Where the Stars Meet the Sea

By: Heidi Kimball

Narrated by: Louise McCance-Price

Length: 9 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's Summary

Juliet Graham fervently counts the days until her 21st birthday, when she can claim the inheritance that will grant her the freedom she has always craved and the guardianship of her younger brother. Until then, she is trapped under her aunt Agnes’s domineering will. 

When forced to accompany the family to a house party at Shaldorn Castle, Juliet’s only objective is to keep to herself. That is, until a chance encounter with a boorish stranger stirs up an unexpected whirlwind of emotions in her. Thrown off-balance, Juliet does the unthinkable: loses her temper and insults the man - who turns out to be her unwilling host, the Duke of Halstead. Fully expecting to be sent away, Juliet is surprised when the brusque and callous duke instead takes an interest in her.

Drawn to the duke in unguarded moments, Juliet finds herself more and more intrigued by the man who shuns Society’s rules as completely as she does, and over the next few weeks, their unlikely friendship deepens into a connection neither expected.

But even as Juliet comes to recognize her true feelings, her scheming aunt issues an ultimatum that threatens the future she was just beginning to hope for. Juliet must choose: either break the promise she made to herself years ago, or lose the man who has captured her heart and soul.

©2020 Covenant Communications, Inc. (P)2020 Covenant Communications, Inc.

Interesting & Clean Romance

I don’t think a girl of her status would have been as bold as she was, nor do I think there would have been the free communication that was used between the main couple, but it was an interesting read all the same. Didn’t love the narration, but it was tolerable. Despite my comments, I did enjoy the book.

Disappointed

I was so looking forward to this book; it ended up being a disappointment. The narrator had a pretty high voice and didn’t use different inflections for male or female characters.

The story itself was pretty good until Juliet decides to be a super martyr. It was ridiculous. There were so many ways she could’ve secured Harry; she wasn’t without powerful friends. Then, at the end, Juliette is willing to give up true love because of her lower social position. Boo!

Loved the story!

Great story but I wish I had read it instead. The performer was a bit obnoxious.

Not the right narrator

This narrator's attempt at a British accent was not authentic. I kept thinking she must be Australian, so I looked her up and she's actually South African. I found this mismatched accent very distracting, along with the ridiculous giggling, shrill singing, burping, etc. The story itself dragged in places, but I enjoyed it overall. You may want to skip the audiobook and read in print.

Good story, poor narrator

This was a good clean romance, but the narrator made me gag. I'm always amazed when women can do men's voices so well that you believe it is actually a man speaking, but this was not the case with this narrator. The voice of the Duke sounded like a little girl. The worst part was the fake laughing. spare us!

Good book

I enjoyed the book but I did feel like it was drug out just a little.

Wish I would have read the book

I enjoyed the story but I hated how the narrator tried to act out the story instead of just reading it. I hated when she would laugh- it distracted from the story. Overall the story was good and I wish I would have read the book instead of listen to it.

sweet, clean and entertaining

I enjoyed listening to this sweet, clean and entertaining story. the characters were wonderful and I loved the accents.

Overall really good

I read the reviews and was worried I would hate the narrator, but I don’t think she was awful. Her voice was a little high and there were awkward laughters that seemed inserted, but it wasn’t as awful as other reviews. The story also had fair development, but certain things would likely not happen in the regency era, but it didn’t hinder my liking the plot.

Good story, horrible story teller

I am enjoying the story, however the voice of the woman doing the audio is barely tolerable. At one point she starts singing and it made me rip off my earbuds in disgust. I know the voice she’s using is supposed to match the regency period of the story, but it’s not great.

not intended to be misleading, but get prepared for oozing sexual tension and the rush of heart-achy and tempestuous emotions

this is one of those books that gives you butterflies in your stomach. at least that’s what it did for me. it leaves you with a feeling of anguish and longing and yearning. in essence, makes you feel exactly what the main characters, juliet and halstead, feel. it is the kind of book that will ignite a whirlwind of agonising and tempestuous emotions and make forget about everything around you and let you escape into another reality.

i normally don’t like love triangle as they are the convoluted equivalent of a whole can of worms full of indecision and stupidity (and countless facepalms). the “love triangle” in this book felt more like an intense and fiery relationship with an uninvited third-wheeling barnacle. i have to admit, i definitely felt frustrated while reading, at times i wanted to mush juliet and halstead together and go “kiss already”.

i finished this yesterday and i’m still thinking about it. i honestly feel that words cannot do justice for how i feel about it. it is definitely one of those books that will, not just in the few days/hours after reading, but even months after reading it, it will be on my mind as “one of those books”—a hidden gem.🤍

now that i finished blabbering about all the good things, i’ll now focus on some of the small bits here and there that had me itching at the back of my head. i read reviews where there were some mentions of anachronisms present in this book. i did notice some, for example when juliet makes reference to halstead’s lineage stemming all the way back to “henry the conqueror”, when in actual history it’s “william the conqueror”. whilst things like this would normally hinder my experience—it would show lack of attention to detail (on the authors part) or more so, my ocd when it comes to these small mistakes, i admit it didn’t really bother me as much as i excepted.

another thing that really pricked at my brain, is juliets obsession for her brother. i don’t have the physical or ebook version of the book since i listened to it on audio, but i can guarantee that the word “harry” appeared at least 200+. it’s not so much the obsession that bothered me, but more the fact that she was willing to let go her own desires and happiness for the sake of her brother. i understand sibling love, but at times i felt frustrated by it because every time she would encounter an obstacle, it was always “harry this” or “harry that”.

adding to this frustration, another thing that really bothered me is the wretched aunt agnes. there were so many times i wanted to slap that bitch across the face. she was detestable and down right rude. plus something that really made me grind my teeth was juliet’s tolerance towards her aunts toxicity and criticisms (well apart from their last encounter when juliet finally grew some balls and severed ties with that maniac).

now that i finished ranting, if i were to summarise my exact feelings about this book, it would be love and hate. love that it made me feel things by fully immersing myself into the story, love the slow burn enemies-to-lovers relationship (my favourite kind 😇), love the obvious sexual tension (ironic considering this book didn’t actually have any sex), and of course the ending (which was really sweet and tender). hate aunt agnes, annoyed by robert and the bizzillion mentions of “harry”. i am still rating this book 5/5 bc urgh, i can’t get enough of it. i will definitely do a reread when i buy a physical copy of it—that is, if i can find a retailer which can sell or ship this book to australia.

also, props to the audiobook narrator for making this a fabulous reading/listening experience. she really nailed all the voices (the singing and laughing were a funny and delightful bonus 😂).