A Code of Love by Jacki Delecki

Narrated by Pearl Hewitt

A Code of Love is the first in Ms Delecki’s Code Breakers series, set in the early years of of the nineteenth century at a time of great political unrest in Europe. The story begins in Paris, just after the theft – by an English agent – of an important book of codes used by the French. Michael Harcourt, whose uncle is the principal code-breaker for the British Intelligence service, needs to dispose of the book urgently, and dispatches it to his sister in England.

The story then shifts to London, where Lady Henrietta Harcourt is becoming increasingly concerned about Michael’s safety. Since her mother’s death some years before, Henrietta has taken on the responsibility of looking out for her family – her two brothers and her increasingly doddering uncle, a man whose brilliant mind is gradually and very sadly failing him. Henrietta has been helping Lord Harcourt with his government work for years, but as her uncle’s mind has become less focused she has taken on the full responsibility for breaking the codes contained within the messages which are sent and intercepted by British agents.

During her first London Season four years earlier, Henrietta had attracted the notice of Cordelier Beaumont, Earl of Rathbourne. While equally attracted to the handsome young earl, Henrietta had been less than impressed by his aloof, superior manner and his rakish reputation, and refused his attentions. Shortly after that, her mother became ill and Henrietta had to withdraw from society to care for her until her death, and after that, she immersed herself in caring for her family and in helping her uncle in his work.

Returned to England after four years on the continent, Cordelier – Cord, for short – has never forgotten Henrietta, and is determined to win her, but first he has to convince her that he has eschewed his rakish ways and is ready to settle down. The problem is, in his new position as head of the British Intelligence Office, he is responsible for overseeing the activities of a French double agent – a voluptuous woman posing as his mistress (and who aspires to the position in truth!) – which is not something likely to further his cause with the lady.

The story proceeds much as one might expect, with Henrietta trying to fight her reluctant attraction and jealousy over Cord’s “mistress” and Cord and Hen clashing over what she sees as his overbearing over-protectiveness and her determination to find out what happened to Michael on her own terms. At first, she has no idea that Cord is, in fact, the man to whom both her uncle and brother report, but the listener is in on that secret, which adds interest to the story. And when that information is disclosed, she is initially horrified at the thought that the man she has long regarded as an irresponsible libertine is responsible for the safety of so many British men and women working to ensure the safety of their homeland.

Of course, it’s not long before Henrietta begins to see that Cord really has changed from the pleasure-seeking man she had known before, and to trust him and his opinion. That doesn’t prevent her from making some ill-advised decisions, however, which I admit did make me wonder what had happened to her much vaunted exceptional intelligence. There’s a fine line to tread in stories such as this where the hero wants to keep the heroine safe and she wants to follow her own path, and I’m afraid that the author trod the wrong side of it a few times. I’m all for an intelligent, independent heroine, but when she goes directly against sound advice and puts herself in harm’s way, I begin to lose sympathy for her.

Henrietta is, however a fairly well-developed character, while Cord is less so. He’s much more your bog-standard titled, handsome hero with an unhappy event in his past for which he still feels immense guilt, and I never really got a strong sense of who he was outside his relationship with Henrietta.

That said, the story is fairly engaging, with a decent plot and good sexual tension between the two leads. It does, however, lack a certain dramatic tension and sense of peril when it comes to the espionage side of the plot. Given the historical setting and the nature of the story, it’s impossible for me not to think of Joanna Bourne’s Spymasters books, in which the intricate plotting and beautifully developed romances are woven together with so much more skill, and in which the listener really gets the sense that the characters are people who face genuine danger.

Pearl Hewitt is a narrator I’ve enjoyed listening to before, and she delivers an enjoyable and accomplished performance in this audiobook. As I’ve noted previously, her acting choices are very appropriate, she delivers the narrative at a good pace, and all the characters are well differentiated and easily identifiable. She’s at her best when performing characters such as Cord’s independently-minded Aunt Euphemia, or his bluff friend Lord Ashbourne (Ash) – both are “character” parts in which Ms Hewitt can safely exaggerate her portrayals slightly without making them sound incongruous. Her interpretation of the two principals is more than decent, although she’s a narrator whose naturally soft timbre doesn’t lend itself easily to the portrayal of male characters – in this she reminds me a little of narrators such as Alison Larkin and Veida Dehmlow. She does, however, vocalise Cord quite well by dropping the pitch of her voice slightly and adding a harder edge to it, and it works well, although I wasn’t as convinced by her portrayal of Cord’s predecessor, which was a little too “flabby” – for want of a better word!

Overall, A Code of Love was a reasonably enjoyable listen, although not one I can see myself returning to often, if at all. The last couple of chapters of the book are clearly setting up future stories which is all very well, but it did mean that Cord and Henrietta’s romance seemed to end rather abruptly, and quite honestly, I found myself disinterested very quickly in those last fifteen minutes or so.

Caz

Narration: B-

Book Content: C

Steam Factor: Glad I had my earbuds in (but fairly tame)

Violence: Minimal

Genre: Historical Romance

Publisher: Doe Bay Publishing

A Code of Love was provided to AudioGals by narrator Pearl Hewitt for a review.