A Good Debutante's Guide to Ruin

The Debutante Files, Book 1

By: Sophie Jordan

Narrated by: Carmen Rose

The last woman on earth he would ever touch…

Declan, the Duke of Banbury, has no interest in ushering Rosalie Hughes, his stepsister, into society. Dumped on him with nowhere else to go, he's determined to rid himself of the headstrong debutante by bestowing on her an obscenely large dowry, making her the most sought after heiress of the Season.

…is about to become the only one he wants.

But Rosalie isn't about to go along with Declan's plans. Surrounded by fortune hunters, how is she supposed to find a man who truly wants her? Taking control of her fate, Rosalie dons a disguise and sneaks into Sodom, a private club host to all manner of illicit activity - and frequented by her infuriatingly handsome stepbrother.

©2014 Sharie Kohler (P)2014 HarperCollins Publishers

Different style of SJ

I enjoyed this book however not as steamy and the feel wasn’t as historical feeling. Seemed more current era style. Another remarked that Carmen Rose wasn’t as good as she normally is which I agree. But every actor deserves an off day or read. I’d still purchase this book it’s just not either of their best work

good story bad reader

i really enjoy Sophie Jordan’s stories but Carmen Rose as reader is awful. The story was a little predictable but I liked it.

Not finishing..

This was very disappointed up until 30%. Declan nor Rosalie had any thoughts whatsoever about each other, no want, not the least bit of attraction, no desire, no nothing. Then, all of a sudden he’s erect and having sexual thoughts about her? I can’t read books like that! Either have sexual tension or don’t have sex. Don’t just suddenly desire someone out of the blue and then plop a sex scene in somewhere. This book has 390 pages, and one reviewer said it had one and a half sex scenes, that’s a lot of reading of angst and misunderstandings and nothing going on. It’s time for historical romance writers to add some suspense or mystery or spies, or something, to their long boring books. BUT, that’s just my opinion.

I’m giving it 3 stars because I’m not going to finish it and I want to be fair to the author. Unlike some reviewers I can't give 1 star to a book I'm not finishing.

As to the narration: Carmen Rose is just a terrible reader. She never does any kind of emotion, no laughter, no crying, no nothing, AND she sounds robotic. I don’t think I could listen to CR again. I hate when all voices sound exactly the same. How she got 4 and 5 stars is beyond me. How can a man sounding like a woman be worth 5 stars?

Sweet and sexy

This was a great start to the Debutant Files. Dec is so sexy and delicious and Rosalie is sweet and beautiful. Her mother is vile and evil .

I love Rosalie and Aurelia’s friendship. I love the second book in the trilogy more but it’s because Aurelia is my favorite character. Aurelia and Max are a lot of fun and fire and passion.

I wish Audible sold An Heiress for All Seasons because I would love to listen to Will and Violets story. Sophie Jordan is brilliant and I will always read her books!

Implausible heroine 's behavior but well written sex

Most romances are basically fairy stories, some more period accurate than others. I don't mind suspending the critical voice in my head that questions some of the actions of the plot and I definitely had to do that with this book. Still, the heroine was not a cookie cutter character and the Hero had a rather sad story that made him understandable. And the sex really was well written. I don't think the author used the word "laved" once.

Love this story

I always like things read by Carmen Rose but I especially liked this story but then I always like stories that have a hint of magic to them and that allow you to love all the characters.

Mediocre

Carmen Rose reads well, but everyone sound alike, both male and females. With a talented narrator "A Good Debutant's Guide to Ruin" could have been entertaining, but even the love scenes sounded like someone reading a recipe. The narrator sure makes a difference.

Historical romance is my genre of choice, but it took me 3 tries to finish "A Good Debutant's Guide to Ruin" -- I cannot recommend it.

Enjoyed it!

Listened for Book Club (Audible)
Overall Rating: 4.00
Story Rating: 4.00
Character Rating: 4.00

Audio Rating: 4.00 (not part of the overall rating)

First Thought when Finished: A Good Debutante's Guide to Ruin by Sophie Jordan was emotional, fun, and delightful! I really enjoyed this and look forward to the rest of the series.

Audio Thoughts

Narrated By Carmen Rose / Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins


Carmen Rose did a pretty good job with A Good Debutante's Guide to Ruin. I really did love her female voices and her male voices were good too. Her pacing and emotion were good too.

Part of Read It, Rate It, File It, Done reviews

too much internal monologues

Would you try another book from Sophie Jordan and/or Carmen Rose?

I really enjoy Carmen Rose. Every new book I listen to with her narration gets better and better. She has become one of my favourites.
I am still on the fence about sophie jordan. I think the set up for the next book in the series (Orealia and max) might be worth a try.. They have already had two memorable scenes in this book and I would like to read more.

Would you ever listen to anything by Sophie Jordan again?

I have listened to other SJ novels, but this one was approx 3 hours of dialogue and the rest was internal monologue. It was distracting when one of the characters says something..and then 5 minutes of narration later the second character responds. It made for a very disjointed flow. I sometimes had to pause/jump back to find the start of the conversation. 2 scenes were really drawn out and made me think..Filler!
The h/h 's first kiss: it took 20 minutes from start to finish. Just get on with it. I don't need to know how the caracters feel about the room/the carpet/the curtains etc. It just drags the plot down
There is another scene where the heroine has an internal monologue discussing the "types of smiles" of the hero. I am not sure why, as this does not move the plot or effect it in any real way. Again, just filler

What does Carmen Rose bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

She is a very good narrator. She has the ability to bring nuances of voice so that every character sounds a little different.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

I am not sure, as the plot was interesting and similar to the movie "clueless". IT would have to be more fast moving and with greater dialogue

Any additional comments?

I bought this as a credit and am glad only because if I had paid the book price I would have been furious. A great plot , but with too much ramblings to make the book worthwhile..

Great narrator

Story line was awkward - why didn’t the female cousin side character get Max at the end….disliked the mom so much