Narrated by Kate Reading
What fun it was to go back to the beginning of the Scoundrels/Desbauches and revisit Esme and Varian in The Lion’s Daughter! Like legions of romance readers, my introduction to the series was Lord of Scoundrels, which is actually the 3rd in the series. Needless to say, I had to read them all from the beginning, something I’ve done numerous times over the years. It was such a delight to finally (FINALLY!!) have these books translated to audiobooks, and a thrill to have them done with the extremely accomplished voice of Kate Reading.
Esme Brentmor is the half-English, half-Albanian daughter of a disgraced British Lord, Jason, called the Red Lion by the Albanians due to his courageous nature and flaming red hair. She is every bit as courageous and bold as he, and vows to revenge his death at the hands of the dissolute Ismal, cousin to Ali Pasha, the wily despot who rules Albania. She is thwarted in this endeavor by the appearance of another scoundrel, Varian St. George, Lord Edenmount.
Varian has spent the last decade living the life of the libertine, perennial house guest to various members of high society and social climbers – he’s title-rich as well as handsome and with devastating charm, but without funds of his own. When Sir Gerald Brentmor – brother to the Red Lion – asks him to accompany his 12-year-old son Percival to Venice, and offers to pay all the expenses, Varian is happy to oblige. What Varian doesn’t know is that Percival is quite the precocious manipulator. Percival has found out that his father is dealing weapons with criminals and decides to find his uncle Jason, the Red Lion, whom he admires as a great hero, to stop the delivery. He cons Varian into taking him to Albania to find Jason, using a chess piece (very symbolic here, mind you!) as the lure, from a chess set that Percival’s mother has willed to Esme as her dowry, worth quite a lot of money.
Once the pair arrives in Albania and meets up with the blood-thirsty Esme, the first arc of action begins. Esme is tough and worldly, where Varian and Percival are weaker and not used to the kinds of living conditions they encounter in Albania. She is forced to tend to Varian’s injuries when they are attacked and this is when Chase’s true talent for witty banter shines. The intrigue continues as they race across Albania, trying to save Percival when he is kidnapped by Ismal’s gang of criminals and thieves.
It’s non-stop action that leads the trio back to England, where the action slows practically to a halt for several pages and the new villain appears to be Lady Brentmor, Esme and Percival’s grandmother, who is determined to convert Esme from heathen to lady. This almost proves to be Esme’s undoing – she was capable as the feisty heroine in her own country, but England’s high society is beyond her understanding.
Kate Reading is truly, truly, marvellously wonderful with Chase’s rich and layered prose. She handles the Albanian names and words with ease (see the interview for details!), as well as all the other various characters’ accents. Esme’s very nature is dramatic, with curses in Albanian and English, which Reading voices with just the right tone and attitude. I’m not exactly sure why the older Lady Brentmor speaks with such atrocious grammar, but even that is delivered on point. I found the “interlude” – for want of a better word – in England a little anti-climactic, coming after the excitement of the Albanian journey but before the Big Climax and Exciting Reveal at the end, and there the delivery lagged a little for me as well. Varian, even as the debauched scoundrel, was an endearing and thoroughly besotted hero, one of my favorite types, especially when his backstory is divulged, and I loved everything about him.
When you wish upon a star… We’ve all been wishing for Loretta Chase’s backlist to come to audio, and now that it’s here, I am highly recommending the entire series! (Wait for The Last Hellion coming soon!)
Melinda
Narration: A
Book Content: A-
Steam Factor: Glad I had my earbuds in
Violence: Fighting
Genre: Historical Romance
Publisher: NYLA
Yay! This is sitting in my Audible library and doing the audio equivalent of burning a hole in my pocket :P
Same here Caz!