Bargaining with a Rake

A Whisper of Scandal Novel, Book 1

By: Julie Johnstone

Narrated by: Tristan Hunt

Her first mistake was striking a bargain with a notorious rogue bent on revenge. Her second was falling in love with him.

A lady desperate to escape.

For eleven years, Gillian Rutherford has dreamed of escaping her family’s dark secret and living a normal life. Now, faced with an unwelcome marriage that will chain her to London and the secret slowly killing her, she’s frantic to save herself and the sister she adores. Salvation comes in the form of an American shipping tycoon, and all she must do is seduce him into marrying her. But Gillian’s scheme hits a snag when she makes a bargain with a notorious rake. He’ll help her win the hand of his American friend, if she’ll assist him with exacting revenge against her unwanted fiancé. But the price of the pact, may be her heart.

A rogue out for vengeance.

The day tragedy strikes Alexander Trevelle’s family, he vows to obtain revenge against the man responsible. And when he discovers the man’s betrothed wishes to escape wedding him, Alex is more than happy to assist the ravishing lady in her scheme. But the more time he spends with the quick-witted bold Gillian, the less perfect the rash bargain seems. Each moment around her is sweet torture, and passion simmers between them, even igniting at times. Yet Alex is fighting it with all the strength he possesses, because to ever truly claim her as his, he’d have to offer the one thing he’s unsure he could—his heart.

An arrangement better broken.

When Gillian and Alex’s common enemy positions himself to outmaneuver them both and take away any chance at the unexpected gift hanging between them, the proud lady and the damaged rouge risk losing each other forever unless they expose their carefully guarded secrets and trust in each other so that they can claim the greatest victory of them all—triumphant unwavering love!

©2012 Julie Johnstone (P)2014 Julie Johnstone

Excellent Audiobook!

I enjoyed listening to this Audible book. It included mystery, greed, numerous secrets, lies, deceit, family loyalty and love, and finding true love. I enjoyed the funny banter between several of the characters, and found myself laughing out loud. Gillian loves her sister so much that she's ready to give up her own happiness in order to protect her. Alexander comes to love Gillian but he too is ready to to give up his happiness in order to help her. I couldn't help but fall in love with these two. There are many twists and turns in this story. Tristan Hunt did a superb job narrating this book. I loved his accents and the fact that he gave the characters their own distinctive voices. He made me feel the emotions of the characters, laugh at their banter, and made the sex scenes even steamier. I highly recommend this Audible book.

My first audiobook

If you could sum up Bargaining with a Rake in three words, what would they be?

Well worded and executed.

What about Tristan Hunt’s performance did you like?

The American

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I was surprised they use the same voice for the women too.

Murder and Blackmail

A suspenseful story of Blackmail that will keep a loving couple apart and a villain that will do anything and everything to get Jilleyn as his bride makes this story very exciting.
The narrator did a good job of bringing the story and characters to life.

A WONDERFUL HISTORICAL ROMANCE!!!

What did you love best about Bargaining with a Rake?

The Relationship building between the H/H Lady Gillian Rutherford and the Alexander the Marquess of Lionhurst. All of the secondary characters were a delight to read and listen too.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I can't name one. There were a lot of characters but all of them were written well and developed.

What does Tristan Hunt bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The different Characterizations. I just wished he had used a higher recording volume. Even on Highest volume I could only listen in a room with no other noise. A quite room in order to hear it.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, because of the story not so much the narrator!!

Any additional comments?

Bargaining With A Rake book 1 of A Whisper Of Scandal series, was a absolutely wonderful Historical Romance. It had the right amount of romance with a little bit of sensual sexy heat. I usually like a more sensual erotic romance story but Bargaining With A Rake's storyline and characters made up for the lack of sex. There is plenty of suspense, mystery and secrets with a touch of sadness. The villain get his just deserts. The H/H Lady Gillian Rutherford daughter of the Duke of Kingley and Lord Alexander Trevelle the Marquess of Lionhurst were written with intelligence, witty banter between the two. Deep layers of character development. Great Storytelling. Enough of a backdrop to transport you back into the year 1817. I hope the next book Conspiring With A Rogue is as good. I Highly Recommend BWAR!! Very Well Done.

Loyalty to family kept me listening

This is a very enjoyable story. A woman, Gillian, who is willing to give up her home and her chance at happiness to protect her sister from a secret. Gillian's loyalty to family despite all the secrets surrounding her endeared her to me. She does what she thinks is right, even bargain with a rake. Alex was a good counterpart with his own dark issues. The narrator, Tristan Hunt, helped bring life and emotion to the characters. I highly recommend this story.

I received a copy of this audio as a gift, and this is my unsolicited review.

Enjoyed listening

Good character development. Nice storyline. Loved Alex and the narrators voice for Alex is swoon worthy. I’m sure I’ll listen again. Great supporting characters!

Similar to My Fair Duchess

Yes the characters are similar in that the hero is wounded by a woman, heroine imagines being married to someone other than the hero, hero wishes to become a rake because of a family experience, the hero is honorable and also dances with wallflowers other men don't in order to help them, all friends know about the secret plot characters are involved in so really not much of a secret, and of course a bad guy. Even though I knew all of that I still could not stop myself from seeking a moment free to go and listen to the book. Still enjoyable and now I am going to get another book by Julie Johnstone. You should too.

Which Rake?

Gillian believes that she can escape marriage to her horrible betrothed and keep the family secret if she can marry the American partner in Alex’s shipping company. Now all she needs to do is get him to pay more attention to her than to her sister. Will Alex help her with her quest, or is he discovering he might not want his partner to have her?

This is a well-written entertaining story with mystery, blackmail, secrets, and a couple of somewhat uncommon courtships. The characters include a spunky heroine, a somewhat confused hero, a nasty villain, and a “helpful” aunt. The story is fun to read. There are a few twists and turns and a fitting comeuppance for the villain(s).

I enjoyed Tristan Hunt’s narration. His smooth baritone was a pleasure to listen to.

Good one

I enjoyed this book. It was interesting to see how dedicated some people can be to family. The entire story was centered around family secrets and the lengths people will go to, to keep their family secrets. I'd recommend the book.

Entertaining

This book was okay. This is the second book I've read by this author. This was better than the first one but still has some issues. The language is stilted and a bit out of the time period but the story was entertaining and I liked the characters. The narrator did a fine job.