No Other Duke Will Do by Grace Burrowes

Narrated by James Langton

For this third book in her Windham Brides series, Grace Burrowes moves to Wales and the home of Julian St. David, Duke of Haverford, whose estate is so encumbered by the debts accrued by his father and grandfather – their passion for collecting books creating a massive library at equally massive expense – means he is one step away from bankruptcy.

As No Other Duke Will Do opens, Julian’s sister, Glenys, has organised a large – and expensive – house-party to which she has invited a number of eligible young ladies in the hopes of finding her brother an heiress to marry. Julian is a loving man with a lot to offer, but she knows he is unlikely to marry while the state of their finances remains so dire – ergo, she will find him a wife who has money. Julian, who has not been involved in the planning or even consulted about the party, is naturally horrified at the cost, but as he is presented with a fait accompli sees no alternative but to allow things to proceed as planned… and perhaps there will be a gentleman among the invited bachelors who will catch his sister’s eye. Just because – according to his calculations – he can’t afford to marry for another eight years or more doesn’t mean Glenys should be mouldering away at Haverford Castle with him, after all.

Elizabeth Windham is the eldest of the four nieces of the Duke and Duchess of Moreland and is attending the house party with her sister Charlotte under the chaperonage of their Aunt Arabella. With their two youngest sisters recently married, their parents (and the duke and duchess) have turned their attentions to getting the two elder Windham ladies settled into the matrimonial embrace, even though Elizabeth, at twenty-eight, has no real wish to marry and would much rather devote her time and energies to her pet-project of encouraging the development of circulating libraries.

What happens when a duke in possession of thirty-thousand books which he sees at the cause of his family’s ruination (and therefore hates) meets a woman with a passion for libraries and books of all kinds?

No Other Duke Will Do is pretty much standard Grace Burrowes fare. Two decent, likeable –and in this case, mature – protagonists meet and fall in love in an understated way, and while there are obstacles to be overcome, they find a way around them together. I admit that in this book, those obstacles are a little on the flimsy side and are rather conveniently resolved, but as usual, it’s Ms. Burrowes’ attention to characterisation, relationships and the small details that are her real strengths and which, ultimately, allow one to give some of the weaker aspects of the story a pass.

She does a wonderful job here of showing how Julian’s financial situation impinges on pretty much every area of his life; he’s an honourable, compassionate man who wants very much to do what is best for those who depend on him and who is continually constrained by his lack of funds. He has worked tirelessly to bring his finances around, but knows he has a lot more hard work and sacrifice ahead of him; and we really feel for him as he realises he has finally found the woman for him but cannot afford to marry her. Elizabeth is a strong, level-headed, quick-witted heroine who longs for more from life, but isn’t sure it’s ever going to happen for her; and whose love of books grew out of a longing to for a sense of identity among the large brood of Windham cousins and sisters. Her previous forays into romance have been unsuccessful, with men who proved to be less than she’d hoped, but with Julian, there’s a sense of subtle bonding between them as they become closer through their various discussions. Theirs isn’t a relationship founded on insta-lust; there’s an attraction there, yes, but they explore it slowly as Julian shows Elizabeth how a real gentleman should treat the woman he loves and Elizabeth provides the loving support Julian has not, until now, realised he needed so desperately.

One of this author’s other great strengths is her ability to create interesting secondary characters who take on lives of their own rather than being cardboard cut-outs introduced simply to make a point. Julian’s younger brother, Griffin, is the strongest and most loveable of these; deprived of oxygen at birth, Griffin is mentally impaired in some ways, but is a kind, gentle man in spite of his limitations, who loves the land and knows every inch of his estate. Julian loves Griffin dearly, but worries about him; until Julian can marry and have children of his own, Griffin is his heir, and Julian knows his brother could never cope with the demands of the dukedom should he ever inherit. Glenys and Radnor, Julian’s best friend, have – each unbeknownst to the other – carried torches for one other for years; Julian’s cousin Hugh and his estranged wife rekindle their marriage, and there’s love on the horizon for Lady Arabella, too, who, in one of the book’s most poignant moments, recounts the sad story of her own short marriage and tells Julian not to let love pass him by. It’s true there are rather a lot of secondary romances here, but fortunately, none of them really detracts from the central love story, and there’s a hint of what’s in store for Charlotte Windham, too, as she and Lucas Sherborne – Julian’s neighbour and his major creditor – strike sparks off each other.

James Langton is someone I enjoy listening to, even though I have found his female voices can leave something to be desired. That said, I like pretty much everything else about his performances, so I can forgive his (sometimes) less-than-perfect female characterisations. His voice is easy on the ear, his pacing and differentiation are good, and he injects the right degree of emotion in the right places. I’ve said before that he really ‘gets’ Ms. Burrowes’ distinctive writing style and I honestly can’t imagine anyone else reading her books. BUT. While he’s very good at regional English, Scottish and Irish accents, I’m afraid a Welsh accent is… not his forté by a very long chalk. Given the book is set in Wales, has a Welsh hero and a number of Welsh characters, that’s a big problem – Welsh accents are difficult to do well, and unfortunately, while Mr. Langton does manage to capture a bit of the lilt, the rest of it is a weird mis-mash of other British accents, so I just had to block out the fact that it wasn’t right to keep listening. I did wonder, though, why he opted to try for a Welsh accent for Julian and Radford at all, given that noblemen at this period would probably have been educated at English schools and universities, so he could actually have decided not to use a Welsh accent at all for those characters – both of whom have a lot of dialogue – and just fudged it a bit for the minor characters. His portrayal of Griffin, too, is off – the unsuccessful accent together with an oddly high pitch just… doesn’t work well.

A Burrowes/Langton offering is normally something of a comfort listen for me as I enjoy her character-driven stories, and in fact, in terms of the content, I think this is possibly the strongest entry in the Windham Brides series so far. The narration, however… well, I’m picky about accents as anyone who reads my audiobook reviews will know, and I’m grading it according to my preferences. For anyone who doesn’t worry too much about the accuracy of the accents used (or isn’t familiar with the sound of a Welsh one), then Mr. Langton’s performance is more than decent in all other respects.

Caz