Miss Darby's Duenna

By: Sheri Cobb South

Narrated by: Joel L. Froomkin

A lady in distress...a gentleman in a dress?

Amiable but clueless young baronet Sir Harry Hawthorne thought he was making a marriage of convenience to a childhood friend...until his fiancée catches the eye of the dashing and dangerous Lord Mannerly.

Suddenly, Sir Harry’s jealousy is roused to the point that he assumes the identity of his reclusive grandmother in order to keep the all-too-grown-up Miss Olivia Darby under his watchful eye. But the course of true love never did run smooth, and among the obstacles Sir Harry must face are a love-struck younger sister, an elderly widower with an amorous interest in the faux “Lady Hawthorne”, and a rival more ruthless than the hapless Sir Harry ever imagined.

©1999 Sheri Cobb South (P)2019 Sheri Cobb South

Fun, witty, entertaining...:)

Ms Sheri Cobb South never disappoints:) Her books are entertaining, witty, well-paced and generally fun to read or listen to - even if you have to suspend your belief to a point, like in this case:)

I didn't think I'd like Sir Harry so much at the beginning; he takes Olive for granted, without paying her a second thought... But then, as the story develops and he gets himself into more and more trouble with her and everyone around, he turns out to be amiable, funny and, well, loyal. And really in love with his betrothed:) Olive is also a character you get to like very quickly, and she has a surprise or two up her sleeve when it comes to her character and decision-making... The secondary characters of Harry's sister and the evil Lord Mannerly are equally well-written, colourful and ambiguous to a point, which makes them feel real.
The pace of the story is fast, things happen quickly, take a few unexpected turns, and all this is accopanied by slighly satirical sense of humour which adds lightness to the book.

Narration by Mr Froomkin is very good, especially considering how many female voices of women of every age he had to do. It's a job really well done:) Also, the pace of his reading is quite all right, and the interpretation of individual characters great.

DISCLAIMER: I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Highly enjoyable!

The story was a delightful English farce and Joel L Froomkin was the perfect narrator for it. His voices were amazing, and his comic timing perfect. A v”highly enjoyable book and recording.

Delightfully Humorous

Ms Sheri Cobb South does not disappoint in this humorous tale of a Lord (Hawthorne) who doesn't know what he's got until it's almost lost. Lord Harry Hawthorne and Lady Olivia Darby have been pledged to one another since childhood. She has always been quite open about her adoration for Harry. While Harry, who has adored his Livie, has also seen no reason to publicly show his true feelings. That is until his nemesis, the Marquis of Mannerly, begins to openly pay his Livie attention.

The chuckles begin in full force as Harry devises a plan to watch over his Livie and keep her naiveté from falling for Mannerly's scheming ways by disguising himself as his grandmother.

Joel Froomkin delivers a wonderful performance. I must admit, he is one of my favorite male narrators and I love when he teams with Cobb South. I know I'm guaranteed a fabulous listening experience.

I received a free copy of this audiobook from the author. My review is honest in content and freely offered.

Mature Content: none

Miss Darby's Duenna

This book is just as funny as the authors other stories. I loved Harry, he had me laughing at the things he would do or say.
I did at times feel like slapping Miss Darby for the things she did. She says she loves him yet I felt she did not really understand him. But then again neither did Harry understand his intended, so of course there was loads of misunderstanding.
I would highly recommend this to those who love clean historical romance with humour.

Fun story

Enjoyed the characters and their roles in this book. Loved the audible reading which brought the characters to life.

This was such a fun listen!

I got such a kick out of listening to this book!! It was the very definition of madcap. I felt like Baronet Harry Hawthorne, the main character, was channeling his inner Lucy Ricardo with all of the schemes he had going. It was really quite entertaining up to an including that wonderful ending.

Froomkin's narration was flawless. There were so many voices and his attention to detail is what makes this listen next level. Loved it!

for fans of Georgette Heyer

If Heyer's Cotillion and The Grand Sophy are among your favorites, you will enjoy this wonderful rendition of this book.

Spoiler alert

It is such a fun little story and well performed. It is a little short— not enough for a full days drive in the car. But…I can’t recommend a book where a sexual predator gets rewarded in the end. It is hard to call Mr Mannerly anything else. There is no time period in which that type of behavior is ok. You can’t feel oh that is so sweet that they allow that older man to marry and 18 year old after he tried to use blackmail for sexual favors. Nope. Not romantic. Sorry. If he had come to change his mind and fallen for her and given up on revenge earlier.. it could have been made into a plausible story.

Fun story

I enjoy all of this author’s books. And I especially like that this is a stand alone and not another John Pickett book. Though I enjoyed that series, John didn’t develop much as they went along, so I needed a break from his woe-is-me and lack of confidence. And Joel Froomkin made him sound like a doofus sometimes. This new story is a fresh break. Hawthorne is a hoot, and it was fun (though occasionally tedious) to follow along to see how it all played out. Though Froomkin is a good voice actor, I’m not a huge fan of the over-the-top theatrical, yet slow, staccato tone. I kept turning the volume up then down or faster then slower to try to find ways to soften it and speed up the cadence at the same time. None of that worked, so I limited my listening time to shorter blocks. Still, this is an okay story for light, farcical entertainment. This author is usually a creative writer and provides unique stories.****POTENTIAL SPOILER***** But wow! I agree 100% with another reviewer. I’m shocked that a would-be-rapist gets rewarded and accepted so cavalierly in a nanosecond without anyone blinking an eye.

Not my Favorite

I received this book for free. I am voluntarily posting this review and all opinions expressed herein are my own.

I am a fan of the John Pickett Mystery series by this author. And I thought that I would love this farce. However, while I liked the premise of Sir Harry assuming his grandmother's identity, I did not like the subplot involving Lord Mannerly, Olivia and Sir Harry's sister nor its ultimate resolution. There are some humorous moments and the dialogue is quite well written. This book is not a favorite of the many books written by this author.

The narrator, Joel Froomkin, is excellent, as always. He does various voices for all of the characters, making them distinct.