Audiobook Review: Improper Seduction by Mary Wine

Improper Seduction 
by Mary Wine
Series:  English Tudor #1
Pub. Date:  Nov. 5, 2013
Publisher:  Audible Studios
Length:  9hrs 46min
Narrator:  Ray Chase
Format:  Audiobook
Source:  Kindle Unlimited
   

My Rating:  
Sultry Scale:

A Rearranged Marriage

Lord Curan Ramsden is home from war, and eager to claim his betrothed. And he arrives just in time--his bride's father has summoned her to London, to wed another man. But Bridget's father promised her to Curan, and Curan means to have her. Especially now that he sees the luscious young woman she has blossomed into. He'll just have to convince Bridget, somehow, that her heart is more important than her duty. . .

Bridget Newbury has always done her duty--to her parents, to the church, to the man they selected as her betrothed. She knows what could happen if she disobeys her father. The king has put nobler women to death for lesser trespasses. But she was promised to Curan first, and his kisses are very tempting. . .

I picked this title from the Kindle Unlimited selection as it had the audible narration included, and I like to listen while I am out working in the yard on the weekend. Unfortunately, the narrator absolutely killed the book for me. I am finding that I do not like male narrators because their readings just do not seem as dynamic as those of female narrators. Of the ones I have listened to so far, the male narrators just do not have the voice range of females, so all the characters sound the same to me. They either sound male, or like a really bad male impersonation of a female voice. And those high pitched imitations grate on my nerves. Plus, this narrator was so dramatic that I felt like he should have been reading Shakespeare. It just did not work.

This story took place toward the end of the reign of Henry VIII, when Henry Tudor was married to Catherine Parr. Our hero, Curan, was a knight (turned baron) that was close to the king and fought with Henry in France. Curan comes back from France to retrieve his bride, to whom he was betrothed 3 years past, and finds that she is departing for London under another marriage contract. Curan was very much anticipating this marriage and is not going to stand for this bride being stolen from him. The bride in question, Bridget, is the dutiful daughter and somewhat of a dishwater miss (at first). I didn't care for Bridget all that much. I am a little tired of females that don't have faith in their husbands and decide to go off on some cockamamie trip instead of just communicating with the poor sod. Luckily Bridget got with the plan (eventually) and she was somewhat redeemed by the end of the book.

Favorite Quote: "Ride me wife! Hold on tight or I shall throw ye!"

This book was all about sex, which is very odd for a historical romance. I would say that for at least 75% of the book the characters are either learning about sex, watching sex, listening to sex, or engaged in some type of sexual activity. There was also an overuse of the word clitoris. It sounded very odd coming from this male narrator so much. Also I have a bit of an issue with the cover of this book - I thought I was getting a Scottish historical romance, but I got an English lord instead. An English border lord, but still, that's not a Scot. What's the deal with that?

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English Tudor Series

Audiobook Review: My Fair Highlander by Mary Wine

My Fair Highlander 
by Mary Wine
Series:  English Tudor #2
Pub. Date:  Nov. 5, 2013
Publisher:  Audible Studios
Narrator:  Ray Chase
Length:  9hrs 16min
Format:  Audiobook
Source:  Kindle Unlimited
   

My Rating:  
Sultry Scale:

Jemma Ramsden is a wild thing in a noblewoman’s body-so thinks Gordon Dwyre, Laird Barras, watching her galloping on horseback through her brother’s lands. Bold, headstrong, beautiful: the perfect bride for a lusty Scots warrior. He might be able to convince her, too, if she would hear his suit. But Barras doesn’t wait to be handed what he wants. When he’s forced to rescue her from English ruffians, he makes sure she stays safe-by locking her in his castle.

Jemma is hardly an eager captive. She has no horse and no freedom, and she is an Englishwoman in a hostile Scots keep: a stranger without work or friend. Barras seems determined to charm her-even tempt forbidden desires, a daring game that leaves Jemma desperate for more. But with passion, love, and a new life within her grasp, Jemma is in more danger than even she knows…

I got this book with the audible narration from Kindle Unlimited. I was skeptical about continuing this series in audio, as I did not care for the narrator when I listened to Improper Seduction. While I liked this book better than Improper Seduction, I still did not like the narrator. The performance here was a little better because he got to do a Scottish accent, however sometimes his Scottish slipped into Slavic or Russian, and all his female voices sound the same (like a bad high-pitched male imitation). I doubt I will continue the series in audio at this point, the voices in my head are better. ;)

This story continues with characters that we met in the first book, namely Gordon (Laird Barras) and Jemma (sister to Lord Ripon). We are still in the 16th Century at the end of Henry VIII's reign, though there was not much court intrigue in this book, so you only briefly hear about the king's declining health in the beginning.

Gordon is a big gruff Scot with lots of alpha male tendencies, and I absolutely loved him. He was charming, funny, and firm in all the right places. However, this is where I take issue with the title - My Fair Highlander - where's the highlander??? Gordon is a lowlander and Jemma is English. Something similar happened with Improper Seduction as well, the cover was misleading. This is aggravating when you are looking for one thing and end up with something else. At least this was a Scottish historical romance, whereas the first book was not.

As for Jemma, she was okay, but there was nothing really remarkable about her. I liked that she did not fight against Gordon as hard as Bridget did against Curan in Improper Seduction. There is not much focus on secondary characters in this book, though Gordon's former mistress made a good villain. There was a big plot twist toward the end that I did not see coming, which is always nice. This book was not quite as steamy as the first one, but you still got a good amount of descriptive smexytime. I recommend it to readers who like steamy historicals and gruff Scots.

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English Tudor Series

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