The Courtesan Duchess

Wicked Deceptions, Book 1

By: Joanna Shupe

Narrated by: Carmen Rose

Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

How to seduce an estranged husband - and banish debt! - in four wickedly improper, shockingly pleasurable steps.... 1. Learn the most intimate secrets of London's leading courtesan. 2. Pretend to be a courtesan yourself, using the name Juliet Leighton. 3. Travel to Venice and locate said husband. 4. Seduce husband, conceive an heir, and voila, your future is secure!

For Julia, the duchess of Colton, such a ruse promises to be foolproof. After all, her husband has not bothered to lay eyes on her in eight years, since their hasty wedding day when she was only 16. But what begins as a tempestuous flirtation escalates into full-blown passion - and the feeling is mutual! Could the man the courtesan duchess married actually turn out to be the love of her life?

Contains mature themes.

©2015 Joanna Shupe (P)2015 Tantor

Critic reviews

"This original and alluring novel is a very promising beginning to Shupe's career." ( Publishers Weekly)

Story good, narration was off

The love story in this book is complicated from the beginning. Julia deceives the husband she hasn't seen in eight years by pretending to be a courtesan in order to produce an heir. The story begins with Julia's seduction of her husband and their romance in Venice. It's steamy and explicit so if you don't like those type of bed scenes, this book isn't for you. I thought the villains were rather predictable. In addition, a storyline where the main characters are distant and at odds for half the book isn't my favorite. Other than that I thought the story was well written and mostly believable. However, it seems unlikely that a Duke would abandon everything and allow a distant relative to take over. But it's necessary for the plot so…
The narrator was interesting. She does a decent job but her pauses and segues into the next scene are awkward. A few times I realized the scene had completely changed but the narrator never paused so it took a minute for my brain to adjust and change scenes then catch up. Her inflections during the dialogues were often unexpected because they weren't natural to the conversation and I had to re-narrate in my head to make sense of it.
Overall, however, I enjoyed the story and will listen to the next book in the series. This was my first time reading a Joanna Shupe novel.

magnificent!

This is my 1st Joanna Shupe book. But it will not be my last.

There is an interesting twist at the end

There is a lot of anger and sex in this book. It was a good distraction.

Creative alluring…

I have to say not my normal read, but an excellent book. Not for children.

Interesting Story Premise

I found the story to be interesting. Fairly unbelievable that the hero did not recognize the heroine, but still interesting.

Yummy story - lots of angst - great

Nick abandons Julia just after their forced wedding and is gone for eight years. Julia and her aunt Theo are bing treated horribly by Nick's family and are desperate. Julia decides she has to find her husband, seduce him and get pregnant in order to be able to take care of Aunt Theo and herself. She seduces him and get pregnant, but he does not believe the baby is his. Nick and Julia are extremely attracted to one another but they also hate each other because each feels betrayed.

There are people out to get both Julia and Nick, and do not want the baby to be born. Lots of good stuff going on. This book is really gripping and I could not stop listening. I was torn between wanting Julia to give Nick the punishment he deserved and also wanting them to get together. Delicious anticipation.

Narration is excellent and characters are wonderfully written by Shupe. I highly recommend as a fiery interesting and satisfying romance.

This is my first but not my last by this author

I really enjoyed the story the characters, more fun I like the twist in the plot. The narrator was good bringing the characters to life.

Perfect spicy book

I wasn’t expecting so much spice in a book but I really enjoyed it and it made sense. The story was really cute. The character built up was perfect pace for a period piece.

Not bad

Well in the first 10 minutes I thought this was going to be an erotica Historical Romance without a good story line, which I would rather not listen to. I read the reviews and they were all great. Ten minutes in I almost stopped listening, however it did have a pretty good storyline, Carmen Rose did a fantastic job. I’ve really grown to like her narration. I really liked the Heroine I’m glad she got tough when she needed to be… when her husband was a hypocritical jerk, but I must say it was good!

Awesome Story!

If you love romance and desire - THIS STORYIS FOR YOU!!! Good pick!
You won’t regret it!