The Autumn Bride
Series: Chance Sisters, Book 1
By: Anne Gracie / Narrated By: Alison Larkin
Length: 10 hrs and 54 mins
Loooved Aunt Bea and a sisterhood based on love and respect, but I reeeeally coulda done without the exclamations of: My Magnificent Viking!
Yep, The Autumn Bride had some reviewers rating it as Steamy, so you can full well imagine how I might have wandered into something a tad more passionate than I’m comfy cozy with (I didn’t read the Publisher’s Summary — just saw Autumn, figured it was part of a series that would take me through all four seasons, snatched it up posthaste, and now here I am…).
It’s truly odd that despite SEVeral heaving bosoms, SEVeral awesome thighs in buckskin britches, nope, m’ toes didn’t curl. Quite odd, thought I to m’self, and I’m still wondering how I managed to get through it all even-keel(ish).
Maybe cuz the story is just a lot of fun?! Really, once we got past the setup and got to the relationships that were being methodically developed, with plenty of sauciness on Aunt Bea (Lady Beatrice)’s side? Totally a fun Listen.
Story starts off as such: A young Max, newly minted as the Lord Davenham, has stepped into the new title and has discovered that, along with the illustrious title, he’s now been saddled with comPLETEly horrific debts: His father, his uncle, have left him and his estate(s) without a penny. Bad, but nay, it’s worse. He’ll have to sell EVERYthing, and it still won’t get him outta the fix they left him with. But he has a plan, strikes a Devil’s Bargain, and is off to the East to see about earning money to kinda sorta fix things.
Then we’re off to Abigail, a governess who has just discovered that her little sister has been shanghaied and was taken to a brothel. She’s not allowed to leave her post to try to save her, but she dashes away anyway. Tension! Danger! And a rescue! Oh huzzah, buuuut… Little sister Jane comes with Damaris, another girl from the brothel, aaaand they simply canNOT leave Daisy, an employee from the brothel, as the rescues couldn’t have happened without her smarts and determination. Armed with her cockney accent and down-to-earth street smarts, Daisy joins the trio and a sisterhood is formed. After Abby is fired, this sisterhood is off to try to make some dreams come true.
Unfortunately, Out There is expensive, and Life throws the girls a curve when Jane gets verrrry ill. So Abby, at 24-years of age and feeling like the one who shoulders the burdens, is driven to do something desperate: She climbs walls, navigates pipes, stumbles into a bedroom in a seemingly abandoned mansion, and DISCOVERS: Yessss, Lady Beatrice Davenham, bedridden, smelling disgusting from a lack of washing and care, and ready for this intruder, Abby, to end her suffering and shoot her. There’s a saucy exchange, Abby finds there’s nothing to steal, and she assists Lady Bea and helps her sip some water.
This sets up a fine relationship when Bea asks all four girls to come live with her, treats them as her long-lost nieces, and all hell breaks loose when Max Davenham returns from the Orient, richer than all get-out, and trying to find out why his aunt has been silent for so long.
Okay, so here’s where my toes SHOULDA been curling, cuz from the get-go, Abby sees Max, she notices his MAGNIFICENT thighs, danged near swoons as she thinks, why, he strikes her as, yesss, A VIKING, strong, intense, blah blah rugged features blah. Max, for his part, is taken with her stalwartness and a pair of fine eyes (No, really, note to authors: Pride and Prejudice ALREADY did the noticing of jolly decent eyes so well, doooo go for something else to notice…).
Ahh, and I should cut author Anne Gracie some slack, cuz pretty soon Max is noticing her perfect little breasts, is danged near suffering an erect member as he watches Abby spoon dessert ever so sloooowly into her mouth, licking her lips in a sultry fashion and you get the drift? Seriously, why didn’t my toes curl, why did I not roll my eyes?!
I guess because it only struck me as amusing, and then too, Gracie develops the characters sooo well, and I loved the bond the girls had with each other, and gosh-dang it, I ADORED the sassy boldness of Lady Bea and how she cared for the girls, how the girls cared for her.
Alison Larkin! Maybe SHE was why my toes didn’t curl. Her narration was Magnificent (Thighs?), and she seemed to relate each steamy event with a hint of reserved humor. After all, our Hero and heroine are in a slow burn, a tad confused, and even when they go for the brass ring and fall into bed (Which made me wonder why Abby didn’t learn from an earlier ruinous encounter!), Ms. Larkin does NOT go with passionate and guttural sounds. I’ve gotta imagine her narrating with tongue firmly planted in cheek, enjoying herself without getting all bestial. Thank GOD!!!
Definitely enjoyed this enough to consider chucking a credit at The Winter Bride when that season comes around (By the way, The Autumn Bride has to start in summer so as to have the relationship develop enough for a marriage to occur in a reasonable timeframe—and the characters CONstantly decry how cold this summer is, so I got my cozy chilly autumn wishes in that respect).
I dooo hope my toes didn’t curl because I’m getting inured to lusty glances, sultry lip licking, engorged members. But I dunno…?
Did Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife comPLETEly wreak havoc on my sensibilities? Maybe THAT experience had me with no toes left to curl; they plum-well fell right off…!
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