THE EARL'S COMPLETE SURRENDER Secrets at Thorncliff Manor, Book 2

While the second title in Barnes's Thorncliff Manor series does occasionally stretch credibility, narrator Rebecca Rogers deftly manages the story's unusually unobservant spies. As the audiobook takes place concurrently with the previous Thorncliff Manor title, there's some plot overlap; nonetheless, this can easily be enjoyed as a standalone. The Earl of Woodford and Lady Newbury are both searching for a journal that will help to unmask a shadowy group of traitors to the Crown. Initially, they work individually and then in an uneasy truce, which slowly becomes a true partnership. The trust that grows between Woodford and Lady Newbury is delicately written and skillfully performed, with all its fits and starts, and is given especial depth as both share ugly secrets from their pasts. K.M.P. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine [Published: FEBRUARY 2016]