An Heiress's Guide to Deception and Desire Audiobook By Manda Collins cover art

An Heiress's Guide to Deception and Desire

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An Heiress's Guide to Deception and Desire

By: Manda Collins
Narrated by: Mary Jane Wells
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About this listen

Former lovers become reluctant allies in this delightfully witty historical rom-com from the best-selling author of A Lady's Guide to Mischief and Mayhem — for fans of Evie Dunmore, Enola Holmes, and Netflix's Bridgerton!

England, 1867: As half of the writing duo behind England’s most infamous crime column, Miss Caroline Hardcastle has quite the scandalous reputation. It may have cost her a fiancé, but she would much rather bring attention to crimes against those ignored by society than worry about what the ton thinks of her.

After Caro’s dear friend is kidnapped, however, she has no choice but to work with Lord Valentine Thorn, the same man who broke her heart. Worse, when her actions put her father’s business at risk, a marriage of convenience may be her only solution...but can she trust Val to stand by her? Or will their past repeat itself?

Val — the new Viscount Wrackham — is in an untenable position: His father is demanding he find a respectable bride to secure the succession. Yet the only woman he’s ever loved, Miss Caroline Hardcastle, is notorious for behaving improperly. And she’s never forgiven him for his youthful transgressions, missteps made in the name of familial duty, but ones he still regrets to this day.

As they grow closer to unmasking the culprit, Val sees an opportunity to show Caro he’s a changed man. But can he convince her to give their love a second chance — before death does them part?

©2021 Manda Collins (P)2021 Forever
Historical Fiction Regency Regency Romance Romance Romantic Comedy Victorian Comedy Witty Funny Wedding Heartfelt Feel-Good
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Critic reviews

"After delighting readers with A Lady’s Guide to Mischief and Mayhem (2020), Collins is back in fine fettle with another fetching mix of sprightly wit, nimble plotting, and engaging characters that is certain to endear her to fans of historical romances and cozier historical mysteries." (Booklist)

"Mystery, romance and an indomitable heroine make for a brisk, compelling read." (Madeline Hunter, New York Times best-selling author)

"Manda Collins writes sexy and smart historical romance, with a big dash of fun." (Vanessa Kelly, USA Today best-selling author)

What listeners say about An Heiress's Guide to Deception and Desire

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Story ok

This is a story of a misunderstanding, once resolved became a romance.
Narrator Mary Jane Wells has a lovely voice and a proper British accent. My
Problem with her narrations is that she speaks so fast and pauses so infrequently, the story is literally lost in the words.
I get distracted and lose the conversations, background story and do not enjoy the story. I must remember to not buy books she has narrated. Probably just me. I hate to criticize someone who has spent so many hours on a book reading. I think the producers should guide these narrators better. Oh well…

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Delightful!

It was a wonderful book to listen to, the dialogue was smart, the characters were vibrant, and the romance was delicious!

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Pretty Good 2nd Installment

This was a quick and fairly light read, given the kidnapping mystery subject matter. It’s a romance book and there is a little spice in it, but not much. While this book was a pretty good read, it just wasn’t my cup of tea. There were moments where the audio got very low for various remarks or at the end of certain statements, and it was very difficult to hear.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Great narration/decadent read

MJ Wells is the best narrator! I did listen to this at .9 to slow it down a tiny bit.

The story was a little boring but I managed to finish...probably due to the excellent narration.

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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Fun Mystery and a Wonderful Friendship!

The mystery was a fun one! A missing actress and plenty of aristocratic suspects wade through. I had hoped the story would have had more mystery elements to it. I loved the friendship between the characters! Caro and Kate are searching for their friend, and the discussions of how the friend's missing carriage was of more note to Scotland Yard than an actual missing person. The story did focus a bit more on Caro and Val's romance/relationship than I'd have liked. Sometimes it seemed like the mystery of finding her missing friend was an afterthought. I did like how the mystery turned out! It was fun and exciting! And a nice look at the differences between the upper and lower classes in terms of punishment.
I do appreciate all the feminist ideals of the story, but sometimes it just got repetitive. It had the same statements in basically every chapter, and I do support those statements, but I don't need them repeated that often. It felt like the author needed to make a word count goal, so she just repeated herself.

This is the same narrator as the previous one, but I had more trouble with her this time than the previous one. She did an alright job with all the characters and made sure to keep the voices she used for the previous book in this one and I appreciate consistency like that! I think I just didn't like the voice for Caro, which isn't a slight to the narrator, Ms. Well did an excelled job with the voice, but sometimes voices just don't sound appealing to others. I listened to this at 1.1x speed.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Interesting direction to go with the sequal...🤔🧐

First off i loved this book just as much as the first. It was strange for me at first to find out that our main heroine from the first book has switched into the supporting role and her BFF Hardcastle took center stage. The shake up worked really well. I felt like this rounded out the series and characters as a whole and the 2 new VIPs we were following in this one were every bit as lovable intriguing and fun to get to know as were the last pair. The plot was good, nothing super unique or special but solid and enjoyable. The characters are what makes it all worth while for me. This is another series I'm guna set to give me updates cus ima want more as soon as possible.

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Love This Book!

I truly enjoyed these two books! Great characters and fun exciting story line!! The narrator is superb!! I highly recommend this book. Looking forward to the next in the series when it is available .
Leslie M

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Meh

Mary Jane Wells always narrates well. But this story was just a rehash of others. I was bored. Not even sufficient angst to be rated a romance.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Lovely series

I was lucky enough to get the first book free and loved it. The second was just as delightful. I hope there are more to come.

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Wonderful story and wonderful narration.

This was a very enjoyable story with a fantastic narration. I had finished a rather mediocre audio book and this blew that out of the water. Lovely period mystery with fun characters. If you read A Lady’s Guide, this will be a welcome sequel. I accidentally read this out of order but it made no difference in my enjoyment. Highly recommend.

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