Who's That Earl

By: Susanna Craig

Narrated by: Esther Wane

Miss Jane Quayle excels at invention. How else could the sheltered daughter of an English gentleman create lurid Gothic novels so infamous someone wants their author silenced forever? Fortunately, Jane has taken steps to protect herself: first, by assuming a pen name, and second, by taking up residence at remote Dunnock Castle, surrounded by rugged scenery that might have been ripped from the pages of one of her books. Her true identity remains a secret...until one dark and stormy night.

After years of spying for the British army, Thomas Sutherland doubts the Highlands will ever feel like home again. Nevertheless, thanks to a quirk of Scottish inheritance law, he’s now the earl of Magnus, complete with a crumbling castle currently inhabited by a notorious novelist. When the writer turns out to be the woman Thomas once wooed, suspicions rise even as mutual sparks reignite. As danger closes in, can Jane and Thomas overcome their pasts to forge a future together?

©2020 Susan Kroeg (P)2021 Dreamscape Media, LLC

Starts out good, but...

...so boring by chapter 14, that half-way through 15 I skipped to chapter 23 without missing anything important. The plot was uni-dimensional with little else to keep interest as it dragged out. Not even the romance, which was lukewarm at best - despite repetitions of how much they remembered each other. Geez...even when they come together near the end, it's like a business meeting conversation with a huge & kiss. Boring. Too many words to say too few things that had too little meaning. Also, when the flashes into the heroines Gothic stories punctuate the main narrative, it's unclear of why it's there or why it matters to the plot. It was confusing to listen to, & hard to stay engaged. These characters were described & talked about by this writer, and there was some inner thought dialogue; but there was little heart & feeling imbued that made this reader root for or feel anything for the H/h. By the sex scene near the end, I hardly cared or found it believable.