Beautiful Things

A Regency Reverse Harem Romance (Second Sons, Book 1)

By: Emily Rath

Narrated by: Allie Rose, Dan Calley

Length: 13 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

At twenty-two, Rosalie Harrow is unmarried and near destitute. She has two choices: snag a wealthy gentleman, or take work as a governess. Neither option appeals to headstrong Rosalie.

When Rosalie receives an invitation to Alcott Hall, she believes she's there to meet the Dowager Duchess of Norland. Instead, Rosalie is thrust in the middle of a house party of eligible high society ladies all desperate to win the hand of the new, conveniently single duke. Hilarity ensues as Rosalie dodges the attentions of the officious duke, and weathers the censure of the other guests, all while trying to unravel the mystery of her invitation.

And then there's the gentlemen . . .

The more Rosalie tries to avoid the high society husband hunt, the more she finds herself charmed by three very different men. There's Lord James, the duke's younger brother. Lieutenant Renley, recently returned from the West Indies, and begrudgingly looking for a wife of his own. And the tempestuous Mr. Burke, who irks Rosalie to no end.

Marriage is a trap and Rosalie will not be easily snared . . . but that doesn't mean she can't enjoy the chase while it lasts.

Contains mature themes.

©2022 Emily Rath Books (P)2023 Tantor

Falling in love all over again

I fell in love with regency period stories after reading the Second Sons Series. After hearing the book, I fell in love with the book all over again!! It was as if I was reading the book for the first time. The voice actors were so amazing and I’m excited to listen to the next books!!

Drama, love, longing, and lots of tea

I don't read a whole ton of regency romance, but when I decided to read this on a whim I wasn't disappointed. It's a why choose/reverse harem regency story, need anyone say more? I really enjoyed the yearning and the scheming and this book made me wonder if I will end up on a regency book binge. The narration also was pretty good, didn't have any complaints of it over all The characters were great and there were some delicious tropes and cliches thrown in.

Regency RH 🌶🌶

Regency RH just hits different.
Emily was putting in the work when she wrote this!
Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 🌶🌶/🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶

The spice in this is good but definitely not like Pucking Around. Definitely not as much spice and the spice there is is much more tame in comparison to her other works, BUT don't let that fool you cause the spice still hits just not as frequently.

Story was really good. The ending seemed a little rushed but was still good.

I'm just a sucker for anything Emily writes at this point..

I absolutely love Emily Rath!

So I started off listening to the book both on Audible and following along with my Kindle and by the the end I was solely reading on my Kindle. The two narrators both have wonderful voices the issue I had was their voices for other characters with the female narrator she at times had this high pitch voice that was to much and the male narrator had this wonderful voice but then when he changed his voice to the different characters it almost became whiny and off putting. I will most likely read the second book because this story is definitely worth reading.

Absolutely amazing spicy regency why choose

5⭐️ 3🌶️

I just finished reading this for the second time in preparation for Alcott Hall and I loved it even more the second time.

I’m no stranger to regency romance and this was incredibly well written. Add to it that it is a why choose and it was perfection.

I loved all of these characters so much. I often find I love the male main characters and at best like the FMC. This was not the case with Rosalie. I loved her just as much as the guys.

She was such an amazingly strong but kind woman who knew exactly what she wanted and she wasn’t willing to compromise or be made to feel shame for it.

I love all of the guys but Burke has such a special place on my heart. Against societies expectations he has found a family who loves him and supports him and in return he is incredibly loyal. But he is always cognizant of his birth and it holds him back from achieving his full potential. However he holds nothing back when it comes to his feeling for Rosalie and I love him so much for it.

I love the friendship the guys have and how glad they are to have Tom home with them. Watching him relearn to flirt with Rosalie was so much fun. But watching him struggle with his insecurities and pining for his first love made me want to strangle him.

James was the most relatable to me. Rosalie was right when she called him Atlas. He is shouldering the weight of his family’s responsibilities while trying to corral his wastrel of a brother and it shows in how much he tried to control everything including denying his attraction to Rosalie.

The banter, tension, and spice was everything I could have hoped for. This book was a bit of a slow burn while the foundation for all of the relationships is being built but it quickly takes off in the next book.

Unfortunately I was not a fan of either narrator. Rosalie sounded much older than I anticipated and I think three male leads may have been too much for Dan to take on it is quite a challenge so I completely understand the struggle. I also got the impression that both narrators were not British since there were a few times I heard them use American pronunciations just with a British accent.

5⭐️ 3🌶

I love everything that Emily Rath writes, and I've read and re-read Beautiful Things multiple times, so of course, when the audiobook was released, instant buy and listen.

I enjoy the concept of a regency, why choose book.

The narration was good. The female captured Rosalie's voice perfectly I felt. The male narrator just felt a little off for me, I didn't enjoy his James voice, and it reminded me of listening to a true crime podcast. Once I'd noticed it, I couldn't unhear it.

Did I love having the characters come to life, so I could continue with my irl responsibilities while still reading? Yes. yes, I did!

Overall, this is 100% worth listening to and of course, I've already preordered His Grace, The Duke.

Everything you want out of a reverse harem!

I normally only like m/m romance stories but decided to give this book a try. And I was not disappointed. All of the characters find a way into your heart and you are pulling for each of them. The unique love stories between them are wonderful. The romance scenes are more towards the end of the book but the build up tensions is worth it. Make sure you have time to listen to the next book because this one ends on a cliff hanger and you won’t want to wait to see what happens next.

Far too long for a Cliffhanger ending!

It's not a bad story, the prose is excellent, but it's scene after scene of essentially the same nonsense only to end in a cliffhanger when the action finally gets real. There's too much angst-driven romance and not enough plot. Thirteen hours to end with no conclusion?? No way!

unsure

I like James and I really feel bad for him & want better for him

Terrible Book…!!!

If you like a lot of Fuck, God Damn, and Cock words then maybe you would like this book!!! I couldn’t get past the first five chapters!!!
A lot of she said, he said, she said narrative. I listen to many many books and this one was not good in my opinion!!!