The Vanishing of Lord Vale

Lost Lords Series, Book 2

By: Chasity Bowlin

Narrated by: Esther Wane

Elizabeth Masters has put her scandalous and painful past behind her. She's taken a position as companion to the tragic Lady Vale and her primary duty is to dissuade the woman from believing that everyone from the butcher's delivery boy to the ostler at an inn is her missing son. But a late-night visit to an alleged mystic in the city of Bath results in near-tragedy as Elizabeth is nearly abducted by ruffians waiting for them outside. They are rescued by a handsome and mysterious stranger who calls himself Benedict, the very name of Lady Vale's lost son.

Benedict has his own reasons for being in Bath - to locate his missing sister and see her safe once more. Waylaid by a pistol ball from the men who attacked Miss Masters, he finds himself dependent upon the assistance of Lady Vale to rescue his Mary. In exchange, he must consent to her investigation of his past to determine if he is, in fact, her missing son, an unlikely scenario in his mind.

Forced to work together, Benedict and Elizabeth cannot fight the attraction they feel for one another. Yet with every piece of evidence uncovered, the truth of Benedict's identity threatens their burgeoning relationship...and the danger that brought them together looms larger at every turn.

©2017 Chasity Bowlin (P)2019 Tantor

Lively plot and well-developed characters

This was a unique and interesting story. I enjoyed seeing how the mystery of the characters’ interwoven pasts came together. The plot had lots of twists and turns but never seemed contrived.
The characters, including the minor ones, had depth and complexity. I especially liked the way the author let us gradually see the honorable qualities of the hero and the brother-in-law through events in the story. The female characters like Lady Vale, the heroine Elizabeth, and Mary the hero’s sister were strong without being strident and resourceful in the face of danger.
The only thing I didn’t like was the very obvious cliffhanger at the end. Luckily the Chasity Bowlin book that answers all those questions (#5 in the series) is also included in Audible Plus.

Oh, the tedium…

Frankly, I don’t know what I found tedious about this book. It may have been the unnecessary length of it…or perhaps the narrator’s poor attempt at simulating male voices…
Whatever it was, I won’t go on to the next book in the series by this [woops, spoiler alert!] ‘cliffhanger’ ending.

I’m loving this series

The author owes a fantastic job they are fun and passionate and have wit and knowledge. The narrator does a fantastic job bringing the characters to life

Excellent

Loved this story looking forward to the rest of the series . The characters were believable & storyline easy to follow. Narrator was good also.

Inconsistent

I don’t usually get bored listening to books but this one just never came together for me. I got through a good deal of it but just finally threw up my pop hands and stopped. There were too many characters to keep track of. Also, the narrator didn’t differentiate the voices well enough to know who was talking. I’m very negative about this book.