Honoria and the Family Obligation

By: Alicia Cameron / Narrated By: Helen Taylor

Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins

LOOOOOVED IT!!!!

Every now and again, my mom and my sister’ll humor me with the pick of a Regency Romance for our audiobook club, especially if we’d just done a hardcore listen.

Oh, how I WISH I’d chosen Honoria and the Family Obligation for it because I think they would’ve found it delightful (but we don’t choose anything I’ve already listened to, which is, like, oh poo)!

What is it about, you ask?

Well, bear with me here cuz there are so many things and threads that happen and get woven throughout the just under 9 hours of listening time.

Mr. Allison has come to the Fentons to propose to Honoria, but she barely remembers who he is, and when she does remember him, all she can think of is how imposing he is, and how he made her feel tongue-tied. But that doesn’t matter because she overhears something that makes it impossible to refuse him; she now has an obligation to the family.

Mr. Allison discovers that Honoria and her younger sister, Serena, are dead ringers for each other, and actually it’s Serena that he found charming. Serena finds him amusing, but he’s meant for Honoria, and besides, there are more important things to think of, like horses, highwaymen, things like that.

Their brother Benedict wishes to help a childhood friend, so he rides in on a white horse, saving her by… becoming a total and unmitigated cheat at cards. His rogue of an uncle Wilbert teaches him, provides information that’ll help him as he, Benedict, plots vengeance. But Wilbert will also find himself profoundly torn when all is said and done, and he has to choose between honor and loyalty, and free and easy money.

There’s the prFOOOOUNdly ugly Mr. Scribster, the lugubrious and rude sidekick of Mr. Allison. Turns out, he’s so awful that Honoria can actually find it within herself to show her more obnoxious, more honest side to him, of all people.

And it just gets more and more delightfully complicated (did I mention that Honoria falls in love with someone… she gets instantly smitten because a handsome left ear promises sooooo much), and what I really liked was author Alicia Cameron’s writing style, the wittiness, the clever banter. Each storyline develops at its own methodical pace so that all is believable as stories and relationships unfold. Unlike, say, Josi S. Kilpack’s The Vicar’s Daughter, where things happen IMMEDIATELY and feelings are IMMEDIATELY entangled, here with Honoria and the Family Obligation things take their time, and here too there’s no screwing over of other people—Serena and Honoria are good and loving sisters and they make choices based upon their bond.

Add Helen Taylor’s narration and you’ve got a winner. But full disclosure? It took Ms. Taylor a bit to find the rhythm of the book, and she made flubs such as pronouncing Honoria once as Honor-EYE-ah (jarring), and calling Serena Selena (befuddling). After that, her performance was golden. And as things became more fraught, and things came together so that dear Mama could pick through it all, Ms. Taylor’s narration was completely golden, and she was up for all challenges.

I’m a sucker for a good Regency, or a Historical Romance, so I listen to plenty of well-that-was-okay/pretty-decent audiobooks and am pleased with them. Here, however, I was absolutely DELIGHTED and am looking forward to checking out more of Alicia Cameron’s works.

As it is, for now, I screwed myself outta being able to share this book with my mom and my sister because I had no IDEA it’d be worth waiting for as an audiobook club pick.

I am left only with saying to them: You’ve been listening to heavy books as of late? Check THIS one out, why don’cha?!?