The Soldier by Grace Burrowes

Narrated by James Langton

The Soldier is the second book in Grace Burrowes’ eight-book series about the sons and daughters of the Duke and Duchess of Windham and, as with the first book (The Heir), it features a number of recurring characters and family members. That said, the story works well as a standalone; anyone starting with the series here shouldn’t have any particular problems working out the various friendships and familial relationships.

Devlin St. Just is the Duke of Windham’s eldest son, although he was born on the wrong side of the blanket some time before the duke met and married his duchess. In fact, the duke was unaware of Devlin’s existence until he was around five years old, when his mother decided it would be better for her boy to be brought up in the comfort and security a ducal family would provide. Devlin was accepted into the family with open arms, growing up with his legitimate half-brothers and sisters and loved by them and by the duchess who looked upon him as she did her own sons.

A decorated war hero, Devlin has been given the title Earl of Rosemont in recognition of his services, and has inherited the estate of the same name in Yorkshire, which is somewhat dilapidated and in need of some TLC- rather like Devlin himself as it turns out. One of the first people he encounters is a young urchin he quickly discovers is the illegitimate daughter of the previous owner of the estate, the Earl of Helmsley (who was the villain in The Heir). Bronwyn is five years old and was accepted by both her father and grandfather, but with no mother to guide her, she has more or less run wild. The only person to have really cared for her is her cousin, Emmaline (Emmie) Farnham, a young woman who makes her living as a baker. Emmie is good at what she does, but she is working herself into the ground to keep her business going and this means she doesn’t always have much time for Winnie.

Once Devlin realises who Bronwyn is, he also realises that there is something about the little girl’s circumstances that strikes a chord with him and decides to take responsibility for her. She has led an unsettled life, and with no family around her has become very dependent on Emmie, whom she often pushes to the limit of her patience. Even though Devlin was lucky enough to have been brought up in a large, loving family, there is still that little boy within who wonders why his mother didn’t want him; and he knows instinctively that it is important for Winnie to feel loved and accepted and to have some element of stability to her life.

Emmie and Devlin are drawn together initially by their shared interest in Winnie’s welfare, but Devlin is soon surprised to notice the stirrings of desire, something he hasn’t felt since coming home a couple of years previously. The attraction is mutual; Devlin is handsome, kind and protective, and having a man care for her and be concerned for her isn’t something Emmie has ever experienced. Yet she isn’t a suitable match for an earl, even a newly-created one. She is illegitimate and lives on the fringes of society, and is not really accepted by the local gentry, even though she is obviously a lady by temperament. As the story progresses, she and Devlin become closer and their desire for each other is impossible to deny; but there is part of her life that Emmie is determined to keep secret – and while Devlin knows that she is deliberately shutting him out and trying to distance herself, he is at a loss to understand why.

One of the criticisms I’ve often seen levelled at Grace Burrowes’ books is that they tend to be repetitive. I won’t refute that, because it’s true at times – although I will say that there are many authors out there whose work could attract the same epithet, but they are putting out only one book a year compared to Ms. Burrowes’ six or ten, so perhaps that repetitiveness is less obvious. But I can’t deny that the storylines in both The Heir and The Soldier are very similar. In The Heir, the hero – who is the son of a duke – falls for a woman well below his station in life who is keeping A Big Secret. And in The Soldier, the hero – who is the son of a duke – falls for a woman well below his station… you get the picture. That said, however, there is no doubting Ms. Burrowes’ ability to write human emotion and human experience, and she is unparalleled when it comes to writing children that are convincing and actually think and act like children and are not simply convenient plot devices.

Devlin is a lovely hero, a caring, compassionate man who feels things deeply and who is still struggling to come to terms with his experiences of war. Today, we’d recognise his condition as PTSD, but of course, back when the book is set, nobody had heard of such a thing. He has flashbacks and nightmares, and even now, battles with the urge to seek relief at the bottom of a bottle. But with the help of his youngest brother, Valentine, he has begun to overcome his craving, although he still has bad days when it gets the better of him.

The big stumbling block for me in this book is the character of Emmie. Ms. Burrowes’ female characters are normally engaging and sympathetic, but Emmie comes across as indecisive, a bit whiny and, in the later stages of the book, overly weepy. As in the previous book, the secret she is keeping is not much of a secret to readers, and is something that could have been dealt with in a simple conversation. I found it difficult to accept that she could know and love Devlin without understanding that he would not condemn her for it.

James Langton gives another strong performance here, maintaining the same Irish accent he used for Devlin in the previous story, and portraying other, common supporting characters consistently with the earlier book. I was a little surprised, on listening to The Heir, that he had chosen to give Devlin an accent, because the character grew up in an English household, went to English schools and spent most of his life amongst the English aristocracy, so I would have expected him to have lost it. But accent is a useful method of differentiation for any narrator, and Mr. Langton makes a good job of it, so I’m not complaining.

His portrayal of Emmie is also more than decent, and, for the most part, he manages not to fall into the trap of making her sound too high pitched at key moments in the story (which l noted in his portrayal of Anna in the previous book); and I liked his interpretation of Valentine, who sounds appropriately youthful and jaunty. Once again, though, I confess to being less than pleased with Mr. Langton’s characterisation of Douglas, Lord Amery, who, as anyone who has read his story (Lonely Lords #8) will know, is young, handsome and a new father – yet he sounds like he’s in his dotage.

Overall, however, I continue to enjoy this narrator’s easy-on-the-ear voice and his affinity for Ms. Burrowes’ distinctive way with words. While there are some aspects of this performance that are stronger than others, it’s well-paced and expressive, and the positives definitely outweigh the negatives. The Soldier isn’t an audiobook that’s going to set the world alight, but it’s a solid addition to the growing number available from this author/narrator team.

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Caz

AUDIOBOOK INFORMATION

TITLE: The Soldier

AUTHOR: Grace Burrowes

NARRATED BY: James Langton

GENRE: Historical Romance

STEAM FACTOR: Glad I had my earbuds in

REVIEWER: Caz [button type=’link’ link=’http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GP0EIP6/?tag=audiogalsnet-20′ size=’btn-lg’ variation=’btn-default’ target=’blank’]Buy The Soldier by Grace Burrowes on Amazon[/button]