Daniel's True Desire

True Gentlemen, Book 2

By: Grace Burrowes

Narrated by: James Langton

Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

An honorable life

Daniel Banks is a man of the cloth whose vocation is the last comfort he has left - and even his churchman's collar is beginning to feel like a noose. At the urging of family, Daniel attempts to start his life over as vicar in the sleepy Kentish town of Haddondale, family seat to the earls of Bellefonte.

Challenged by passion

Resigned to spinsterhood, Lady Kirsten Haddonfield welcomes the new vicar to stay at her family's home while his is under renovation. Suddenly, the handsome visitor has Kirsten rethinking her ideas about love and marriage, but a dreadful secret from Daniel's past may cast a shadow too long for either of them to overcome.

Contains mature themes.

©2015 Grace Burrowes (P)2017 Tantor

Long term favorite

I can’t believe I didn’t do this long ago. This is yet another great Burrowes story but it is also one to listen to when you want to curl up in bed and hide from the world but you still need to vacuum & do the dishes.

One of my favorites!

Clips along at a rapid pace. Totally satisfying, characters, setting, storyline, narrator. Makes me want to read and reread books about the rest of the characters. Knowing those enriches all the Grace Burrowes titles.

Another satisfying story from Grace Burrows

This was a reread for me. When I get frustrated with other authors, I can go back to Grace Burrowes and enjoy the story as much as the first time. I like the subtle humor and the way the characters use language. In this case, the H was a clergyman who is married, but estranged and finds his perfect match in the heroine. I didn’t quite remember the ending, so I found myself enjoying the mystery of how they were going to work it out.
Often Grace Burrowes heroes are big, blustering guys who beneath the surface have a heart of gold. In this case the hero was a little different. He was kind and self reflective, and tried to live by his moral code, regardless of the personal cost to himself. It didn’t hurt that he was shockingly handsome and seemingly unaware of it.  I’m a sucker for an honorable, handsome hero!
I like that the author took trouble with the minor characters. She did an especially good job with the children. I’ve read a lot of HR’s where the children were annoyingly cute, or precocious, or “wise beyond their years“ and distracted from the story. In this case, each of the young boys in the story evolved, and that contributed to the overall story. I especially liked Danny who we met in a previous novel. Danny was always trying to do the right thing and emulate his father, but he really just needed to learn to be a kid. Even the epilogue evidenced GB’s, trademark humor and creativity. Instead of just tying up loose ends, we meet a new character, and in the space of a few pages, he manages to have his own HEA. Now that’s a satisfying storyl!

Well-written, well-developed characters

I found this to be a really good story....one that stays with you even after you've completed the book. The characters were fairly well-developed and fairly complex. The heroine was a pain in the neck, though. Her personality was so strong, she overpowered the other characters...and the story. I may listen to again....but it will be way down on the list.

I am a Grace Burrowes Fan, but this was....meh

It was hard to keep track of who was who in the story. Two boys, Danny and Digby, and other lads as well, all angst ridden. One of them, Danny I think, can’t figure out what to call his parents because they have gone from being his Aunt to his Mother, but he still has to call her Aunt and she remarried and his Uncle Daniel, who used to be his father......
I got through it because I usually enjoy her books but it was difficult.