TheBookofJules

Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen follows the tale of Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie - otherwise known as Georgie - as she moves, or rather is kicked out, from her home in Scotland. Georgie is the half-sister of a Duke and 34th in line to the throne, but even though she's royalty, she's dirt poor. Upon coming to London, she realizes that she must get a job. She's excited to begin her new life as an independent, working woman (even though she's never so much as washed dishes) when a dead man shows up in her bathroom and her brother, who had been visiting, is suddenly nowhere to be seen.

I cannot praise the narrator of this book enough. Her accents were spot on, her characterizations were hilarious and she really made it worthwhile. For audiobooks, a shotty narrator can ruin the entire experience, which is what happened to me with True Grit. (And I also learned that I should just never listen to classics in audiobook form.) I see that a lot (as in almost all of) my GR friends rated this book with 3 stars. I think my extra star comes from the excellence of the reader.

Georgie is eloquent without being snobbish, classy without being superior and prudent without being a prude. She's not perfect, but her flaws are easy to relate to. I thought there would be a huge separation between me and Georgie, considering we're nearly 100 years apart, but there really wasn't. 1930s England is made out to be a relatively hip place, and Georgie is more interested in experiencing the world rather than hiding from it.

The love interest, Darcy, is another story. He is the typical playboy, and the jabs made about him being Irish and Catholic always made me laugh. I do feel like the relationship between Georige and Darcy came a bit out of left field because it didn't really have any proper build up, in my opinion. I almost would have preferred her to not get into a relationship with Darcy at all in this book.

(Don't be deceived. Yes, his name is William Darcy, but he is nothing like Mr. Darcy.)

Overall, this was a fun, easy read. I really can't recommend it enough in audiobook form.