Narrated by Beverley A. Crick
Caroline Linden is one of my favourite historical romance authors, and I’ve been eagerly awaiting About a Rogue, the first book in her new Desperately Seeking Duke series, in which the ‘candidates’ for a ducal title are encouraged to show themselves worthy of such lofty status while the legalities as to which of them is the rightful heir are all sorted out. With the always reliable Beverly A. Crick back at the microphone, I settled in for an entertaining and enjoyable listen.
As the story begins, the elderly Duchess of Carlyle – whose son, the current duke, is in uncertain health – has summoned their closest male relations to Carlyle Castle to inform them that one of them – most likely Captain St. James – is the heir apparent to title and the other – Mr. Maximilian St. James – the heir presumptive. Wasting no time, she informs them that she expects them both to start living in a way that befits their new status and suggests they get married as a step towards respectability. She is particularly concerned with Max, who has a reputation for loose-living and frequenting London’s many gaming hells, but makes the same offer to both men. She will give them five hundred pounds each:
I trust you will use it wisely, and return to Carlyle Castle in six months’ time more sober, refined gentlemen. If I am satisfied with your progress, I shall grant a further sum of one thousand five hundred pounds per year, to continue as long as you remain respectable.
Max may have a reputation for taking risks, but he’s already got a plan for his future – and with the Duchess’ money, he has the means to carry it out. He has seen a business opportunity at Perusia, a successful and well-respected family business – a pottery works – in Staffordshire that produces some of the finest tableware in England. The business is sound, but Max can see many ways it could be improved and decides the best way to cement a partnership is to marry the owner’s beautiful, demure younger daughter, Cathy. Samuel Tate is keen to pursue the connection, but his elder daughter Bianca is not, and is furious with her father for proposing “to sell you [Cathy] like a suckling pig in the market, without so much as asking your opinion!” As far as she’s concerned, Mr. St. James is a pretentious, good-for-nothing fortune hunter who will only make her sister miserable. But Cathy, while clearly not happy about it, is a dutiful daughter and agrees to the match, despite the fact that she’s in love with someone else. When Cathy reveals her plan to elope with the man she loves, Bianca fully supports her, and helps the couple on their way the night before the planned wedding – and the following morning finds herself in extremely hot water with her father who is far more angry than Bianca had anticipated. Bianca insists he’s brought the situation upon himself by trying to force Cathy into marriage but her anger turns to shock when Tate tells her he’s given St. James a one-quarter share in the business AND that he could end up with more if he sues for breach of promise. Bianca is devoted to Perusia; she loves the work she does there and hopes to run it someday, and is devastated at the thought that she could lose it. When Tate suggests she should take her sister’s place at the altar, Bianca decides that if that’s what she needs to do to prevent Perusia from the ruin St. James will inevitably bring about, then that’s what she’ll do.
Outwardly Max doesn’t seem too bothered about the last-minute change of bride. Inwardly he’s wondering if he’s lost his mind. Bianca Tate has made no secret of her intense dislike of him but, he reasons, there’s no real need to change his plans. His intention had always been to take charge of marketing and selling Perisua-ware, expanding their market and increasing sales, which would mean he’d be spending most of his time in London and around the country while his wife remained home; the change of bride needn’t make any difference.
But something about Bianca’s fiery nature and obvious disdain for him piques Max’s interest and he initially decides that the best way to confound her is not to respond to her dismissive remarks and put-downs, and to convince her that he knows what he’s doing. This quickly morphs into a genuine desire to show her that he’s willing to learn about Perusia and the manufacturing process and to prove his abilities as a businessman, and very gradually – and begrudgingly – Bianca starts to come around and to realise that her initial judgements about him and his abilities may have been incorrect. Max is handsome and charming of course, but he’s also kind and clever with a good head for business. And I was really impressed with the fact that Ms. Linden not only found a way to give independent, feisty Bianca an unusual profession, but also that she shows Bianca working at it and being successful. The current trend in historical romance to have the heroine running a business of one sort or another, often rings false because very rarely do we see them doing anything remotely business-like or, in some cases, working at all. The author also does a fantastic job of bringing these two wonderful characters together; Max and Bianca have great chemistry right from the start, and Max’s gentle and persistent wooing of his new wife by showing clearly how much he respects and admires her and by being willing to learn and adapt is incredibly sexy. Bianca’s gradual change of heart is really well done as she finds it difficult to hold on to her preconceptions in the face of Max’s obvious good sense, or to deny that he’s a very attractive man. Max recognises Bianca’s attraction to him before she does really, and although knows he could seduce her, he doesn’t want that – he wants her to come to him because she wants him, too, and he’s prepared to wait for as long as it takes.
There are hints throughout that Max is keeping something from Bianca, though, and it’s in the execution of this plotline that the novel falls down. These hints seemed to be teasing some sort of terrible secret, but when the reveal eventually comes, it’s a complete anti-climax. By the time it happens, Max and Bianca’s romance is mostly wrapped up, so the final chapters feel like a really strange “add-on”, and instead of finishing the book feeling satisfied and happy for Max and Bianca, I came away disappointed. And that was a real shame, because everything about it – the romance, the characters and the setting – had been working incredibly well up until that point.
Beverley A. Crick has narrated a number of Ms. Linden’s books by now, and I was glad to see her services had been retained for this new series. Her voice is expressive and easy on the ear, she differentiates effectively between all the characters, and is skilled at picking up on the emotional connection the author develops between the leads and conveying it to the listener. She voices the various secondary characters according to age and station, and her interpretation of the two principals is very good indeed; she gives Bianca a slight regional accent and delivers her dialogue in the first part of the book in an abrupt, waspish manner which feels exactly right, and then gradually removes the harsh edge as the story progresses and Bianca starts to realise she’s been wrong about Max. Ms. Crick doesn’t drop her voice into her boots to portray the heroes in the romances she narrates, but she always makes them sound masculine and appropriately attractive by means of a slightly lower pitch and, in Max’s case, a considered delivery that perfectly matches his confident determination. It’s as accomplished and insightful a presentation as I’ve come to expect from Ms. Crick, and although I was disappointed with certain aspects of the story, her performance, together with the lovely romance make it possible for me to recommend About a Rogue – albeit with some reservations.
Note – the audio does NOT include the e-novella that is present in the digital and print editions.
Caz
Buy About a Rogue by Caroline Linden on Amazon
