Disciplining the Duchess

By: Annabel Joseph

Narrated by: Emma Kent

Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

Over five seasons, Miss Harmony Barrett has managed to repel every gentleman of consequence and engineer a debacle at Almack's so horrifying that her waltzing privileges are revoked. If she's not in the library reading about Mongol hordes, she's embarrassing her family or getting involved in impulsive scrapes.

Enter the Duke of Courtland, a man known for his love of duty and decorum. Through a vexing series of events, he finds himself shackled to Miss Barrett in matrimony. But all is not lost. The duke harbors a not-so-secret affinity for spanking and discipline…and his new wife is ever in need of it.

Will the mismatched couple find their way to marital happiness? Or will the duke be forever Disciplining the Duchess?

©2013 Annabel Joseph (P)2013 Annabel Joseph

Best so far!

Finally, I could relate to the characters. Very believable except for the dog dinner scene! I love the redemption aspect.

Good for mood reading

The description of this book, matches the book perfectly. The story is good but a little rushed, but you don’t pick this book for a great story line. ;)

not what was described

I did not like the narration, the woman sounded as though she sould read poems instead of dirty romance books. it was described as a brat meets disciplining husband book when it's not how it was read. It read as a sweet 16 romance with a couple of dirty scenes.

Perfect theatrical reading!

I was looking for and expecting a more explicit tale. However, the quality of the narrative performance, the nuance and laugh out loud humor throughout this book seduced me.

CONTEST: how many times door closes in background?

What did you love best about Disciplining the Duchess?

I loved almost everything about this book, except the distracting background noises on the audio.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Disciplining the Duchess?

Most memorable to me was the scene where Court disciplines Harmony too severely and it almost destroys their relationship.

What aspect of Emma Kent’s performance would you have changed?

Distracting background noises were very annoying and in some cases she speaks so very slowly it is also annoying. However that is better than narrators who talk too fast. I do love Emma Kent's English accent.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

yes, I did do that!!!

Any additional comments?

Annabel Joseph also wrote "CLUB MEPHISTO", "MOLLY's LIPS" and BURN FOR YOU which are incredibly revealing about the BDSM lifestyle. The first two are on audible.com and I am awaiting BURN FOR YOU on audible.

Excellent Writing, Poor Behavior

Let me start by saying that this was a highly enjoyable book for the longest time. I thoroughly enjoyed it. This is my absolute favorite genre. Domestic discipline when done right adds to the story in a positive light. This was not done right. There is a big difference between domestic discipline and domestic violence. He beat her with a stick, twice. Then was all shocked when she became withdrawn. There is nothing romantic about that. It’s hard to enjoy a “romance novel” in its entirety when it includes such clear abuse. The narrator was phenomenal though!

Good listen

The narrator didn’t bother me as much as she seems to have bothered other listeners. I liked it. The book was good but the h forgave the H a little too easily in the end for my liking. I didn’t get enough groveling.

Book was wonderful. Reader was just that with out any artistry.

The readers sing song recital of the words was annoying. Loved the book and the characters.

Too easily forgiven for abuse

It starts really good with maybe a little noncon discipline, but reasonable. Unfortunately, it devolves in to straight up abuse. The author is good about making it clear that it’s abuse, but in the end she’s a little too easy to forgive and willing to be punished by someone who fully abused her….it feels a bit icky in the end.

SADLY, YOU REALLY CAN'T TELL A BOOK BY IT'S COVER

I had such high hopes for this listen as I love a good Duke story but unfortunately both the narrator and the plot were just plain awful - not touching or tender but abusive and twisted.

Harmony, a naive, impulsive bluestocking was at a house party and she became bored so, being interested in history, decided to go to Hadrian's Wall - an overnight trip but she took no overnight bag, little money, no idea how she was going to get there and she was totally alone (UNBELIEVABLE). She was spotted by Courtland (the Duke) who told her that he would personally take her however, she gave him the slip (A STUPID MOVE) and hired an unscrupulous stranger (WHY?) with a wagon who just dumped her off at the side of the road in the middle of nowhere (AGAIN, STUPID). Courtland felt he needed to find her and went in search for her then, when he found her, he promised to take her there (despite knowing the laws of the ton when it comes to 'compromising' a woman) and decides to marry her as well.

Unfortunately I didn't like the Heroine who came across as a childish airhead who did stupid things throughout the story which was annoying and I didn't like the Hero because he came across as a cold, unfeeling, stuck-up bully for most of the story and punished her by severely taking a cane to her. There were times of sexual gratification during 'slapping' her but there were two instances of disciplining her by thrashing her with the cane whilst she was screaming and crying which I really didn't like. IMHO, the narrator had a horrible voice and it was difficult to distinguish between all the characters. Yes it contain sex scenes but a lot of these weren't very romantic at all.

Worth a credit? If this had been read by a more skilful narrator, it may have gained a point but alas it wasn't and nothing can take away a bad storyline. So, again IMHO, NO not worth a credit.