Romancing the Ugly Duckling

Dreamspun Desires, Book 36

By: Clare London

Narrated by: Joel Leslie

Romancing the...

Is this the makeover of a lifetime?

Ambitious fashionista Perry Goodwood lands the project of his dreams - track down a celebrity family's missing brother in the Scottish Highlands and bring him back to London for a TV reality show. But first he must transform the rugged loner into a glamorous sophisticate.

Greg Ventura has no use for high fashion. He lives on the isolated island of North Uist to escape the reminder that he's nowhere near as handsome as his gorgeous brothers and to avoid the painful childhood memories of being bullied.

Greg wants nothing to do with city life, and Perry's never been outside London. When Perry is stranded on North Uist, this conflict seems insurmountable. But Greg is captivated by the vivacious Perry, and Perry by both the island and his host. However, Perry's one heartfelt wish remains: that ugly duckling Greg fulfill his potential as a swan.

©2017 Clare London (P)2017 Dreamspinner Press

Perfection, but...

Ended too soon.
I really hate giving away the story..
I enjoyed this... Not awesome, but it was a good listen!! For sure worth the 7+ hours.
Love Joel Leslie!! One of the best narrators !!

Opposites Attract Romance!

Any additional comments?

I love a good Opposites Attract trope! When it's mixed with a fun Fish out of Water trope, I'm in like Flynn.

Put it in Scotland and add Joel Leslie's narration? I could (and did!) listen all day.

What's to know? Perry Goodwood, who's never been outside of London, is given an impossible assignment of getting the wayward brother of a celebrity family to leave his home on the isolated island of North Uist and return to London to participate in a reality series.

Only thing is Greg Ventura has no use for London or his brothers - who used to tease and torment him terribly. When Perry arrives it's without any of the normal support he'd have from his firm and he's alone and has to try to convince Greg to do the show.

Greg, who was always called out as the "the ugly duckling" of the family, has grown up to be the best looking of the bunch, but is still largely unaware of it. Perry, now stranded on North Uist, sets out to convince him otherwise, and in the process falls in love with both Greg and North Uist.

This is a really enjoyable story. It's got a great setting, a wonderful cast of characters, a dual perspective from both Perry and Greg's POV, and not a lot of angst...but what absolutely did it for me was the narration of the audiobook. I loved Joel Leslie's Scottish accents! And while I don't know how accurate they may be - it was a downright pleasure to listen to.

Romancing the Ugly Duckling is the second book in the Romancing the...series, and it's the 36th book in the Harlequin Books-esque Dreamspun Desires series, but can absolutely be read as a standalone.

This is a sweet fish out of water/ opposites attract romance with terrific narration. I had a lot of fun listening to this and hope you will too!

*~* Cozy Love *~*

Joel’s accents are always a joy to listen too. He did a wonderful job narrating this book.

The story and characters were well developed. I enjoyed the banter between the MC’s and the locals. Overall this is an excellent low angst love story.

Great performance, good story

I really enjoyed the narration. The story was a little implausible in places but I liked the characters and the setting.

Not what I thought, but really good

I went into this thinking it would be a sweet "not so great looking guy meets gorgeous guy that looks past physical looks to the person inside." It was not quite that. This is a story of one man not having confidence in his looks because of family stuff and another that is very confident in his looks, but still insecure. Perry is sent to a small island off the coast of Scotland to try and convince one of five brothers (Greg) to return to London to star with his other four brothers in a reality show. The fact that this is even realistic continues to blow my mind, but I guess it is.

Greg walked away from his family five years ago b/c he didn't think he fit in; even though he is "roguishly handsome". Perry thinks he is out of his element leaving the city, and is a bit of a drama queen, but slowly finds his steel, falls in love with the town and Greg. There is of course family drama, town drama, Perry's job is in jeopardy and a HFN ending. The story is sweet, but Joel Leslie takes it to another level with the wonderful variety of English and Scottish accents. He gives a great performance as he captures the humor and romance of these men.

Cute story great narration

This is a sweet story that shows you that you don’t always need what you wish for.
Perry must convince Greg that coming back to London is in his best interest and that he will make him look fabulous. Getting ready to leave London he is suddenly aware that he will have supporting coworkers and he will have to do this all on his own. I love how Perry seems to get along with everyone, or can at least convince people that he has their best interest at heart.
Greg was bullied by his family, and really had no use for them anymore. He’s settled in Uist a small Scottish island and follows his passion to paint. He doesn’t believe anyone when they tell him he is handsome. He wants nothing to do with Perry, but must put him up in his home for the night. From there we learn who these two men really are, as they get to know each other.
So if you are looking for a light fun read this will have you smiling. The writing was good although time passing seemed to be different for the general story and the MC’s POV.

I have to agree with Beth that this was a really sweet story and it totally left me smiling! However, I wasn’t crazy about Greg and up til the very end I didn’t think much of him. He was pretty hard to like and since Perry was such a likable character I wanted someone as wonderful for him as a partner. However, it was a great contrast and we do get a solid HFN for our heroes by the end. If I’d only been reading this I don’t think I’d have been as pleased and would have probably given this a 3 of 5 stars. But…
I was glad that I ‘d listened to it because having all of Joel’s wonderful accents just made this feel so much more authentic and unique! The Scottish was fantastic!!!! The most engaging part of this audiobook was listening for the varying accents and I definitely think listening is the best way to experience this story.
As a result of the wonderful narration I do recommend this and give it a 4.5 of 5 stars overall.