Narrated by Robin Rowan
I enjoy a good period romance and have a special place in my heart for some of the classics such as Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Knowing that Lady Dearing’s Masquerade was set in a similar time period appealed to me.
Olivia Dearing decides to attend a public (gasp – how positively provocative) masquerade on a whim. While there, she finds herself attracted to a man she meets although she never sees his face. As Olivia leaves the party, another man who has been forcing his presence on her for most of the evening, tries to make unwelcome advances. Fisticuffs between the two gentlemen commence. Due to the fray, Lady Dearing (who has been identified by the gossip mill) finds she is now notorious amongst society as a gossip column has linked her to a known womanizer, who she doesn’t even know.
Earlier, Olivia had taken some children into her home from the local Foundling Hospital and, because of the rumors, the Board of Governors decides to inspect the children and her home. Enter Sir Jeremy Fairhill. Right away, Olivia realizes he is the mysterious man who captivated her at the masquerade, though Jeremy does not realize that Olivia is the woman he met that evening. However, he finds himself attracted to her and later discovers that she is the woman he has been searching for, due to a rather identifying birthmark on her person.
As I said earlier, I really do enjoy these types of historical romance. I love the proper language and the drama that is brought on by the members of the Ton. Everyone in society is driven by being accepted into this group and one whispered rumor, or a bat of the eyelash the wrong way, and that’s it – end of the line – a scandal is born.
Elena Greene does a fine job with the storyline. It is compelling enough to keep my interest and pretty entertaining as well. My only complaint? Even though the heroine is shunned by society, she is kind of too perfect. Olivia doesn’t have many character flaws, which can make her seem somewhat boring, really. Don’t get me wrong – I was rooting for her but, while I enjoyed the story, the over perfection of the heroine can detract somewhat from the story. I mean, the woman paints, she plays the harp and piano, she’s great at math, she raises children that aren’t hers, and the standard by which she raises the children is more in line with how children are raised today. She is too perfect. Please, throw in a hissy-fit penchant or a nose picking addiction … something to make the woman a tiny bit flawed. But the fact that she was ostracized by society did add interest to her character. Wronged by those around her, I found myself waiting for the truth to come out so she could be vindicated.
The hero, Jeremy, was a different story altogether. Even though the world thought he was a grieving widower, he knew that his marriage was pretty much loveless. His parents’ relationship with one other was scandalous, but he rose above it and the situation that they placed him in and was well-respected.
Overall, it was an enjoyable story, made so mostly by the attraction between Olivia and Jeremy. In the beginning, it was an immediate pull, though neither one knew the other’s identity. Once both parties realized the truth, they slowly got to know one another while the romance gathered steam until I was ready to yell “just do it”. Outsiders attempted to pull them apart, offering enough of a stumbling block to their budding romance that a villain wasn’t extremely necessary, but one was thrown into the mix, fitting in well with the plot.
Robin Rowan’s narration was well done. There is differentiation between characters, so it is fairly easy to tell who is doing the talking. She doesn’t try overly-hard to sound mannish with her male characters – instead, she gives her voice a bit more huskiness. And her characters don’t come off as cartoonish, as some narrators can, as often with a villain. Ms. Rowan manages to pull off a pompous-sounding voice for the villain in Lady Dearing’s Masquerade, and it works for her.
The vocalization for the women’s characters is appropriate, but, like some other female narrators, they may sound “kinda” similar if the listener is not paying close attention. She has an easy cadence to her delivery, one that enhances the clipped British accent she utilizes in the story. Some of the narration is delivered with a sort of staccato, which isn’t a bother to me, though I know that sort of delivery is not a favorite of all listeners.
In the end, I found Ms. Rowan’s performance quite satisfactory but I wasn’t blown away by it either. In my opinion, she’s a competent narrator, but not as compelling as some of the other stand-out narrators in the historical romance genre.
Minnie
Narration: B
Book Content: B+
Steam Factor: Glad I had my earbuds in
Violence: Domestic Violence
Genre: Historical Romance – Regency
Publisher: Elena Greene
Lady Dearing’s Masquerade was provided to AudioGals for review by Elena Greene.
