Confirmed Bachelors, Books 4-6

By: Jenny Hambly

Narrated by: Helen Taylor

Ormsley: Hugh Brandforth, the seventh earl of Ormsley, returns to his estate after wasting several weeks searching for a bride. He is looking forward to some much-needed rest and recreation. All is not as he left it, however. Within an hour, he finds himself berated by his old nurse and assaulted by Miss Cressida Harrington, an eccentric termagant he has never before encountered. She is not at all the sort of woman he admires. He wants a respectable bride who will not ask for more than he can give—love. She has no need or desire to marry, and love is the only thing that might change her mind.

Derriford: Viscount Derriford likes to keep a low profile. He avoids ton parties and the ladies who frequent them whenever possible, preferring to spend time with his fellow bachelors. A predictable, undemanding existence suits him perfectly. Marriage has never been part of his plans; he is convinced he could never make any woman happy. However, when his aunt dies, leaving him a property in Somerset, a condition attached to his inheritance threatens this safe, untrammeled existence. He must accept all invitations proffered by the local gentry.

Eagleton: Alexander Wraxall, sixth marquess of Eagleton, worries he may be cursed. Those close to him tend to die, and he believes he is, in part, responsible for their deaths. When he receives a packet of letters from a relative he thought long dead, he embarks on a journey that will change his life forever. Nell Marsdon has put her nightmarish history behind her and, in the house of Angelica Montovani, has found some peace. It is shattered by the arrival of the marquess of Eagleton, a man who represents everything she has learned to despise.

©2023 Mrs Jennifer A Hambly (P)2023 Mrs Jennifer A Hambly

Light, clean, and sweet

Book one: Started out great. Stayed fine but lost steam for many chapters and became simply a background sound for my tasks. And so much interaction with the child, though thankfully, the child was well mannered. I often left the room while the story was playing without needing to rewind when I returned. Characters had maturity and some depth. Helen Taylor is a good narrator, though on this one, I sometimes had difficulty telling characters apart.
Book two: I read this a few months ago as a stand alone and rated it four stars. Deriford had the funnest personality.
Book three: Good start but then became slow while we were introduced to several new characters and their backgrounds plus day-to-day stuff to set the back stories and context. It picked back up again once the various people came together in the same scenes. After a while it slowed down substantially with some action and interest in the latter part. There is a twist toward the end that I didn’t see coming between one of the couples.
Overall, I truly enjoyed book two but mentally drifted in and out of books one and three.

I really like Jennifer Hambly’s writing style, and have just recently discovered her.

Ms Hambly is a very good writer and the reader has enhanced the story greatly

Men’s point of view

The stories in books 1-9 are good it’s a nice change to hear the man’s point of view on finding a spouse. All of the other stories are girls learning to trap a man, these are a nice change and well written and narrated.