Noble Destiny

Noble Series, #2

By: Katie MacAlister

Narrated by: Alison Larkin

A poor widow, Lady Charlotte Collins returns to England eager to take her place in the ton, only to find herself shunned by all. Her one choice is to marry a groom with wealth, a title, and good looks, but Alasdair McGregor cruelly refuses to be the answer to her problems.

In fact, she is forced by Dare's obstinacy to take extreme action: the faulty codpiece that leads to their marriage, the wedding that is literally a circus. But nothing can stand between Charlotte and what she wants most: the love of her husband.

©2003 Katie MacAlister (P)2013 Tantor

Cute but annoying

Great story but the butlers dry humor and lengthy rants almost made me quit. It was just too much.

Almost funny but...

This book can only be recommended if you enjoy a heroine that is an egocentric, shallow and generally stupid. While I have enjoyed many of Katie MacAllisters books, this one just annoyed me. I don't know if I want to waste another credit on the next book in the series.

A cod piece used as a reticule.. WHY NOT, LOVE IT

Would you consider the audio edition of Noble Destiny to be better than the print version?

I love reading and listening to books.... there is nothing like using your imagination. I will say when listening to a book the image changes to match the voice of the narrator

What did you like best about this story?

The balance between humor and drama... I also love the way the hero understands the heroine. Though at a glance Charlotte seems superficial and self-center she has a deep loyalty with those she loves and is somewhat vulnerable, which Alasdair understands.

Which character – as performed by Alison Larkin – was your favorite?

Lady Charlotte

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes

Charlotte is adorably flawed

It had to take work to purposely use the wrong word so frequently but still get one's point across clearly! Bravo! Charlotte's combustion of the English language is excellent comic relief. Again, lovely characters and interesting storyline. Loved it!

Julia Florida

What can I say fun book and definitely laugh out loud! It did get outlandish but still good Characters and the narrator was great.

very entertaining

If you could sum up Noble Destiny in three words, what would they be?

funny lighthearted Entertaining

What did you like best about this story?

the wacky lead character

Any additional comments?

I don't usually laugh while reading but this book made me laugh out loud. I enjoyed this book and will listen again

Tedious and unlikable main character

This book was the equivalent of watching a very superficial spoiled brat grow up - annoying and not charming. I will admit by the very end of the book I liked Charlotte better, but spending 75-80% of the book disliking the main character is not fun. Also the comic device of malapropisms grew tiresome after awhile. Alison Larkin's performance was probably the only thing that kept me going till the end. This was a sad disappointment after Noble Intentions.

heroin too frustrating

Although the story was funny and performed greatly, the small thinking and ignorant stubbornness was tiring. I originally gave overall 3 stars, but with the later character growth I'll give it 4 stars.

Another that it takes patience to finish

We met Charlotte in the prior book and she was a naive but very inquisitive virgin as a secondary character and a good “sidekick”. In this story she is a whinny, entitled, spoiled debutant with hits of being a bridezilla for the first half of the book. She eventually learns, grows and become tolerable. She becomes stronger after an unexpected tragedy and the story gets better with a few surprises. Narrator still too nasally for the characters

Steamroller Charlotte and the honorable tease

The last two hours were excellent. If only the first nine didn’t feature Charlotte, the most shallow, materialistic, egotistical heroine ever. The story begins with widower Charlotte’s reputation in ruin for eloping because she was bored (yes, seriously). To regain status in the Ton, she sets about to trap Dare into her second marriage, assuming that his title as an Earl comes with both wealth and privilege. After she succeeds in trapping him, Charlotte constantly demands new dresses and other material goods, ignoring Dare’s insistence that he’s in dire financial straits.

Dare is an honorable, hard working man who deserved far better than Charlotte. I didn’t feel any chemistry between the two because they were so horribly matched. Charlotte doesn’t begin to evolve until the second half, but by then it was too little too late for me to get behind her.

This series is built upon silliness. I liked the bits with the overly dramatic butler and about Charlotte butchering phrases (“that’s a calligraphy” when it should be catastrophe or “this dreadful moil” instead of coil). However, between the breathy, anime girl narration and the slapstick sex scenes, I found the sex more of a turn off than a turn on.

This would have fared better if this was purposefully a romance spoof and cut to half its length.
As is, it was an overly sugary, merely palatable rom-com.