Audiobook Review: Slightly Tempted by Mary Balogh

Series:	Bedwyn #4
Pub. Date:	Feb. 21, 2017
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Narrator:	Rosalyn Landor
Length:	11 hrs 29 min
Source:	Publisher

The fourth installment of the Bedwyn Saga sees us leaving London and following the youngest sibling to Brussels in the days preceding the Battle of Waterloo. I liked the change of setting for this story, and I particularly enjoyed the time period. It seems that so many historical romances take place just after the Napoleonic Wars have ended, so I enjoyed we got some of the action and emotion of the fighting in this story.

Lady Morgan Bedwyn is the youngest of the family and was fun and vivacious in earlier books of the series. We saw a different side of Morgan in this book. While she started out somewhat vapid and vain by indulging Captain Gordon's pursuit of her... she still managed to maintain a sweet and friendly manner with everyone, particularly the soldiers about to march off to war. Then Morgan surprised me by her willingness to work and care for wounded men following the Battle of Waterloo. I was impressed by her during this time, particularly when compared to the rest of the insipid Gordon family who were hosting her while in Brussels. Once our couple leaves Brussels, I was less impressed with Morgan and she started to lose me. She got caught up in the hero's revenge plot and couldn't see past it to understand that she was engaging in the same type of behavior that she was condemning.

Lord Gervase Ashford, Earl of Rosthorn was exiled from London after he was entrapped in a horrible scandal that was not of his making. When he sees Lady Morgan across a ballroom, he decides she is the perfect manner of revenge against her brother, Wulf, who played a part in the scandal. Only Gervase finds himself coming to admire Morgan the more he gets to know her. I actually liked Gervase despite the revenge plot, and I was more willing to forgive his slights than Morgans for some reason. (I think a little or my heroine hater is showing here.)

The relationship between these two unfolded at a nice steady pace - not instalove but not horribly drawn out either. When they were not embroiled in revenge plots, I thought the characters complimented each other quite well. I was glad they got over past hurts and worked things out, because it was iffy sometimes.

Rosalyn Landor is a very proper narrator - her British accent is crisp and mannerly. While she does well differentiating between male and female characters, I wasn't crazy about the voice for Morgan, as it sounded older than what I envision her character should sound like.

I have lost a bit of my enjoyment as this series progressed, but I am sticking it out because I really want to see who Wulf ends up with. I voluntarily reviewed an advanced copy of this book that I received from the publisher, Tantor Audio.