Stealing the Bride

The Danvers, Book 2

By: Elizabeth Boyle

Narrated by: Susan Duerden

A scandalous elopement

The marquis of Templeton has faced every sort of danger in his work for the king, but chasing after a wayward spinster who's had the effrontery to run off with the wrong man hardly seems worth his considerable talents. But when the heiress in question is none other than Lady Diana Fordham, Temple is about to meet his match. Tempestuous and passionate, headstrong and opinionated, the lady is everything a man should avoid....

A dangerous plan

Diana has no intention of making Temple's assignment easy. In fact she has every reason to turn his life upside down - just as he did to hers when he broke her heart years ago. Now it's Diana's turn to give Temple a lesson in love, from a teasing glance to a scandalous embrace. However, as she leads him on a merry chase from London to Gretna Green, they soon realize that a kiss once given is hard to forget, and a rekindled passion is impossible to deny.

©2003 Elizabeth Boyle (P)2020 Tantor

Average

Narrator was good but story was average in terms of plot, character development, and intrigue (for a spy story). The main characters were enjoyable with fun repartee however there were no surprises except for the twist toward the end that was a bit predictable. I am a fan of Ms. Boyle’s books and will purchase more of her books anticipating a more enjoyable read.

the Hero can't be decisive

it can be frustrating when the male lead is just not decisive with so little reason why I don't see the point but otherwise it's good

Entertaining

Enjoyed the plot twist. hope the next book in the series is also entertaining. looking forward to more stories

HUGE Disappointment!

Having first read the Bachelor series, I was looking forward to Lord Templeton's & Diane's story. Maybe I expected too much but I found this book tedious. I really thought they would have a mature romance full of longing and self sacrife, but it was just over the top juvenile!

There is much too much repetition, too much dragging out the same point (Stop beating it for goodness sakes it's Dead already). There are many inconsistencies, like they've been in a dual unrequited love for 9 years, yet they hardly have any contact? Even though she mentions that she often catches him looking at her over the years. If they are never in the same place, how is that possible?

We are lead to believe they have a childhood sweetheart type of past but we never learn anything about it.

We never understand why he choose his work over her but we know his Grandfather is opposed to his work as a spy... YET his grandfather disowned him because of his rak-ish lifestyle. Which is it? Because if he knows he's a spy then he knows this is a pertend persona. Why would you cut your only grandson off over that if you know it is pretend?? Ugh!!

These inconsistencies are frustrating, but what made me unable to finish the story was the way Diana was portrayed. In all the other books, she comes across as extremely sophisticated and intelligent, & elegant. Unfortunately, in this book she, a woman of 29, that acts and sounds like a whiney, simpering 13 year-old. What happened to her personality? The author makes a point to let us know that Diana knows about Temple's secret as a spy. His heroic work & duplicity. She knows he has thwarted the French, traveled to abroad and rescued French aristocratics from danger. Yet when faced with the possibility she is in danger from French spies, her country's enemy, she doesnt believe it and accuses him of making up a story 🤔??? Why would this character think that? Ot felt like a missed opportunity to tell him sheknows and then discuss the problem in order to keep safe. Instead, she acts in such ridiculous ways AND gets away with it. By chapter 10, I had enough. It was too ridiculous, and she was too annoying to continue. What a huge disappointment,