Slightly Married by Mary Balogh

Narrated by Rosalyn Landor

Tantor is following its reissue of Mary Balogh’s Simply Quartet with new recordings of the Slightly series, six novels about the Bedwyn siblings which have been on the wish list of many a romance audio fan for some time, starting with Book 1, Slightly Married. Anyone who has read or listened to the Simply books will already have met most of the Bedwyns and be aware of who ends up with whom, but that doesn’t take anything away from the pleasure of being able to hear their stories in audio for the first time.

Colonel Lord Aidan Bedwyn, second of the four Bedwyn brothers has, in the manner of many second sons, made a career in the army. It has been a distinguished career, and he fully expects to continue to serve his country and to eventually rise to the rank of General. When he comes home on leave, his first task is to make his way to the home of Miss Eve Morris, the sister of a fallen comrade. Captain Percy Morris saved Aidan’s life at Ciudad Rodrigo, and his dying request was that Aidan inform Eve of his death in person and that he take care of her, “no matter what”. Somewhat confused at the vehemence of that proviso, Aidan nonetheless honours the request, finding Miss Morris to be comfortably situated on a small country estate. She is naturally devastated at the news of her brother’s death, but insists there is nothing she needs or that Colonel Bedwyn can do for her. Aidan is not completely convinced that this is the case and senses there is something she is not telling him; and his curiosity – added to the fact that his batman has caught a nasty cold – causes him to stick around for a few days, during which he visits Miss Morris a couple of times to repeat his offers of assistance.

He eventually learns that her circumstances are precarious ones, and that the estate of which she is the owner will, in a few days, revert to the ownership of her cousin. Her father, wanting Eve to be suitably married, had become exasperated at her rejection of the various suitors he put forward to her, and so bequeathed her the estate at his death for the period of one year. If she did not marry during that time, it would go to Percy – but with Percy now dead, it will pass to the next heir. And that next heir has made it clear that he wants everybody out once the year is up.

Eve is the daughter of a coal-miner who worked his way up and eventually married the mine-owner’s daughter. The family is quite well off, although of course, with the money coming from trade, the best society looks down on them. But that doesn’t bother Eve in the slightest. She has no aspirations to be a society lady and is quite happy where she is, managing the estate and home farm. She employs many local people, including some – such as her housekeeper (who spent time in prison) – who would never find employment elsewhere, and, a year earlier, took in two orphaned children who were distantly related to her family and who would otherwise have ended up in an orphanage.

With four days to go until the anniversary of the death of Eve’s father, there is only one way Aidan will be able to properly protect her, so he proposes they enter into a marriage of convenience, even though doing so will completely scupper his own ideas of marrying the daughter of his commanding officer, a young woman used to following the drum. But Aidan is a man who values honour above all, and thus his promise to look after Eve “no matter what”, rates more highly than his own wishes.

While not wild about the idea, Eve can see that it is the only way she will be able to keep her home, the children and continue to help the community, so she agrees, on the understanding that after the ceremony, she and Aidan will go their separate ways and probably never see each other again.

But fate – in the form of Aidan’s older brother, the imperious Duke of Bewcastle – takes a hand when he discovers the union (which Aidan had intended to keep secret). The duke insists that Aidan’s wife be properly presented to the ton, as to do otherwise would be to besmirch the family honour. In spite of Aidan’s protests, Bewcastle brings Eve to London, but she is no simpering miss, and even as she acquiesces to part of the duke’s plan, she does so on very much her own terms.

The marriage of convenience trope is my favourite in the genre, and this is an extremely good example of it. It’s a character-driven story with (almost) no external conflict; the issues faced by the two protagonists arise as a result of their different expectations and personalities, and the way that Mary Balogh gradually has them lowering their defences and coming together is a masterclass in How To Do It Right. Aidan’s relationship with Bewcastle is a difficult one, the reasons for which are gradually revealed as the story progresses – and their differences have had a long-term effect on Aidan’s outlook and personality. He is presented as being a stern, cold, somewhat arrogant and humourless man, and his high-handed assumptions put Eve’s back up. Yet as the story progresses, Eve gets more and more glimpses of the man beneath, and finds them intriguing and surprisingly enticing. This gradual revelation of Aidan’s true nature is incredibly well-done, and is one of the novel’s many strengths.

The central relationship is similarly well-developed, as Aidan and Eve start to realise they are falling for each other, but believing the other is still set on their original plan to separate. Yes, it’s one of those things that could be solved by a conversation, but the avoidance of such a conversation is very much in character for both parties, and in context, it works. Both Eve and Aidan are independent, self-reliant people unused to opening up or making themselves vulnerable and it takes a great deal of courage for one of them to finally take the leap.

I’ve reviewed a number of Rosalyn Landor’s narrations over the years, and am fast running out of things to say about them, other than that they’re practically flawless and completely wonderful. It’s hard to think that there can be any fans of historical romance in audio who haven’t yet listened to one of her performances, but on the off chance there are some out there – what are you waiting for? It’s not just her technical ability that continues to impress me – although there is only a handful of other narrators who can get close to her on that score – it’s the way she always seems to get right to the heart of the story, bringing just the right level of emotional nuance to each story and each character she performs.

I listen to a lot of audiobooks – as do my fellow AudioGals – and for all the titles I choose to review, there are a few that I decide against, usually on the strength of the samples I listen to. Just the other day, I listened to a new-to-me narrator reading a love scene, and it was so matter-of-fact and detached that I wondered if that person might not be better off reading instruction manuals. My point is that most romance listeners want more than a simple reading of the words on the page. We want to experience the highs and lows the characters go through, not just hear about it; we want to be there while they’re falling in love with someone and share the emotionality of it all. And Ms. Landor understands that and never fails to deliver an exceptional performance that is both technically accomplished and emotionally satisfying.

I loved every minute of Slightly Married; indeed it was one of those audiobooks I literally couldn’t put down, and am recommending it very highly.

Caz

Narration: A+

Book Content: A

Steam Factor: Glad I had my earbuds in

Violence Rating: None

Genre: Historical Romance

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Slightly Married was provided to AudioGals by Tantor Audio for a review.