The Heir

Windham Series, Book 1

By: Grace Burrowes

Narrated by: James Langton

Gayle Windham, earl of Westhaven, is the first legitimate son and heir to the duke of Moreland. To escape his father's inexorable pressure to marry, he decides to spend the summer at his townhouse in London, where he finds himself intrigued by the secretive ways of his beautiful housekeeper.

Anna Seaton is a beautiful, talented, educated woman, which is why it is so puzzling to Gayle Windham that she works as his housekeeper. As the two draw closer and begin to lose their hearts to each other, Anna's secrets threaten to bring the earl's orderly life crashing down - and he doesn't know how he's going to protect her from the fallout.

©2010 Grace Burrowes (P)2016 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Burrowes' outstanding debut is a witty, sensual, Regency romance featuring complex characters who ring true to the time period, leaving readers saying huzzah!" ( Booklist Starred Review)

Great Listen

Although this was Grace Burrowes's debut novel, it was unavailable in audio until now. Narrated like the rest of Grace's titles, James Langton does a fantastic job narrating - all 3 of the Windham brothers are easy to tell apart and the female voices are very well done. Anna Seaton finds herself as housekeeper to Gayle, the Earl of Westhaven during a very hot summer. In hiding with her sister, Anna finds herself wanting to trust Westhaven with her secrets as they start to fall in love. I loved this book in print, and the audio is even better. The thing I love most about Grace Burrowes titles is that there is an emotional depth to her titles that aren't found in many stories these days. It's not just the grand gestures and dramatic moments that make up her romances, but the little things in everyday life that help show the depth of feeling that Anna and Westhaven develop towards each other. Westhaven's brothers are interesting characters in their own right who will see their stories released in audio over the next couple of months. I hope the Windham girls' stories will also be released in audio in the near future. I will be pre-ordering St. Just's story as soon as it is available.

just 1 element

The glaring lack is the Earl not saying I love you at all throughout, even though he was aware. He should have been called on it by his brother, when he did not mention his love for her as one of the reasons he used while proposing. It stopped being cute and was just irritating. She deserved better.

Very exciting & mysterious

Loved the characters and the plot which was different. Looking forward to the other siblings stories. Great narration.

Duplicate

Don’t get me wrong. I like the book OK. But, it was way too similar to the first book. Emma, the governess/baker falls in love with the Lord. Anna, the housekeeper (incognito lady) falls in love with the lord. Weak storyline. I probably won’t read her again.

Recommend

I thoroughly enjoyed this story. The characters felt more dimensional than in other similar stories.

I marked it down one star for the performance because the narrator tended to use whiny voice for our heroine.