The Bridegroom Wore Plaid by Grace Burrowes

Narrated by Roger Hampton

The Bridegroom Wore Plaid was one of my favorite books of last year, so I was delighted when I discovered there were plans to release it in audio format. I’m a big fan of Grace Burrowes’ writing in general; I’ve enjoyed all her books I’ve read so far and stand in awe of the way she can make the emotion just leap off the page. She’s become one of my go-to authors for when I want a romance with a good dollop of angst on the way to the HEA.

Roger Hampton isn’t a narrator with whom I’m familiar, but a quick look through Audible reveals he’s narrated a number of titles with the word “Highland” in the title – which immediately told me that there was a good chance he’d be a dab hand with a Scottish accent. ;-)

The story centers around the MacGregor family, and their struggles to make ends meet on their highland estate. Ian MacGregor is the eldest, and due to the disappearance of his older brother some seven years earlier, is about to be declared the Earl of Balfour – a title he doesn’t really want. But he’s not a man to sidestep his responsibilities and prepares to accept the inevitable. His family consists of his brothers Gil and Connor, his widowed sister Mary Frances, and her daughter Flora. Ian might be an earl-to-be, but the family is poor and needs to open the estate to guests every year in order to make enough money to see them through the year. Queen Victoria’s love of all things Scottish and the fact that her estate at Balmoral borders MacGregor lands means that they have no trouble attracting wealthy clients during the summer months, but this year’s visitors are different. Ian needs to marry money, and his guests are to include his prospective bride Eugenia (known as Genie) Daniels. The novel opens with Ian and his brothers meeting Genie and her party from the train and escorting them home.

Genie knows why she is there, and she doesn’t like it at all while at the same time accepting that the marriage will come to pass because her father desires it. But Ian is not stupid. He quickly realizes that that the lady in question is not only very reluctant to marry him but also is resistant to getting to know him, despite his attempts to draw her out and his reassurances that he will be a kind and loyal husband.

While he is attempting to court Genie, Ian forms a friendship with Augusta Merrick, Genie’s cousin who has been brought along to act as a second chaperone, along with their aunt Julia. Augusta is the classic poor relation. Orphaned as a child, she grew up in the Daniels household but was never truly a part of it, and now lives with her cat in a small cottage in Oxfordshire keeping chickens and tending to her garden. As the story progresses however, Ian becomes curious about some of the things she tells him about her family and her past that just don’t add up and he begins to make discreet inquiries as to the truth of her circumstances.

Their friendship quickly develops into something more, even though both Ian and Augusta know that there is no hope for anything lasting between them as Ian needs to marry for money and Augusta has none. It’s clear that these are two people who deserve the label “soul-mates” if ever anyone deserves it, and it’s agonizing to witness their growing despair as they prepare to do the things they know they must do for the sake of others.

Ian is decent and honorable, determined to do his best for his family, and yet he cannot help his growing attraction to Augusta. Marriage to Genie will mean he will never have the companionship of a woman who loves and understands him, yet he is fully prepared to sacrifice his own happiness to ensure the well-being and financial security of his family and other dependants. Augusta recognizes and accepts this, knowing he needs to be loved for himself and not for the title Genie’s father is determined to buy. She is also supremely practical – she knows Ian cannot marry her, but is prepared to take – and to give – the little comfort she can without regrets.

Mr. Hampton did indeed prove to be a dab hand with the Scottish accents, although they slipped very occasionally. He chose very different registers for Ian and his two brothers so that it was easy to work out which of them was speaking at any one time. His speaking voice is what I’d call a light tenor, which is where he pitched Gil, the middle brother. Ian was more of a baritone, with Connor, the youngest, bringing up the bass with a very growly tone that I admit, took me a while to get used to.

He also did an excellent job with the voice he used for Baron Altsax, Genie’s father, who turns out to be the villain of the piece. It’s suitably upper crust with a hint of smarminess and cruelty, which I thought, fit the character perfectly.

Altsax is not only determined to buy his daughter a title, he is none too fastidious about the way he goes about it. Ian’s inquiries on Augusta’s behalf have shed an interesting light on her financial situation and it becomes apparent that the number of “accidents” that have happened to her were not accidents at all, but part of a wider plot by Altsax to secure the fortune that should have been hers on the death of her parents.

I’m always apprehensive when listening to a new (to me) narrator as to how well they will handle the voices of characters of the opposite sex, and I have to admit that in these, Mr. Hampton’s narration was less effective. He was best when voicing Augusta, using a softened, slightly higher pitched version of his own voice; and after that, with Mary Frances, Ian’s sister. But when I heard Julia Redmond speak for the first time, it was a shock as he adopted a falsetto tone that bordered on the comic.

Voicing children is something that can be difficult, and I’m afraid his interpretation of Fiona didn’t work for me. Her voice was too high-pitched, and squeaky, even for an eight-year-old.

Mr. Hampton has a pleasing, nicely modulated voice, and I thought that his narration was generally well paced and pleasantly nuanced. However, there were one or two of his vocal inflections that I disliked and which, of course, once I noticed them (and the more I heard them), were impossible to miss.

Unfortunately the narration in one key scene is so detracting that it’s almost impossible to listen at some points. Towards the end, when Ian and Augusta realize they can be together, they at last voice their feelings and make some truly heartfelt declarations. It’s an impassioned scene but I felt that in audio, the heightened emotionality of the language came over as rather too over the top. I think that’s partly due to the voicing of Augusta who sounds whiny and too high-pitched.

Still, I enjoyed listening to The Bridegroom Wore Plaid and I’m sure I’ll listen to it again at some point. I love Grace Burrowes’ writing for the depth of emotion she brings to her stories. I recall the lump in my throat when I was reading the print version as Ian and Augusta struggled with their growing feelings. But I can’t deny that the performance was a little disappointing at times.

Caz

Narration:  B-

Book Content:  A-

Steam Factor:  Glad I had my earbuds in

Violence:  None

Genre:  Historical Romance

Publisher:  Tantor Audio

The Bridegroom Wore Plaid was provided to AudioGals by Tantor Audio for review.