You May Kiss the Bride

The Penhallow Dynasty, Book 1

By: Lisa Berne

Narrated by: Carolyn Morris

Length: 10 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's summary

In an unforgettable debut, Lisa Berne introduces you to the Penhallow Dynasty - men destined to marry, but hesitant to love.

Wealthy and arrogant, Gabriel Penhallow knows it's time to fulfill his dynastic duty. All he must do is follow "The Penhallow way" - find a biddable bride, produce an heir and a spare, and then live separate lives. It's worked so well for generations, certainly one kiss with the delectable Livia Stuart isn't going to change things. Society dictates he marry her, and one chit is as good as another as long as she's from a decent family.

But Livia's transformation from an original to a mundane diamond of the first water makes Gabriel realize he desperately wants the woman who somehow provoked him into that kiss. And for all the ladies who've thrown themselves at him, it's the one who wants to flee whom he now wants. But how will he keep this independent miss from flying away?

©2017 Lisa Berne (P)2017 HarperCollins Publishers

Well that happened (Some spoilers)

I intend to listen to more from this author, just to see, but right now I am not so sure it worth it. As far as I can see this narrator does not read any other of the books and frankly I might have given up if the narrator had not been as good as this. In regard to this novel, the narrator made the story.

I kept hoping for Livia’s moment of strength, and I guess she had one, sort of. After years of verbal and mental neglect and in some cases abuse, her perseverance paid off and she got the guy. I don’t deem him worthy of her personally but love is blind I guess. The Penhallow family are a perfect cliche we expect from hauteur of English families and like that stereotypical idea they have no concept of realty. It takes Livia’s presence to humanize them. One thing I kept thinking was if the “Penhallow way” was so great why were all of them so miserable?

My favorite character was Hugo though. We see very little of him but he was written as a nice if somewhat boyish guy and honestly I did nope for a bit… but no such luck. Maybe just cause he’s from the broke side of the family he has more compassion and sense, or maybe cause I have not read his story yet so he hasn’t been ruined yet.

good book

Enjoyed the book, not boring at all. I could listen again, nothing more to say.

Slow Story. EXCELLENT SUPERB NARRATION!

This was a very long slow story. Sigh... I felt so sorry for Livia all the time. She just got dumped on constantly. I waited and waited for her backbone to show up tell some of these people to go hang. She got close a couple times but never really did. Gabriel Penhallow was sort of a jerk to be honest and had his head up his grandmama's butt. "The Penhallow way" Whatever, I was so over them and their propriety all the time, every second of the book.

There was a lot of inner dialogue going on throughout the whole book started to become annoying, and sometimes repetitive. There was also a lot of descriptions of everything too. These two things could have been minimized quite a bit.

The story line and plot was not that great, it had potential for sure. But the way the author wrote these characters it was hard to like them. At one point I was hoping Livia would meet someone else and the story would get better. I didn't hate this story, but I didn't like a lot of it either. Sorry Lisa Berne, this story and characters need work.

As for the narration, well that is the only thing that kept me listening. I am a huge fan of Carolyn Morris, she has one of the best voices ever. I love listening to her. She can make a book 10 times better. And she did make this book better. I can't say I recommend this book but I do highly recommend the narrator!

Strange break in story line

Books that are purely for entertainment are great. This definitely falls within this category. For what it is it’s fine. A few of the characters could have been flushed out more and there should have been a better thread that connected the first part with the last part. As it is it seems more like the author decided to add one more conflict and needed something to add length for a last minute idea.
Humor is minimal 1.5/5
Deep drama is minimal 1/5
Sexy time isn’t spread throughout the entire story, it is open door and a couple times 2.5/5.

Kiss the bride....

Enjoyable story full of smiles, giggles and strife. There were all the elements needed in a regency romance. As simple as portions of this tale are -the under developed bits, its told in such an enjoyable way that it doesn't really matter that much.

Carolyn Morris gives a stellar performance.

There isn't much heat, brief sex a couple times, tasteful.

I don't regret the credit!

Good but not great

I thought the story was a little long. I love the narrator and I love the premise of the story so I’m going to purchase book to you and see if I enjoy that one

Great historical!

This was a good story with relatable characters. Just enough spice-but not overly spicy!

Great New Author in Historical Romance!

Very enjoyable book from first time author.I bought this book on the recommendation of author Cathy Maxwell and was not disappointed! Recording is wonderful.

Very enjoyable!

I was a bit dubious about this book because it is a debut novel. I was very pleasantly surprised. Ms. Berne's writing was excellent and of. Purse Carolyn Morris did a great job as narrator.

Rollercoaster of True Love

The rollercoaster of ups and downs, brought me to tears several times. The descriptions of actions and costumes were very nice; and when something was not needed to add to the story, pages were not wasted on to. Enjoy sharing their lives and I look forward to reading more of the series.