Narrated by Zara Hampton-Brown
Dare to Love a Duke is the third book in Eva Leigh’s The London Underground series, in which the three heroines are not as respectable as the debutantes, governesses and worthy widows that litter the pages of historical romance. Eva Leigh presents a trio of spirited, independent women who know how to play men at their own game and who have made lives for themselves on their own terms – and pairs them with men who fully appreciate them for what and who they are.
Following the recent death of his father, Thomas Powell, the new Duke of Northfield decides it’s time to leave his misspent youth behind him. The late duke was one of the most conservative members of society, and while Tom doesn’t aspire to emulate him, he has no wish to continue to inspire the sort of gossip that will embarrass his mother and sister or tarnish the family name. In any case, his dissolute lifestyle has begun to pall somewhat and he’s ready for a change – but his one regret is that his decision will mean no more visits to the Orchid Club, the clandestine sex club that allows all who attend to indulge their secret sexual desires and fantasies in complete anonymity. Tom has attended the club’s weekly gatherings for the past year – his fascination with the place far more to do with the sense of freedom his anonymity brings and with the club’s beautiful hostess, the mysterious Amina, than with any of the many offers of sexual gratification that come his way.
Amina is actually Lucia Marini, the child of a wealthy Englishman and a poor Italian woman, who was disowned by her English grandparents after her parents died. It’s clear her life has been a far from easy one, and at one point she made her living by selling the only commodity she owned – herself. Seeing a way out of that life, Lucia began working at the Orchid Club as a server (there are no sex-workers there – there’s an entrance fee, yes, but there no sex for money and everything is consensual) and for the past year she has been the manager. The place has continued to thrive under her leadership, but she has just learned of the death of the club’s owner and is worried about its future. Assuming the property has passed to the late owner’s heir, will he want to keep it going or shut it down?
Tom and Lucia have been drawn to each other since Tom’s first, and a year later, that fascination has only increased. Neither of them has ever acted on their strong mutual attraction – until the night Tom tells her will be his last visit. The club’s insistence on complete anonymity means he can’t tell her why he will not be coming back, but he decides to reach for one last thing for himself before being subsumed by the duties and responsibilities of the dukedom, and asks ‘Amina’ to spend one night with him.
Lucia can’t say no. She’s been as smitten with Tom as he with her, and the couple share a night charged with passion but tinged with sadness, both knowing their lives are about to change.
Okay, so there are no prizes for working out the identities of the club’s former owner and its new one – it’s not a spoiler as it’s revealed fairly early on in the book. At first, Tom is stunned – his upright, beyond-reproach father owning a sex club is completely incomprehensible to him – and to the listener, actually; his reasons for doing so are discussed but no conclusion is drawn and no real reason given, which I did find a little dissatisfying.
The real issue is, of course, that all Tom’s good intentions as regards leading a spotless life from now on are rather thrown into disarray. Should his ownership of the Orchid Club become common knowledge, the scandal could have serious repercussions for his mother and especially his younger sister – but if he closes it down, it will put Lucia and all the employees out of work. And also weighing him down is the fact that his father’s cronies are putting pressure on him to align himself with them politically, to quash calls for reform and instead work to preserve the status quo whereby the rich and privileged continue to oppress the poor and needy. His conscience baulks at voting with them, but if he doesn’t, one of the group, Lord Brookhurst, will refuse permission for his son to marry Tom’s sister – and Tom can’t bear the thought of being the cause of her disappointment and unhappiness.
Tom really is caught between a rock and a hard place, and the author does a fabulous job of conveying that as he wrestles with his conscience. How is he to reconcile his desire to stand up for what is right and be the man he knows he can be with his desire to protect those he loves? Tom is one of the most honourable, likeable and genuinely decent heroes I’ve come across in the genre, and his desire to do the right thing and take care of everyone around him is well presented. He’s a duke, but he’s a progressive one; he believes everyone, regardless of station, is deserving of kindness and respect, and his admiration of Lucia’s tenacity and determination shine through in his every word, action and thought about her. She’s his perfect match – clever, spirited and fiercely protective of those she cares about, Lucia is Tom’s anchor and the one person he feels he can turn to – and wants by his side – as he struggles to decide what sort of duke – and man – he is going to be.
I’m always apprehensive about listening to new narrators, and I could find only one other audiobook narrated by Zara Hampton-Brown at Audible, which led me to believe she was new to the business of audiobook narration. But what do you know, after I listened to the sample, I realised she’s not a new narrator at all, but is a fairly well-known one I’ve listened to several times before, recording under an alias. (I know narrators do this for a variety of reasons, but it’s still really frustrating!)
So it was a pleasant surprise to know that I was going to be listening to someone whose work I generally enjoy. Ms. Hampton-Brown’s experience in the genre shows, and she delivers an accomplished performance, differentiating clearly between the characters and imbuing both narrative and dialogue with the right degree of expression and emotional nuance. Each character is vocalised appropriately according to gender, age and station, and although she doesn’t lower the pitch of her voice significantly in order to portray the male characters, she depicts them effectively by adding a brighter edge to her tone and making a slight change to her manner of delivery. The text indicates Tom has an Irish accent, which Ms. Hampton-Brown maintains consistently throughout, and she does a good job conveying the deeply hidden vulnerability beneath Lucia’s strong exterior.
Cross-class romances can be difficult to pull off, but the author does it with aplomb, making it easy to believe in Tom and Lucia’s HEA in spite of the difficulties ahead for them. Dare to Love a Duke is a romantic and sexy story that also makes some serious points about the conditions faced by working women and the underprivileged, and about the importance of doing what’s right no matter how difficult. It’s an enjoyable addition – and fitting conclusion – to the series, and earns an unreserved recommendation.
Caz
Buy Dare to Love a Duke by Eva Leigh on Amazon
