The Bachelor

January 13, 2020
Jeffries’s lackluster second Duke Dynasty Regency romance (after Project Duchess) follows Lady Gwyn Drake, whose youthful indiscretion has blighted much of her adult life. Gwyn is set to make her London debut at the improbable age of 30 when her former flame, the odious Lionel Malet, uses their past relationship to blackmail her. Imprudent Gwyn responds to his threats by confronting him with a gun that she admittedly has “no clue” how to use and has to be rescued by dour war hero Joshua Wolfe, a relative by marriage who is working on Gwyn’s brother’s estate as he recovers from injuries. Wolfe is attracted to Gwyn despite his better judgment and agrees to accompany her to London as her bodyguard at her brother’s insistence. Their inevitable romance encounters very few obstacles, and Malet’s continuing, misguided attempts at coercion, espionage, and rape are easily quashed. Readers new to the series will find it difficult to keep track of the tangled branches of the Drake family tree, and, despite Jeffries’s lively narration, the characters’ banter is oddly wooden. This one’s a disappointment. Agent: Pam Ahearn, Ahearn Agency.

Narrator Beverly Crick's voice sweeps the listener back to the time of Regency England in this romance. Injured war hero Joshua Wolfe interrupts a former lover's blackmail attempt of Lady Gwyn Drake. Crick gives the villain a menacing voice as he threatens Lady Gwyn. Lady Gwyn's brother, the Duke of Thornstock, hires Joshua to act as her bodyguard during her London debut. Crick ably handles a diverse cast of characters. In addition to the accents of the lower-class servants, the clipped tones of the aristocracy and the level voices of the military stand out. Although this is part of a series, the story can be enjoyed on its own. S.B. � AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine