Slightly Shady

Lake & March, Book 1

By: Amanda Quick

Narrated by: Barbara Rosenblat

Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

Amanda Quick, best-selling author of Regency-era romances, has won many awards for her works, including the New York Times best-selling Wicked Widow. Each work transports fans into a richly detailed world of intrigue and desire. There are now over 25 million copies of her books in print.

Besieged by gambling debts, a desperate gentleman purchases a diary as a tool for blackmail. But he does not live to carry out his plans. He is murdered, and the diary is stolen. Now Tobias March, discrete private investigator, has been hired to find the incriminating diary. Tobias is familiar with danger, but when his inquiries lead him to the beautiful entrepreneur Lavinia Lake, his emotions are sidetracked.

The attraction that grows between Tobias and Lavinia is framed in the sparkling dialog and wit that have attracted millions of fans to Amanda Quick's novels. Superbly narrated by Audie Awardª-winner Barbara Rosenblat, Slighty Shady is a delicious tale filled with sophistication and suspense, humor and passion.

©2001 Jayne A. Krentz (P)2001 Recorded Books

A Paradox or Conundrum. Lived it hated it.

Both characters made me want to reach out and strangle them both. Skipped some chapters.

I found both main characters unlikable.

I tried twice, but just couldn't get into this series. I've enjoyed all other Amanda Quick audiobooks I've listened to, but these characters did not have the same charm for me.

Everyone Mad All the Time Everywhere

Usually, I pull out Amanda Quick books when I am really not feeling well. They are funny and sweet and perhaps a little over the top in the boinking department — but nice for extremely light reading. Those are the actual books with pages and everything. This book, with its two follow ups, are some of my favorites. But beware…

In contrast, the audiobook suffers because of the narrator. (If you have never read these books and are used to the narrator, you might think, “This reviewer is crazy.”) Everyone sounds angry all the time. Not befuddled, not quiet, but loud and ranty (I had to come up with a new word to describe the narrator.) It is so bad that it’s hard to understand the beginning of the romance, as the two characters are ranting in their heads and at each other with such loud vehemence as read by the narrator. I had to stop partway through because it was actually ruining one of my favorite Quick books. Needless to say, I will not be getting any others on audible, but stick with my paper backs, (The ones with pages and everything)

The story gets five stars, because it has stayed on my bookshelf for a long time, the narrator gets one star for ruining the book so the overall score is sort of a kindness rating. I would strongly suggest reading the books, rather than listening to this narrator.

Pleasant, but average nonetheless

Setting: London, after the Napoleonic wars
Genre: Romantic mystery
Lavinia Lake and Tobias March met in Rome where he wrecked her shop during the course of his job as a private inquiry agent. Back in London and in need of a way to make a living, she decides she can do private inquiries too. She meets Tobias March again over the body of a blackmailer. The story consists of finding a diary and figuring out who the murderer is. During all that, Lavinia and Tobias deal with their mutual attraction and love.
I did not care that much for the characters in this book. In fact, I thought Lavinia downright irritating. None of the characters were anywhere near three dimensional. Of course, this is an action-driven story, and the action wasn’t bad. While the solution to the mystery was not earth-shattering in originality, it was suspenseful enough to keep listening.
The narration is performed by Barbara Rosenblatt. She does a very good job with all the voices, differentiating well between characters, and she does male voices well. I really got into her as a narrator from listening to her performances in Elizabeth Peters’ Amelia Peabody series, which really showcases her talents. That aside, the production of this audiobook leaves much to be desired. There must be something they could do about the noticeable respiration, either during recording or in post-production. It is irritating.
Overall, this is not the best AQ novel I’ve read, but it was an okay listen.

Saved by a great performance

The story is classic Amanda Quick formula, so much so that JAK may have used a software program to assemble the parts.

BUT Barbara Rosenblat breathes enough life and fire into the story to make it a worthy listen.

a good Quick story ;)

I think this is one of my favorite of Quick’s historical—romantic-suspense books. I’m not a big fan of Lavinia‘s petulance or short fuse, nor am I wild about Tobias, but they fit and the story works.
Rosenblat does a very good job with narration for this book. Differentiation between characters and emotions done well.

Good book

This is my least favorite of Amanda Quick's books. I enjoy all of them. I don't usually listen to romances but these add spice and mystery to their stories.

Very well done

Having read this story first a number of years ago I was delighted to find that it holds up well and is just as intriguing as it was the first time I read it. The banter between Tobias and Lavinia is wonderful

Terrible performance

I love all of Amanda Quick, aka Jayne Ann Krentz and Jayne Castle, novels. The reader in this Audible is hard to listen to. There are long pauses and frequent deep breaths that are clearly heard. Also moments of anxiety are characterized by screeching.

Good story horrible narration

The woman sounds like a 30 year smoker and frequently audibly swallows her spit, several times in a row.