The Elizabeth Chater Regency Romance Collection #1

By: Elizabeth Chater

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

A SEASON FOR THE HEART
Miss Melpomene Rand’s only refuge from a life of monotony and cruelty is the extensive library left to her by her grandfather. The fantastic notions and romantic heroes in those books are the only things that distract her from the abuse of her adopted family. But then a mysterious stranger, the Earl of Austell, finds they have a mutual malady of boredom, and he endeavors to rescue them both.

THE DUKE’S DILEMMA
After losing their parents in an accident, older sister Leslie Endale runs off with her two younger sisters and her brother Daryl, the nine-year-old heir to the Endale estate. She’s trying to rescue her siblings from their wicked cousin, March Wardell, who wants to do away with the young heir and capture the earldom for himself. Leslie leads the young orphans to the ruined mansion of the Duke of Kenelm, Drogo Trevelyan, who abandoned the estate after his father died. When Drogo discovers the Endale children in his home seeking refuge until they can reach their Great-aunt in London, the duke becomes frustratingly entangled with the children’s plight, and with Lady Leslie.

THE RANDOM GENTLEMAN
Belinda is arranged to marry the Duke of Romsdale, but rather than acquiesce to tradition, she flees to Devon. She soon discovers that the duke is in pursuit of her, and, disguised as a gypsy, endeavors to win what he believes is his birthright: her heart.

THE MARRIAGE MART
Athena always has her nose in a book despite her grandmother insisting she find a husband. Her grandmother comes up with a plan: take her to London, transform her from an ugly duckling into a swan, and marry her off to the first bachelor too dumb to recognize her intelligence. Her plan backfires when Athena meets the duke, and a social blunder turns them into instant enemies. As her grandmother had feared, her Bluestocking smarts thoroughly threatened the duke, and his campaign to slander her in polite society may mean she’ll never be married.

Virtual voice getting better

I previously avoided all audiobooks that were read by the virtual voice. However, I gave this book a try and was pleasantly surprised by how much progress is being made in the technology. I look forward to the virtual voice learning to craft different voices and accents as a real person would do when narrating a book. Anyhow, nothing can substitute for a good story and that is the basis for any good novel.

Interesting story

The virtual voices were pleasing. But impossible to distinguish male and female voices.. making it easy to not know who is talking. I am sure the computer can do a better job

Need REAL voices

Typical romance . Stories were good. The virtual voice mispronounced period words, not enough variance in voice for different characters. VV makes it difficult to follow sometimes.

Don’t bother

The author portrays men negatively and women as weak beings. Most of the characters are unlikeable. Little effort was made to develop the characters. An earl’s daughter is a lady and not honorable. The author needs to brush up on her history. I skipped sections due to frustration. The virtual narrator was horrific with difficulty discerning specific characters.