Virtuous Trickery

Royal Duty, Book 2

By: Alaina Stanford

Narrated by: Kimberly S Hobscheid

Gabrielle's shy twin sister is betrothed to a heathen prince from the far north. A Viking! Francesca would not survive the journey north much less the frozen wilderness of her new home. The only way Gabrielle can save her delicate sister is to take her place. Together the twins create a web of deceit that quickly spins out of control leaving a trail of death in its wake.

Gabrielle is the elder twin and heir to the throne. Francesca was second born by a matter of minutes, but those critical minutes were enough to label her the spare heir and she felt it every day.

Gabrielle is a free spirit. Francesca, a shy shadow hiding behind her sister's skirts. As the eldest, Gabrielle did everything in her power to avoid overshadowing Francesca. So when the day came and Francesca whispered she'd fallen in love, Gabrielle gladly agrees to be the one hiding in the shadows until Francesca was wed. But the King has other plans. Francesca is to be wed to the savage heathen from the north. A Viking!

The only way Gabrielle can save her delicate sister is to take her place. Together the twins create a web of deceit that quickly spins out of control leaving a trail of death in its wake.

©2017 Alaina Stanford (P)2017 Alaina Stanford

Good story

This story has a bit of a Shakespearean feel. Take the usual romance and mayhem and sprinkle in some Vikings.

YA adventure

This is a good book for older teens with non-stop adventure. I call the FMC the "Tomboy Twin" and her sister the "Prissy Twin." The king arranges marriages for his daughters to men that are completely unsuitable for each. They trade places and unwittingly fall into a takeover plot. The narrator did a good job except her voice for the Viking made him sound more like a highlander.

Predicable but enjoyable nonetheless

Despite the rather pedestrian cover treatment, this book was better than anticipated. Twins swapping places is a tried-and-true concept so the ending basically wrote itself. Everything leading up to the ending though, was pretty good.

The narration was okay (I mean, I didn't hate it.) I didn't like how Hobscheid vocalized men (kinda creepy actually), but the twins were the center focus so the lack of male voice was minor.

I didn't love this story (there were a few head scratchers) but I did like it. I felt reasonably comfortable with where the story was going and to that end, it did not disappoint.

Not what I expected.

I found the book slow to begin with, but it picks up as the story progresses. One reviewer said that the story was predictable and it is in some places but their are one or two twist that I did not see coming.

The narrator was OK when she was voicing the females characters, but I thought she did not do the male characters well.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Would Be Great for a Young Adult Audience

Like others, I felt the story was pretty predictable. I think that this would be better suited for Young Adult/Teen genre. As a contemporary and historical romance fan, I feel strongly about that. The writing was very good and I appreciated the narration as well.

*I received this book in exchange for my unbiased opinion. Please consider following me on Audible. Would you take a moment and select 'helpful' below, if you think it warrants such a vote. Thanks!