The Match of the Century by Cathy Maxwell

Narrated by Mary Jane Wells

Elin Morris has been betrothed to Gavin Whitridge, Duke of Baynton for as long as she can remember, the match engineered by both sets of parents when they were little more than children, and viewed by society as The Match of the Century, an alliance of great wealth on both sides. Now Elin is in her early twenties and Gavin a little older, it is time for the betrothal to be announced officially, and to begin preparations for the wedding. Given that Gavin is young, rich and gorgeous, it would seem that this story has nowhere to go – but the problem is that, while Elin likes and respects Gavin, she doesn’t love him and knows that while he thinks well of her and will always look after her, he doesn’t love her either. To make things even more difficult, eight years ago, when Elin was barely sixteen, she had believed herself in love with Gavin’s younger brother, Benedict, and had spent the night with him, although her dreams of a life with him were cruelly dashed when he left the very next day to embark on a military career.

Having been told that it had always been Ben’s intention to join the army, and believing that he had merely used her for his own amusement, Elin was betrayed and hurt. But now the time for her betrothal to be announced is upon her, she feels that she can’t enter into the arrangement without telling Gavin the truth as to why she will not come to the marriage bed in an untouched state. Her mother persuades her not to say anything, however, and even though she has misgivings, Elin agrees.

On the night of the betrothal ball, a travel-stained and furious Benedict Whitridge appears without warning, taking Gavin to task for having had him recalled from duty. Gavin calmly explains that as Ben is his heir (until he has children of his own), he is needed in England to fulfil certain duties to the dukedom, but Ben isn’t interested. He liked army life and his career and is outraged at his brother’s high-handedness, as well as resentful at the fact that Gavin is engaged to marry the only woman he – Ben – has ever loved.

The sudden death of Elin’s mother means that plans to announce the betrothal have to be postponed while a suitable mourning period is observed, and Elin spends most of that time at the family’s country estate while her father remains in London, immersed in his business interests. After the row between Ben and Gavin, Ben disappeared to God-knows-where, and even though Elin knows she shouldn’t, she can’t help thinking about him and feeling bereft of his presence. She had thought she was over him, but seeing him again has brought back memories and old feelings in full force, and she realises with dismay that she is as much in love with him as ever. But how can she break her engagement to Gavin, a decent, honourable man who has never shown her anything but kindness and respect?

When the mourning period is over and it’s time for Elin to return to London to begin preparations for the wedding, events take a sinister turn when she is abducted during the journey and her life is threatened. Managing to escape her would-be murderers, she stumbles across a rather unsavoury inn, peopled with even more unsavoury-looking men – one of whom (amazingly) happens to be Ben, whom she hasn’t seen since the night of the ball over a year ago. Needless to say, he is as astonished to see her as she is to see him – and even moreso when she tells him the reason for her being so far from home and in such a state of confusion and disarray. Of course, Ben must get Elin safely to London, and they must find out who is behind the plot to kill Elin and why, which they eventually do, with Gavin’s help.

I have a number of issues with the storyline of the book, not least of which is the fact that it turns on the massive coincidence of Ben’s just “happening” to be in the vicinity when Elin is on the run from her kidnappers. I also found the romance to be tepid at best – there is little chemistry between the leads and I didn’t care for the way that Elin’s love for Ben seemed to reappear so suddenly once he was back in her orbit after an eight-year absence during which she doesn’t seem to have given him much thought. She’s an uninspiring heroine and for most of the book Ben acts like a petulant child who lashes out and sulks when he doesn’t get what he wants, so I didn’t find either of them to be particularly likeable characters. In fact, the best thing about the book is the relationship between Gavin and Ben, and how they gradually come to alter their perceptions of each other. In spite of the author’s effort to turn Gavin into a boring, duty-obsessed figure, I found him to be a more attractive character than his brother. It’s not until quite late in the book that Ben begins to grow up a bit and to realise that Gavin’s life hasn’t always been the bed of roses Ben has assumed it to be, and it was only at that point that I was able to start liking him a bit more.

I picked this book for review solely because it’s narrated by Mary Jane Wells, someone I always enjoy listening to and whose acting choices almost always align with the way I perceive the characters in the books she narrates. She is as reliable as ever here, performing narrative and dialogue at a good pace and in a relaxed, naturalistic manner which is attractive and easy to listen to. She differentiates well between all the characters, principals and bit-players alike, using a variety of timbre and accent to delineate Ben’s rough bunch of mates from the inn, Madame Odette, the spurious French seamstress and Fyclan Morris, Elin’s father, to name but a few. I listened closely to her portrayals of the two brothers who do sound fairly similar at times, but are different enough for the listener to be aware of which of them is speaking on the rare occasions there are no textual indicators. Ben is generally performed at a slightly lower pitch than Gavin and his voice often has an edge to it that works particularly well in those scenes between the pair when they are at odds. But as is often the case with a lacklustre story, even the most accomplished narration – which this certainly is – can’t rescue it and raise it above the mediocre. The book is well-written in terms of language and pacing, but the mystery sub-plot is weak and melodramatic, and the romance is luke-warm. The Match of the Century, Marrying the Duke Book 1, isn’t a terrible book, and Ms Wells’ narration is certainly worth listening to, but it’s not an audiobook I can recommend without reservation.

[section label=’Audiobook Information’ anchor=’Audiobook Information’]

Caz

AUDIOBOOK INFORMATION

TITLE: The Match of the Century

AUTHOR: Cathy Maxwell

NARRATED BY: Mary Jane Wells

GENRE: Historical Romance

STEAM FACTOR: Glad I had my earbuds in

REVIEWER: Caz [button type=’link’ link=’http://www.amazon.com/dp/B014VDADTE/?tag=audiogalsnet-20′ size=’btn-lg’ variation=’btn-default’ target=’blank’]Buy The Match of the Century by Cathy Maxwell on Amazon[/button] [section label=’Excerpt’ anchor=’Excerpt’]EXCERPT: