My American Duchess by Eloisa James

Narrated by Kate Reading

I don’t mind admitting that Eloisa James is one of those authors who is a bit hit and miss for me. I know she’s got a huge following who absolutely adore her books, so this is probably one of those times when “it’s not you, it’s me”, but of the books of hers I’ve read (which is by no means all), there have been more misses than hits. As a result, I wasn’t intending to pick up My American Duchess, thinking that I’d just move on to something else rather than risk another disappointment – until I saw that Kate Reading had been engaged to narrate it.

So I changed my mind and decided to give Ms James another chance. On the whole, I’m glad I did, because the story and the two central characters are very engaging and the romance is charming and nicely steamy. But on the downside, the final quarter of the book is very contrived; the conflict that is thrown into the path of true love is ridiculously flimsy and the way it’s resolved is really weak. Fortunately, having the services of such a wonderful narrator on hand did a lot towards papering over the cracks in that part of the story, although even the Great Kate (!) couldn’t make me forget them entirely.

Merry Pelford is young, rich and lovely. She is also American, a fault (;)) which many an impoverished gentleman is sure to overlook given the size of her fortune, and has already jilted two fiancés back home, one of whom turned out to be a fortune hunter, the other a young man whose propensity to issue challenges was likely to leave her a widow before the age of thirty. Merry has been in the care of her uncle and aunt since the death of her parents, and it’s clear that there’s a strong bond of affection between them. Her aunt is clear-sighted and practical, and is determined that Merry find herself a husband from the English gentry rather than risk another failed engagement in America. In the weeks they have been in London, Merry has garnered a number of admirers, foremost of which is Lord Cedric Allardyce, the younger – by an hour – twin brother of the Duke of Trent. Cedric is handsome and assiduously charming; his poetic protestations quite sweep Merry off her feet and she accepts his proposal of marriage.

On the evening the betrothal is to be announced, Merry, taking refuge from the heat of the ballroom out on the balcony, encounters a tall, handsome and wryly humorous man she assumes, from the simplicity of his clothing, must be an impoverished country gentleman. The pair converses for a while and Merry is surprised and not a little concerned at the pull of attraction she feels towards him. But she has made her decision; she is going to marry Lord Cedric, who is everything she ever wanted, and that decision is final.

Octavius Mortimer John Allardyce, the Duke of Trent, is enchanted by this refreshingly charming young woman and, on the spot, decides that she’s The One for him and that he wants to make her his wife. So he is naturally dismayed to discover that she is engaged to his brother.

Ms James tells a very appealing story of two people who are clearly perfect for each other struggling to reconcile their almost overwhelming mutual attraction with the need to do the right thing. Merry can’t afford to break yet another betrothal, but the time she spends in Cedric’s company only serves to convince her that he is entirely wrong for her and that she will be miserable as his wife. Trent and his brother don’t see eye to eye and have not done so for a long time, but the idea of stealing his brother’s fiancée is abhorrent to him, even though he knows just as well as Merry does that a marriage between her and Cedric would be a disaster.

The big draw of the book is undoubtedly Trent and Merry, who are well matched in terms of wit, intelligence and interests; and who have enough sexual chemistry between them to strip paint off the walls – something which Kate Reading handles brilliantly, and in such a way as to make me forget sometimes that I was listening to a woman reading as Trent.

The part of the story detailing the early days of their eventual marriage is lovely; we’re shown how they start to grow together and understand each other in their daily lives as well as their undoubted compatibility in the bedroom, and it’s charmingly done. The problems I mentioned earlier in the review arise primarily as the result of Merry’s insecurities – is she a wanton because she falls in and out of love so easily? – and of Trent’s background as the son of a mother who continually dismissed him in favour of his brother. This is the weakest section of the book and almost seems to have been inserted simply as a way to introduce some conflict before the HEA; I knocked down the content grade because of it.

On the plus side – two words. Kate. Reading. She’s every bit as good here as I’ve come to expect, and I really can’t think of many other narrators who could have handled the challenges particular to this story with such aplomb. She is adept at sounding both English and American; her English accent is flawless and although I’m not an expert on American accents, I can’t imagine there was anything about it that was too far off the mark. Ms Reading reads the narrative using an American accent all the way through, switching effortlessly between that and the English ones she employs for Trent, Cedric and the other English characters. I had thought that perhaps she might narrate the sections of the book that are told from Trent’s PoV in an English accent, but she opted not to do that – which is not a criticism, just an observation. She performs the love scenes brilliantly, making them as sexy as anyone would wish but without going over the top.

All the characters are differentiated according to age, gender, station – and nationality – so there is never any question as to who is speaking. Trent and Cedric sound very different, Trent’s voice being deeper and more authoritative, whereas Cedric’s is higher pitched and inclined to snobbishness and petulance.

I’m really glad I listened to My American Duchess and am going to recommend it for the high quality of Kate Reading’s performance and because the story, though flawed, is enjoyable. I’ve had lots of negative things to say recently about the way in which some authors are being poorly served by whoever is assigning narrators to their audiobooks, but this is one of those times that person deserves a gold star.

Caz

Narration: A+

Book Content: B

Steam Factor: Glad I had my earbuds in

Violence Rating: None

Genre: Historical Romance

Publisher: Harper Audio

My American Duchess was provided to AudioGals by Harper Audio for a review.