GREAT!!!

I really enjoyed this Audio Book. I'm a Laurens fan, have been for years, but I would not recommend for that reason only. The characters were well fleshed out, with depth, and there's an interesting story line. I've read or listened to all of the Bastion Club series; this was one of the best. The last two are out now. I sincerely hope Audible makes them available, in UNABRIDGED format! Laurens books (& many others) are not worth the listen/read in Abridged format. It makes them just a string of empty sex with barely enough story line to hold it together. NOT what most women want or like. Distasteful!

8 people found this helpful

Need better voices for characters

The male voices should sound like males not females. Character voices should vary to distinguish them from one another, otherwise great book.

3 people found this helpful

Plot not bad but too much formulaic sex

I have read the other books in this series and this one doesn't measure up. A number of the characters promise to be of interest but they are one dimensional I found it frustrating to be tantalized by characters that I am never given the opportunity to know. The author spends way too much time describing the sex act. There should be a limit to how many pages should be devoted to tweaking, plunging and licking. Time to end this series

2 people found this helpful

Another man learns about love

Another in the Bastion Club series of aristocratic men who worked as Crown spies until after Waterloo.
He comes off as a real bastard in the beginning by ignoring her opinions and just steamrolling over her wishes regarding his pursuit of her for his wife. He slowly begins to show more redeemable tendencies as he catches her in a questionable situation and, when he tries to intimidate her, becomes horrified and ashamed when she responds in terror. He does stalk her to find out if she has become involved in something nefarious, but once he discovers that she has established a working safety net for endangered women and has, herself, become endangered, he begins to work with her group as a support person. Even when it becomes apparent that there is organized crime involved, he gathers the support of his colleagues to help, and each of them (even Dalziel) operates with her as the leader.
I have yet to comprehend why the publisher chooses female narrators for this series.
Jill Tanner is a very good narrator, but if these are books themed upon the Men of the Bastion club.....

4 people found this helpful

Performance is horrible

What made the experience of listening to To Distraction the most enjoyable?

The story

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Jill Tanner?

Simon Prebble

Any additional comments?

Jill Tanner is the most boring narrator of all! I've only bought the audiobook to follow the story. Sometimes she is the reason to not purchase the audiobook and read the paper back myself instead

4 people found this helpful

stalking bully finds the perfect victim

What would have made To Distraction better?

better writing..dialogue....plot...characters...full sentences....development...charisma...performance...romance...love...excitement...anything...
I still don't understand why the h/h are together. Neither are very interesting or appealing. The thing the hero likes is that the heroine doesn't like him. Not the best basis for a relationship, but then again he is a stalker, so maybe it works.
They then get into a master/slave scenario where he lights the bed in the same way you would put lights to start filming porn. Then he commands her to take off her clothes.
The line that really bothered me is when he says " after you incite me you can't say NO". That is the mantra of a date rapist!

What do you think your next listen will be?

to think, to wonder, to review, to search, to assess, to purchase, to download, to play....I'm not sure, but not a Stephanie L. as I really want complete sentences.

What didn’t you like about Jill Tanner’s performance?

I just have to "grmace" through her performance.
She can't do a male voice. the Club members are described as these big tough men that have deep, rough voices. they all sound like women. There is very little difference between the h/h.

What character would you cut from To Distraction?

The hero. He was a jerk. I can't believe the heroine wants to help women get away from domineering men that take advantage of them, just to get into a relationship with the same kind of man. Just because your stalker kisses you doesn't mean that he is a nice guy. He doesn't take no for an answer, and keeps telling you what he wants you to do and not listening to what you want. Wow, someone needs to rescue the heroine from him!

Any additional comments?

I just want to get to the end as the leader's story is the one I want to know about, but I don't like to skip books in a series, so I have to wade through this mess to get to Dialise's story.

2 people found this helpful

Worth it

I have been a long time fan of Stephanie Laurens, this book did not let me down. She once again carried me away to her wonderful world. Worth the time. #1 Fan in San Diego/Oregon

3 people found this helpful

unconventional brides also have challenges

Date: 1816 May
Chronology: set immediately after A FINE PASSION, before Beyond Seduction. This doesn’t match Laurens’ chronological list, but the story starts when Deverell says he’s come back from Warnefleet’s wedding.
Deverell, now Viscount Paignton, seeks advice from his Aunt Audrey who refers him to her goddaughter Phoebe Malleson as the best candidate for his wife. Audrey advises he’ll have to convince Phoebe to marry him since she’s decided not to marry at all. When he meets Phoebe he agrees, but the challenges are greater than he originally expected.
Malcolm Sinclair aka Thomas Glendower first appears in this book and later shows up in The Taste of Innocence with the diary, then has his own story in Loving Rose.
Tanner still mispronounces much. The Brit accent does not excuse or cover it up. Sad.

stephanie laurens at her best

excellent narrator. I like the idea behind the bastion club novels: extraordinary men, long-term spies, needing wives because of their social station, but wanting to find them on their own terms, not those of polite society-the ton. it does remain to be seen how much plot variety the author will be able to bring to this particular formula, but I have faith in her.

I love SL, but...

I love her books and her characters, but I forget how wordy she can get. I don’t think the early Cynster books were quite so wordy. And as much as I love listening to them, it’s harder to go past the unimportant stuff and move on because you can’t skim through as you go.

That said, I do love this series as well as all her series. I’m currently going through and listening based on the timeline of the books instead of the order written. I will keep through to the end and I’m glad that there are various narrators rather than just Jill Tanner. While I don’t hate her narrating, I do find that she has very few distinct voices and so the sound and tone of the books and characters tend to be the same. It might be one of the reasons I felt like this book was a little too similar even though the actual storyline was different.