The Husband List

By: Janet Evanovich, Dorien Kelly

Narrated by: Lorelei King

Based on the family from the best-selling Love in a Nutshell, the story of an heiress longing to marry for love or not at all. From the New York Times best-selling writing duo Janet Evanovich and Dorien Kelly, comes the story of a young woman’s search for true love.

Caroline Maxwell would like nothing more than to join her brother, Eddie, and his friend Jack Culhane on their adventures. While Jack and Eddie are off seeing the world, buying up businesses and building wildly successful careers, Caroline's stuck at home frightening off the men her mother hopes will ask for her hand in marriage.

When her mother sets her sights on the questionable Lord Bremerton as a possible suitor, Caroline struggles with her instincts and the true nature of her heart. She longs for adventure, passion, love, and most of all...Jack Culhane, an unconventional Irish-American bachelor with new money and no title. A completely unacceptable suitor in the eyes of Caroline's mother. But Caroline's dark hair, brilliant eyes and quick wit have Jack understanding just why it is people fall in love and get married.

Set in New York City in 1894, The Husband List is an American gilded-age romantic mystery. It evokes memories of the lavish lifestyles and social expectations of the Vanderbilts and Rockefellers - a time when new money from the Americas married Old World social prestige and privilege. Dresses by Worth, transcontinental ocean voyages, lavish parties, a little intrigue, and a lot of romance await in The Husband List.

©2012 The Gus Group (P)2013 Macmillan Audio

Outstanding Book!

What made the experience of listening to The Husband List the most enjoyable?

I love Janet Evanovich and I love Loreli King. I haven't found a story yet that I don't enjoy from Janet. And Loreli brings such diversity with her voices.

What did you like best about this story?

I could feel the emotions of Caroline and Jack throughout the book. Whenever Jack and Caroline were together, I could feel my own butterflies at the thought of being in a similar situation.

Which scene was your favorite?

The scene between Jack and Caroline in Jack's carriage, when he lays her down on the bench and kisses her. The scene with the two of them in Jack's bed was also quite intense. Although they didn't sleep together, the tension between the two was incredibly written and displayed.

Something is missing, Ah Yes! the action

What did you like best about The Husband List? What did you like least?

Lorelei King, easy the constant torment of Caroline by her mother

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

There is not enough action at least not for a Evanovich book, no explosion, no car chase thouth in this world it would have been a carriage chase, the book is not bad, but it's missing the action where used too, and it shows.

Which scene was your favorite?

When Caroline has the bad guy at gun point and Jack propose

Was The Husband List worth the listening time?

yes and no, I was willing to give the book a chance, but if I knew the only really big action was at the end I would have skipped a lot of chapters, I almost left the story a few times, I like old style tales, but even those need a few bumps in the road to interest me, this book was more about pleasing the parents and sneaking around, cute but booring after a while.

Any additional comments?

if you love a sweet and slow romance with not much action, this is for you, but if you need more Kaboom in a Evanovich book then go in another direction, thought you do get the happy ending, it's slow and sometimes frustrating to get there.

Not The Best

Would you try another book from Janet Evanovich and Dorien Kelly and/or Lorelei King?

Not my favorite book. It is written as an historical piece. I like the characters, but it was a little too old fashioned for me. If you like that kind of thing, it is OK. Lorelei King is good as usual, there was one part in the narraration where she messed up, caught herself and reread the line, this was not caught in the editing room??

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

Present day

What three words best describe Lorelei King’s performance?

Always good performance

Could you see The Husband List being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

no

Love Janet Evanovich but...

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I was expecting more from Janet Evanovich...I barely got through the first couple of minutes of the book before turning it off.

Did Lorelei King do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

Lorelei King is great for the Stephanie Plum series but when she reads other stories you still picture Stephanie Plum characters which makes it hard to imagine the story line.

Flat

Story didn't do narrator justice. Liked characters, but predictable and just this side of boring

absolutely captivating

this book was tantalizing and full of heart pounding moments. I would definitely recommend it for any romance lovers or there.

A slow historical romance fiction

The story was entertaining but progressed slowly...too much so. I was a bit bored with the character of Agnes (mother) and I would have e preferred a bit more from the rebellious Caroline. After dragging along for most of the chapters the neat ending tied everything together rather quickly.
A happy ending for all but the bad guy.

Great story!

A little slow in the beginning, but really liked it after that. Seemed authentic for the times when certain things were expected.

Very Average Book

I really like Janet Evanovick (in particular, the Stephanie Plum series), but this book lacked the fun and excitement of her typical books. It is a historical novel that is very predictible, somewhat formal and old fashoned. I really expected better from Janet. It was really hard to get into the book or the characters. I got tired of hearing "yes mama" over and over as her mother scolded her on her manners. If you want to listen to this, wait for it to go on deep disount before you buy, as it is not worth a full credit.

Enjoyable

If you could sum up The Husband List in three words, what would they be?

I love Janet Evanovich and she and Dorien Kelly did the readers proud with The Husband List.