How to Manage a Marquess

Spinster House Series #2

By: Sally MacKenzie

Narrated by: Beverley A. Crick

Two possible futures loom before Miss Anne Davenport. The first option: sharing an unhappy home with her father and soon-to-be stepmother. The second: a life of independence at the Spinster House, if only her friend, Cat, would vacate the premises and marry the Duke of Hart. A well-placed whisper about the pair's secret tryst might speed the course of true love. But the duke's stubborn cousin poses an obstacle - a ridiculously handsome, very persuasive obstacle…

Nate, Marquess of Haywood, has spent his life looking out for the duke, hoping to stave off a family curse. The only way to keep his cousin alive is to keep him single. That means convincing the intriguing Miss Davenport that her lovely lips could be put to far better use than gossiping. Kissing, for instance. In fact Nate is beginning to hope that Miss Davenport's destiny lies not in the Spinster House at all but with him.

Contains mature themes.

©2016 Sally MacKenzie (P)2016 Tantor

Fun and sweet

It was a sweet story, and I like that the book begins in the in the first book in a way. The narrator is ok, not that i think se made a bad job, but the male voice is a bit arrogant, when i think It's ment he is sad, happy or nervuse. But overall like the book, and can't wait for the next one

Too Silly

I have enjoyed previous series by this author, but I'd recommend giving this trio a pass. The improbable and logically inconsistent premise of this and the previous book, dooms both. The impediments to the HEA are so artificial that there is no logical or organic way for the author to write past it. The characters simply must remain foolish until they aren't. I just wanted the story to be over.

The third book in the series may benefit from being free of the curse storyline. However, it will take time for readers/listeners to warm up to Jane, the probable heroine. She has been easily the least likeable supporting character.

On a side note, I love heat in my regencies, but these characters are ridiculously randy. The fact that the hero is instantly and constantly aroused, comes off as more strange than sexy.

Not worth a credit.

outstanding

I loved it extremely well. I like the interlude. I like the plot.
And the performance, thank you.

What's in his pants

I wonder if it's his "c_ _ k" way too much " c_ _ k" talk... He talked to it... always thinking about it..., always referring to it. If you removed that, it would have been much better.

disappointed

I was kind of disappointed. I enjoyed the first in series. This plot seemed scrabbled. Her father is marring a women younger then FMC and both he and his knew wife treat her disrespectfully. Not only is everyone okay with the rudeness but they seem to encourage it. The MC couple doesn't seem to be hitting it off then suddenly they are in love it was so fast I felt like I was getting whip lash. I thought I was reading a romance then it was a slice of life about getting to know her much younger new siblings. Then back to romance with the kids dropping her like they never bonded. It was just dull with filler and scrabbled plot.

I can recommend the first book but not this and I don't plan to read the next.

GOod, kids banter great but subplot rotten

It took me a long time to get through the DISGUSTING sub-story of her 50+father impregnating a 25 year old, a year younger than his daughter, 1/2 book the subplot, overshadowed the MCs love sstory. I hated the secondary couple so much it almost ruined the entire book. Changing her father's character from a once kind,loving father to a selfish, typical randy old man was hugely disappointing. His treatment of his daughter angered me so deeply I continually stopped reading for several days. But luckily the evil.stepmother has two precocious kids that save the 2nd half of the book. We do end up with a HEA but its a bloody battle to get there.

Wacky pacing, sexist hero, & annoying children.RUN

Our hero has so many sexist thoughts. (Women needing to be subservient and other bullshit like that.) Oh, and did I mention that he has conversation with his dick? Yup! You heard me right. Plural. As in at least 10. It was uncomfortable. He always telling it to shut up and behave. 😂 And the pacing was not good at all. It would be really slow and then bam! Something would happen that if practically miss. There were several scenes that were not very long and then when the characters were thinking or talking about it in retrospect they describe them as at least 2 or 3 times longer than they actually were. It completely threw me out of the story. I’ve never had this problem with MacKenzie’s writing before so I dunno what was up with that. 🤷‍♀️ It definitely needed some work though. It’s only the 2nd book that has ever driven me to turning my audiobook up to 3x speed and it was mostly from the wacky pacing. Also, her dad is a major dickwad. There is this big deal made about him being such a selfish jackass to his daughter but Ann never faces him about it and he just gets away with it! Both him and his bride to be. Shame on them for being selfish cowards and not having the guts to talk to Ann. And I’m so disappointed that it’s not brought up again. Ann just decided to be a complacent and spineless person and it made it feel so unsatisfying. She’s all like “YEAH! I’ll let them walk all over me. No problemo. Here, let me lie down to make it easier for you.” (Maybe a slight exaggeration...) Also, the children. Children are the literal worst in adult books. 99/100 times it’s done badly. The children are either wise beyond their years or act far too young. Somehow this author manages both in one book... how does that even happen? The 5 year old in particular really grated on my nerves. Which definitely wasn’t helped by the high pitched and fast speech that the narrator gave him but I do believe he would have been really abnoxious either way. I could keep going but let’s just say it wasn’t good. It’s more like a 1.5 star rating for me and the only reason it didn’t get 1 star is because I never cared about the story enough to be invested or mad. It was just bleh. 10/10 would not recommend. Try Loving Lord Ash by her if you want something actually good.

boring, boring, boring

What disappointed you about How to Manage a Marquess?

The idea was there, but the execution was stupid and crazy. The issue I had is there was so much repetition. Since it was so terrible, it was just repeating bad dialogue/plot points over and over again.
This book has the hero's penis being a major "character". The hero is always telling what his penis is doing. At some points the hero tells the penis to "shut up". Sadly, the penis has some of the best dialogue in the book and is one of the most believable characters.

Has How to Manage a Marquess turned you off from other books in this genre?

No, but I won't be reading any more Spinster House books or from this author. I thought the first book was okay and always like to give an author a second chance. After this one, I really can't stand any more.

How could the performance have been better?

The performance was okay. You can't blame a narrator for reading a horrible story and not making it good. The story is the problem.

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

I was disappointed. The author did not write a book about the regency era. Nothing was genuine to the period.
One major difficulty I had was a family celebrating the fact that a 25 yr old woman was marrying a 50 yr old man an she was 1 month pregnant. When they announce this at a house party and everyone toasts them and drinks champagne, I had to shake my head.
The H/H kept going off together without a chaperone and no one seemed to make a fuss. The events were not true to the period/history.

Any additional comments?

This story was a waste of time and I don't recommend anyone taking time to listen to it. It was so boring, I stopped listening to do my income tax and enjoyed doing that more than listening to this book. Save yourself 9 hours..I know I'll never get that time back!