Audiobook Review – Mesmerized (The Mad Morelands, Book 1) by Candace Camp, Narrated by Will Thorne (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Historical Romance/Paranormal
Length: 9 hours and 12 minutes
Publisher:‎ Tantor Audio
Release Date: June 02, 2020
ASIN: B088MLNTGB
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in The Mad Morelands series
Source: Borrowed audiobook from Audible
Rating: 4/5 stars

“Olivia Moreland prides herself on discrediting charlatans, particularly the false mediums that flock to London. But when Lord Stephen St. Leger requests her help in investigating an alleged psychic’s claims, she can’t deny the ominous feeling she has within the walls of his ancient estate – or the intimately familiar connection she has with Stephen himself.

The last time he’d called Blackhope Hall home, Stephen had watched as his elder brother claimed both the family title and the woman he loved. Now, in the wake of his brother’s murder, Stephen has reluctantly returned to find his family ensconced in scandal. Who is responsible for his brother’s untimely death? And what is it about investigator Olivia Moreland that so thoroughly draws him in, reigniting a passion he hasn’t felt in years?”

Series Info/Source: This is the first book in The Mad Morelands series. I borrowed this on audiobook from Audible.

Thoughts: I ended up enjoying this quite a bit. I was looking for a Victorian paranormal romance to read, and this fit the bill pretty well. I listened to this on audiobook and I think the only downside for me was that the narration for this was horrible; the narrator drew out the vowels on the last word of every sentence, and it made every sentence sound like some cross between a proclamation and a question. I struggled to get through my discomfort around the narration and also thought that using a male narrator was an odd choice.

Olivia Moreland has made it her mission to discredit charlatans, especially those holding seances and claiming to speak to the dead. While at a seance to do just that, she is confronted by Lord Stephen St. Leger. He can’t stand people taking advantage of those who are grieving by claiming they can speak with the dead. He calls Olivia a collaborator at the seance only to realize he is very wrong. As Stephen’s mother is drawn in by a fake medium, Stephen decides to hire Olivia to prove to his mother that this medium is fleecing her for money. Olivia ends up at Stephen’s home estate, Blackhope Hall. Things get complicated when Stephen and Olivia realize that they have strong feelings for each other and when Blackhope Hall appears to have a real haunting going on.

There was a lot I loved about this book. The Moreland family is fantastically quirky, very ahead of their time, and very fun to read about. This series is going to deal with one Moreland sibling per book, and I would love to learn more about this family. The mystery gets deliciously complex; you don’t know if there is a real haunting, if everything is based on the medium trying to fake things, or if something even more sinister is going on. It was hard to predict what was going to happen and fun to get drawn into this mystery.

Stephen and Olivia have great chemistry, and the banter between them was excellent. The love scenes could have been a bit more creative, but I enjoyed watching these two very practical people fall for each other.

My major complaint was with the audiobook quality; I just could not stand the narrator’s voice and the way he read this. I would love to listen to more of the series, but I need to check if it is the same narrator, and if it is, I may opt to just read these rather than listen to them. I also thought Olivia was a bit passive at times and would have liked to see more spunk from her, however, I do understand that she did have a lot of spunk for a Victorian woman.

My Summary (4/5): Overall I really enjoyed this novel, it was exactly what I was looking for. If you are looking for a fun Victorian paranormal romance read with a good mystery, some light paranormal aspects, and a well done romance I would recommend. This book reminded me of the Madam Chalamet Ghost Mysteries by Byrd Nash and I would recommend that series as well if you are interested in a Victorian paranormal read with a very slow burn romance.