The Meaning of Love Audiobook By Stephanie Laurens cover art

The Meaning of Love

The Lady Osbaldestone’s Christmas Chronicles

Preview

Try for $0.00
Access a growing selection of included Audible Originals, audiobooks, and podcasts.
You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
Audible Plus auto-renews for $7.95/mo after 30 days. Upgrade or cancel anytime.

The Meaning of Love

By: Stephanie Laurens
Narrated by: Matthew Brenher
Try for $0.00

$7.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $19.46

Buy for $19.46

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

What happens when a love left behind doesn’t die?

Melissa North had assumed that after eight years of not setting eyes on each other, her youthful attraction to - or an infatuation with - Julian Delamere, once Viscount Dagenham and now earl of Carsely, would have faded to nothing and gasped its last. Unfortunately, during the intervening years, she has failed to find any suitable suitor who measures up to her mark, and she is resigned to ending her days an old maid.

Then she sees Julian across a crowded ballroom, and he sees her, and the intensity of their connection shocks her. She seizes the first chance that offers to flee, only to discover that she has jumped from the frying pan into the fire.

Within 24 hours, she and Julian are the newly engaged toast of the ton.

Julian has never forgotten Melissa. Now, having inherited the earldom, he must marry and is determined to choose his own bride. He had assumed that, by now, Melissa would be married to someone else, but apparently not. Consequently, he is not averse to the path fate seems to be steering them down.

And, indeed, as they discover, enforced separation has made their hearts grow fonder, and the attraction between them flares even more intensely.

However, it’s soon apparent that someone is intent on ensuring their married life is cut short in deadly fashion. Through a whirlwind courtship, a massive ton wedding, and finally, blissful country peace, they fend off increasingly dangerous, potentially lethal threats, until, together, they unravel the conspiracy that has dogged their heels and expose the villain behind it all.

©2021 by Stephanie Laurens (P)2021 by Blackstone Publishing
Historical Regency Regency Romance Romance Fiction Mystery Wedding Heartfelt Historical Mystery Romance
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about The Meaning of Love

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    414
  • 4 Stars
    126
  • 3 Stars
    85
  • 2 Stars
    31
  • 1 Stars
    23
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    406
  • 4 Stars
    123
  • 3 Stars
    54
  • 2 Stars
    34
  • 1 Stars
    23
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    389
  • 4 Stars
    123
  • 3 Stars
    76
  • 2 Stars
    34
  • 1 Stars
    19

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful ending to the series!

So happy Julian and Melissa finally got their story and happy ending!
I really enjoyed this "more adult" episode! It had both mystery and romance which kept me listening almost non-stop. At first I found the narration a bit slow but upped the speed on.my kindle and all was well! I particularly liked that the H and h fell in love and became a team early in the story, working together for the remainder of the book. I am so over couples who spend whole books with nothing but misunderstandings, angst and arguments and don't get together until practically the last chapter! So for me this was a most welcome story.. very enjoyable.. thank you Stephanie I will look for more of your books!!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great story. Poor reading.

Loved the story as expected, but the reading was one step above monotone. The reader had a definite rhythm and did not adjust it to fit the text, making phrases hard to follow. I had to force myself to finish.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Intriguing

Wow. I was Not expecting this story. The mystery went on and on. It was a bit wordy but it kept your interest and kept it moving. I think the author did an excellent job moving the story so it did not get stale. My only criticism is that I think she could have weeded the words down an hour😏it had the love-family togetherness, lies and of course… mystery

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Disappointing

This book needed the work was and good humor of the other four. On its own it is an ok book. you do glimpsed at the previous characters and it was disappointing how gloss over it was. I wouldn’t read this as an sequel to the Christmas novels.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Riveting and Worth It

Not at all like the other four (I really missed the old familiar characters in the beginning) Nevertheless, this was a compelling mystery!! I liked the interesting engagement and wedding details most stories gloss over. Melissa finally got her happy ending!!!! Worth it!!!!!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

Author received a new thesaurus

Well the premise of the story was wonderful it was painful to listen to. Not only did the author describe the color of the air in the room and every innate conversation they had with every character whether important to the story or not.

The author has a great writing technique but definitely over uses the English language. Using big words and an extreme amount of words to go along with them does not make a great novel.

The narrator was flat unenthusiastic and quite literally boring.

The editor of this book and the producer of the narrated book should have helped the author and narrator along and condensed some words to make listening more enjoyable.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Like Watching a Foreign Film

To me, this story is like watching a film where the camera spends long, dreamy shots on a scene to ensure the audience catches every nuance of the characters and the period in which they live. It's extremely cerebral and reveals thoughts through dialogue that advance the relationships and storyline. At times I felt like I was listening to a play. Although there is little to no physical description of each character, by the end of the story, I had strong images of what each one looked like.

On one hand, to me the story could be tedious in its commitment to walking the reader through every little detail, and on the other hand, the plot advanced at a good clip.

I was intrigued by the romantic development. If you read/listened to Lady Osbaldenstone's Plum Puddings, you know the backstory of the romantic aspect and that adds a lot. In this story, I saw many complex characters, including the H and h, come together through thoughtful, intelligent decisions and actions. There was a sinister, ever-present force of evil driving the plot and it was that evil element, with the intent to destroy lives, that ended up strengthening relationships and bringing more love and understanding into the lives of others. And, indeed, inspiring more and more desperately passionate and steamy encounters between Julian and Melissa.

I don't know if I'll listen to the whole story again. I only recommend the story for those who like a detail-driven storyline where a large part of the story is about revealing human strengths and weaknesses. I also recommend it if you want a story that lasts longer than the standard 8 or 9 hours.

If I hadn’t been so engaged by the foreign film-like unfolding of the story, I could not have listened all the way through to the end. I never got over the way the narrator's H voice sounded to me like an older middle-aged man and the h sounded to me like a life-long smoker. I will not listen to any more romance stories narrated by this reader.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The Meaning of Love

This book was captivating from the beginning. Narration was very good and made the read.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Different from the rest of the series

I have read several books in this series. I would have enjoyed this more if it had not been part of the series because I had certain expectations that weren’t met. If I didn’t expect it to be similar to the previous books in the series, I wouldn’t have had to deal with those unmet expectations. The previous books featured 3 precocious kids that added a lot of humor to the story, the kids were only briefly mentioned, as was the grandmother. They were older with less personality. Each of the books had a romance in it, which I have enjoyed. This one had a lot more emphasis on the physical relationship, whereas the others were focused on the emotional relationship. Although this was not totally explicit, it detailed the physical love more than I care for.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

not what I expected I miss the kids

I also am disappointed I miss the kids and grandmom.oma I wouldn't call sequel

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!