How the Duke Was Won

Disgraceful Dukes Series, Book 1

By: Lenora Bell

Narrated by: Beverley A. Crick

James, the scandalously uncivilized Duke of Harland, requires a bride with a spotless reputation for a strictly business arrangement. Lust is prohibited, and love is out of the question.

Charlene Beckett, the unacknowledged daughter of an earl and a courtesan, has just been offered a life-altering fortune to pose as her half-sister, Lady Dorothea, and win the duke's proposal. All she must do is:

Be the perfect English rose (Ha!)

Breathe, smile, and curtsy in impossibly tight gowns (blast Lady Dorothea's sylph-like figure)

Charm and seduce a wild duke (without appearing to try)

Keep said duke far, far from her heart (no matter how tempting)

When secrets are revealed and passion overwhelms, James must decide if the last lady he should want is really everything he needs. And Charlene must decide if the promise of a new life is worth risking everything, including her heart.

©2016 Lenora Bell (P)2016 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Colorful supporting characters, plentiful plot twists, and the trials of star-crossed lovers make for a sizzling and heartwarming page-turner." ( Publishers Weekly)

Great storyline

This was a great storyline I hadn’t heard like before!! I love her books they make me laugh and cry THANK YOU

ruined at the end

liked the story for the most part, but the moralizing social "lesson" at the end was too preachy. though based in fact the presentation of the issues of the times were presented in a manner I found patronizing. sounds like the author is more interested in the pushing the social agenda...oh, and let's throw a baby in there for a last ditch close.

the background regarding the Duke's lifr

overall the story was delightful and sweet. The dream of every girl to marry a duke.

A truly disgraceful Duke.

this was the first time I had written a book by Lenora Bell. I think she has true talent and brings with, class, fun, and a little bit of drama to her characters. The heroine in this book has a lot to handle, but she handles it with class. I would encourage you to spend your credit on this book.

fantastic

Completely mesmerizing, captivating and delightful story AND performance. loved it! I can not wait to sample the other books in the series.

Really? A spanking? WTH?

This was a good story, mostly. Charlene was supposed to take the place of Lady Dorthea, her half-sister. Charlene was the by-blow daughter of Dorthea's father, who was raised in a brothel, Dorthea was Lord and Lady Desmond’s sainted daughter who was on her way from Italy. James, the duke, invited four young ladies to his home for three days then he would decide who would be his duchess. And, let the fun begin!

I knew there would be a big difference in Charlene and Dorthea when it came to changing places. Lady Desmond was crazy to think that just because Charlene was the by-blow of her husband’s and therefore could pass for Dorthea’s twin that they’d have the same personalities and temperaments.

This book, just like so many others, didn’t have to be almost 400 pages. I probably skimmed past about 100 pages altogether. Plus, this was her debut novel and she decided to add a spanking to it? Overall, it was a good story but I can’t stand “spanking” in my romance novels. Had I known there was spanking I would never have bought it, and since there’s spanking in this book I’m sure there’s spanking in others. What a disappointment. When it happened at 75% I was tempted to stop reading it but I decided to just finish it. There wasn’t enough lust, with the exception of James mentioning or thinking about Charlene’s breasts all the time, going on in this book to ever make me think there might be a spanking. I know a lot of you ladies find spanking titillating, unfortunately I'm not one who does. It was wholly unnecessary.

And WTH was that dream James had at about 93%. That was stupid and didn’t add a thing to the storyline. It was like the author said, “Hmm, let me just add this nonsense right here and it’ll add more useless pages.” Jeez, I didn’t get that at all.

There was sex in this book, once right after he spanked her and three times in the last 20%. And, as with all historical novels there was no swearing, unless you consider bloody or blast swearing.

I did like most the other characters: Kyuzo, Flor, Lulu, Susan, Diane, Alice (really liked her because she was too funny,) Augusta (who was kind of slutty) and Vivienne (who was very conniving,) and the other girl I don't even remember she left so soon into their gathering. Loved Lord Dalton. Hated Lord Grant, what a piece of work he was. And Lady Desmond was simply crazy.

As to the narration: Ms. Crick did a very good job overall. The women’s voices were all different and she read with lots of emotion BUT I just wasn’t crazy about the men’s voices. Mostly they were OK but sometimes they sounded too feminine.

best book I've listened to in a long time

This book is very well written. I was impressed by both author and narrator which isn't something I say lightly.
I find it harder and harder to find a romance with a good story line and a narrator to do the story justice.

I look forward to finding more books by Lenora Bell and Narrations by Beverley A. Crick.

My only criticism would be that the narrator's version is a Hispanic accent and a Japanese accent are suspiciously similar but I found it more amusing than anything.

This was not your everyday Regency Romance

I loved this book. As I said, it was a different look at the “Ton”. I loved all of the Characters. I laughed, gasped, but my nails and couldn’t wait to see how it ended. I highly recommend this book. Narrator Beverley Crick does a wonder job as always! I’ll be looking at all of Author Lenora Bell’s books!

Best listen ever.

This book is so good, very hard to stop listening long enough to charge blue tooth. The story the romance everything about this story is wonderful, and excellent narration. The best listen so far.

Good but...

Good plot, good story. The dialogue seemed a little trite but I don't know if that's because the near reader. The dialogue in the love scenes was a little corny but I think that was the narrator's fault.