| Series: | The Worthingtons #1 |
| Pub. Date: | Oct 25, 2016 |
| Publisher: | Tantor Audio |
| Narrator: | Cat Gould |
| Length: | 11 hrs 27 min |
| Source: | Publisher |
This introductory book to the Worthington series/family is reminiscent of the Brady Bunch, if the blended family were British and living in Regency England. With such a fun bunch of busybody siblings, Ella Quinn has a lot of fodder to take this series far into the future.
After the death of her parents, Lady Grace Carpenter gave up her dreams of marrying to assume responsibility for her seven younger brothers and sisters. At the time, women had very little say in what occurred in their family, and she could not risk a husband sending her siblings away or splitting them up. I admired Grace's dedication to her family and that she realized the importance of keeping everyone together. Her brothers and sisters were nosey and lovable scamps and you could really feel how close knit and caring they were as a group. When Grace decides to take one night for herself before resigning herself to spinsterhood, she did not expect that the shared intimacy would shake up her life quite so much. Before Grace knows it, she is being sought all over London and the countryside by her one night stand.
Mattheus is no stranger to family responsibilities himself. When his father died and he became the Earl of Worthington, Mattheus became responsible for his stepmother and four half sisters. When he has a passionate encounter with a blonde beauty in a country inn, he didn't know just how full his life was to become. Deciding immediately that he wanted this mysterious beauty to wife, Matt was flumoxed when she had disappeared by morning. Thus began Matt's mission to discover Grace's identity and whereabouts, followed by a dogged pursuit and wooing of not only Grace, but the entirety of her family. I really enjoyed Matt and respected his perseverance. It was clever of him to include Grace's siblings in his pursuit of her hand, even though he couldn't quite imagine life with 11 children in his household.
So the relationship between these two was somewhat unique. There was definitely some instalove, each fell head over heels for the other during that first intimate encounter. But that was followed by a period of resistance on Grace's part because she was worried about her family. So the period during which Matt had to convince Grace that he could be trusted served to build up the relationship and let us get to know everyone involved. That's not to say that wooing period kept the couple at arm's length... they couldn't keep their hands off one another and were found shagging more often than not. But overall this was a happy and feel good romance.
I really loved all the children in this story, particularly the younger ones who were endearingly guileless. But I also loved the two furbabies of the story - Daisy and Duke! I can't imagine what it will be like in the Worthington household with 11 children, 2 great danes, a stepmother who is the same age as our couple, and Grace and Matt starting a family of their own. The sheer size of the house they would need astounds me.
Cat Gould is the narrator for this story, and she can be found narrating quite a bit in the historical romance genre. I find that her narration is classically British. Cat is an Aussie, but her accents and affectations for the Brits sounds spot on to my American ears. She has no problem giving each character its own unique voice/sound, and she has no trouble affecting a believable male persona.
I voluntarily reviewed an advanced copy of this audiobook that I received from the publisher, Tantor Audio.
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