Mr. Impossible by Loretta Chase

Narrated by Kate Reading

It’s been so long since I read Mr. Impossible, experiencing it on audio was like listening to a brand new book, albeit with a guarantee of success both in terms of content and narration. (What could be better than that?)

Rupert Carsington is the youngest Carsington brother and a bit of a scapegrace. His overwrought father has banished sent him to Egypt to do some consular “work” and stay out of trouble. As if the latter could ever occur. Rupert has a habit of falling into adventure. At least, “adventure” is what he would call it. In Egypt, this most often lands him in jail.

When Daphne Pembroke’s brother goes missing and she is in search of some help to find him, jail is just where she finds Rupert. The consulate, sick of bailing Rupert out of prison, has said to Daphne that she may have Rupert’s help if she will pay the fees for his release. Of course, Daphne, being both practical and very, very clever, haggles with the sheik so that she pays a fraction of the asking price – about the same as a healthy eunuch in fact (much to Rupert’s dismay).

Daphne Pembroke is an Egyptian scholar in an age where it was difficult and exceedingly unfashionable to be a female with a brain. She is now widowed, but when she married, she was distraught to find that her scholar husband was not encouraging at all of her more academic pursuits. She felt stifled and very unhappy. What’s more, Virgil did not think her “womanly passion” was seemly and this made Daphne feel a failure all round. After Virgil’s death, Daphne’s brother, Miles, took on the persona of “scholar” while Daphne did the work and, together, they travelled and she was free (albeit in secret) to learn and study to her heart’s content.

Now, her brother is missing and so is a valuable papyrus which may be the key to solving the riddle of the Rosetta Stone.

Rupert is not stupid – although he often plays the role of amiable blockhead – but he is not as academically-minded as Daphne. He is not at all intimidated by her brain or her knowledge however. He encourages and revels in her expertise and skills. He is a man of action and tends to be more skilled in physical pursuits but he is also astute when it comes to judging and managing people – all of which come in handy as he and Daphne cross Egypt in search of Miles, who is an unwilling pawn between two treasure-hunters out for glory.

Where Rupert is perhaps a bit dense is in deciphering his emotions. He recognises he feels differently for Daphne than for any other woman but he is unable to put a name to those feelings. He knows he feels lust but there is something more – what is it??

Daphne is attracted to Rupert but ashamed of her passionate nature, particularly after the number Virgil did on her head. She thinks she is not woman enough to hold Rupert’s attention.

She finds out she is quite wrong about both assumptions and he eventually (and with some help, it must be said) puts a name to that finer emotion he feels for the feisty Mrs. Pembroke.

The pace is brisk and the adventure cracking – kidnapping, murder, mayhem and a mongoose all combine to make this a bit of a romp. Add to that a delightful love story between our two protagonists and you have all the ingredients for a great romance.

Kate Reading is one of my favourite narrators and one of the best in the business. However it came to be that Ms. Reading is performing the narrations of these Loretta Chase classics, whether serendipity or wisdom, I can only be grateful.

Ms. Reading’s performance of Daphne’s character was perfection. Daphne is very practical and forthright and prodigiously clever. All of these attributes were imbued into Ms. Reading’s characterisation, along with, at turns, fear, shame, bewilderment and determination. Even her usual crisp and precise pronunciation works so well for Daphne.

Rupert’s depiction was slightly less successful for me because he occasionally sounded a little too dense but this is a fairly small niggle in an otherwise stellar performance.

I enjoyed the way the other characters were portrayed too, especially Lina and “Tom”.

Mr. Impossible is another winner. I recommend.

Kaetrin

Narration: A-

Book Content: B+

Steam Factor: Glad I had my earbuds in

Violence: Fighting

Genre: Historical Romance

Publisher: NYLA

Mr. Impossible was provided to AudioGals by NYLA for a review.