What a Gentleman Wants

Reece Family Trilogy, Book 1

By: Caroline Linden

Narrated by: Heather Wilds

Length: 10 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

Two strangers are swept into a sizzling, spellbinding world of daring deception and unexpected passion...

Marcus Reese, Duke of Exeter, has spent most of his life pulling his twin brother out of trouble. A thank you would suffice; instead, his resentful sibling forges his name to a marriage license and presents him with an unwanted wife. She's a vicar's widow with a mind of her own, and the first person in Marcus's well-ordered life to make him feel...completely out of control.

Dire straits have led Hannah to the altar with a gentleman she hardly knows. Played for a fool, she's embarrassed, furious, and worse, married to an equally outraged, exasperating man who unleashes all manner of emotions in her - not to mention unwanted desire. Reluctantly, Hannah agrees to play the wife until he can sort out the mess. But the undeniably attractive Duke unsettles her well-guarded heart - making her want to do so much more than "act" the role of blissful bride...

©2006 P. F. Belsley (P)2019 Tantor

Hannah' disappointing character

I was disappointed in Hannah's character. She started as a kind person that have a simple upbringing that lent to her character as a smart person with a kind heart that understood life in the lower classes. As time progress, she becomes more focus on how to act as a Duchess. Instead of humbling Marcus and showing him how to properly treat others regardless of their class or station, she actually follows in his foot steps; by starting to use words like "dismissed" instead of "thank you but I rather think I would like to spend the day with Molly, instead Lily." When Lily walked in on her and Marcus, she did nothing to curb his yelling at Lily, a simple hand on his shoulder etc will show that she still had an ounce of humility and understand that she could have been and can still be in a servant position. She also took it upon herself to forgive a debt and acted like she was the duchess when she herself is expendable. She seemed to become no better that Marcus prior mistress, concern of how her life will be without money, satin and silk, luxuries, living outside of London and without a title. There was nothing written how she become endeared to Marcus character by traits, kindness etc. Some sign of actual love. She is not even worried when she made the decision to stay, that Marcus and her daughter have no relationship. Her character seems to be one of a grasping social climber in the end. I was disappointed.

Question Statements

The person who reads this ends every statement with a higher note, almost like a question, making it sound extremely weird and difficult to listen to. I couldn't get past the first chapter.

great story, terrible read.

the story was original and fun, but the reader tried too hard to add emotion. and drama which made it hard to listen too.

Terrible narration, decent story

First and most importantly the narrator was pretty awful. Usually I can get past quirks of speech and by the end I’ve forgotten about it. She has a terrible habit of randomly going up in tone during every other sentence. It’s fine if it’s once in a while but it’s terribly distracting. I’ll not buy the next two books to avoid hearing her.

About the actual story - I’m usually over the moon with this author. She writes incredibly well. I was 95% in love with this book but there is a gaping plot hole that makes it hard to enjoy. Overall I’d say the physical book would probably be worth the purchase but not the audio book.

very good story

great, believable story, writer draws you in, keeps you enthralled with story twists and turns.

Enjoyed it

This was a great story about two people thrown into a situation not of their own making and finding it was the best thing to have happened to them. Without giving too much away, as you know from the synopsis the Duke has a twin brother who is a scoundrel, but may have some redeemable qualities. The twin is in an accident and is foisted upon a widow to heal. The widow is in dire straits and agrees to a marriage in name only with the twin to protect herself and her young daughter. She later finds out that the she is not married to the twin, but to his brother, who turns out to be a Duke who is none too happy about the situation. She isn’t either, but she is no timid miss to be bossed around by the Duke.
While the tension is high in the beginning, and the situation gets further complicated, they eventually find a happy ending. There is further intrigue, mystery and danger as the antics of the brother are not done, by a long shot. The story is well crafted, the narrator is good. Nice start to a new series.

Sweet

It was a sweet story also love that the story kept moving along I never got bored

Love

The beginning was so infuriating I almost wanted to throw my phone out the window! Ah.. but it turned out to be excellent.

Loved the romance

The story is quite good. I just wish that the ending would have been a little better.

Twins one serious and a rogue

Loved it,especially Marcus the duke
Heather Wilds does a very good job as the narrative

Dreadful narrator

I couldn't past the first chapter as the narrator's haughty voice and emphasis on every second word was too off putting. Very unfortunate as the story seemed to have promise.

Decent story, ruined by the narrator

Caroline Linden writes a fairly decent romance, good enough to overlook the American words which can jar - stairs for steps, and vice versa, gotten, foyer and parlour. However the reader really spoiled a decent book: she used a stilted, mechanical tone, pausing after every few words and ending each phrase with an upward inflection which makes for an unsettling listen. On the plus side, she did pronounce words correctly. There are so many brilliant readers/audio performers out there, and audiobooks are increasingly popular, so please use people who know how to tell a good story - and can pronounce things correctly!

MARVELLOUS FIND…

This must be THE BEST OF ITS KIND in a long time !!!!

I am thrilled to have found #CarolineLinden here - SHE IS AN EXCEPTIONAL AUTHOR with a great gift - the story is enticing and spellbinding- not one dull moment - and brilliantly presented by #HeatherWilds …

From start to finish you are lost to the story and cannot stop listening -
The plot is clever and not predictable as one might think …
All the characters in the story are loveable!!!

I adored the aloof style of the narrator as it is beautifully executed!

And now I am off to PART II - I cannot wait to hear how the story continues and to meet the family again :-)