Marriage of Inconvenience by Penny Reid

Narrated by Angela Dawe & Stephen Dexter

Being a huge fan of Penny Reid, though I haven’t listened to the entire Knitting in the City series, I jumped at the chance to review her latest addition to this series, Book 7, Marriage of Inconvenience. Fortunately, knowledge of the prior books, while helpful with secondary character placement, is not essential to the enjoyment of the romantic arc of this story. Moreover, the character development of the main characters (especially the flawed heroine) was expertly crafted in this story. In particular it was satisfying to see her grow out of her shell and develop the confidence she always had, but never showed, the result of her conquering her insecurities. This leads to the growth of her character once she finally teams up with and has the encouragement of her one true love. The hero is also a great guy. Perhaps the story’s one flaw is that at times he seems almost too good to be true. But fortunately, I’m a sucker for the prince in shining armor type of hero, and his influence in this story worked well for me overall. Additionally, there are a few chuckles and some suspense laden moments along the way to this couple’s HEA that will also keep you on the seat of your chair.

Though she has never felt the love of a true family, Kathleen Tyson has all the money she could possibly need. As her father slowly gets sicker, it is just a matter of time before she inherits his vast empire. But Kathleen (or Kat Tanner as she is known to her friends) has ghosts she is hiding, so many in fact that she goes by an alias and lives a relatively normal life (including working a normal office job) in a different town where she believes no one knows about her family’s money. Kat is now finally relatively happy, and her life is mostly good until she gets the dreaded phone call from her family’s lawyer: her cousin, who is the present CEO of her father’s company, claims she is crazy and is seeking guardianship of her so he can institutionalize her, then gain access to her billions. Fortunately, her lawyer has a solution: Kat must marry immediately, preferably to a spouse that she doesn’t love (romantic feelings can be unpredictable), but one that she trusts completely (i.e., who will not look to also steal her money).

What’s a girl to do? Fortunately, Kat knows who she would like to ask, but can’t imagine he would ever accept. Nonetheless she works up the courage and asks Dan O’Mallery. Fortunately, she knows brutally well that he has no romantic interests in her, though she can’t say the same about him. At least he is trustworthy, or so she believes, so what could possibly go wrong? Will Dan save Kat from her money grabbing cousin? Even if he does, what will happen to her heart (and wealth)?

The dual narration is delivered in the typical contemporary romance fashion, with Angela Dawe narrating the chapters from Kat’s perspective and Stephen Dexter, the ones from Dan’s point of view. This works well to segment the thoughts of each.

Both narrators do a good job of presenting distinguishable voices for the dialogue, so there is no confusion as to who is speaking. Additionally, both are generally adept at infusing the scenes with appropriate emotion which heightens the suspense or romantic mood of the book.

The one area that I struggled with, though, was Stephen Dexter’s voice for Dan. This is a difficult matter to review, as I think he generally did try to stay true to the characteristics of Dan’s character that Penny Reid penned. However, the Boston accent that he used didn’t work for me. It just sounded off, almost more like a heavy New York accent. Moreover, I had a hard time seeing him as a sexy hero with that voice. He really sounded like a thug (and a weak one at that). The thug part, I guess, is somewhat true based on Dan’s own past skeletons. Nonetheless, his voice turned me off throughout most of the book, so I can’t give it great grade as a result.

All in all, I’m glad I listened to Marriage of Inconvenience as I found the story entertaining, if a bit on the long side (nearly 16 1/2 hours!). I also enjoyed watching the “good guys” win the day and love winning out in the end. As for listening though, I do suggest that you sound sample this story first before determining which format to purchase. Dan’s voice may work for you, but if you have the same reaction I did, reading this story in print may prove to be the wiser choice.

BJ