Blodeuedd's Tuesday Review: Earl Crazy by Anna Bradley

Games Earls Play, Book 4

Narrated by: Heather Wilds

Length: 4 hrs and 59 mins

Release date: 06-25-24

Historical romance /to review

I seem to have missed two books in the middle. And no it does not matter since this is historical romance. But it seems Mathilda´s sisters fell for two earls before this one. England must be all out of earls soon.

Mathilda is having a London season with her good friend. But there is this annoying earl next door that keeps getting in her way.

Three of her sisters matched with Earls, but Mathilda is not after a husband. Of course the Earl of Prestwick is really intriguing, and he feels the same.

This one was actually rather short, and it worked really well. They met, they annoyed each other, there was some drama, they realised they needed each other and lived happily ever after. What more to ask for.

Good narration. Well spoken different voices and a good pace to things.

Christopher Egan, heir to the notorious Prestwick Earldom, is one of London’s most scandalous rakes. He’s never credited the gossips’ claim that fate cast an ancient curse on every successive Earl of Prestwick as punishment for their wickedness, but once he inherits the earldom after his infamous uncle’s untimely demise, it looks as if he may be the next to lose his head. Determined to cheat the curse and avoid his ancestors’ grisly fate, Kit abandons his life of merry debauchery and embarks on a London season to wed the lady he’s long been promised to.

Mathilda Templeton has a knack for causing scandal. Wherever she goes, it follows on her heels. London is the last place such a provocative lady should dare set foot, but when her shy friend Harriett is sent to London for a season, Tilly is determined to protect Harriett from all the scoundrels salivating over her impressive dowry. All she has to do is find her friend a proper match without falling prey to another scandal.

When the scandalous Earl of Prestwick makes a play for Harriett’s hand, Tilly vows to do whatever she must to stop him. But when the battle of wills between them leads to a stolen kiss, Tilly fears she may have fallen in love with London’s most charming scoundrel.

Blodeuedd's Monday Review: Damned if I Duke by Anna Bradley

By: Anna Bradley

Narrated by: Gabrielle Baker

Series: Drop Dead Dukes, Book 2

Length: 12 hrs and 21 mins

Release date: 03-26-24

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Historical romance /to review

Prue does not like Jasper, and she has every right to not to. He played cards wither father, and now her father is in debt. They sold land, they have to sell their house. They will be destitute. 

Jasper has his own worries. He ended it with his mistress, and the lady did not take it well. Now she has some rather revealing jewels he wants back.

Prue and Jasper meet. She blackmails him (long story). But he deserved it. They end up married, and now feelings come out. A whirlwind of lust and drama.

Because yes there will be some drama. Nothing that could not have been worked through with two people sitting down and just talking. Heaven forbid. Nope, drama and then a happily ever after.

A good story about two people butting heads and then falling in love

I have listened to Gabriella Baker before and enjoyed her narrations. She gets the feel of the book and narrated the different characters well. There is a good flow to the story.

Bold and adventurous, Prudence Thorne is not the kind of woman to stand by meekly when someone she loves has been wronged. And she's quite certain that Jasper Vincent, Duke of Montford, somehow duped her father into racking up enormous gambling debts. When fate offers her a chance to blackmail Jasper into forgiving her father's losses, she seizes it . . . only to have her scheme backfire.

Jasper enjoys London's illicit delights too much to wed. Too bad his grandfather has decided that a woman with the nerve to blackmail might be exactly the sort of wife to tame him. Pressed into a marriage neither wanted—and fighting a desire neither expected—Prue and Jasper torment and tempt each other beyond reason.

Surely a proper duchess should be subdued, obedient, and dignified? Yet just as he begins to get his wish, Jasper realizes how much he wants his unconventional wife—and only her—if it's not too late to win her . . .

Blodeuedd's Monday Review: Give the Devil His Duke by Anna Bradley

By: Anna Bradley

Narrated by: Gabrielle Baker

Series: Drop Dead Dukes, Book 1

Length: 12 hrs and 29 mins

Release date: 07-25-23

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Historical romance /to review

Francesca and her mother left London years ago because of a scandal. Now she is back, she needs money and she thinks her uncle should help. But before that, a wallflower season.

Giles is a Duke, he should get married so he has chosen a nice pretty girl. Nothing could go wrong. Then he meets her annoying cousin, Francesca.

Oh these two do not like each other. Giles says some mean things and the ton is looking at the train wreck. But at the same time they fancy the pants of each other.

The second part of the book is them being married, and drama ensues cos lies and secrets. Giles should have told her the truth, idiot.

I liked the side characters we meet. Francescas cousin was really nice and will get her own hea in this book. So no one is stealing a fiance here. Francescas uncle was an ass.

Great narration that kept me hooked. I have listened to her narrations before and they are always top notch.

One should never judge a duke by his cover. As far as London society knows, Giles Drew, the Duke of Basingstoke, is everything a proper aristocrat ought to be. But when a notorious scandal sheet publishes details of Giles’s questionable bedroom antics, only one bride can salvage his reputation.

Prim and penniless, Francesca Stanhope has resigned herself to a season full of the ton’s snickering—until the Duke of Basingstoke’s dizzying courtship transforms her fate. Yet wedded bliss quickly turns into a clash of wills as Franny realizes her handsome duke is a devil in disguise.

But beneath the newlywed’s skirmishes lies scorching heat. And while each attempts to tame the other, the truth is that this unconventional union may be all either could ever desire . . .

B's Monday Review: Not Just Any Earl by Anna Bradley

Narrated by: Heather 

Series: Games Earls Play, Book 1

Length: 5 hrs and 12 mins

Release date: 05-10-22

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Historical romance

To review

This was short, and I did like that. Yes there was even some drama, but other than that they worked it out quickly.

The Templeton sisters are shunned cos their mother ran away with someone not her husband. Ugh the ton has a long memory. But then a good friend of the family whisks two of them away to London. Emmeline does not plan to make a match, she things her sister should make one. But that is book 2.

A stolen kiss leads to rumours. Emmeline meets a handsome Earl who she can not stop thinking about, and he can't stop thinking about her. But she does not want to marry. And the ton does love gossip.

They worked well together, and in the background another romance is budding that had me wondering. But that takes until book 2 to find out more-

Sweet and fast.

Good narrator. Different voices , and I could easily follow along who was speaking, and I could loose myself in the story.

It’s never been easy to be one of the five Templeton sisters, but for quiet Emmeline, the silver lining surrounding the dark cloud of her family’s disgrace is a life of comfortable obscurity. But when her sisters accept an outrageous wager that takes the family to London for a season, an unexpected kiss with a handsome earl thrusts shy Emmeline into the middle of a shocking public scandal.

Jonathan Parrish, the Earl of Melrose never meant to kiss Emmeline Templeton. It was an innocent case of mistaken identity, a stolen embrace meant for one of his vivacious admirers. Emmeline Templeton is perfectly wrong for him, and he’s never before spared the shy wallflower a single glance, but after a single kiss, the memory of her warm curves are imprinted forever on Jonathan’s fingertips, and he can’t forget the sweet taste of her lips against his.

But wherever the Templeton family ventures, gossip and rumor inevitably follow. If the secret wager that brought the sisters to London is revealed, it will shake London to its foundations. Will the blazing passion that brought Emmeline and Jonathan together end in a happily ever after, or will their hearts fall victim to the consuming flames?