Dearest Enemy

By: Nan Ryan

Narrated by: Gabra Zackman

Length: 8 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

Susanna LeGrande lost her fiance, her brother, and her beloved home to the Union Army. But her grief only strengthened her resolve to spy for the Confederacy. The once-pampered Southern belle charmed her way through Washington society, falling brazenly into the arms of Rear Admiral Mitchell B. Longley, a commanding Union sailor. She seduced, used, and loved the powerful man.

In the heat of ecstasy, Susanna forgot Mitch was her enemy; she surrendered her body and her heart. But her ruthless betrayal in the name of the South would cost Mitch everything: his command, his men, and very nearly his life. She left a shattered, soulless man in her wake.

And now Susanna's dearest love, her dearest enemy, will show her that the sweet kiss of vengeance is a game he, too, can play.

©2006 Nan Ryan (P)2006 Audible, Inc.

Good Story

Dearest Enemy was a good read. It reminded me of North and South - which I loved. Gabra Zackman is a good narrarator and pulled me into this story with her story telling. The premise was excellent and showed the ups and downs of the war from the standpoint of 2 lovers. The romance was excellent and the drama was on point. Good Story. I would recommend.

A good read

Nan Ryan has never been one of my top ten favs but I may have to reconsider. In dearest enemy her character development was thoughtful and believable. While the ending may seen a little predictable it was well written and, again, believable. This book was a good read, well worth the time.

Oh A Man in Uniform

Would you consider the audio edition of Dearest Enemy to be better than the print version?
Oh yes, Gabra Zackman makes it good.

What did you like best about this story?
Nan Ryan is a real core romance writer. This is a good one. Too bad some of her first works are not read

Have you listened to any of Gabra Zackman’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
Her male voice is just dreamy

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
when our hero visits his Aunt

Any additional comments?
The beginning is a bit slow, but stay with it

Could have been good but wasn't

This book could have been so good. It had so many elements of a great story: love, war, revenge, betrayal, loss, great historical backdrop. But the whole thing was flat.

The characters were two dimensional, reminding me of cardboard dolls that wear clothes with tiny paper tabs. Clay-mation would have been a step up.

The female protagonist's efforts at being a spy were pitiful - she would have been more subtle if she had a neon sign on her forehead.

The two main characters were a matched set, though: brainless folks making absurd decisions and having a lot of monotonous sex!!

On the other hand, the narrator was pretty good.

Road to nowhere

You know where the book is going from page one but it takes a very long and unpleasant time to get there. I was never taken with either hero or heroine and without any connection to either, and no mystery in the plot, it was very slow going.

Many problems with this tale as outlined below ...

I read a western many yrs ago by this author which I enjoyed so I decided to ignore the reviews and anticipated the story. Was I disappointed! Unfortunately, it starts with cheesy music followed by many discrepancies which made the story unbelievable to me.

First, the chief female character had a fiancee and brother who died fighting for the Confederacy at Manassas yet no one supposedly knew that? Not the Union brass which interrogated her for spying then released her? Not her Union lover who was a rear admiral or his aunt who was so well connected, intelligent, knew of her family and questioned her when introduced to her? And when her lover walks in to see her dressed seductively and says "Oh, baby!" I burst into incredulous laughter! I doubt seriously that a gentleman during the mid 1800's would have uttered that expression.

Then there were the discrepancies in her character. Would someone so devoted to the Southern "cause" to the point that she would endanger her life just drop that cause and gallivant around Europe following the war? Since she was so rich, why did she not help the South as it struggled through Reconstruction?

But most importantly, I just did not like her. She seemed very self absorbed and selfish. I, of course, felt sympathetic that she lost her fiance, brother and way of life but many, many people did and do during war. I don't admire someone who gets revenge by emotionally manipulating a man and causing the deaths of numerous people through seduction and betrayal. I had a lot more respect for the man she betrayed.

I gave up at Chapter 39 in disgust and regretted the time I wasted in reading that far. I'm afraid I will be avoiding this author in the future.