Tech wizard Daniel Fabian is wealthy and successful. In fact, he has almost everything—except a title to make him worthy in the eyes of the old-money snobs he went to prep school with. His high school reunion is looming, and he’s determined to attend it as a member of the aristocracy.
That’s where Robert comes in.
Daniel has the money, Robert has the name, and both of them know they can help each other out. But their marriage of convenience has the potential to become a real love match—unless a threat to Daniel’s business ruins everything.
Listening Length: 5 hrs 34 min
Narrator: Robert Nieman
Reviewer: R *A Reader Obsessed*
This was a pleasant, contemporary romance where an average joe suddenly finds himself in the position of title and rank. Robert is a lot overwhelmed, seeing as how he’s pretty much left with a money pit when he surprisingly inherits the title of Earl from his little known, and now deceased, uncle. He doesn’t really want the pomp and circumstance, but should he sell off everything and call it a wash? Or does he take on all the obligation and responsibility, despite the fact that he had no idea he was from a noble lineage?
On a lark, Robert agrees to his mother’s crazy idea to find a rich entrepreneur, where he would be upfront about his need for capital, and in exchange, offer to make him a Count through marriage. Enter Daniel. Born and raised in Texas, his humble beginnings have always set him apart from his wealthy, snooty peers. It doesn’t matter that he has an amazingly successful and thus, very lucrative retail line; he still feels like he’s less than. When Daniel’s assistant signs him up for a dating service, he never would’ve guessed he’d find his much desired “respectability” in such a nice package.
I’m so glad that this did not devolve into some crazy cringeworthy miscommunication, where intentions were kept secret or they each think the other is only in it for the money and/or title. These two communicated, and though they try to play it cool initially, try to keep it business only, they quickly realize they do have something special as attraction and admiration grow. I also sincerely appreciate it when stories don’t utilize the obligatory descension into melodrama at the 80% mark, often depicting self sacrifice or hiding vital facts that could easily be rectified with a simple conversation. There are challenges and conflicts no doubt, but Robert and Daniel work through them together.
As a side note, when I rate a book, I rarely take the audio into consideration. For me, it’s really the story that counts and the audio is just hopefully extra goodness. However, this time around the narration by Robert Nieman was just not that good. It’s not that he has a horrible voice, but when one of the characters is British, one would expect that person to sound… well, British! In addition to not distinguishing a main character with an obvious characteristic, he also pretty much failed in varying his voices for the majority of the cast. I was often confused as to who was who since there was very little difference between the two MC’s, which is an important thing to have when listening to a story. Oh, I got the gist that they were either negotiating terms or having some nice smexy times, but apparently, who cares about the details of who said what, right?? Well, after awhile, I just got tired of rewinding and inferred my way through the rest.
So, this could’ve been a strong 3.5 Hearts, but with the audio being the way it was, the rating was lowered to a 3. If you’re a fan of Grey, you won’t be disappointed. Overall, this was good old fashioned romance with a nice dash of smexy, but stymied by a half hearted narration.
Thank you to the author/publisher for the audio in exchange for an honest review.
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