The Winter Bride

By: Anne Gracie / Narrated By: Alison Larkin

Length: 12 hrs and 32 mins

Major traumas dealt with, good character development, some minor toe curling… but thank GOSH: Noooo Magnificent Viking(s)!

I’m not gonna go into all the background of the Chance sisters cuz I already did that in The Autumn Bride (You’re welcome!), just suffice it to say that here in The Winter Bride, it’s the turn of sister Damaris, who came to the sisterhood with a verrry traumatic background, her childhood as the daughter of a hypercritical and judgmental (And oopsie: MURDERED) minister. Yeh yeh yeh, then there was that whole Sold To A Brothel Thing, so the lass is sooo NOT up for joining sister Jane in their upcoming Season.

Just have fun with it! encourages the spry and spunky Aunt Bea: No need for husband-fishing. Just be young for once and enjoy the social gaiety. Cuz, you see, Damaris, what with her tarnished background, wants none of it. She haaaates the thought of marriage, and for herself she’s just hoping for a nice little cottage where she’ll live alone, live a quiet life with some goats and plenty of chickens.

Whilst out earning money by painting china in a dodgy part of town, Freddy Monkton-Coombes (Who’s been left as guardian to the young ladies since Max Davenham is off on his honeymoon with sister Abby), comes upon her, tries to suss out what the blazes she’s up to. She opens up about her Never Never Shall Marry, Just Want A Cottage dream, which Freddy kinda sorta can totally understand. As the heir to his father’s title and estate, he’s looking at his parents pushing, shoving, driving him closer to The Parson’s Mousetrap, so he’s not into marriage either.

Things change whenst his oh so cold Mama plans a House Party on the one day a year she knows Freddy absolutely WILL be visiting the estate (Since his brother’s death, he’s been estranged from his family, and refuses to visit save the day of his brother’s memorial). Business partner Flynn has an idea: Just feign being betrothed in words only. THAT someone must be a young woman Freddy is confident will not expect an eventual marriage, will happily “Break things off” after a fair amount of time/meeting with his parents. A few weeks, maybe a month or two.

Damaris IS that young lady. Who else is so incredibly against marriage?

So don’t believe the Publisher’s Summary about a compromising situation; believe meeeee! when I tell you THAT’S the setup for the rest of the story.

One reviewer nattered on about how heavy things were in this particular story of the Chance sisters, about how trauma is revealed early on and then dismissed lightly. This reviewer gave up and Did Not Finish. I would address that reviewer here with a resounding: You should have finished! because things get fraught indeed for Damaris, and even for Freddy who’s dealing with guilt, shame, demanding and demeaning parents. There’s a LOT of healing that needs to be done, and the latter half of this audiobook is just that: Issues coming up one by one, desperate avoidance followed by addressing head-on and speaking pain, winding up with eventual peace and happiness. There’s a reason I NEVER pull a DNF as there are MANY instances of slights/plot holes being addressed, of stories getting much better as things go on.

So there’s that. Uhm, but I gotta tell ya: Some of the issues addressed involve feeling Pleasure Rather Than Guilt/Shame. PLEASURE, I tell you, so believe me when I declare that author Anne Gracie dips her toes into the Steamy end of the spectrum. TOES CURLING! TOES CURLING!!! A weeee bit of writhing in agony and embarrassment for me.

NATURALLY Alison Larkin doesn’t wallow in the groans tho she does indeed shape her words into luxuriant mooooans which is truly red-face-inducing for me, esPECially when m’ husband is walking by, stops, asks, “What the HECK are you listening to?!” But she does characters well, and the dialogue flows smoothly with care being taken to convey some pretty emotionally-charged interactions. My only problem this go-round was that Larkin stays true to the voice she had for Freddy in The Autumn Bride where he was a bit of a comic character. Larkin had him a trifle bumbling, and fussy, and… he sounded “Chinless” to me. So imagine him as our romantic Hero here, one who carries difficult emotional burdens, untold depths, and… a FIRM CHIN… I mean, I just had such a hard time picturing strong jaws and stunningly-wrought shoulders with six-pack abs. He’d been suuuuch a Fop, remains a bit of one here (His go-to when conversations start inching into Serious is to flirt outrageously and redirect with humor, so…), but his character growth is truly well-written, just oddly narrated. But that’s the only minor ding for a well-performed story.

And so we come to the end of this review where I take the opportunity to offer that this indeed takes place in the dead of Winter, so yay! Plenty of cold shivering (Tho there ARE Shivers of Delight as well >sigh< ), the donning of heavier and warmer clothes (After some Doffing of Garments as well >sigh< ), and picturesque scenes of snow, cold, ice.

All in all a jolly good Listen despite the Toe-Curling… but dude! Spring is coming up!

Which sister is Next? And how much mooooaning will be part and parcel of a fun series?