Just a taste...

One Wicked Kiss by Dawn Brower is a delightful part of the Bluestockings Defying Rogues. I found this short story to capture my interest with its vivid imagery and alluring characters. Megan Green brings the characters to life with her narration. She gives distinguishable voices and inflects the right emotions. I will definitely listen to more books by this author and narrator.

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A sweet teaser for a romantic series

One Wicked Kiss by Dawn Brower is a Regency romance which declares itself from the very first moments to be of my favourite kind, with its series subtitle 'Bluestockings defying Rogues'. There's little I like more from a historical romance than for a woman - whose intellect and personality are a little too robust for polite society - to get the better of a man who thinks he can best her, so I had high hopes for this audiobook.

Miss Natalia Benson, the illegitimate child of Vicount Atherton, is indeed well-educated but seems a little timid compared to most 'bluestocking' heroines, and lacks the feisty wit that defines the type. She is not without courage, however, and Lia begins the tale by running away from an unfavourable marriage to a wicked French count. The group she meets on the road stand to change the course of her destiny; and she theirs.

As it is merely a brief prequel many of the characters and plotlines are left unresolved, but there's a lot of promise in both the primary and secondary relationships. The set-up for the next book certainly establishes both with enough depth to pique one's curiosity regarding their ultimate fates. It is the start of an adventure, but one which I feel ought to be a free 'teaser' for the series (such as Jodi Taylor's Chronicles of St Mary's prequel, The Very First Damned Thing).

Megan Green's narration is earnest and has a sweet, gentle charm, but is hindered a little in places by a slight lisp and awkward rhythm, which eases as she settles into the story and the language begins to feel more natural. Green delivers the various characters' voices admirably, switching easily from one accent to another without hesitation, despite there being quite an array!

It was unfortunate that there was so little subtlety to the protagonists' first meeting. Simply having the Earl think, inexplicably, that "she seemed special" before they had exchanged a word was a rather cheap observation with which to register his interest in the lady. Perhaps because this audiobook is only intended to be a short prequel novella it does not possess the lightness of touch at such a significant moment as would be expected in a novel.

It also borrows a few too many well-known names from Austen - Darcy and Western for example - which at times makes it feel a bit like Regency fanfiction. Whilst both surnames are common, I think one will always encounter a little difficulty in trying to establish a unique hero in any Regency romance when he is a wealthy, well-bred, gentleman by the name of Darcy.

Overall I felt that this story was a little too much of a whirlwind, and rather lacking in the level of detail necessary to make the romance feel sincere. There was little of the formality which was of such great import to the era, and the author told us that the protagonists fell instantly in love without really spending the time on making either appear worthy of the other's affection. It meant that the 'love at first sight' sentiment around which the story centered was not especially convincing. Anachronistic language (such as use of the word "wanker" as a pejorative) as well as uncustomarily-informal behaviour meant that it never really felt embedded into Regency culture.

I wish this hadn't been my first experience of a book by Dawn Brower, whose other work appears to be well regarded within the genre. I like the look of many of her other books, and think that this one suffers more from the restricted length than anything else, and would have been better if more time had been devoted to building the sense of peril that would have made Lia's abandonment of Lucas feel more necessary.

I'd like to listen to other books by this author before passing judgement on her work, as I do not think that this piece is probably very representative of such an established writer's usual novels. I really wanted to like it but it was rather disappointing.

*I received this audiobook free of charge in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

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A cute chance meeting

I liked the story, it was the ending that I didn't like. The story was starting out beautifully, but it didn't seem to be going anywhere. Then it ended. I think it could have been expanded on. I did love the story and the characters were great. I became ingrossed in the story and the characters.

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Great start

This is a short book to get you started. Good start with likeable characters. I definitely want to see where this storyline is going. Great chemistry already.

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This was so good! I need the next part!

I've listened to a few of Dawn's stories on audio now and they never fail to entertain me. This one was such a brilliant start to a sweet historical romance, I loved the storyline and although it isn't that original, Dawn's writing is so heart warming and romantic, with such lovable characters that it feels like its been given that something extra! Megan's narrating was excellent in this audiobook, I can't imagine hearing anyone else's voice now when I listen to these stories, her voice is so distinctive it takes me straight to that timezone and genre. I really can't wait for the next part and would definitely recommend both Dawn's books and Megan's narrating to all who love historical romance!

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1 person found this helpful

an illegitimate daughter

this is the story of an illegitimate daughter that the father hardly cares for. in fact he nearly gives her away if she wouldn't have run away... Great narration. I got this book from the narrator and this is my honest and voluntary review.

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I couldn't finish it

Narrator was singsongy and storyline did not focus enough on practical matters such as freezing

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Disappointing!

Having listened to 3 other audiobooks in this series as well as some others by Dawn Brower, in my honest opinion, this is not up to scratch.
Firstly, it is just too short and by this I mean that just as the story begins to go somewhere, it ends! Just like a 'Teaser' and that is a great pity as there is so much potential for a really good story.
Then, the choice of Narrator was not of the best. Granted, Megan Green's character speeches are good but the telling of the story is very sing-song and 'full stops' do not end the sentences but seem rather like a pause for breath.
I really hate writing this type of review but there it is. I apologize if anyone is offended by my honest opinion.
I listened to the audiobook version and this is my voluntary and unbiased review of it.

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1 person found this helpful