• Must Love Breeches

  • A Time Travel Romance
  • By: Angela Quarles
  • Narrated by: Mary Jane Wells
  • Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (456 ratings)

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Must Love Breeches  By  cover art

Must Love Breeches

By: Angela Quarles
Narrated by: Mary Jane Wells
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Publisher's summary

She's finally met the man of her dreams - too bad he lives in a different century!

A devoted history buff finds the re-enactment of a pre-Victorian ball in London a bit boring...until a mysterious artifact sweeps her back in time to the real event, and into the arms of a compelling British lord.

Isabelle Rochon can't believe it when she finds herself in the reality of 1830's London high society. She's thrilled to witness events and people she's studied. But she may also have to survive without modern tools or career - unless she can find a way to return to her time. And then there's Viscount Lord Montagu, a man whose embrace curls her toes, but who has a dangerous agenda of his own.

Lord Phineas Montagu is on a mission to avenge his sister, and he'll stop at nothing, including convincing an alluring stranger to pose as his respectable fiancé. He's happy to repay her by helping her search for her stolen calling card case that brought her back in time. But he doesn't bargain for the lady being his intellectual match - or for the irresistible attraction that flames between them.

They're both certain they know what they want, but as passion flares, Phineas must keep both himself and Isabella safe from unseen opponents, and she must choose when and where her heart belongs. Can they ever be together for good?

Don't miss the time travel romance USA Today called "a delicious twist on historical drama and romance."

©2014 Angela Trigg (P)2016 Angela Trigg

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Don't Miss this Wonderful Time Travel Romance!

Must Love Breeches is a light hearted time-travel HR — a reverse Kate and Leopold, where a modern girl with baggage, ends up in 1834 London. With fine writing and a witty plot, it grabbed me from the start!

But, to be completely honest, I was prepared to be disappointed, since so many of the books with a similar plot have usually failed due to overly plucky and strident heroines, who come across as arrogant or TSTL. Fortunately, Angela Quarles is a terrific writer who handles this tricky sub-genre with a deft hand. Bravo!

The lead heroine, Isabelle, is a history professional. She loves Austen, and the British Museum, and all things antique. Upon finding herself in London in 1834, her reactions — and her denial — feel real, and not at all overdone. And as the implications of her situation dawn on her, that she is truly stuck there, it’s fun to watch her find her footing amid all the pitfalls of trying to pass as someone from another age. (I particularly enjoyed watching while she tried to remember what she'd read in novels and history books!)

The narration by Mary Jane Wells, is extremely well done, and worthy of the story, as she enhances the experience of the book immensely. While she initially reads Isabelle with a flat American accent, but soon softens it, as the character makes an effort to sound more like the people around her, and her American accent becomes very pleasant to listen to. VERY WELL DONE, indeed!

(I shudder to think what a less skilled narrator could have done to this book, and hope Ms. Quarles chooses to continue to use MJW!)

The romance, particularly the sex scene, is a masterpiece. Beautifully written and performed, and true to the era in which it occurs, it held me enthralled. Phineas, (great name!) is a true gentleman of his time, and behaves accordingly, showing all the care and respect one would expect, without stepping back from the passion when it counts. I loved how true to the situation that scene was, perhaps more so when compared to those in many of the usual HR’s, where rakes normally prevail. I found it deeply affecting, romantic, and very sexy. I think Ms Quarles is very talented.

Naturally, there is a mystery, with dastardly bad guys, and enough action to keep the book moving at a good steady clip, but it never overwhelms the romance, and gives 1834 London it’s due in atmosphere and description, peopled as it is with great thinkers of it's age. Neither does it become overly violent or unduly melodramatic, which I appreciated. The Epilogue ties things up nicely, and is not to be missed.

There is another book in this series, Must Love Chainmail, and as I do, I can’t wait to read it. I hope it will come to Audible very soon, with Mary Jane Wells, or someone equally talented, doing the narration. Enjoy!

Highly Recommended.


FYI: I was very fortunate to receive this book (from Audioblast!) for an honest review. Lucky me!

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23 people found this helpful

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

The little details don't add up.

If you could sum up Must Love Breeches in three words, what would they be?

Did Angela Quarles change her timeline midway through? I enjoyed the story, but there are little details that really bugged me. She spent so much time emphasizing Isabelle's cell phone at the beginning and the details about the phone indicate she's probably from at least the early 2000's because it sounds like a smartphone. Isabelle also repeatedly talks about how things are supposed to change over the next 150 years while she's back in 1834, but then the dates given in the epilogue totally screw up the timeline. It's missing at least 40 years. She goes back to 1834, they're married for 30 years, and then she says she'll be born in another 80 years.... In the epilogue, Isabelle says that she was born in 1944 and would then travel back from 1973.... Her age would be right since she's supposed to be 29, but then how the heck is she supposed to have a smartphone that sounds like it's from the 2000's? It doesn't fit! I know the point of the story is to immerse yourself in the romance, but these details are super annoying.

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18 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

A Time Travel Romance so worth the time to read!

Must Love Breeches by Angela Quarles brings together contemporary sexiness and nineteenth century innocence. The result is a sensual romance that you can’t put down!

The story begins when Isabelle Rochon faints during a reenactment ball, and awakens in 1834 London, in the midst of a true ball. With no money, no friends and absolutely no idea how this has happened to her, Isabelle faces an unbelievable reality. She has traveled back in time!

Isabelle soon realises that a capable, independent, modern day woman has no place in London’s society. Lucky for her she meets Miss Ada Byron, a woman who has the open mind and intelligence to accept Isabelle’s time traveling story as truth. With Ada’s help, Isabelle is able to safeguard her secret and blend in while she searches for her way back home.

Lord Montagu knows his cousin Ada’s new mysterious friend is a complication he doesn’t need. He is a man focused on revenge, and tries his best to ignore the curiosity and desire Isabelle stirs in him. However, once he sees his carefully constructed plan is not working in his favor, he realizes Isabelle might be just what he needs to finally have vengeance.

After accepting the gorgeous Lord Montagu’s unusual proposal to act as his fiancé, it proves no easy task for Isabelle. She must protect her true time traveler identity, while aiding him on his secretive project. Most importantly, she must resist the growing passion that continues to threaten the fact that she must leave. She needs to return to her life, her job, her time - but every tender kiss and stolen moment of passion is tearing Isabelle apart. Isabelle must decide... Is this love? Is this worth staying for?

You won’t want to miss this love story that defies time! I should warn you though... it will leave you wanting a little more romance in your life!

Mary Jane Wells was excellent with the delivery of the story

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Not at ALL what I'd expected:

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

People who would like this book: Only those who like a surface story, who are obsessed with all things Jane Austen (enough not to care about the inaccuracies) and who have excellent hearing.
People who would NOT like this book: listeners who are looking for good character development, believable story lines, accurate narration, good character development and strong female leads.

What could Angela Quarles have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Characters did not seem to be well developed. In the beginning, the heroine seemed overly flighty and lacking substance and sensibility. It took her an unusual amount of time to realize she'd gone back in time and she acted like an idiot the whole time. It was like an episode of Bridgette Jones' diary meets Jane Austin. Very trying for people looking for a strong heroine and a good love story. After 7 hours of listening, I still didnt feel like the characters actually loved eachother. Only that they wanted to "hit the hay." I had no personal investment in the main characters. the story line and the decisions of the heroine were difficult to believe and hard to follow.

There were a lot of unbelievable parts. For instance, the main character was a history buff who works in a top museum in London but hails from alabama. However, she was extremely flighty and the typical "gauche american." Whereas, one would excpect one who had dedicated their life to museum work to be more circumspect, more educated, less "Cluless" (like the movie). And then, once the main character FINALLY realizes she's gone back in time, she becomes a paragon of calm, cool, collected, relatively perfect behavior. It was like the main character became a completely different person. More like the person one would THINK would have started at the beginning.

Other unbelievable parts included the main character telling the Byron daughter that she'd travelled through time and said girl easily accepts. That a newspaper reporter overhears the main character say she is from the future and prints it in a newspaper but her betrothed ignores it and there is relatively no social fallout from the "scandal." It was like the author threw in that tidbit to tie something else together (additional story line) but didnt fully develop it or work it out in advance. It, much like the rest of the book, was unbelievable and not fully developed.

Would you be willing to try another one of Mary Jane Wells’s performances?

Definitely not.

I know that the narrator is English and her English female accent was spot on (most of the time... sometimes a bit of "lower class english" accent slipped in but only someone who had lived in england would note this. Most listeners would not). However, the Main Character is AMERICAN. Why do I write that with capital letters? Well, because a MAJORITY of the story concerns the main character's inner thoughts and the narrator is in fact, reading/verbally acting out those thoughts. The main character is from Mobile, Alabama (I believe it's mobile). People from alabama USUALLY have a southern accent. The heroine was given a Los Angeles Valley Girl flighty type accent (think of Alicia Silverstone in Clueless). This was difficult to follow. PLUS, every time the main character had a thought, it was delivered in British English. This made it VERY hard to follow or empathize with the main character and took a lot away from the story.

Additionally, the narrator struggled with the male voices. It was almost like the narrator couldn't vocalize the lower octave in a normal voice so she lowered her volume and made it breathier in order to effect a "male voice." Probably about 30 times in the first 2 hours between the male lead, his thoughts, the main character and the Byron Chick's voice and thoughts, the narrator quieted her voice to such an extent, I couldnt even hear what was said. I used my headphones almost exclusively and had no surrounding noise. I missed so much of what the characters were thinking and saying because of the drastic change in volume of the narrator's voice. Almost like she doesnt know how to use a microphone for recording properly. I had to either turn my volume up to the Max and deal with it hurting my ears for the majority of the listen (just so I wouldnt miss the times when the narrator got inordinately quiet), OR I would have to forego understanding the times when the narrator decided to get quiet in order to "create an effect." the effect she created with the constant switch in volume was extreme annoyance on the part of the listener.

I **will** say that for being British, the narrator does not do an unbelievable "American Accent." However, she used a Los Angeles accent for the main character who clearly should have had a southern accent (or at least a HINT of a southern accent, even if moderated) due to being from mobile, Alabama.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Must Love Breeches?

I dont know that I would have "cut" scenes... though definitely, I would have cut out all mention of the stupid newspaper reporting of her being "from the future..." it didnt make sense, wasnt properly developed and was annoying.

IMPORTANT COMMENT FOR EDITORS/AUDIBLE:

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE start casting both a male and a female for each book. Even with the BEST of narrators, women pretending male voices and males pretending female voices NEVER sounds believable. However, if you had one female actor to act out all female character voices and one male character to act out all male voices, the stories would be SO MUCH MORE COLORFUL and BELIEVABLE!!!! It would make a SIGNIFICANT difference. in fact, even if a story sucked, I would buy one that was dual-narrated because I believe good acting could carry the story and suck you in regardless. As far as cost is concerned I would think that splitting the time between two actors would similarly split the cost. There has to be a cost effective way to do this.

The old time radio shows of the 1940's - 1960's did this right. They had multiple actors, sound effects, etc. those shows sucked you in and really transported you. After all, that's WHY people buy these books, or movies or tv shows... they want to be transported to a different reality. Now, I'm not saying you have to go as far as the old time radio shows with sound effects, multiple actors, etc. But MINIMALLY having one good male actor do the male voices and one good female actor doing the female voices.... it would give the stories SO much more credence and believability. I am certain this would dramatically increase sales once the trend caught on.

I dont care how good a voice over artist is, I have yet to listen to an actor voicing a gender other than their own and be fully believable.

Any additional comments?

If you DO try the dual-actor casting, please let me know. I am not normally as harsh in my criticism as I was above. I would be very interested to help on a pilot or to review these audiobooks once you get them done. Minimally, please alert me when you do.

P.S. Also, I think if you were to find a special name for the dual-voice actor productions- a catchy term that communicates the 2 or multiple actors- And if audible added an option to search their store for such dramatized titles (having 2 actors- 1 male & 1 female) - I think those titles might sell more than other titles. Especially if marketed correctly.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing ending to this Romance!!!

I don't usually leave all 5 stars on my reviews. However, this was a great love story. The narration is excellent. I was absolutely thrilled with her character voices.

The time travel was basically Isabelle Rochon, who works for the British Museum, walking into the 1834 streets of London after a ball. This all happens in the first chapter. So I am not giving away a major spoiler. She has a cell phone that won't work and is carrying around a little silver card case (like a business card case) and her purse. She is dressed in a ball gown that fits the higher class dress of the 19th century, which alerts people to the fact that she is part of society. She meets Ada Byron Lovelace (Lord Byron the poet's daughter) and her cousin Phineas, Lord Montagu. Then the adventure begins.

Isabelle meets famous scientists, gets to see the British Museum before the restoration after the war, and attends many social events of the time. This is story is filled with some drama involving something she brought into 1834. There are many people that want this item.

Of course, Isabelle falls in lust...then love with Phineas. The "Item" is found and Isabelle can return to her own time. She goes back and forth with "does he love me doesn't he love me?", but this is not drawn out into a long emotional chapter after chapter. I am so glad that Angela did not drag this on as most Romance writers do.

Small spoiler Alert ----- Okay, she goes back to her time. She immediately knows that she should not have returned. She gets back to Phineas in 1834. The romance is great.

BUT....Here is something VERY important; you absolutely MUST pay attention to the Epilogue at the end of the story. Pay close attention to the dates and events Isabelle mentions. It makes this a FANTASTIC ending.

This audiobook was provided by the author at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBlast dot com.

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4 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Kate & Leopold style romance

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, don't let the cover throw you off, this is actually a really well done Time Travel Romance with very real historical facts, not as raunchy as the cover suggests, but a well written novel.

What other book might you compare Must Love Breeches to and why?

I'd compare it to the movie Kate & Leopold, except the woman goes back in time.

Which scene was your favorite?

Where she catches him snooping upstairs and they need to form a cover story, quick.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It has plenty of funny moments in it.

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Fun Time Travel- Great Narration!

This was such a fun book to read/listen to. Love a good LOL at times time travel story,
I really enjoyed both the hero and heroine. They made a great couple and had some good chemistry together. She was a strong female character and really gave you some LOL moments. He was a bit stuffy but in a good way.

The plot and story line was great. Well, it is a time travel so what is not good about that storyline! There was a lot of really fantastic dialogue throughout the entire book and it was not full of angst either. Two pluses there.

As for the narration, it was great! Loved the narrator Mary Jane Wells did a fantastic job on the men's voices and the inflections, everyone gets their own voice and her reading voice is great. Really becoming a fan of hers.
I totally recommend this book for time travel fans.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Very enjoyable but.... cell phone

I enjoyed this way more than I expected to. Phineus was the perfect dreamy Regency-esq hero and I though Isabel’s reactions and accents made sense. I will say that, for a historian and reader or Regency romance, I would have expected her to understand more fully her limitations as a single female of her age and situation in that time. Possibly in the shock of time travel she spaced the women’s lack of lib aspects of the time period? Not sure. Also, did she not have a cell phone at the beginning of the book? Or was it just a camera, I could have sword she said she needed to charge her phone. But then at the end she said she went back in time in the 1970s? Did I miss something? This is my only issue with audio, it is not as easy to flip back to certain passages. Either way though, I loved it, loved the mystery and romance and slow burn smexiness!

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    2 out of 5 stars
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Impatient with such a STUPID heroine!

Any additional comments?

Some spoilers in this review.

The entire book I was so frustrated with how stupid the heroine was. She goes back in time and acts like a modern woman, yet she is supposed to be a historian, an expert? It just didn't make sense! Then she just leaves this person who she clearly loves, for a job. For a promotion. It just felt shallow, and she didn't even try to tell her great love that she loved him. By the time she did realize her own stupidity I was just impatient with her and not sympathetic towards her.

I enjoyed the narrator when she spoke with her British accent, but the heroines American accent was a bit annoying.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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Loved the reader and liked the story

The cover is misleading. You'd think its just a bodice-ripper with little substance, but there's a well-written historical romance hiding in the pages. The reader was phenomenal. Every chapter made me love her voice more. The story was good, too, though if you can force yourself to skip the epilogue, do so. It will just make you question the story more than an epilogue should.

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