Never Marry a Viscount by Anne Stuart

Narrated by Xe Sands

Never Marry a Viscount is the third in Anne Stuart’s Scandal at the House of Russell trilogy which tells the story of three sisters who are left destitute upon the sudden death of their father, a wealthy shipping magnate. Led to believe his death was no accident, they are determined to discover the identity of the person responsible not only for their father’s murder, but also for embezzling all the funds from his company. In Book 1, Never Kiss a Rake, Bryony (the eldest) comes up with the idea of infiltrating the households of the three men who are the prime suspects.

Eustace Russell won the Renwick estate from its owner, Viscount Griffiths, in a card game years earlier, and the girls grew up there. On Russell’s death, the ownership has reverted to the new Viscount, Alexander Griffiths, a man rarely seen in society because he has lived mostly in the North – but who has recently taken up residence at Renwick.

Sophie is the youngest of the sisters and the acknowledged beauty of the family. Petite and blonde, her angelic appearance hides a woman of great determination who is well aware of the effect of her looks on men, and who is fully prepared to use them to her best advantage. Her fondness for gothic novels, added to the rumours circulating that Griffiths killed his first wife a decade ago, have led to Sophie dubbing him “the Dark Viscount”, as she believes him to be darkly brooding, haunted and dangerous. When Sophie finally claps eyes on him, she sees nothing to dispel her imaginings; the viscount is certainly dark and brooding – and quite the most beautiful man she’s ever seen.

When circumstances afford Sophie the chance to join the Griffiths household, she grabs it. Arriving at the kitchen door of Renwick at a time of uproar, she is immediately assumed to be the replacement cook and welcomed with open arms. Sophie might not have done a day’s work in her life, but the one thing she does know how to do is cook, and she throws herself into her new role with enthusiasm.

Working below stairs, she hasn’t expected to have a great deal to do with her new employer, so meeting the Dark Viscount in the flesh proves an unsettling experience. Not only is he even more handsome close-to, he exudes an air of dangerous sensuality the like of which Sophie has never experienced; and worse, he takes a very keen interest in his new cook, something she is keen to dispel at all costs.

What she doesn’t know is that Alexander believes her to be the mistress he’s asked a London madam to find for him. He asks Sophie repeatedly if she has been sent by Mrs Lefton – whom Sophie assumes to be someone at the domestic agency used to find new staff. This misunderstanding makes for some amusing exchanges and double-entendres between the two:

“You will find that your faith in Mrs Lefton’s judgment is not misplaced,” she continued. “I will stop at nothing in my efforts to please you. I am very creative and I promise to astonish your senses with delights you haven’t even dreamed of.”

She obviously doesn’t realise that when she tells Alexander about all the things she can do with whipped cream, his brain doesn’t automatically scream “syllabub”!

I enjoyed this book much more than the previous one (Never Trust a Pirate), which I think is principally due to the scorching chemistry between the leads. Sophie is wary, yet completely unable to resist the pull she feels towards the sarcastic, overbearing and brain-meltingly gorgeous viscount, and he is completely unnerved by the fierceness of the lust he feels for his new “cook”.

Alexander isn’t an especially attractive character to start with, but while he’s not as dark as some of Ms Stuart’s gamma heroes, he’s sexy as all hell and somehow still manages to be charming. He’s hard and cynical – with good reason, it has to be said – but look beneath the surface and he’s witty and considerate, his less attractive qualities balanced out by an innate sense of honour that might be a bit rusty, but which is deeply ingrained, nonetheless.

Being the last book in the trilogy, this one wraps up the mystery by revealing the identity and motivations of the murderer – although anyone following the stories will have already worked out who it is. Overall, Never Marry a Viscount is entertaining and stylishly written, although the characterisation of the villain(s) is a little cartoonish; and while there is plenty of heat between the central couple, I didn’t quite buy into their being in love rather than in lust. That said, by the end of the book, I was starting to believe that there was the basis for a deeper relationship between them.

When it comes to the performance, I have to say up front that one of my principal niggles with the audiobook is actually not the narrator’s fault – I’m just not a fan of British-set historicals being narrated in American accents. Xe Sands is one of a very small number of narrators I can bear to listen to doing this, but I do find the switch between the American-accented narrative and the British-accented characterisations to be quite jarring.

Otherwise, though, her performance is very good. Her British accents are consistent, and she differentiates well between all the characters. I remember saying in my review of Never Kiss a Rake that I had at times found the way she voiced the hero to be a little indistinct, and I’m pleased to say that isn’t the case here. Alexander’s voice is suitably deep and masculine, oozing sarcasm and sex in equal measure. It sits at the lower end of Ms Sands’ vocal range, and through that and her microphone technique she creates an atmosphere of powerful intensity and intimacy; not just between Alexander and Sophie, but also between Alexander and the listener. Her portrayal of Sophie is just as good – Ms Sands conveys both confidence and vulnerability very well – and sometimes simultaneously – by means of a simple inflection or a very slight waver in her voice. She successfully utilises a few regional British accents for various minor characters, and I was impressed with the way she voiced Alexander’s brother, because he sounds sufficiently similar as to believably be related to Alexander, but different enough so there is never any question as to which of them is speaking in their scenes together.

If you’ve enjoyed the other audiobooks in this series, then I think you’ll enjoy this one, as it’s possibly the best of the three. The dénouement is a bit over-the-top, but it’s an enjoyable listen overall, and Xe Sands brings the sexy in spades!

Caz

Narration: B

Book Content: B

Steam Factor: Glad I had my earbuds in

Violence: Minimal

Genre: Historical Romance

Publisher: Brilliance Audio

Never Marry a Viscount was provided to AudioGals by Brilliance Audio for review.