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  • Sophie: A Regency Romance

  • Bachelor Brides, Book 2
  • By: Jenny Hambly
  • Narrated by: Helen Taylor
  • Length: 6 hrs and 52 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (3 ratings)

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Sophie: A Regency Romance

By: Jenny Hambly
Narrated by: Helen Taylor
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Summary

She is not interested in - or in any need of - a husband.
He is as reluctant to take a wife....

Lady Lewisham is an independent woman of means who has just emerged from her year of mourning.

Her late husband, Edward, has ensured she is financially comfortable for the rest of her life and has little to worry about. But as a young, beautiful, single widow (with an intelligent mind to boot), it seems she is a target for unwanted attention from ill-fitting suitors and mindless tittle-tattle from the gossip-mongers.

Feisty Sophie is a far cry from the usual timid, conventional woman befitting 19th-century society, however - in short, she is a breath of fresh air - and is not afraid to speak her mind. Nor does she suffer fools gladly. So when her husband's cousin, Lady Renfrew, invites her to visit London, she is delighted and uses this opportunity as a springboard for her much grander trip to Europe with her companion, Miss Trew.

Little does Sophie know, however, that when she encounters the handsome but devout bachelor Sir Philip Bray, her life is about to change. Although neither have any time or inclination for romance, their paths cross in England, France, and Italy.

Could Sir Philip be the hero she thinks she does not need or want?

©2019 Jennifer Hambly (P)2019 Jennifer Hambly
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A sweet story with a neat, tidy, happy ending

'Sophie' is a sweet Regency romance with an insatiable wanderlust and a jovial cast of characters who are all, in their own ways, searching for their happily ever after.

As I had hoped when I listened to Hambly's previous book in the Bachelor Brides series, Rosalind, this outing is the turn of Sir Philip Bray, longstanding friend of the Atherton family and one of the characters I liked most from that novel. Joining him is the titular heroine, Lady Sophie Lewisham, a very young widow who is adjusting to a life that now includes freedoms that most women her age could not imagine. Though this is a standalone novel, I think it works best if you have first listened to Rosalind, for it references characters and events from that novel which, though not exactly spoilers, would be enjoyed more in context.

Sophie is nicely written, and is far more polished than Rosalind, but is still a little clumsy in places. Overall the Regency colloquialisms are not as heavy-handed this time around, which was my main gripe with the first book, so they feel less gimmicky.

Hambly's love of detail is far better served when describing Sophie's first glimpse of the Jura, and Lake Geneva. Her awed wonder and the vivid descriptions here do well to convey both her marvel and the beautiful landscape that provokes it. This, and the development of many of the characters, helps Sophie feel more accomplished than Rosalind, and I preferred it of the two. Though many characters fit the same mould as in Rosalind, such as a redoubtable dowager who immediately softens to the heroine, and a Godly lady's maid/companion who quotes bible verse. In many ways I think this series would be better labelled as Christian romance, given its reliance on biblical teachings.

More sensitively handled were the heartbreaking descriptions of the dead and wounded on the battlefield, told in nightmarish flashbacks and devastating conversations between the former military men. I hope Harry gets a story soon, too. He brought much-needed levity to this book, and the early morning ride about the park was very good fun.

The narrator, Helen Taylor, has a pleasant voice and infuses the characters with personality, bringing each to life very nicely. Her narration was a little stilted now and then, with a few odd pauses, but these are easily eclipsed by the well-paced and lively passages.

I would certainly recommend this audiobook to everyone who enjoyed Rosalind, and lovers of sweet Regency romance in general, who like everyone to find their happily ever after.

*I received this audiobook free of charge in the hope of an honest, unbiased review.

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