For Love of the Duke by Christi Caldwell

Narrated by Morag Sims

For Love of the Duke was a “new-to-me” listen in terms of both author and narrator, but the book seems to have been fairly well received so I decided to give the audio a try.

Twin sisters Lady Katherine and Lady Anne Adamson are shopping at a frost fair on the Thames in the run-up to Christmas when disaster strikes. Katherine literally steps onto thin ice, plunging into the frigid water beneath – and would have drowned but for the quick thinking and actions of Jasper, the Duke of Bainbridge, who dives in and pulls her out.

Jasper is a massive bear of a man with a demeanour to match. Having encountered Katherine earlier in the day, he’d taken an instant dislike to her pertness and lack of awe at being in his presence, and can’t wait to wash his hands of her. Since the death of his beloved wife in childbed nearly four years before, Bainbridge has lived as a recluse at his country estate, and is widely dubbed “the Mad Duke”. Not only has he withdrawn completely from society to wallow in his grief, there are rumours he actually murdered Lydia, rumours he does nothing to dispel because he believes that’s exactly what he did by getting her pregnant.

Jasper and Katherine’s immediate antagonism is, of course, riddled with a frisson of unwanted attraction, and it’s well done – although the way he persists in thinking of her as a “vixen” is a bit jarring at this early stage in the story. I understand that the author is trying to show us the attraction lying behind his protestations of displeasure, but I felt like I was being hit over the head with a flashing neon sign to tell me that he was being grumpy because he fancied Katherine and didn’t want to.

Some days later, the pair encounters each other again, this time in a book shop. Following an altercation over the last available copy of a Wordsworth poem, Bainbridge not-so-graciously concedes it to the lady. Once home, Katherine realises that the poem must have meant more to the duke than he’d let on and returns it to him with a note – and thus they strike up a correspondence which ends with their agreeing to share the book. Katherine is starting to understand that there is more to this forbidding mountain of a man than meets the eye – he likes Wordsworth, so he can’t be all bad! – and to find herself far more interested in him than is probably wise. For his part, Jasper is desperately trying to set aside the reluctant attraction he feels for this spirited, intelligent and aggravating young lady and puts the stirrings of long-buried emotions down to the lust for an attractive woman felt by a man who has been too long without female companionship.

The sisters live with their mother, who is anxious to get them both married off. Their wastrel father died leaving them un-provided for, and although their eldest sister’s recent marriage has helped keep the wolf from the door, Lady Adamson is anxious to find husbands for the twins. Beautiful, vivacious Anne is sure to make an advantageous match, whereas Katherine, with her unflattering hairstyle and gowns, will be married to anyone who will have her. When she discovers that her mother intends to betroth her to someone unpleasant, Katherine thinks the unthinkable – and, armed with a list of reasons “why I would make you a good wife”, asks Jasper to marry her.

Astonished – but unwilling to see Katherine forced into marriage with a man known for his unpleasant sexual proclivities, Jasper agrees – he thinks – to a marriage in name only, and is later blindsided when he learns that Katherine had expected to be a true wife to him. Even though he wants her desperately, he is still haunted by his first wife’s death and unwilling to take such a risk again.

I rather enjoyed this story of the emotionally walled-off duke and the young woman who gradually breaks through his defences to show him that while his beloved wife may have died, his life did not end with hers. Katherine is an engaging heroine – she refuses to bow down before Jasper’s angry frowns and isn’t prepared to put up with too many of his fits of the sullens or let him ride roughshod over her. She’s spirited and determined – but not stupid or insensitive. She is well aware of the things that trouble her new husband, but while she wants to find a way to bring him back to the land of the living, she doesn’t attempt it by offering empty platitudes or telling him to cheer up!

Jasper is a difficult character to like, because he’s so determined to wallow in self-pity. Even as he’s starting to feel an attraction to a woman for the first time in years, he ruthlessly supresses it, his guilt over Lydia’s death having led him to believe he doesn’t have the right to be happy ever again. But this makes him a selfish man, because he continually refuses to see how his behaviour and his words affect others; throughout the story he says and does things to show Katherine that she can never hold his affection the way Lydia did, and he does it deliberately. His not caring about anyone or anything else has become his default position, and although he knows what he’s doing is wrong, he doesn’t seem prepared to make the effort needed to stop himself twisting the knife in Katherine’s heart as well as his own.

Morag Sims delivers a more than competent performance in this audiobook, and I would definitely consider listening to her again. Her voice has a light, pleasing tone and a slight huskiness that makes it attractive and easy to listen to. Her pacing and diction are both very good, although I did notice a handful of mispronunciations throughout which, fortunately, weren’t enough to spoil my enjoyment of the story. She differentiates well between the characters, making Katherine sound appropriately youthful, and easily distinguishable from Anne and their mother. Her performance of the male characters was fairly successful, and again, they were clearly differentiated, but Ms Sims sounds a little uncomfortable in the register she has chosen to adopt for her portrayal of Jasper, and she sounds as though sustaining the lower pitch she uses is a bit of a strain. I also felt that she was somewhat emotionally distanced from the characters in the early stages of the story; for instance, when the text said “he barked” or “he snarled” – she didn’t act that at all, speaking instead in a measured, more normal-sounding tone. That said, however, she seemed to settle into it as the audio progressed and by the final stages, was far more in tune with the emotional nuances of the story.

All in all, For Love of the Duke is an entertaining and undemanding listen. It may be a little heavy on the angst for some, but I enjoyed it and would give it a qualified recommendation to anyone looking for an accomplished re-tread of a story that follows a familiar path.

Caz

Narration: B-

Book Content: B-

Steam Factor: Glad I had my earbuds in

Violence: None

Genre: Historical Romance

Publisher: Audible, Inc.

For Love of the Duke was provided to AudioGals by Audible, Inc. Studios for review.