My Lady Notorious

Malloren Series, Book 1

By: Jo Beverley

Narrated by: Alison Larkin

Desperate to help her widowed sister and baby escape a deadly pursuer, Lady Chastity Ware dresses as a highwayman and captures the first coach to travel down the road. Coming face-to-face with its occupant, the arrogant aristocrat Cyn Malloren, she orders him to drive her to a remote cottage.

Little does Chastity realize that after long months of recovering from his war wounds, the handsome Cyn is looking for adventure, and being abducted by a cocky highwayman - obviously a lovely woman in disguise - is even more than he had hoped for. Willingly he is drawn into her devilishly reckless plan...and helplessly he is seduced by her wonderfully wicked ways.

©1993 Jo Beverley (P)2014 Tantor

Critic reviews

"A fast paced, rip-roaring and most 'delicious' read. This one is a keeper!" ( RT Book Reviews)

Please get the ALL in the Malloren Series!!!

What made the experience of listening to My Lady Notorious the most enjoyable?

I read the series when it first came out. It is Frustrating not to have the entire series available.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Good character development in all, and excellent set up for The Entire Series!

Have you listened to any of Alison Larkin’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

It's well done.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The entire book was well paced and kept me kept me involved.

Any additional comments?

GET THE COMPLETE SERIES!!!

A delightful story.

I haven't come across too many stories with such an evil parent. Demanding, selfish, coniving, and manipulative, but not evil. Fortunately good friends and strangers helped to save the day.

Beautiful cover..

Any additional comments?

Loved Cyn (and all his strange family's names) loved Chastity, too. Really like the secondary characters, Rothgar, Elf, Verity but Fort was not one of my favorites, he seemed to think it was alright for Chastity's father to beat her. And her father was just insane and a sadistic a-hole. It was, over all, a really great story, though a little wordy.

As to the narrator? I don't think she would ever be one of my favorites. Too many men sounded nasal-y and the hero sounded like a creepy stuffed-shirt one munute and too nasal-y the next and sometimes the narrator sounded like she forgot that Chastity was no longer dressed as a man and gave her back her deeper voice. I would set the speed at 1.25 because she reads really slow and, really, the narrator herself has kind of a nasal-y voice. LOL..maybe that's why the men sounded so nasal-y.

At Last!

What made the experience of listening to My Lady Notorious the most enjoyable?

Finally! we can listen to the Georgian (Malleron) books in audible form. This was the first book I read by Jo Beverley and I have been hooked ever since. She is a wonderful storyteller who brings to life the glittering, but dangerous world of Georgian England. Her tales are delightfully spicy, skillfully plotted, fast paced adventures. To protect her sister and her newborn, the notorious Chastity Ware must disguise herself as a boy in order to hold up a coach. Fortunately, they encounter the mischievously charming Cynric Malleron who, to relieve his boredom, comes to their rescue and helps them to flee across England. As they evade and escape capture a sensual, powerful love grows between the ill-fated lovers.

What was one of the most memorable moments of My Lady Notorious?

Cyn loves to seduce "Charles" (Chastity) with food and you can almost taste it.

Which character – as performed by Alison Larkin – was your favorite?

The choice of narrator can profoundly effect even the best written book. I was a bit hesitant because Alison Larkin's voice is rather high-pitched and very female. However, she managed to pull off the male voices. As always, Cyn is my favorite because he is so charming.

Any additional comments?

I hope this is only the first of this series and that the other four books will also be available in audible form. As this is one of my favorite authors, I would certainly buy all of them. However, may I suggest a narrator with a lower voice range to capture the male voices?

Great writing

The writing was great, and the love story was sweet. Everyone's obsession with the main character's virginity got old after a while.

Ok but not the right narrator

I’m not a fan of Ms. Larkin for romance novels. Her male voices are not good. She has this upturn in her voice every time she does a male voice almost like it is all funny to them or everything is a question. I can’t explain it well, but a different narrator would’ve been better. I don’t hate her voice, I just think it would be better for books that don’t require multiple voices.

That said, overall I liked the book and will continue with the series because I like the writing style and the plot was mostly interesting.

I👏🏼Loved👏🏼This👏🏼Book! 💜

This was great! I loved it from start to finish!! I simultaneously wanted to speed it up so I could read faster, and slow it down so it would last longer! The last time I looked forward like this to a series, was when I read Ruthless (House of Rohan series) by Susan Ericksen. (If you haven’t read that, and don’t mind sex, or even like it, try that one. Fabulous fabulous series!)

My Lady Notorious started out with humor, and through the story we experienced lots of humor, sadness, tension, fear and sensuality. I loved that this story was one of unison through the entire story. Chastity and Cyn never were pulled apart by any misunderstandings, or whatever it is that authors like to do to couples. They met, developed a relationship over time, and stayed true until the end. I read some reviews about violence and abuse. I mean, there was some there, but I feel like its in every story. How can there be a knight in shining armor if theres not a villain? And some complaints about sex…. Hello.. have you read a historical romance before? Yeah, theres sex. I usually find it boring in most stories, but in this one there was a lot of buildup so for the first scene I was as ready as they were! Haha. But, they really only had actual sex twice I think. And maybe two other “basically sex” scenes.

The narrator was new to me and while she wasn’t my favorite, she did a good enough job that I was able to enjoy the story. Definitely worth the half credit I got it for and I might even be ok with paying a full credit. In fact, I fully intend to get the next one. (At this moment, Audible only has the first two. This one and Tempting Fortune which is Bryghts story.) and will look forward to the rest in the series!

Great historical romance

I read the reviews about the abuse and waited for a horrific scene. There is some violence but is is not overwhelming, nor does it take away from the hea. It does add suspense to the story and you can’t help but be more sympathetic to the characters. No on is forced to endure rape or debilitating injuries. Those who are cruel are rightly judged.
The story is romantic but if you are sensitive to someone being disciplined you may want to pass on this one ( not that I agree but I was trying to avoid spoilers) Narrator could have been better with male voices - not everyone can pull it off.

A Lovable Mystery

Just what I enjoy a spicy love story wrapped in a mystery. A knight, Cyn, saving his lady, Chastity, from the clutches of evil. There were ups and downs but finally the villain got his due. Love the Audible Escape that lets me enjoy so many books. I have found so many authors like Jo Beverley that make the day brighter. Housework is not a chore when you can listen to a great historical romance book. Try it.

Wonderful story

Wonderful story, but too much sex. The narrator was terrific - great individuals voice and characteristics for everyone. I suppose many people buy these stories for the sex scenes, but it really was overdone.