Suffering the Scot

By: Nichole Van

Narrated by: Rosie Akerman

Lady Jane Everard cannot abide the new earl of Hadley. The unmannered Scot is a menace to genteel ladies everywhere, what with his booming laugh and swishing kilt and endless supply of “ochs” and “ayes”. Jane wishes Lord Hadley would behave as an earl should and adhere to English rules of polite conduct.

Andrew Langston, the new earl of Hadley, knows that the English aristocracy think poorly of his lowly Scottish upbringing. This is hardly new. History is littered with the English assuming the worst about Scotland. By living up to their lowest expectations, he is simply fulfilling his civic duty as a Scotsman.

Jane sees Andrew as an unmannered eejit. Andrew considers Jane to be a haughty English lady. But, as the saying goes, opposites attract.... And what if beneath his boisterous behavior and her chilly reserve, Andrew and Jane are not nearly as different as they suppose? Can Scotland and England reach a harmonious union at last?

©2019 Nichole Van (P)2020 Dreamscape Media, LLC

The feels!

WHAT IT'S ABOUT
Lady Jane Everard cannot abide the new Earl of Hadley. The unmannered Scot is a menace to genteel ladies everywhere, what with his booming laugh and swishing kilt and endless supply of ‘ochs’ and ‘ayes.’ Jane wishes Lord Hadley would behave as an earl should and adhere to English rules of polite conduct.

Andrew Langston, the new Earl of Hadley, knows that the English aristocracy think poorly of his lowly Scottish upbringing. This is hardly new. History is littered with the English assuming the worst about Scotland. By living up to their lowest expectations, he is simply fulfilling his civic duty as a Scotsman.

Jane sees Andrew as an unmannered eejit. Andrew considers Jane to be a haughty English lady. But, as the saying goes, . . . opposites attract.

And what if beneath his boisterous behavior and her chilly reserve, Andrew and Jane are not nearly as different as they suppose? Can Scotland and England reach a harmonious union at last?

MY TAKE
Wow. This was quite the story and a great introduction to the men of the Brotherhood of the Black Tartan. I've read a Van book before, and I enjoy her writing. She's got a gift for digging down to give the reader the "feels."

I loved how Andrew was so intrigued by the contradiction that was Lady Jane. After meeting her for the first time on the road when she'd landed in a pond, he got to see what he called "Fiery Jane." When he sees her later (she's the half sister to his cousin, both of whom he's meeting for the first time), she's all composed and cold with not a lick of Fiery Jane showing. He's intrigued.

But both of them are pretending to be something they're not. Andrew's inherited an earldom from a grandfather who rejected Andrew's father when he married a Scottish lady. But the English apparently have all kinds of misconceptions about what a Scottish "lady" is. Certainly nothing like and English ladies.

And, since his English relatives expect an uneducated, barbarian Scotsman, Andrew gives them what they expect. And all the time he's trying to find ways to irk Jane and bring out the fiery part of her personality.

Once the two quick poking at each other, it's quite a lovely romance. Andrew has another mission though, to find justice for his near-death and the death of many others in the betrayal of a business partner. The two plots weave throughout the story. I won't say more because I don't want to spoil anything. I was worried for a bit, but the conclusion to both was very satisfying.

4 1/2 stars

I listened to the audiobook. The narrator, Rosie Akerman, did a great job with the accents, but tended to pitch the voices of the Scottish men too high, making a couple of them sound like girls or children.

Narrator is terrible!

If it wasn't for the narrator, this book would have got five stars! The narrator made ALL the men sound like girls! The narrator, Rosie Akerman, does not have the ability, as do MANY other female narrators, to lower her voice when she is speaking as a man. It made all the men sound very feminine (when they were supposed to be VERY masculine men)! The story was very well written - I like the idea of the upright man, Scottish Earl, Andrew, and the ideals and morals of a true gentleman (or gentlewoman - but not a stifled one)! It was also really great that the story involved taking responsibility for one's actions (Peter) but also the idea of mercy, rather than revenge. Even Kieran, the revengeful Scot, showed mercy in the end. The story also brought out prejudice - in this case against a Scottish Earl by the English "nobility, (so-called)! It really was a very good story and would have been perfectly wonderful if a MORE TALENTED NARRATOR had read the book!!!
NOTE: This book was very irritating to listen to at for the first hour (I think 8 or 9 chapters) because the lines would be repeated in many instances! It was very irritating! So I called Audible and found out (after much discussion with the kind representative) that my iPhone (which is a 6PLUS) could not be updated to the latest software update - which is 14, as I understand it (mine was updated to 12.5 and stating it was the latest update)! Then the rep made sure that my iPhone was on "High" download quality and after that there was no repetition of lines!) I DO recommend this story, but I definitely DO NOT recommend this NARRATOR - just awful! Like fingernails on a blackboard..... I would love to read the rest of this series, but I cannot - because they all have this same terrible narrator!

Funny, romantic, and entertaining

I loved the characters. I loved the dialogue. I loved the shenanigans. And best of all, I can see this couple actually growing old together!

Delightful book

This was well written, charming and fun to listen to. I disagree with previous listeners that the narrator was bad. I thought she did an excellent job switching between high English and Scottish Brough. She had a few lapses but given the difficulty, it was understandable. The story line was enjoyable. The romantic tension was a little long, but had a good climax and characters were very likable and relatable.

Bravo

Well written, real meat to this story without superfluous dialog and a plot that has its surprises.