Temperance

The Shackleford Sisters, Book 2

By: Beverley Watts

Narrated by: Deirdra Whelan, Mark Elstob

In this funny romantic series, the Shackleford sisters descend on a Regency society that doesn't know what's hit it… Perfect for fans of funny, lighthearted Regency Romances with a little bit of steam.

Reverend Shackleford was at a loss. He'd truly believed that in marrying his eldest daughter Grace to an extremely wealthy peer of the realm, his problems would be over. But as the Reverend was now beginning to realize, it wasn't sufficient to have a wealthy Duke in the family if the daughter he was trying to marry off had the manners of a stable hand. And to Reverend Shackleford's knowledge, his second eldest daughter Temperance is the exact opposite of her name and a harpy to boot. In fact the Reverend very much feared that unless he could find someone to teach her at the very least how to hold her temper, he would be stuck with her forever. But as he was always telling his curate, the Almighty works in mysterious ways. Indeed, Reverend Shackleford believed his prayers were finally answered when he found the very person to take Temperance in hand.

©2021 Beverley Watts (P)2023 W. F. Howes Ltd

I enjoy a series, the continuation of characters.

The winey voice of the earl. I almost couldn't listen. Female reader did better. I wished she had read the whole story.

Cute story awful male narrator

Good lord the male narrator ruined this story. Seriously he is stunningly bad. It made the story almost impossible to enjoy.

Decent story line and characters

Story line flowed nicely, but oh, some of the voices - a couple of the men sounds like they were actively dying, especially the preacher. temperace’s voice sounded like she was in her nineties.

The narrators were questionable.

The story was well written, interesting and funny. However, the male narrator was lacking. The female was better.

Predictible story but fun

I really found the narration terrible. Almost stopped listening it annoyed me so much. Male voices especially poorly done.

The male narrator is horrible - almost stopped the book.

Story is great! Fun and adventurous…but the male narrator. Please please please get a different person. His nasally tone is off-putting and I can’t help but envision all the men as overstuffed middle aged men 😑

Cute story

I love a good regency romance. This story was really cute and I like the way it ended and a couple of surprises.

Enjoyable story

Overall, I enjoyed the second book in the series. There were some chuckles and headshaking moments. I do wish, however, that the male narrator had used a deeper and more distinguished voice. I thought he came across very harsh for some characters.. I didn’t really enjoy his depiction. Maybe he was trying to come across as funny for those characters? The female narrator could have read the whole book and did all of the voices. I believe I would’ve enjoyed it more.

Hilarious Use of Language

The first thing that stands out in this series is the extraordinary use of English expressions that were probably common in this historical period. Insults are descriptive. Name calling is an art form. Combine this language with the raucous misadventures of the sisters Shackleford, and you get a pretty satisfying comedy. The fact that their father, the Reverend Shackleford has no small part in complicating, misunderstanding and bungling throughout, adds an touch of slapstick to the hilarity. The Reverend, saddled with 9 daughters to dispose of through marriage, concocts one sorry scheme or another to bring the young women in line.
The romantic heroes of these tales are as deeply flawed and personally challenged as are the sisters. Misunderstandings are part of each plot, and this book even has a villain. Temperance is completely delightful story. I am not a fan of the voice which the male narrator used for Adam (our hero) nor the one he used for Temperance, but he sure nailed both the Reverend and his Curate, Percy's voices. I intend to either read or listen to the rest of the sisters' stories.

Mediocre

The male narrator’s has annoying female voices and only ok male voices. His general narrator voice is good. If his character voices were better he would be quite good.
The story itself is ok. I got this as part of the Plus Category so free. I would have given up by now and asked for a return if I had used a credit.