it than I was lead to believe from the blurb provided by Audible. It has humor and a bit of romance but it also deals with murder, suicide, madness, robbery, coercion, and attempted rape. Subjects that could actually be triggering. This one is not lighthearted.

Not the usual

Rather, the story was the usual and like most of Chesney/Barton’s novels, a cut above the usual until the ending. I give the novel only three stars because of the abrupt and dissatisfying ending that leaves a whole series of plot points dangling. Highly frustrating.

Dreadful

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

A reduction in the painful descriptions and lists! of information. If I wanted to read a history book on the clothes and interior design of 1749, I would have done so. But this story was horrendous as a novel.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Anger that I spent a credit on it. What a waste!