Scandal Takes the Stage by Eva Leigh

Scandal Takes the StageNarrated by Mandy Williams

Scandal Takes the Stage is the second book in Eva Leigh’s Regency-set Wicked Quills of London series, so titled because the heroines are writers. I read the first book, Forever Your Earl a few months back and loved it – it’s beautifully written, with plenty of sexually-charged, witty banter between the leads and has, at its heart, a well-developed, sensual romance that doesn’t completely ignore the difficulties created by the class difference between the protagonists. I was hoping for more of the same in Scandal Takes the Stage (which I haven’t read in print), but while the hero and heroine are just as engaging in this book, I nonetheless came away from it feeling rather disappointed. I’m not completely sure if that’s down to a lack in the story or in the narration, which is somewhat lacklustre.

Maggie Delamere is the resident playwright at London’s Imperial Theatre, and has already staged a number of successful burlettas there. Her most recent – The Shattered Heart – was her most popular yet, and public and theatre management alike are clamouring for the sequel. But Maggie is suddenly and unaccountably suffering from writer’s block, which becomes worse when the management tells her that she has two weeks in which to deliver, or the theatre will have to be closed. Concerned just as much for the actors and staff who rely on the work her plays provide as for herself, Maggie is in a horrible position. The one person she believes will be able to help is a man from whom she has resolutely kept her distance and for whom she has little time; Cameron Charlton, Viscount Marwood.

Cam is a devotee of the theatre, one of the few of his set who attends in order to actually watch the plays rather than simply to see and be seen. He’s handsome, titled and wealthy with a well-earned reputation as a womaniser, and can’t help but be intrigued by Maggie, who has flatly refused to flirt with him on the few occasions they have met. He’s definitely attracted to her, but has a lot of respect for her talent, too, and has no hesitation in agreeing to become the Imperial’s patron when she approaches him with her request, making it clear that his funding doesn’t come with any expectations or conditions regarding Maggie herself.

She hates having to go cap in hand to a member of the aristocracy. She has no love for the upper classes, and puts a lot of that dislike into her plays where noblemen are always rakish villains and evil seducers of the innocent. She has good reason to think that way, but finds herself unexpectedly drawn to Cam, who, in spite of his reputation, is genuinely concerned for her and her situation. Even more surprisingly, she discovers that she is inspired to write – even if just a few lines – after he has been around, and I rather liked the idea of the hero as muse, rather than the other way around as is so often the case.

As work gradually begins to progress, Cam and Maggie draw closer, becoming business partners, friends and eventually lovers. They communicate well, even to the point of admitting that the social divide is going to prevent anything long-term between them. They’re attractive, interesting characters and their verbal exchanges, while not as witty or funny as those in Forever Your Earl are nonetheless enjoyable, and I found that Cam, in particular, came more vividly into focus as a character in those scenes where he and Maggie are discussing her work or the theatre in general.

The big problem though, is that I suspect this is a far more enjoyable book in print and that the characterisation and the chemistry between the leads is much stronger in that format than it is in audio. I have read a number of books by this author (who also writes as Zoe Archer) and they have featured strong, well-drawn characters, plenty of humour, witty dialogue and cracking sexual tension between the hero and heroine. Forever Your Earl certainly had all of those things, and I find it difficult to believe that Scandal Takes the Stage doesn’t possess them to the same degree. But while Mandy Williams (a new-to-me narrator, with a handful of titles to her name at Audible) does a reasonable job of delineating the characters and differentiating between them, her delivery of narrative and dialogue is pedestrian, to say the least. It felt as though she was enunciating each word so carefully that any emotion was lost, and that made this an audiobook I found very easy to set aside.

Her voice is pleasant to the ear, and she does a good job with the protagonists, making Cam sound suitably masculine and giving Maggie a less-than-posh accent that suits her and is quite attractive. All the secondary characters are portrayed according to age and gender, and Ms Williams performs the love scenes well, injecting the right amount of urgency without going over the top.

But with all that said, her performance as a whole lacks that certain something that would have turned it into a more engaging, compelling listen. It’s difficult to put a finger on exactly what that is; but by way of comparison, after writing the main portion of this review, I began listening to another audiobook performed by a female narrator whose voice is in a similar register to Ms Williams, and who is also a relatively new name in audiobooks. Yet there is something about her performance that has drawn me in and makes me want to listen to her at every available opportunity. I don’t know if it’s the timbre of her voice or her acting choices – but she’s bringing this particular book to life in a way that Ms Williams hasn’t managed to do in Scandal Takes the Stage.

The third book in this series is due out next year, and I liked the glimpse we were given here of the set up – Cam’s cousin, a vicar, on the trail of a writer of salacious literature! But I think I’ll be sticking to the print version unless Harper engages the services of a more accomplished narrator.

Caz


Narration: C

Book Content: B

Steam Factor: Glad I had my earbuds in

Violence Rating: None

Genre: Historical Romance

Publisher: Harper Audio

Scandal Takes the Stage was provided to AudioGals by Harper Audio for a review.

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