His Sinful Touch by Candace Camp

Narrated by Will Thorne

His Sinful Touch is book five in Candace Camp’s Mad Morelands series, which initially comprised four books (published between 2003 and 2005) featuring a set of unusual and unconventional siblings, all children of the Duke and Duchess of Broughton. The author has returned to the family after a long break to bring us the stories of the two youngest siblings, twins Alex and Con; this is Alex’s book and the next (His Wicked Charm, due for publication in March 2018) is Con’s. The twins appeared as secondary characters in some of the earlier books as young boys; I confess I haven’t read any of them – I gleaned all this from the information given in this story – and now, aged twenty-five, they are set to get their own happy endings.

Alex Moreland has dropped by the office of the investigative agency operated by his twin to discover that Con is just about to depart London for Cornwall to pursue a lead in his latest case. After exchanging goodbyes, Alex is on his way out when he sees a young man approaching along the corridor – but immediately senses something is ‘off’. The ill-fitting clothes, the odd gait and Alex’s psychically heightened intuition (like other family members, he has supernatural gifts) tell Alex that ‘he’ is a ‘she’ and that something traumatic has happened to her.

The young woman then proceeds to explain that she has come to Alex for help because she has no memory of who she is or what happened to her. All she can recall is getting off a train at Paddington Station a few hours earlier, and then being directed to the Moreland Agency by a cabbie. She thinks her name might be Sabrina, because it’s engraved in the locket she is wearing, which also contains a date she thinks might be her date of birth, but other than that, her mind is a blank. Alex – who has the ability to sense things by touching inanimate objects associated with strong feelings – can tell by touching the locket that whoever gave it to Sabrina gave it to her with a lot of love, but can’t sense anything further.

Moved by her plight – and rather surprised at the unusual sense of recognition and strong pull of attraction he feels towards Sabrina – Alex agrees to help. Sorting through the contents of the pockets of Sabrina’s jacket, they find little of help – a ticket, a handkerchief… and a ring that might be a wedding ring. Alex’s heart sinks at the sight of it, at the prospect that Sabrina might be married – but he doesn’t let it show, and escorts Sabrina to Broughton house where, he tells her, she can stay until such time as they find out who she is and where she lives.

Sabrina’s installation at the ducal home gives followers of the series the chance to catch up with some of the other members of the family, and the author the opportunity to give listeners a potted history of how all the Morelands met their respective matches. They’re certainly an unusual bunch who aren’t in the least fazed by Sabrina or her situation – and have been dubbed the “Mad Morelands” by society, their elevated rank meaning they are politely regarded as eccentric rather than scandalous.

His Sinful Touch charts Alex and Sabrina’s search for the truth about her identity and her situation. She feels strongly that she must have been running from something or someone – and the fact that she had obviously been beaten or struck when Alex met her seems to bear that out. Over the days and weeks of their association, Alex and Sabrina become close, and the instant attraction they felt at their first meeting grows stronger until they both have trouble keeping their hands off one another. There are several scenes in which they fail abysmally to do that – although each time, poor Alex gets cock-blocked before things can reach their natural conclusion and then reminds them both that they shouldn’t take things that far because Sabrina might be married.

Ms. Camp ups the ante a little in the second half of the book, as we discover what – or rather, who – Sabrina had been running from, and the extent of their nefarious plans, but it’s all somewhat clichéd and the amnesia plotline is rather clumsily handled. The paranormal elements of the story are also pretty basic – although Alex manages to pull off a bit of Jedi Mind Control near the end!

Will Thorne isn’t a name I’ve come across before and an Audible search revealed he has this and one other title to his credit. I’ll admit to some trepidation, as is always the case when I’m about to listen to a new performer, but within seconds I realised I wasn’t listening to a newbie – and I’m sure that eagle-eared listeners will quickly recognise a popular, experienced and exceptionally talented performer behind the alias. Narrators choose to use pseudonyms for a variety of reasons, so I’ll just say that Mr. Thorne delivers an extremely strong and accomplished performance in every way, and that while the story was ultimately disappointing, his narration was so engaging as to enable me to make it to the end without feeling too grumpy! His pacing is exactly right, and his vocal characterisations are excellent; there are a large number of secondary characters in the story, and he provides each one of them with an individual tone and manner of speech so that no two sound alike. Alex and Con are easy to tell apart – Alex speaks in a slightly gruff bass/baritone while Con’s somewhat more light-hearted personality is clearly displayed in the lighter timbre and slightly higher pitch used for his dialogue. Mr. Thorne’s female voices always impress, and they continue to do so here; Sabrina and her friend Lilah (heroine of the next book) are also easily distinguishable from one another, and overall, both narrative and dialogue are imbued with exactly the right degree of expression and nuance.

His Sinful Touch is ultimately a bit of a mixed bag. The story is on the whimsical side, which is something I count in its favour, but the characters are stereotypical and not especially memorable, and in spite of the chemistry between them, the romance itself is a little disappointing. BUT – you could do a lot worse than kick back and let Mr. Thorne’s dulcet tones wash over you for a few hours; his performance is fabulous and does much to paper over the cracks in the story.

Caz