Narrated by Justine Eyre
Historical romance fans who enjoy the “guardian falls in love with his ward” stories, as well as a good dose of tongue in cheek humor based on improbable facts and play on words, will be the most intrigued by A Scot in the Dark. That said, this story provides an interesting twist to this common trope by presenting us with a ward who is more a woman (in her twenties) than a girl.
As for the narration, if you have listened to Justine Eyre before, you know that she has a very distinctive sound. For the most part I enjoyed her narration, though I must admit that at several points where the hero is described as having a heavy Scottish brogue, I had a bit of trouble discerning what he was saying. So if you’re interested in trying this title, I suggest you listen to a sample of it first before going for the audio version. (Editor’s note: the SoundCloud sample below does not have the hero’s voice, but the Audible.com sample does.)
“Lonesome Lily” has grown up mostly as a ward in the keeping of the Duke of Warnick. Unfortunately for her, the Duke of Warnick has been many different men in just her short twenty-something years. Due to a string of impossible, terrible luck, the current Duke of Warnick (Alec Stuart), a 6 1/2 foot Scot who many have described as “The Highland Devil” due to his brute strength, was 17th in line and still managed to inherit the title. As a result, Lily has been left mostly to herself over the years, including the last five when the current Duke chose not to visit England due to his general aversion to all things English. Thus Lily never had a season much less even friends. It is amid this backdrop that she falls victim to an extremely vain and yet equally poor actor, who is the first man to show her an ounce of attention, but who uses her as his muse for an indecent painting and then leaves her thoroughly ruined, refusing to marry her.
Once Alec learns that he has a ward and that she is about to be involved in a scandal (as the painting will be revealed in a number of days), Alec finally visits London to convince Lily to marry before the unfortunate event. To Alec’s great dismay, however, true to her legend, not only is Lily the most beautiful woman he has ever met (a fact which I feel like the author may have ingrained in our heads a few times too often), but she is thoroughly determined not to marry – that is, anyone other than Alec. Alec, however, due to a sad history of being shunned for his brutish, Scottish ways believes himself unworthy and is equally determined not to marry. Can there possibly be a satisfactory resolution that will work for all parties involved? Moreover, will the Alec/Lily team be able to stop the unveiling of the painting in time to spare Lily the inevitable humiliation that is sure to ruin her in British society’s eyes?
Justine Eyre delivers an interesting narration in A Scot in the Dark. I have to say that I have enjoyed Ms. Eyre’s distinctive sound in the past (see my AudioGals review of Ecstasy in Darkness). I also think she is very well suited for tongue in cheek style humor as I thought she effectively delivered the punchlines. Moreover, her ability to vary her voice to deliver highly distinguishable voices is superb and makes it easy to discern which character is talking.
However, I think I prefer her contemporary romance (American) narrations. In that regard, I had a difficult time understanding Alec at times, though this may have been intentional, as Alec seems to heighten his accent when he was trying to rub British society the wrong way. Then again, I haven’t had difficulty understanding other Scottish accents in the many historical romances I’ve listened to. It did help when I listened to these passages a few times and slowed down the speed, so ultimately I was able to capture what Alec was saying.
All in all, while I don’t think the events in A Scot in the Dark could have ever really happened with all of the completely unlikely facts, I did find myself chuckling from time to time and wanted to see the story to its end. From a sheer entertainment perspective, I think the book did its job. However, I will note that towards the end, I did find myself a bit frustrated with the hero when he kept going back and forth in whether he was worthy enough for the heroine. Ultimately, overall I was happy I had a chance to listen this story.
BJ
Narration: B-
Book Content: B-
Steam Factor: Glad I had my earbuds in
Violence Rating: Minimal
Genre: Historical Romance
Publisher: Harper Audio
A Scot in the Dark was provided to AudioGals by Harper Audio for a review.
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Justine Eyre is one of my never buy narrators. (I actually only have a few.) I know that she is liked by many, but I cannot bear her nasally ‘sexy’ voice that she puts on. Also she is given credit for being able to do accents, but in fact her accent are awful and inauthentic. Her British accent has so many mistakes in it that I have not been able to listen to a book read by her for years. I’ve also been really annoyed by her other fake accents. I did listen to some of her earlier work when she was working with an outside producer and I had liked what I heard; I think she now works by herself at home, or at least with someone who doesn’t correct her mistakes. I feel the need to say this here because there are a fair number of books that I would have loved to buy and listen to but I won’t and can’t because she has read them. Even listening to the short sample provided here set my teeth on edge. I’m just saying this now to try to get authors to not use her until she backs off of her affected reading. I know she can do a better job. (Although she needs more exposure to real accents.) Sorry about the rant.
I know what you mean! There are a few authors with series I love in print, but the readers of the audio versions nauseate me. It is also very disappointing when a beloved novel is narrated poorly, it happens too often, which makes me feel like a sulky teenager.
Hope, I’m in complete agreement with you. I can’t listen to Ms. Eyre either and she is completely the wrong choice for historicals, especially those set in the UK. I was really disappointed when, for some unknown reason, Harper brought her in to narrate Never Judge a Lady By Her Cover (which I really enjoyed in print) and it’s a mystery to me why they’re continuing to use her.
Thanks for not burning me on my comment; I don’t know another way to try to let authors know about which readers are just not good enough. I think that a good romance doesn’t need a put on sexy voice for instance.
My favorite new reader of an audiobook this last year was Anna Bentinck reading A Bachelor Establishment by Jodi Taylor. I thought she was brilliant; she has a fairly high voice but she managed the men’s voices with real believeability. Her pacing was so perfect for the book; I think it was one book that was definitely better in audio form. I was also really impressed by Shayna Thibodeaux in Sweet Filthy Boy by Christina Lauren. She did both Mia and Ansel with his French accent really beautifully. And then there are the well-known readers that you can always trust (Kate Reading, etc.).
Anyway, I so appreciate you website and your reviews. You have both helped me find treasures and saved me hours of gritted teeth trying to get through a book I should never have bought.
Like you, I would like to think that someone out there occasionally takes note of our comments! Whether anyone does, or not… I have no idea :)
Thank you for your comments Hope. I’m glad to hear that others agree on this narration. Hopefully the audiobook producers are “listening”. It may take a while, but I have to hope that they are listening to audiobook reviewers comments and will eventually take it into consideration for future casting decisions.
Justine Eyre narrates Nalini Singh’s Guild Hunter series which is an auto-buy for me, but I’m not too keen on her historicals. Her narration of the GH series though is fantastic!
For what it’s worth Scots is one of the hardest accents to pull off and why narrators even bother baffles me! Davina Porter does it well, but really, I can’t think of anyone else. I stay away from anything with Scot, Highlander or plaid in the title for just that reason.
Great review!
I have to disagree there, Mel – the hardest UK accent to pull off and sustain successfully is Welsh!
Derek Perkins and James Langton both do excellent Scottish accents. Mary Jane Wells can do just about any British accent and Saskia Maarleveld isn’t bad with the brogue (I’m just writing about her performance in The Earl). I’ll have to look back through my reviews and see if there are any others…
I stand corrected!
Hah! I admit, I’m not an actor, but I’ve always been able to ‘do’ different accents. Apart from Welsh. I suppose if I listened to one over and over and kept trying it I might manage it, but I have plenty of other things to do instead!!
Glad to hear that you have enjoyed Ms. Eyre’s PNR/UF narrations Mel. That’s right in line with my prior experience with Ms. Eyre. Unfortunately not every narrator is perfect for every book. The key for audiobook producers is to make the right casting calls to ensure maximum sales.
And Caz, I loved Never Judge a Lady By Her Cover, but I like you read it, not listened to it. I wonder if my impression would have been different had I listened. A narrator can really affect how impressionable a story is–sometimes its just too tough getting into the story if you keep getting distracted by the narrator.
I doubt I’d have been able to make it through Never Judge… especially as Harper had the good sense to use Rosalyn Landor for the other books.
As you say, sometimes it’s not that narrators are bad, per se, it’s that they’re not the right choice for that particular book.