Dangerous to Know: Jane Austen’s Rakes & Gentlemen Rogues – Christina Boyd (ed) Free Audiobook

Written by Christina Boyd (ed)
Read by Andre Refig
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 64 Kbps
Unabridged

The authors includes: Karen M Cox, J. Marie Croft, Amy D’Orazio, Jenetta James, Lona Manning, Christina Morland, Beau North, Katie Oliver, Sophia Rose, Joana Starnes, and Brooke West.

· Series: The Quill Collective, Book 2
· Length: 14 hrs and 4 mins
· Release date: 04-25-18
· Publisher: The Quill Ink, LLC

One has all the goodness, and the other all the appearance of it.” (Jane Austen)

Jane Austen’s masterpieces are littered with unsuitable gentlemen – Willoughby,
Wickham, Churchill, Crawford, Tilney, Elliot, et al. – adding color and depth to her plots but often barely sketched. Have you never wondered about the pasts of her rakes, rattles, and gentlemen rogues? Surely, there’s more than one side to their stories. It is a universal truth, we are captivated by smoldering looks, daring charms…a happy-go-lucky, cool confidence. All the while, our loyal confidants are shouting on deaf ears: “He is a cad – a brute – all wrong!”

But is that not how tender hearts are broken…by loving the undeserving? How did they become the men Jane Austen created…. What say you? Everyone may be attracted to a bad boy…even temporarily…but heaven help us if we marry one.

Critic Reviews
“Narrator Andre Refig brings the different male characters to life with a smooth and refined voice, and I really loved the extra character voices such as the servants, which brought the pomp and ceremony of the time period to life. Overall, I would highly recommend Dangerous to Know: Jane Austen’s Rakes & Gentlemen Rogues for fans of Austen novels, and indeed all readers who favor Regency romances and rakish.

I stole these summaries from Goodreads..
Forward by Claudine DiMuzio Pepe. Don’t skip the words of this blogger, commentator and Jane Austen enthusiast….she even rated the steamy meter.

Here are Austen’s men… bad boys, rakes, mischievous, and even a scum-bag-rat-bastard or two or… you get the idea.

1) John Willoughby [Rating: Moderate]: Joana Starnes: Willoughby’s Crossroads:
John Willoughby… what can I say? He is the rake we love to hate from Sense and Sensibility. Austen did not give us his back story prior to his meeting with Marianne on that rainy hillside. Characters hinted at his shadowed extravagance, debts, threatened estate Coombe Magna, and his expectations of inheriting Allenham from his relation Mrs. Smith. .

2) George Wickham [Rating: Mature]: A Wicked Game: Katie Oliver
George, George, George… man, this was powerful. It picks up after Wickham has joined the Regulars and is in the heat of battle fighting for his life on foreign soil. In his looking back, we journey to his youth and what started him on his trek down [not the Yellow Brick Road] but the road to Perdition

3) Colonel Fitzwilliam [Rating: Mild]: Fitzwilliam’s folly: Beau North: He is so adorable and we always want the best for him. This story was simply delightful. Well done Beau North, well done. IThe reviewer especially liked the use of the American heiress. The ton’s use of the phrase ‘that American’ was hilarious.

4) Thomas Bertram [Rating: Mild]: The Address of A Frenchwoman: Sophia Rose
This was a different side to Tom Bertram. In the canon story, we only know that he was with friends when he had his accident and that they eventually abandoned him to the care of servants. This gave us another side to that story.

5) Henry Crawford [Rating: Mature]: Last Letter From Mansfield: Brooke West
Yeah, this is mature audience material as the Admiral helps initiate a young Henry Crawford into the pleasures of being a man. The Admiral is disgusting and I can see why Mary left the house, [when he brought his mistress under his roof], after the death of her aunt. In the Admiral’s mind, women only had one purpose and he taught Henry well.

6) Frank Churchill [Rating: Moderate]: An Honest Man: Karen M. Cox:
This was a different side of Frank, but delves deeper. I (the review writer) don’t like him and I’m not so sure I care much for Jane Fairfax either. The ending was especially disturbing and probably accurate..

7) Sir Walter Elliot [Rating: None]: One Fair Claim: Christine Morland:
Pompous, self-serving, haughty, self-absorbed, class conscious, self-important… yeah, that’s our guy, Sir Walter Elliot. There are not enough words to describe this… what a jerk. The ending wraps up this story in such a way that I was horrified at the missed opportunity…..What a revelation. It ties so seamlessly into the Persuasion story.

8) William Elliot [Rating: Moderate]: The Lost Chapter in the Life of William Elliot: (The reviewer didn’t give William the benefit of a doubt.) If I am supposed to have any sympathy for William Elliot…… I do not. Perhaps the author wanted me [as the reader] to understand the state of mind he was in when he restored communications with his relations. Nope… . Do I feel sorry about his dealings with Sarah Light? Nope,. If I didn’t know what was about to happen… would I still dislike him? Absolutely.

9) General Tilney [Rating: None]: As Much As He Can: Sophia Rose
It takes a really good author to create something from the few crumbs given to us from the canon text. Sophia Rose did that. She took what little we know about General Tilney and pealed back the layers and gave us a man that we could like. …. Rose did this for us. I have never seen the General portrayed in this light. I loved the banter between him and his future wife. I really liked her. This was a really cute story and a twist that I would never have thought of. Well done… Sophia… well done.

10) John Thorpe [Rating: None]: The Art of Sinking: J. Marie Croft:
The book had already painted John Thorpe as ridiculous, so this story did not help to improve that impression. In fact, I thought him even more ridiculous… didn’t learn from his mistakes, was ignorant of proper behavior and failed to watch his betters and learn from their behavior. He was a spend thrift, not realizing that in order to have money… you shouldn’t waste it on wine, gaming and women. This was a vicious circle that he seemed to not be able to break. … I’m not sure what goal this story hoped to accomplish. Whatever it was… I don’t think it was successful.

11) Captain Frederick Tilney [Rating: None] For Mischief’s Sake: Amy D’Orazio:
This was a most creative bent on our Captain Tilney. Yep, the apple didn’t fall far from that tree. His father the General taught him a lot about life and women. Our Captain took it on himself to assist his friends and acquaintances with their love lives. However, this logic made perfect sense to him. That is… until she walked into the ballroom. Yep… oh, how the mighty have fallen.