Narrated by Antony Ferguson
I read and enjoyed A Rake’s Midnight Kiss early in 2013 and was very much looking forward to revisiting it in audio format. I’d already listened to the previous book in the series (Seven Nights in a Rogue’s Bed
The hero of this story is Sir Richard Harmsworth, whom we met briefly in the previous book. Like his friends, Jonas Merrick and Camden Rothermere (hero of the next book), Richard has lived all his life dealing with slurs about his parentage. Although he is technically legitimate as his mother was married to Sir Lester Harmsworth at the time of his birth, Richard is not actually Sir Lester’s son, and everyone in society knows it. Even as a boy, he had to bear the taunts of his schoolmates, and as he grew into adulthood, he developed an ironclad defence mechanism, cultivating an even-temperedness and urbanity so that society believes him to be lazy and unconcerned about little more than his tailoring. Of course, having a thick skin doesn’t mean that the insults don’t sting, and when, on one particular evening, he is pushed beyond his limit, Richard vows to find the famous Harmsworth Jewel, an ancient artefact passed through the generations and always in the possession of the true heir to the Harmsworth name.
After searching for six months, Richard discovers the jewel is in the possession of Miss Geneveive Barrett, the daughter of a renowned medieval historian. She was left the jewel by Richard’s aunt, and has refused his offers to purchase it, so Richard hatches a scheme to pass himself off as a dilettante scholar by the name of Christopher Evans who wishes to study with Genevieve’s father. He thinks he will be able to persuade her to sell the jewel, or alternatively, seduce it out of her – but he has reckoned without the lady’s determination and tenacity.
The sparks begin to fly from the moment the pair set eyes on each other. Genevieve is immediately suspicious of the handsome charmer who is determined to flirt with her, and tries everything she can think of to put him off. In her innocence, she doesn’t realise that her put-downs and obvious displeasure in Mr. Evans’ company have exactly the opposite effect on that gentleman and only make him even more determined to succeed in his quest.
Of course, the longer she spends in Richard’s company, the more she begins to see that he’s not the louche lothario he first appeared to be. In spite of her wariness, she finds him to be good company, kind, and unexpectedly perceptive – a man she can trust.
For Richard’s part, he finds that he rather likes being Mr. Evans – discovering a new freedom that comes from feeling unfettered by his past, and which enables him to allow his true self free rein.
A Rake’s Midnight Kiss is an enjoyable, character driven romance laden with humour and sensuality in which the character development and plot are very well balanced. Both Genevieve and Richard grow as characters throughout the story – her horizons are broadened as she admits the possibility of a life that encompasses more than dusty books and parchments while Richard is finally able to let go of his demons and become the decent, kind, and loving man he was always meant to be.
While I thought Mr. Ferguson’s narration here was superior to that in the previous book, there were still some things I wasn’t happy with. He has a well modulated, pleasing voice and his diction is very good. He differentiates clearly between characters of different genders and performs female characters without making them sound shrill. I thought his interpretation of Genevieve worked very well for the most part, although I wasn’t particularly convinced by his characterisation of Richard. I know that in the first few chapters, he is still very much acting his assumed persona of bored rake, and Mr. Ferguson’s affected drawl was very appropriate for that. But as the story progresses and Richard’s mask begins to slip, I didn’t feel there was enough of a change in the vocal characterisation to reflect that development in his personality.
I had a major issue with the narration in terms of the emotional content – or lack thereof – in the more romantic scenes. What one enjoys listening to in love/sex scenes is very much a personal thing, so I don’t often offer a critique of a narrator’s performance in that area. But, as those scenes are so important to this particular genre, I feel it appropriate to comment on those occasions where I think that something is either missing, or has gone a little too far, and this audiobook falls into the former category. I needed to hear more emotional engagement from the narrator and by extension, the characters, in the love scenes, which fell rather flat.
One of the things I really enjoyed in the novel was the banter between Richard and Genevieve which was funny and frequently affectionate – the sense of which was almost completely lost in the audiobook. I kept waiting to hear the witty, flirtatious exchanges I recalled from the print version but they didn’t materialise and I started to wonder if I was listening to the same story!
This lack of emotional engagement also led me to another discovery – I didn’t enjoy the story as much in audio as I did in print. I graded the print version a B+ when I reviewed if for All About Romance but I just wasn’t as engrossed in the audio version, which put me in something of a quandary. The story is the story, so how could I give A Rake’s Midnight Kiss a lower content grade in audio than I did in print? But then I reasoned that, just as there are some audiobooks in which the performance enhances the story, the reverse can also be true. I wasn’t as caught up in the book as I had been when reading; I found myself rewinding because my attention had wandered or I’d get to the end of a car journey and not want to sit and wait until the end of the chapter before getting out! Therefore, I’ve lowered the content grade here although I want to emphasise the fact that I enjoyed the book. This might be one of those occasions when it’s best to stick to the printed page if you want to appreciate this story as it deserves.
Caz
Narration: C
Book Content: B-
Steam Factor: Glad I had my ear buds in
Violence: Minimal
Genre: Historical Romance
Publisher: Tantor Audio
A Rake’s Midnight Kiss was provided to AudioGals for review by Tantor Audio.
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