Fortune Favors the Wicked by Theresa Romain

Fortune Favors the Wicked by Theresa RomainNarrated by Beverley A. Crick

I’m a big fan of Theresa Romain’s historical romances and am a bit disappointed that so few of them are available in audio format. So naturally, when I saw that her latest book – Fortune Favors the Wicked – was going to be available as an audiobook, I jumped at the chance to listen to and review it. The story is just a little bit quirky, but at its heart is a well-written, tender and funny character-driven romance between a pair of slightly unusual but very likeable protagonists who team up to hunt for six trunks of gold sovereigns that have been recently stolen from the Royal Mint.

Charlotte Perry is the daughter of a country vicar who has, for the last ten years, made her living as a high-flying courtesan in London. Ruined at just seventeen and not wanting her family to suffer because of her, she opted to leave in order to make life easier for everyone. But now, she has returned to her small Derbyshire village, partly to escape the attentions of her most recent but abusive protector, and partly because she wants to secure the reward that has been posted for information leading to the recovery of the stolen gold. She plans to use the money to help her family, provide for her young daughter and, she hopes, to make a new life for herself away from London.

Benedict Frost joined the Navy aged twelve and lived most of his life at sea until a virulent illness four years earlier robbed him of his sight. He has worked hard to learn to function in the world and does so extremely well, continuing to travel and even, with the help of a device called a noctograph, writing a book about his most recent journey.** He has a publisher lined up and intends to use the profits from his writing to provide his younger sister with a dowry – but when the publisher refuses to publish Benedict’s book as a work of non-fiction because he can’t believe a blind man could possibly have written a travelogue, Benedict needs to find another way to secure the money he needs. Hearing about the recent theft, he determines to find the sovereigns and claim the reward.

Armed with a letter of introduction to the vicar of Strawfield, Benedict travels to Derbyshire, following the stories which have reached London of a possible clue to the whereabouts of the gold. Nearing his destination, he stops off at a lively tavern where the serving maid is enthusiastically relating the story of her encounter with a man who paid her with a gold sovereign. Staying to listen to the tale, Benedict strikes up a conversation with a young woman who calls herself Mrs. Smith. He likes the sound of the smile in her rich voice, even though he doesn’t believe for a moment that her name is really Smith – but decides that his best chance of obtaining useful information is to continue to the vicarage to see what the Reverend Perry and his wife can tell him.

Charlotte is surprised to discover that the guest her father is expecting is none other than the handsome, blind naval officer she had met earlier, and very quickly sets Benedict straight as to her identity when he arrives. Their initial exchanges are gently flirtatious and set the tone for the relationship to follow, which is funny, sexy and sweet by turns. Both Benedict and Charlotte have excellent and unselfish reasons for wanting to claim the reward, but agree to team up and search for it together. This has the added benefit of allowing them to explore the attraction that has sparked between them from the moment they met and their romance is very well developed. Both characters are in their late twenties and have been buffeted around by life; and I liked that they don’t try to deny their sexual attraction and aren’t afraid to act on it. There is a maturity to their interactions, and the author has created real sense of equality between them, showing us that they are equal partners in both their relationship and their joint endeavour to find the missing coins.

They are attractive and engaging protagonists, and their different skills and attributes are truly complementary. Benedict might not be able to see, but he is highly intelligent, logical and notices everything, and Charlotte is shrewd and determined. I admit that I’m not normally a big fan of courtesan heroines, but there is something about her underlying vulnerability, her sense of humour and her absolute devotion to the people she loves that really drew me to her. Benedict is simply lovely and a complete change from so many of the other blind romantic heroes I’ve come across, who are usually full of self-pity and act like bears with the proverbial sore heads. Benedict is sexy, funny, charming and utterly adorable; and like Charlotte, he is at a crossroads in his life. Through their friendship and love for each other they are able to find purpose and direction and their dilemmas and emotions feel very real.

Beverley A. Crick seems to be Tantor Audio’s Narrator of Choice when it comes to historical romances right now, as I’ve listened to her several times lately and will be doing so again in the near future. It’s just as well, then, that I generally enjoy her performances, which, in spite of some weaknesses, are good all-round and particularly strong when it comes to her portrayal of the emotional content of the books she narrates. My principal criticism of the performances I have so far listened to is that there is not enough variation in her male voices. In this story, for example, Benedict and the nasty marquess who is searching for Charlotte sound quite similar, and even though they don’t appear together in more than a scene or two, it’s nonetheless a little jarring to hear an unpleasant character speaking in ‘Benedict’s voice’. It wasn’t something that spoiled my overall enjoyment, though, and in all other aspects Ms Crick’s performance is very good. She uses timbre and accent to good effect to differentiate all the secondary characters, her pacing is excellent and she once again proves herself a very accomplished vocal actress in the way she is so good at observing the little details the author provides.

Fortune Favors the Wicked is a charming and entertaining historical romance and Ms Crick delivers another engaging performance. All in all, it’s an audiobook I’m happy to recommend.

**The “you couldn’t make it up!” moment: Benedict Frost is based on a real historical figure named James Holman. He was a lieutenant in the Royal Navy who lost his sight as the result of a mysterious illness, was given a pension and then went on to study medicine, travel the world and write books about his experiences.

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Caz


AUDIOBOOK INFORMATION

TITLE: Fortune Favors the Wicked

AUTHOR: Theresa Romain

NARRATED BY: Beverly A. Crick

GENRE: Historical Romance

STEAM FACTOR: Glad I had my earbuds in

REVIEWER: Caz [button type=’link’ link=’http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01D95V8CQ/?tag=audiogalsnet-20′ size=’btn-lg’ variation=’btn-default’ target=’blank’]Buy Fortune Favors the Wicked by Theresa Romain on Amazon[/button]

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