The Smuggler of Camden Cove

Ladies of Devon, Book 5

De: Kasey Stockton

Narrado por: Victoria Brazier

Pippa Sheffield has a penchant for trouble. She doesn't ask to be thrown into slippery situations, but they tend to find her. She has worked at maintaining good behavior--she owes that much to her sister--until her new neighbor, William Blakemore, moves in. Come to find out, he is nothing but trouble.

Book Five of the Ladies of Devon takes place 10 years after the four friends in the literary society each find their soul mates. Mabel's sister is all grown up and ready for her own adventure.

©2022 Kasey Stockton (P)2022 Golden Owl Press

Fun!

For starters, if anyone has issue with the moral idea of smuggling and common practices of the time, the author’s note at the end is very helpful in providing context. Well done, Ms. Stockton!

Kasey Stockton is a fantastic author!! And the narrator did a wonderful job. This entire series has been a delight to enjoy!!

This final story felt a little disjointed from the others, in part because i couldn’t quite place the station/status/financial position of the MacKenzie family. It felt they had “come down in the world” a little more than I had previously imagined—i knew they would be walking the line between gentility and working class, but the details needed to be sorted with more clarity. (How could they afford a season, but mingle as they did???—-just more clarity!!) Although I loved the sense of community.

I also felt the story was lacking in depth of detail with the characters, background, context, and relationship building. It just seemed there were details in the story I wish had been filled in better to make it more rich and real and connected. (And it ended a bit abruptly). It read somewhat closer to a novella in that way, which was disappointing.

I still loved the storyline for Pippa—it seemed to fit her perfectly! I just wish it could have gone through more editing to make it deeper.

In all, the series is an absolute keeper, and it is wonderful to have Pippa’s story included!

Not My Preference But Still Good

This storyline was not my preference. I’ve never enjoyed main characters being criminals, rakes, etc. even though I do understand the moral ambiguity of the situation. Also, while I enjoyed Pippa immensely as a child in “The Lady of Larkspur Vale”, I was disappointed to find that she hasn’t really grown up and is (in my humble opinion) quite immature and selfish. There is being strong-willed and then there is being recklessly self-centered.

All that being said, Kasey Stockton is an extremely talented author. The story is very well-written and I have no doubt that, if I enjoyed this type of storyline more, I would be raving about this book. And Victoria Brazier’s performance is exceptional. I highly recommend reading it.

A piece of history and romance

I really enjoyed learning a bit about smuggling during that time. The characters well done and the narrator was awesome.

Very good!

I enjoyed this story about Pippa and William. It was nice to see Pippa as a young woman with her determined and lively personality. I love this narrator- her voice is soothing and she does a great job delineating between characters. Highly recommend!

SKIP the 5th book in this series

The 1st 4 books in the series are lovely stories. The author should have stopped there. The story rambles.The plot line is a poorly written narrative. The characters are flat. I was disappointed and wish I’d have not spent $$$ for this 5th book.