The Taste of Innocence

Charles Morwellan, Earl of Meredith, has spent his life managing a legacy nearly destroyed by his father's obsessions, and he approaches his own marriage with the same careful pragmatism he applies to everything else: find a suitable woman, secure the alliance, and protect himself from the kind of passion that wrecks men. Sarah Conningham is supposed to be that suitable woman, but she refuses to marry without love, and Charles discovers that winning her on his own terms requires him to offer something he never planned to give. Stephanie Laurens's fourteenth Cynster novel deepens the series' examination of male pride and female self-determination.

Simon Prebble's narration gives the Regency world its proper elegance while keeping the emotional undercurrents accessible. His rendering of Charles's controlled exterior and the cracks that Sarah introduces is well-calibrated, and his handling of the novel's longer romantic passages respects both their physical intensity and their emotional architecture. At just over fifteen hours, The Taste of Innocence is a satisfying entry in the long-running series.