A Duke in the Night by Kelly Bowen

Narrated by Ashford McNab

Having enjoyed every single one of the books in Kelly Bowen’s prior series, A Season for Scandal, I was thrilled to see she was releasing a new one, The Devils of Dover. As expected, A Duke in the Night, the debut book in the new series, proved to be entertaining and a welcome excursion through the romance of a titled hero with a colorful past and the perfect heroine who also is slightly unconventional, (in a liberated and forward-thinking kind of way) and who delivers him the unexpected happily ever after that neither thought was in their cards. As if an engaging and heart-felt story was not enough to run out and listen to this title, the narration by the adept Ashford McNab also makes this a good choice to experience in audio format.

Both Clara Hayward, the headmistress of the Haverhall School for Young Ladies, and August Faulkner, the Duke of Holloway, have experienced what it feels like to fall on hard financial times. In August’s case, long before he became a duke, his father had landed in debtors’ prison. This forced August to scrounge in whatever way he could to survive. He didn’t much care that it had landed him in the streets, but the fact that he was unable to provide for his sister still haunts him to this day. He has resolved to never experience misery ever again (by diving head first deep into a multitude of investments, investments that he pursues with a ruthless ambition). He has vowed to ensure that his sister is provided with the best of everything without ever having to lift a finger again. Today he owns many successful businesses, but he leads a lonely life and his sister longs to lead business ventures of her own (a need that he initially fails to recognize).

Enter Clara Hayward. Clara is not a complete unknown to August. In fact, ten years prior they had shared one magical moment on the dance floor–a moment August still thinks about. This meeting ten years later, however, spells nothing but disaster for any possible revisiting of those feelings because August has just purchased Clara’s business, Haverhall School for Young Ladies. Although he kept his purchase anonymous, Clara is bound to find out, as he purchased the property for its location alone and he plans to close the school as soon as possible to pursue a more lucrative use for the property. Moreover, his clever business acumen and the fact that he tried several times before with no success to buy this property leads him to the knowledge that Clara only sold the business because her family desperately needs the money to try to save their shipping business – a shipping business which August is sure could be an even more profitable venture for him, if he seizes this desperate time to convince Clara’s family to sell.

What will happen when greed and love collide? Could there possibly be a second chance for this couple when they both are so focused on their careers and their family’s fortunes?

Being familiar with Ashford McNab’s narrations, both from Kelly Bowen’s prior books and also from Elizabeth Hoyt’s Maiden Lane series, I knew I couldn’t go wrong listening to Ms. McNab narrating. And as expected, I enjoyed the narration. Ms. McNab is skilled at producing appropriately feminine and masculine sounding characters. Additionally, her characters are easily distinguishable from one another allowing me to enjoy the story without having to overly rely on dialogue tags.

I also enjoyed Ms. McNab’s narration flow and felt that it helped communicate the mood of the scene without being unnecessarily dramatic (as can sometimes be the case in certain romance scenes).

All in all, A Duke in the Night was a great start to a new series. From the romance to the conflict resolution of other story plot points, Ms. Bowen knows how to weave together a story with multiple facets that are sure to keep her listeners coming back for more!

BJ