What Not To Bare

Written by Megan Frampton

Narrated by Nathaniel Black

In Megan Frampton's witty historical romance, a woman is judged by her gown, and a man by his reputation—until both are shed in one sexy moment of seduction.

Lady Charlotte Jepstow certainly knows how to make an impression—a terrible one. Each one of her ball gowns is more ostentatiously ugly than the one before. Even she has been forced to wonder: Is she unmarried because of her abysmal wardrobe, or does she wear clashing clothing because she doesn't want to be pursued in the first place? But when Charlotte meets Lord David Marchston, suddenly a little courtship doesn't sound so bad after all.

David will be the first to admit he's made some mistakes. But when he gets yanked from his post by his superiors, he is ordered to do the unthinkable to win back his position: woo his commander's niece. If David wants his life back, he must use his skills as a negotiator to persuade society that Charlotte is a woman worth pursuing, despite her rather unusual "flair" for color. But David does such a terrific job that he develops an unexpected problem, one that violates both his rakish mentality and his marching orders: He's starting to fall in love.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bryant Street Publishing
• Release date: Feb 16, 2021
• ISBN: 9781094408873

Megan Frampton

Megan Frampton writes historical romance under her own name and romantic women’s fiction as Megan Caldwell. She likes the color black, gin, dark-haired British men, and huge earrings, not in that order. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband and kid.

Reviews for What Not To Bare

[Susan Grunner · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was very fun. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, I devoured it.

Here we have a woman who knows her own mind (and is wealthy enough to be able to express herself), and a man who acknowledges it, feels no negative feelings towards it, and eventually loves it.

The ultimate conclusion is really obvious to the reader, but it was so nice getting there.

[mysticwill6698 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

look. She mentions COOKIES 3 times (at least) There are NO COOKIES in England at this time. Also, if you are into historical dress at all..... the spicy scenes will annoy the heck out of you for a lack of accuracy.
It's cute. I enjoyed it, when I wasn't gnashing my teeth about the dang cookies. Narrator was wonderful. Just be warned if you like actual historical type genre this aint it. this is "TV" historical style.

[Jennifer Williams · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Fun and funny!
Megan Frampton is very clever and witty. She reads like a modern day Jane Austen. Her wordplay is that fun! I listened to this audiobook and kept going back to enjoy they “oxymorons.” The narrator was also very good. Great Indian accent. I think Ox was my favorite. He kept making me laugh. I will definitely look for more books from Meg Frampton.

[A Fishburn · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Funny which made up for the historical being the background. The manners of the age are most appealing yet the ability for some to express themselves was possible in spite of constraints was in this fictional case delightfully funny. Also, having a male narrator helps with the romance feeling more balanced supporting the male perspective.

[Emily Ray · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Loved it. Was a sassy smartly written book with fun characters. A light frothy beach read with an amazing narrator.

[katdrakula · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a charming story read by a talented male reader.

[Abigail Kimball · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

So amazing! The writing was clearly written by a woman with a knack for sweet, yet meaningful dialogue and interaction. A very cute book! Excellent narration too!

[Mari · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I liked this book a lot. Guaranteed happy ending with a story line that felt fresher than a lot of historical romances. I've read a lot of them and I'm at the point where I feel like I've read the story before and only the names have been changed. I'll definitely read more books by this author.

[Steph · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It was ok, I think Charlotte was a fun character but the rest felt lacking somehow.

[Jane Engelhardt · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great chemistry. Got a bit thin. Didn’t want to hear for the 100th time that the Hero was gorgeous. Crisis wasn’t as hear wrenching as usual but very very enjoyable.

[Dara · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Love the story and the ending. It wasn't a fast end with no explanation. Great read!

[Anette Armstrong · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Extremely witty and entertaining. I really enjoyed it. I will definitely look for other books by this author.

[Joe Ang Greco · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I adored Charlotte and David. I love how patient and beautiful the build up to the romance was. I have recommended to my friends, as it’s similar in the story of Colin and Penelope.

[Sharon Dean · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book was so funny and amusing found myself laughing quite a few times throughout the book. Definitely my favourite so far

[Lynne Howard · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the first book that I have read by Megan. It certainly won’t be the last.I got upset when I had to stop listening to the book to do things like cook lol

[veronica needa · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Enjoyed much. Only shortcoming was some inaccuracies in pronunciation which erk but which I forgave. I had to fast forward on some of the lovemaking - overkill in my view. Great plot and well structured.

[Mavis Cutbert · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

What not to bare? Let’s see, This poorly conceived and Ill-plotted book. It was truly unbearable.

If you want to read a book that hardly has a plot that isn’t centered around the build up to what felt like ‘soft porn’ skip—no, run far away from this one. There was nothing to the characters beside sexual attraction and at times—frustration. This hardly should be classified as romance seeing as many will be mislead into thinking sexual attraction equates to love because I don’t get how, when not why they tumble into the love they spoke of with such passion. The book is hardly funny either and is just about the hero having a ‘woe is me for being good looking’ attitude and an heroine who tries exceedingly too hard to be different. If you’re looking for something to use as back ground noise for a tedious task you’re doing, go ahead with this one—that might just be the reason this insipid book was written. Please bare in mind I’m writing this review for your sake because I wished I had been warned before marring my library with the presence of this sex diary. Also, I might add, this is the first time in my life I’ve written a book review and I’m an avid reader at that, so I hope that tells you something.

And oh, less I forget. If you want to hear a wistful school girl (cause surely she’s not an adult) muse about how gorgeous the hero is—quite literally, which again proves my point that they are in lust and not the sudden love they speak of —you’re welcomed to delve into this book which is arguably the diary of a starry eyed girl.

You’ve been warned. Carry on.

[claire · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Absolutely brilliant. Loved every second of it. I couldn't stop listening and when I did I longed to get back to it asap.
This was my second book by Megan Frampton, the first being the next one in this series which is only a bit over an hour, but as the books were not numbered I listened to it first. I will definitely be listening to the rest of her books as they are really nice and steamy, just up my street.
As for the narrator, Nathaniel Black, it was also the first time listening to him and definitely won't be my last. His voice was so sexy and melted all my insides. Hope to listen to more narrated by him.

[Sue Bastian · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Some witty dialogue but an insipid fool of a heroine who has little in the way of true backbone. All the heroism rests with “Mr. Gorgeous” as our heroine is too busy trying to think for him. So many grammatical mistakes lead us to believe that the editor must have given up on period speech completely. A shame. Not very believable plot and that without much substance… but fabulous performer whose Indian accent charms. Still, it was witty and somehow also fun. Can we please just stop with the self sacrifice? Give us a Georgette Heyer storyline and we wouldn’t even need to have a run away scene for the lover’s own good.

[Linda Blanchard · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Perfect. Funny, sweet, engaging, charming. Wonderfully imperfect, interesting characters. Lovely romantic scenes. Did I mention funny?

[candi0parshall · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Enjoyed the banter between Charlotte and David. Was a nice story. Could easily imagine the two as real people. Well done. Great author.

[Bill Hair · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

3.5 Stars for me

This was more of a fun story than a historical romance as the time line for the story publication was really fast... Almost internet speed.

The h doesn't put much stock into what other people say and lives to shock. The H is the too beautiful for words, very important person who slowly falls for our h.

Enjoyed it overall.

[Squigglyline · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I love it, the banter made me squeal and I love that it’s not your typical everyone is too beautiful for words narrative but more importantly personality based than anything else :)

[Chris Adams · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Love it! Great story. Loved the parts where Charlotte was so much her own woman.

[Diane Fanucchi · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Didn't read it, because of yet another annoying cover. Put your shirt on already.

[Samantha Holz · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was really well written. I like some bodice rippers, but after a bad experience with a particular author, I was wary of trying new ones, lest I encounter more questionable consent. But no such problems were present.

[Jennifer Saunders · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Oh this was so cute and I laughed SO many times! A solid two ?!

[Penny Rudge · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Fantastic story and narration! Charlotte was a strong female lead which I adored.

[Julie Williamson · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Most enjoyable to listen to. Charlotte is a great character for the era the book was written in.