Good god, people.
This was an impulse audio checkout from the library, and it completely consumed every minute of free time I’ve had in the twenty-four hours after I checked it out. I’ve never read a romance novel on audio before, and it was so entertaining. This particular book was very charming and swoonworthy, and I ended up loving it.
I mean, I was pathological about this book. I listened to it every chance I got. At one point, I for real snuck my iPhone into the bathroom at work just so I could listen to the last couple minutes of a chapter. I don’t think I’ve ever finished a novel-length audiobook in less than a day before. I guess the lesson is romance novels are just as addictive, if not more so, in audio form than they are in hard copy.
(Shhh, don’t tell anyone about that last thing I just told you.)
So, the actual book: Romancing the Duke is the first book in Tessa Dare’s Castles Ever After series, which are books that all features heroines who inherit castles unexpectedly, often run down ones. It is in parts very, very silly, but it made me swoon hard. It hit me in my swooners. I loved both of the main characters, also. Isolde (Izzy) is the poor daughter of one of England’s most famous authors, now deceased. Her father published fantastical stories in the form of bedtime stories to a fictionalized version of Izzy, so she is famous in her own right. She inherits a castle from her godfather upon his death. Only, it turns out the castle wasn’t his to buy. It’s still occupied by its rightful owner, the titular Duke, who disappeared from society under mysterious circumstances months ago, and has been presumed dead. Watching them fall in love with each other was delicious.
(Note: I had no trouble at all with Izzy’s “fans”. I was easily able to suspend disbelief, even though it did get very silly at a couple of points. Plus, it was soooo steamy.)
I will definitely be checking out the rest of this series in audiobook. I had to wait five months for the library audio copy of this one, while the paperback copies were available. So that might tell you something right there . . .
Anyway, good show, good show. Bring on more.
[4.5 stars]
