Dearest Rogue by Elizabeth Hoyt

Dearest RogueNarrated by Ashford McNab

Another Elizabeth Hoyt Maiden Lane historical title! Huzzah!!

Lady Phoebe Batten is tired of the way her brother treats her. She may be blind but she’s not dead! There is no need for her to have a personal guard like Captain James Trevillion to keep her out of trouble. She is perfectly capable of making her own way in and about town.

After the accident that ended his military career, Captain Trevillion is now guard to the Duke of Wakefield’s blind sister. It should have been an easy job, but Lady Phoebe is determined and stubborn and… beautiful. It’s not just her outside appearance but her spirit that captivates him. He knows he’s not good enough for her, besides that fact that he’s older and walks with a limp, she’s of a difference class than him. Of course, when someone targets Lady Phoebe in an attempt to get to her powerful brother, all bets are off.

I love, love, love this book! Dearest Rogue is tied for second place in my favorites of the Maiden Lane series, next to Scandalous Desires. Phoebe is adorable and determined while Trevillion is the realization of every romance hero I have dreamed about. They are such a good match for one another. The best part of this book is the lack of emphasis on appearance. Listening to it made me aware of how often I look to the characters’ appearance to make decisions about them. Hoyt does a really good job of engaging the reader to see the world as Phoebe does and not make being blind seem like a disability or a handicap. My only complaint is the plot point involving Duke of Montgomery – it is kind of silly. I do hope we learn more about him and that he turns out to be hiding something really good and dark in his background.  He was so deliberately bad and roguish he has to be a main character down the road!

As for the narration of Dearest Rogue, I have nothing bad to say about Ashford McNab’s performance. I did find the music in the beginning distracting – it went on too long and covered the first few sentences – but this has nothing to do with McNab. All of her characterizations are spot on – Phoebe sounds young but stubborn (and no lisp for those concerned after her performance of Phoebe in the previous series entry). Trevillion is hard but with an undercurrent of warmth that comes out in his dealings with Phoebe and Agnes. Initially I worried about McNab’s portrayal of Trevillion but it was true to his character as written and I saw the wisdom behind it. McNab also has this trick where she speeds up during the intense moments and slows down during the quiet moments and it’s effective. She does an outstanding job of bringing life to Hoyt’s characters.

Overall I enjoyed McNab’s performance so much that I overlooked any quirks that may have normally driven me nuts. Hers is the type of performance I recommend for newbie listeners to dip their toes into. So far, Dearest Rogue is one of my top audiobook picks for the year!

Diana


Narration:  A+

Book Content:  A

Steam Factor:  Glad I had my earbuds in

Violence:  Minimal

Genre: Historical Romance

Publisher:  Hachette Audio

 

Dearest Rogue was provided to AudioGals by Hachette Audio for review.

 

3 thoughts on “Dearest Rogue by Elizabeth Hoyt

  1. I am listening to Dearest Rogue right now. It is such a fantastic book (and I normally do not like historicals). Ashford McNab is amazing in this. I can’t imagine the Maiden Lane series without her.

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