Denise fell asleep around hour three. Not because the book was boring - because it was 11 PM and she'd been up since five. But I kept walking the lakefront path with my earbuds in, the Chicago wind cutting through my jacket, utterly unwilling to stop. There's something about Julie Garwood's particular brand of historical romance that reminds me of comfort food. You know exactly what you're getting, and that's precisely the point.
I'll confess something: I used to be a snob about romance novels. Twenty years of teaching Austen and the Brontës will do that to you. But here's the thing Hemingway never told us - sometimes a book doesn't need to reinvent literature. Sometimes it just needs to make you smile during faculty budget season.
The Shrubs Scene Alone Is Worth Your Time
Let me tell you about Christina eating shrubs. Not the plant - the drink. It's this scene where our heroine, raised by a Native American tribe (yes, really, and the book handles this with varying degrees of success), encounters Regency-era refreshments for the first time. The way Garwood writes her confusion, and the way Susan Duerden delivers it with this barely-contained amusement in her voice - I actually laughed out loud. A jogger gave me a concerned look.
Christina Bennett is a fascinating character study, honestly. She's playing the role of demure English lady while carrying the survival instincts of someone raised in a completely different world. The cognitive dissonance creates genuine comedy. Lyon, our arrogant marquis, keeps trying to figure her out using his aristocratic playbook, and she keeps throwing him curveballs. It's Pride and Prejudice if Elizabeth Bennet had been raised by wolves. (My students would hate this comparison. I love it.)
About That Burble of Laughter
Here's where I need to be honest with you. Susan Duerden is a skilled narrator - multiple Audie awards, clearly knows her craft. But there's this quality to her voice that some listeners have described as a "burble of laughter" threading through the performance. I noticed it. During lighter scenes, it works beautifully - she sounds like she's genuinely enjoying herself, and that joy is infectious.
During the more serious moments? It's... present. There are scenes dealing with Christina's past that carry real weight - violence, abuse, the complexity of her dual identity - and that same lightness doesn't always land. It's like watching a theater actor who's perfected comedy try to pivot to drama mid-performance. Not bad, exactly. Just occasionally mismatched.
Duerden does excellent work differentiating Christina's multiple dispositions - the calculating survivor, the bemused outsider, the woman falling reluctantly in love. The emotional complexity is there. She also has this whispering thing she does for intimate moments that some listeners found annoying. Personally, I didn't mind it, but if you're sensitive to ASMR-adjacent vocal choices, consider yourself warned.
Who Should Press Play (And Who Should Skip)
If you loved The Bride - Garwood's other Duerden-narrated audiobook - you'll find familiar territory here, though I'd argue Lion's Lady has better pacing. If you're coming from literary fiction and expecting Middlemarch, adjust your expectations. This is romantic escapism, and it knows exactly what it is. Skip this one if you need your narrators to play it straight during heavy scenes, or if whispery intimate moments make you cringe.
The content warnings are real: there's violence, references to abuse, and the sexual content earns its reputation. Not explicit by modern standards, but definitely steamy. If you're listening with kids in the car, maybe save this one for solo drives.
At 13 and a half hours, it's a commitment. I said the same thing about Timeless: A Drizzt Novel and ended up binging the whole thing in two days. But I found myself genuinely engaged - the banter between Christina and Lyon crackles with wit, and Garwood understands that the best romance novels are really about two people learning to see each other clearly. Hemingway talked about showing the reader the iceberg's tip and letting them feel the mass underneath. Garwood shows us comedy and chemistry, but underneath is a story about identity, belonging, and the courage it takes to let someone know you.
Worth Skipping the Budget Meeting For
Is this going to be taught in graduate seminars? No. Is it a thoroughly enjoyable historical romance with a memorable heroine, genuine humor, and a narrator who - despite some quirks - keeps you engaged for the full runtime? Absolutely.
I finished it at 2 AM, standing in my kitchen, not wanting to go to bed until I knew how it ended. Principal Martinez's budget presentation could never.
