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A Lady at Last

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A Lady at Last

By: Brenda Joyce
Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris
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Raised as a pirate's daughter, Amanda Carre has not been tutored in the finer social graces. Alone in the world, she has never depended on anyone, until fate intervenes when Cliff de Warenne rescues her from a mob at her father's hanging. Now she must set sail for England to find the mother she never knew, and her chaperone is an infamous ladies' man.

The greatest gentleman privateer of his era, Cliff knows honor demands that he see this beautiful wild child to London and into her socialite mother's arms. He's aware that Amanda is utterly unprepared for a debut in London's ton, so his only recourse is to become her guardian and champion her transformation into a lady...and find her a suitable match. But with every passing moment it becomes harder to deny his jealousy and ire, until Amanda makes her stunning debut, a lady at last. And when his passion is finally released, their love can no longer be denied.

©2006 Brenda Joyce (P)2006 Audible, Inc.
 Historical Historical Fiction

Critic reviews

"A passionate, swashbuckling voyage....Romance veteran Joyce brings her keen sense of humor and storytelling prowess to bear on her witty, fully formed characters." (Publishers Weekly)
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This book isn't the best of the genre, but it delivers -- a little tension, a hero and heroine I can root for, and, of course, romance and a happy ending. The book is a little formulaic, but it is so nicely done, I cannot complain.

Our hero is an Earl's youngest son, renown privateer/merchant/rake (I am not sure which of the three comes first ;-) Our heroine is a rough-and-tumble pirate's daughter, under the hero's charge, who undergoes a Pygmalion transformation by the end of the story. I preferred the relationship at sea, when she had a little more fiestiness to her. Sadly, once she hit dry land and the Ton got ahold of her, the story/characters all became a little more mundane. That said, there is definite chemistry between the two throughout the book (well, sexual tension really -- the word "virile" comes up regularly, and while our heroine remains a virgin for much of the book, she certainly isn't "innocent").

The story includes a couple of kids who occasionally have annoyingly adult-like dialogue, particularly the precocious daughter, thankfully she rarely appears. These are by-blows of our hero, but he raises them openly/lovingly -- in fact, if there is any complaint about him, it is that he is just too nice, sometimes a little broody darkness helps fill out a character. While our hero is torn by his attraction to his charge, he is pretty darn honourable about it all (well, mostly, when he isn't being "virile").

The narrator is a man (which is the first for me in a historical romance novel) -- I enjoyed it. The accent is North American, which might bother some people since the setting is 1800s Ton Society. If you need your English/Irish/Scottish characters to sound English/Irish/Scottish, you might be bothered, but he worked for me. Listen to the sample to decide.

I give this book 4 out of 5 for delivering what was expected, a nice little romance.

A nice light romance

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This was one of the best romance novels I have read in a long time. I loved this story so much! I highly recommend! I also enjoyed the narration very much.

The best romance novel I've read in a long time.

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Enjoyable story although fairly predictable. At times, there were slow spots that caused a lack of interest, however, the story line picked up again. A good read for vacationing at the beach.

A Lady at Last

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I'm a sucker for "make-over" stories and this one is perfect for that. I've listened to it three times already. I'm not wild about the narrator & agree his accents need some work - but I thought the story was good enough to overlook him. I've just finished The Perfect Bride and loved that one too. I just wish Audible had the earlier de Warrenne books available.

Loved it!

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I have had this book for years. It is one of my favorite. So happy to have it on audio now. The back and forth with amanda and cliff is so intense, and passionate. The narrator narrator was pleasing to listen to.

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE THIS BOOK!!!!!

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There was something so touching and sweet about this story. I almost missed work because I had been up all night reading it. Amanda is so desperate she offers herself to the governor in exchange for her father's pardon. Her despair, pain and vulnerability are so palpable despite her attempts to hide them behind her tomboysih and defiant exterior. The scene at her father's hanging brought tears to my eyes. Cliff DeWarrene's reaction to her plight and the way he came to her aid won me over. He was truly an honorable man. And he sincerely tried to think of her as an innocent child that needed to be taken care of, offering her his protection without expecting or even accepting anything in return. I found myself laughing out loud when I saw his jealous outbursts while he still denied his feelings for her. Brenda Joyce was very adept at developping these 2 characters and building/evolving their relationship. The sexual tension between them was always there, but she also took the time to build their friendship and their respect for each other. The fact that Cliff still preferred Amanda as "La Sauvage" versus the lady endeared him to me even more. This is basically the story of a gentleman sea captain, an unlikely damsel in distress with a lot of heart and spirit, a love story amid pirates, London's aristocracy, and the Jamaican Islands. What can you ask for more.

A sea captain and a pirate's daughter.

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An entertaining "Pygmalion", "My Fair Lady" themed story with a different setting and time era. Instead of the 'flower girl' there is the pirate's daughter and the 'professor' is a prosperous daring sea captain from a noble family.

A Lady at Last

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This was an enjoyable, lusty romance, however somewhat predictable. It was entertaining but I did not feel compelled to keep listening.

A Lady at Last

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the male portrayal of the female lead was a bit of a stretch for me, at times it was painful to listen but the story was enjoyable enough to continue the listen

great story, poor voiceover

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If you can get past the first 3 (4?) hours of constant yelling of "papa, papa," you're ok. The story was very nice, I liked the characters, but this "papa" thing was REALLY driving me nuts. If I were to really read it, it probably wouldn't have bothered me as much since I would've just skipped that part, but listening to it was just unbearable and it made me cringe.
Also, the ending was a bit brief. I wished for more 'happily ever after' and that they would be described as happy parents.

Still, it was a very good introduction to the de Warren dynasty book series for me. Now I'm hooked :)

Enjoyable

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