Dancing with a Devil

A Whisper of Scandal, Book 3

By: Julie Johnstone

Narrated by: Tim Campbell

A Lord Chained To His Past…

Lord Trent Rutherford's past has left him guarded, jaded and perfectly content to spend the rest of his life moving from one meaningless affair to the next. Until he meets Lady Audrey Cringlewood, an innocent beauty who makes him question everything he believes. His devilish demeanor guards more than a wounded heart. Behind his swagger lie secrets he'd rather forget than face, but the price of forgetting may be his second chance at life.

A Lady Determined To Shape Her Future…

Audrey Cringlewood longs to marry for love, not convenience. After several months of flirtatious banter, secret smiles and three very unforgettable kisses, Trent Rutherford, the rake known as Sin, proves himself the man of her dreams. Audrey suspects she understands the pain he hides behind his devil may care attitude, but when the truth comes to light, is her love enough to heal all wounds or will the secrets Trent guarded so carefully tear them apart forever?

©2014 Julie Johnstone (P)2014 Julie Johnstone

Dancing with a Devil

Fabulous rendition performed by Tim Campbell. Very realistic sounding voices formed for each character. Julie Johnstone never disappoints with her funny, romantic, unlikely, love stories. Some people just take longer to understand themselves. 💗

Great story

What a good story. The only thing that irritated me was the heroine kept assuming things that weren't true or misunderstanding things. No one can be that dumb. Otherwise it was well written and a great narrator.

Marvelous Story Line, Excellently Presented

Well, I love, love, love Julie Johnstone' books, but with Tim Campbell narrating, they are an unforgetable and unbeatable team. Dancing with a Devil is now my favorite of her books. Audrey and Trent make the perfect heroine and hero. From the time they meet, it is a spectacular dance of intrigue. With the surprises of the story coming at exactly the right time and the intrigue of his having been a spy for Prinny, it kept me wondering what was going to be revealed next. I just could not put it down. This one is a keeper and definitely a repeat listen.

Exhausting! Will they ever sort their love out?

Both of our heroes are compelling and the supporting “cast” is every bit as dynamic and how they add their own eccentricities to enhance our main plot.

The plot was intriguing and different, as I find most of this author’s stories. I especially liked that our heroine finds answers for her challenges that don’t include making her subject to the whims of a man. I always look for a heroine with attitude and spunk, Audre embodies both

Our hero is properly tall, strong, dishy and above all, honorable. His job is intriguing, his wealth, well, note able at the very least. Unless it is part of the hero’s journey to win his one true love it is best to just accept it as part of who he is.

In a world where honor is not always the norm I look to romance novels to remind me of how honorable people could be.

A review is not complete without commenting on the narrator. Tim Campbell, as most of us agree brings special and compelling elements to any romance. The way he is able to create each character as a complete character, using tones of voice, accents, and his own special cachet makes a 100% difference in how I receive the story.
There are authors I might buy simply because I know what Mr. Campbell will bring.

Bravo to Ms. Johnstone & Mr. Campbell!

Good story

It was a good story but I felt the ending would've been better if it had included her meeting her. brother again

VERY DISAPPOINTING!!!

What disappointed you about Dancing with a Devil?

The Heir to Trent Marquess of Davenport was not the Heroine son Audrey but Trent's first wife a French Spy that had him imprisoned and tortured. Trent the hero didn't know of the childs existence until the end of the story. The Heir should always be the son of the heroine. If the author wanted to add a child at the end of the story it should have been a girl and not a son and Heir.

Would you ever listen to anything by Julie Johnstone again?

NO NO AND NO!!!!!

What about Tim Campbell’s performance did you like?

Tim Campbell was an excellent narrator, He really makes a great story teller. I will defiantly listen to other books he narrates. Just not Julie Johnstones!

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

ANGER AND DISAPPOINTMENT!!!

Any additional comments?

Very Disappointing ending!! I had been waiting for Sin Lord Trent Rutherford Marquess of Davenport. story He was a English Spy for Prinny but while in France spying and hiding, guarding the secret of were the English had imprisoned Napoleon Bonaparte he married a French Spy Gwyneth.Trent didn't know Gwyneth was a spy. Of course she betrayed him. She had him thrown in a French prison and horribly torture for months before Trent Escaped. . Trent though she was dead for the past 2 years, which caused him to separate from Lady Audrey Cringlewood. The women he had fall in loved with. We met Audrey in bk2 Conspiring With A Rogue. I loved the characters Audrey and Sin "Trent" but this author ruined the ending of there love story by giving Trent a son he didn't know about. Julian the son of his wife the French Spy Gwyneth which means Julian will inherit the title of Marquess and the decent beloved Audrey's children with Trent cannot inherit the title of Marquess. If the author wanted to add a child to drag out the story why didn't Julie Johnstone write the child as a girl and let Audrey be the mother to the heir of the Marquess of Davenport? It would have even been more tolerable it Gwyneth hadn't been a spy and had not betrayed Trent in such a horrible way. . I "HATE" stories where the Heir is Not the child of the hero and heroine of the story. If I had know this I would Not have bought this book and just dropped the series. So I returned it this very Disappointing story.. I did Not get what I consider HEA. I will Not continue with this series. I don't like storylines like this. This is a personal preference. However there are a lot of HR fans that don't like stories like this. I CANNOT RECOMMEND THIS STORY!! VERY DISAPPOINTING!!

ridiculous plot driven by angst

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

If the author actually wrote anything romantic. Jealousy and immaturity are not romantic. There was no build up to the H/H being in love. It was a series of barriers that they had to over come. Romance can be simple and yet beautiful. It does not have to be a soap opera, always dragging the couple apart.

What could Julie Johnstone have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

I am not sure if Ms. Johnstone lost her mind, but this book was awful. There was too much over the top melodramatic , nonsense. The heroine was TSTL and I could not understand how anyone would like, better yet love her. She was a silly , immature fool. The hero was too good to be true, so not sure why this choice of love interests. Mid-way through I was bored and frustrated, but the plot got even worse. There was a sequence where one character declared a secret half-brother, then a few paragraphs later a different character is confronted by a secret half-sister, then later there is a secret child. That is after the plot points of a dead wife that maybe alive, death of apparent, excentric aunt losing her home to live with the heroine, duel over heroine’s honour and heroine’s brother running away and leaving heroine and aunt with no money.
Have authors forgotten how to write anything romantic, where two people take time, go through events and grow to love each other due to respect, caring and passion. This plot was so silly. If all the “secret” relatives end up as novels, you can count me out! The series got worse with each book and this one has made me remove Julie Johnstone books from my wish list. I just wish it would stop and I have a few more hours of this misery to go!!

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Tim Campbell?

No one could save this drivel. It was so bad even a wonderful narrator like susan duerdan could not make it better

What character would you cut from Dancing with a Devil?

Too many to name. There were so many suitors ( was the heroine the only woman in London!!) She has about 6 that are named and 4 offers of marriage that she turned down, or just can't decide on.
If this isn't enough, there are several characters from the first two books and more relatives added in this book. I'm exhausted even thinking of it!!!

Any additional comments?

I keep asking the same question..why aren't authors writing anything romantic. Although this has all the elements of a "regency romance": lip-biting ( instead of thinking), a duel, eccentric female relatives, potential ruin, the heroine tripping over her own feet ( because regency era heroines have trouble walking) and of course the "Scarlet O'hara" like attempt to save the estate from bankruptcy. The only thing missing is the ceramic Sheperdess trinket on a table.
Ms. Johnstone had all the " usual suspect" / cliches to make this qualify for "romance status". She just failed to write a story with heart, feeling and genuine romance.