Audiobook Review: Sleepless in Scotland by May McGoldrick

Series:	Pennington Family #3
Pub. Date:	March 19, 2019
Publisher:	Macmillan Audio
Narrator:	Saskia Maarleveld
Length:	7 hrs 51 min
Source:	Publisher

Sleepless in Scotland is the third installment of The Pennington Family series, but my first read from May McGoldrick. If you are just starting out with this author, like me, I felt like the book read fine as a standalone. Though now I do plan to go back and read/listen to the earlier installments, as I enjoyed this one.

Our heroine is Lady Phoebe Pennington, daughter of an Earl, and from a family that (from what I gathered) had some of a scandalous history. Lady Phoebe is carrying on in the family tradition, and engaging in the scandalous activity of journalism. Under a pen name, Phoebe writes about social issues of her day, namely the treatment of the poor and destitute in Scotland. It is in the course of this activity that Phoebe runs afoul of trouble, and is saved (repeatedly) by our dashing hero. I liked Phoebe as a heroine. I liked that she risked scandal to do something that she loved, and thought was important. Though she did drive me a bit crazy at times by not thinking things through... but at least she was willing to listen to reason when our hero laid things out for her. At least sometimes. 

Our dashing hero is Captain Ian Bell, a handsome and tragic man who is battling demons from war, and grief from the horrific murder of his sister. As Ian roams the streets at night, he encounters our reckless heroine after an in the slums of the city. Although Ian has known Phoebe as a family friend for many years, its not until now that he begins to see her as someone who could fit into his life and family. Through Phoebe, it seems that Ian begins to come alive again and heal from his grief and heartache. Ian is my favorite kind of hero... the strong and capable Scot who is little bit broken and broody. The weight that he had placed on his own shoulders, both to find his sister's killer, and to hide the facts from his mother, was enormous. While Phoebe initially added to that load, her love and affection for him also helped to save his sanity and help him heal.

I really enjoy this narrator, Saskia Maarleveld. I have listened to quite a few of her performances, and I always come away entertained and happy. She is adept at both the female and male narrative, accents and like. Each character is given its own unique personality and sound, and I never was confused as to who was speaking/thinking as the story went along. 

I voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of this audiobook that I received at no cost from the publisher.

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