The Private Secretary

By: Summer Devon

Narrated by: Mark James

Down on his luck and desperate for employment, Ezra Seton is offered only one job: to work in the house of a heartless bully, the very man who drove Ezra’s lover away. Gritting his teeth, Ezra takes the position. But neither the new job nor the master of house are close to what he expected. Still, he vows to keep his distance, no matter how difficult maintaining his composure in the face of relentless drollery becomes.

Robert Demme’s pleasure-seeking days are over. Having rescued his cousin Ambrose from a lunatic asylum, he expends much of his energy pacifying the fragile eccentric. Hiring an assistant offers some relief - and also intriguing temptation. Unfortunately, the fascinating Seton apparently loathes him. Determined to discover the reason, Robert uses his considerable wit to get under the man’s skin, stunned when his plan backfires. Instead of unraveling the stalwart secretary, Robert has undone himself. All he’s accomplished is deepening his own interest. Perhaps he senses Robert’s not-so-innocent attraction.

When the two spend the night together in an inn, their mutual desire proves too strong. The secretary and the gentleman succumb to lust. But when Ezra’s old flame reappears and the cousin’s experiments go awry, it’s a battle to discover which will win the day: love or lunacy.

This edition includes a selection from Simon and the Christmas Spirit, a title by Summer Devon and Bonnie Dee.

©2017 Summer Devon (P)2019 Summer Devon

Smart and Romantic, Mark James is Perfect

Summer Devon definitely has a way with a historical romance, and The Private Secretary is a fast and clever story I enjoyed from beginning to end.

Ms. Devon excels at creating atmosphere. Her descriptions of how these characters live and the details of their interactions make it easy to get completely immersed in the plot.

This one is sweet and funny, and the characters have great chemistry. The story flows along at a wonderful pace, and once the characters admit defeat to their mutual attraction… yup, there’s the delicious erotic romance I know I can expect!

One thing that really struck me in The Private Secretary is how few options people involved in same-sex relationships had in their partners. With nothing more in common than their physical attraction and a willingness to be honest with each other about their desires, sadly for folks back in these times actually “liking” someone wasn’t the most important factor. It might sound obvious, but I can’t think of a romance where this comes up quite so poignantly.

I think a Summer Devon historical audiobook is a great fit for narrator Mark James’ smooth and sexy British accent. He brings great emotion to these characters, and the lightheartedness and humor he brings to the story made it all fly by way too fast. Mr. James makes the most of the supporting characters, and what he does with Robert’s cousin Ambrose truly steals the show!

an audiobook copy of The Private Secretary was provided to me for the purpose of my review

Very interesting story with tailor made narration

This is such a good story! I was hooked from the start and had already picked 'team Ezra'. However, once the friendship between Ezra and Robert's developed, I found myself liking Robert a lot :) Robert is really a good man, especially with the way he (and ultimately, Ezra) takes care of cousin Ambrose.
The romance between both men develops slowly, but realistically - especially for the time period. This is a multi-faceted story, with glimpses of class distinction, treatment perceived mental illness and issues facing same-sex couples in Victorian times.

The prose makes for a delightful narration which is well performed by Mark James. He has a really nice tone and cadence and I found myself immersed in the story. He portrayed the different characters really well.
I was gifted a copy for my listening pleasure.

A great historical book.

Summer Devon writes a great story of enemies (or supposed so) enemies to lovers set in the late 1800s.
Ezra need to find a job after his family’s bankrupt, finds himself being hired as a secretary by the man who supposedly broke the heart of his former lover.
He will find out that things aren’t always what they seem and Robert Demme is not the awful man he thought he was.

They will develop a sort of friendship based on banter and the shared wish to take care of Robert’s cousin, and this friendship is soon overtaken by lust and finally love.

A great book, well written and funny, with a deluge of exceptional secondary characters.

Mark James narration always adds an extra layer of wonderful to Summer Devon’s historical Londoner’s stories.

loved it

Listening to this brought back the enjoyment I experienced when I used to watch PBS on Sunday nights,with all the British shows. absolutely loved it

I enjoyed it a lot

I enjoyed this hot historical story a lot. Both Ezra and Robert have so many layers to their character and the way their relationship starts and develops is very engaging and sexy. Narrator did a great job with all the characters male and female, giving unique voice to everyone of them. Great story and narration made it a perfect listening experience. I am looking forward to more books by this author/narrator team.

Once I tasted your lips, I was enthralled

I still think Mark James is made to narrate Summer Devon’s books because hearing his beautiful narration of these lovely historical romances always make me smile and happy. 😊 And what an enjoyable listen this book was! 💜


Ezra is a fallen gentleman who’s desperate to get a job to support his orphaned siblings. Fatherless and jobless, the position of the breadwinner has fallen upon Ezra’s shoulders. But when the only position available that is offered to him came from a man who Ezra hated with vigor, Robert Demme who broke the heart of Ezra’s ex-lover. Oh well, beggars can’t be choosers. It’s either work for Robert or become a pauper. When he arrived at Robert’s mansion for his job, he soon learnt a few things. First, he’s not working for Robert but for his rather eccentric cousin Ambrose. Second, Robert isn’t anything like he imagined, not cruel or pompous or rakish, in fact, he’s rather kind, charming and understanding. Third, he seems to be inexplicably attracted to Robert despite loathing him fiercely at first. Now Ezra can keep disliking Robert and keep him at a distance or abandoned everything he believe about Robert to become his lover.


This is a rather angst-free, light and charming story. I’m a sucker for enemies-to-lovers trope so it’s no wonder I enjoyed the story of Ezra and Robert. However, Robert’s cousin Ambrose really REALLY irritated me at some times. 😅 I know this rather eccentric and genius man can’t help it but the man truly has no understanding of socializing and manners. I also would have loved to see a bit more heat-packed scenes between the two lovers but I was charmed by the story so I will let go of it. Overall, it was light, fun and enjoyable so if you are looking for a regency romance with enemies-to-lovers trope, this one was a delightful listen. 😌



4 once I tasted your lips I was enthralled stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️





Audio rating

Story - 3.5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Narration - 4.5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Performance - 4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Overall - 4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Great story.

This is another great story by Summer Devon. Ezra and Robert are just great characters that I just love. Then Mark James dies a great job into bring this story to life. It just pulls me more into the story. Great listen.

A fun story and fantastic audio performance by Mar

A fun story and fantastic audio performance by Mark James.

I love reading historical M/M romance stories and love the audios of them even more when the reading is done by someone as fantastic as Mark James.

Summer Devon's story about a down-on-his-luck Ezra Seaton was a fun story to listen to. Robert Demme hires Ezra to work for his eccentric cousin who researches insects. The arrangement works well except that Robert can't figure out why Ezra dislikes him so much.

The writing is witty and entertaining and Mark James performance brings out all of the nuances of the various characters perfectly. I am a huge fan of this writer and narrator combination and look forward to listening to more from them either individually or together.

I purchased the ebook of this story but a free copy of this audiobook was provided to me, however my review was voluntary and not influenced by the author.

Great narration, okay story

The narrator saved this one. The story was mediocre, no terrible but I think the narrator gave it more life than it otherwise would have.

Amazing Narrator and a Great Story

I absolutely loved this narrator. Just his voice is enough to make you swoon, but add the love story to it and it’s perfect. Gentlemen and their taboo-in-high-society relationships make for a very enjoyable four-hour romp. I’ll definitely add this author’s other books to my TBR pile.