Vanza Series - Amanda Quick Audiobook

Written by Amanda Quick
Read by Barbara Rosenblat, Louisa Jane Underwood
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 64 Kbps
Unabridged

With This Ring
Series: Vanza: Book 01
Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
Release date: February 1, 2013
Duration: 11:26:04

With This Ring, set in Regency England, sends a beautiful, headstrong woman on a perilous quest for the Forbidden Rings of Aphrodite. To recover her family’s meager fortunes, Beatrice Poole must locate the antiquities stolen from her favorite uncle shortly before his highly suspicious death. Since the Forbidden Rings have a legendary history of magic and mystery, the resourceful Beatrice heads for one man who can help her find them: the darkly handsome Earl, the “Mad Monk” of Monkcrest.

Fans around the world are drawn to the dashing heroes and passionate adventures in Amanda Quick’s novels, but it is her sparkling humor and lively wit that keep them coming back for more. Veteran narrator Barbara Rosenblat provides the perfect voices, conveying delicious innuendos, villainous slurs, and lively banter with ease.

“At one point Beatrice warns “critics who accuse her of writing overwrought and overheated prose had not seen anything yet.” The same is too true of Quick, whose camp sensibility goes only so far to excuse a tale in which “Pain and bad temper had fused into a dangerous flame in his eyes,” and an aroused woman “dissolves into a warm puddle” and has eyes that “were wide, limpid pools.”—Publishers Weekly

I Thee Wed
Series: Vanza: Book 02
Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
Release date: October 1, 2012
Duration: 10:20:19

A delightful combination of fascinating characters, clever conversations, and fleet-footed suspense.

Emma Greyson is grateful for her position as lady’s companion. The salary is generous, and Lady Mayfield is kind. But when Emma meets the darkly handsome Edison Stokes, a guest at her employer’s estate, the flame-haired beauty is lured into his dangerous quest for an ancient book of potions. Can she help him find it before its magical powers are used for evil purposes?

“Barbara Rosenblat’s stellar performance turns this inconsequential literary fluff into a delightful piece. Emma Greyson, lady’s companion and woman of intuition, is unwillingly drawn into a conspiracy of intrigue surrounding a lost book of mystical secrets, including a recipe for “telepathic tea.” Edison Stokes, hot on the trail of the same items, enlists Emma’s help, and the two (predictably) fall in love amidst the multiple murders and peccadilloes of early England. Rosenblat’s character portrayals, down to the least important footman, are impeccable. Her dialects are perfect. Best of all, she brings a delicious sense of fun to the story.”— AudioFile

Wicked Widow
Series: Vanza: Book 03
Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
Release date: May 1, 2013
Duration: 10:16:04

In the late 1800s, the Wicked Widow, aka Madeline Deveridge, seeks the ghost of her late husband and, more importantly, whoever is trying to steal the secret book of the Vanza, a secret society. As she involves Artemis Hunt, dashing bachelor and expert in this secret society, the action increases at a murderous pace, and so do the steamy romantic scenes.

“…. A lusty romance involving a widow must have a certain amount of plunging and thrusting, but the listener might wonder how Barbara Rosenblat can read these scenes without giggling. Madeline is a tad breathy in the beginning of the novel, though, as her backbone stiffens, so does her dialogue. Artemis “hmmms” rather a lot, like Emerson in Elizabeth Peters’s novels, but Rosenblat carries the listener through Vanza’s mazes and foggy back alleys with her usual aplomb.”— AudioFile

Lie by Moonlight
Series: Vanza: Book 4
Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
Release date: January 1, 2017
Duration: 10:13:27

While investigating a suspicious death, private inquiry agent Ambrose Wells finds himself on the grounds of Aldwick Castle-and in the midst of utter chaos. The ramshackle castle is in flames-and a beautiful woman and four young girls are taking flight on horseback. It turns out that the strong-minded Miss Concordia Glade and her four bright students are on the run from a notorious London crime lord who’ll stop at nothing to destroy them. Now, their only hope is Ambrose, a confirmed loner with more than his share of secrets-and more than his share of desire for the unconventional teacher. And as Ambrose and Concordia risk everything to bring down a criminal mastermind, they will also be forced to battle something even greater: the steamy passion that threatens their hard-won independence.

“. …. Courteous, daring, resourceful, Concordia and Ambrose can’t wait to ravish each other repeatedly. Who but Quick finds such joy in chestnuts such as the boy thief mentored by the rich man he tries to rob? Or the dilettante solving cases Scotland Yard can’t? Quick plunges into every cliché (”Sensation after sensation coursed through her, leaving no room for uncertainty, let alone any sense of modesty”), but energizes her fluid narration with modern sensibilities, gutsy leads and romantic excesses. There’s nothing new here, but that’s part of Quick’s great appeal.”