The Accidental Countess by Valerie Bowman

The Accidental CountessNarrated by Alison Larkin

There’s a fine line between lighthearted fun and maddening. At least, there is for me. I want authors to create quirky characters who triumph over all manner of unique circumstances, but I have to believe in those circumstances. The Accidental Countess, Book 2 in Valerie Bowman’s Playful Brides series, provided the circumstances minus the credibility.

Lady Cassandra (Cass) Monroe has dreamed of Captain Julian Swift for years. It doesn’t matter that their one encounter was rather embarrassing. Nor does his near betrothal to Cass’ cousin Penelope do much to quash her attraction. To her, Julian is everything that is desirable. Now, he’s home from the war, and Cass is sure he and Penelope are about to announce their upcoming nuptials. Penelope has other plans though.

Penelope wants nothing to do with Julian. Her parents are fond of him, but she couldn’t care less. So, she invents Ms. Patience Bunbury, a noblewoman recently jilted and in need of her comfort. Penelope uses Ms. Bunbury as an excuse not to see Julian upon his return.

Cass knows this is just the chance she needs. With the help of her friend Lucy, she concocts a scheme that will allow her to spend time with Julian. She tricks him into believing she’s Patience, and everything goes downhill from there. Can Julian forgive Cass for lying to him? Will they finally become the couple they have both longed to be?

The Accidental Countess is a story based upon lie after lie. Unfortunately, Ms. Bowman isn’t able to come up with logical reasons for the behavior of her characters. Cass pretends to be Patience. Lucy calls herself Lady Worthing. People, both servants and nobility, are aware of this strange behavior, but no one bats an eye. They just play along, assisting Cass, Lucy, and Julian to create a heap of trouble they can’t easily escape.

I found Cass self-involved and petulant. Part of her knows it’s wrong to lie to Julian, but she can’t see beyond her own wishes to do what’s right. Lucy, who is supposed to be charming and mischievous, comes across as manipulative and meddlesome. The rest of their acquaintances seem quite dim-witted as they play along with a scheme no one can possibly understand.

Narrator Alison Larkin has a number of romance titles to her credit. Her well-modulated British accent is perfect for this story set in 1815 London. Her vocal register is closer to a soprano than an alto, which makes voicing Cass, Lucy, and the other female characters seem quite effortless. She is able to make Cass sound young and guileless, while Lucy is given a slightly shrewish tone. At first, her portrayal of Lucy bothered me as it bordered on shrill, but as my dislike for the character grew, I began to realize just how accurate Ms. Larkin’s portrayal was.

Creating believable male characters was a little harder for Ms. Larkin. She has what seems like a default hero voice, which she uses when speaking for Julian. It sounds quite similar to voices she’s given heroes of other books she’s narrated. This didn’t bother me too much though, since Julian was easily told apart from the rest of the male characters. Lucy’s husband, Cass’ brother, and friends of Julian’s were not so easy to tell apart. There is little variation in the tones Ms. Larkin uses to portray them.

I was hoping for a story that would make me laugh. Instead, this made me cringe. All the deception was maddening, but what bothered me most was the author’s lack of imagination. If you want your characters to lie, don’t you have to come up with plausible reasons for their actions? Don’t you want readers to relate to them? Ms. Bowman might have wanted these things, but The Accidental Countess failed to deliver.

Shannon


Narration:  B-

Book Content:  D-

Steam Factor:  Glad I had my earbuds in

Violence:  Minimal

Genre:  Historical Romance

Publisher:  Tantor Audio

 

The Accidental Countess was provided to AudioGals by Tantor Audio for review.

1 thought on “The Accidental Countess by Valerie Bowman

  1. Nice review. I read one of this author’s books a while back, and had similar reservations. I’ve had no desire to pick up another one since.

    It’s a shame to hear that Ms Larkin is still struggling to get het “hero voice” right as she’s very talented in all other aspects.

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