• More than a Duke

  • Heart of a Duke, Book 2
  • By: Christi Caldwell
  • Narrated by: Tim Campbell
  • Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (529 ratings)

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More than a Duke  By  cover art

More than a Duke

By: Christi Caldwell
Narrated by: Tim Campbell
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Publisher's summary

Polite Society doesn't take Lady Anne Adamson seriously. However, Anne isn't just another pretty young miss. When she discovers her father betrayed her mother's love and her family descended into poverty, Anne comes up with a plan to marry a respectable, powerful, and honorable gentleman - a man nothing like her philandering father.

Armed with the Heart of a Duke pendant, fabled to land the wearer a duke's heart, she decides to enlist the aid of the notorious Harry, Sixth Earl of Stanhope. A scoundrel with a scandalous past, he is the last gentleman she'd ever wed... however, his reputation marks him the perfect man to school her in the art of seduction so she might ensnare the illustrious Duke of Crawford.

Harry, the Earl of Stanhope, is a jaded, cynical rogue who lives for his own pleasures. Having been thrown over by the only woman he ever loved so she could wed a duke, he's not at all surprised when Lady Anne approaches him with her scheme to capture another duke's affection. He's come to appreciate that all women are in fact greedy, title-grasping, self-indulgent creatures. And with Anne's history of grating on his every last nerve, she is the last woman he'd ever agree to school in the art of seduction. Only his friendship with the lady's sister compels him to help.

What begins as a pretend courtship, born of lessons on seduction, becomes something more, leaving Anne to decide if she can give her heart to a reckless rogue, and Harry must decide if he's willing to again trust in a lady's love.

©2015 Christi Caldwell (P)2015 Christi Caldwell

What listeners say about More than a Duke

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

WOW that was tough to get through! Not Good!

Geez, I am so glad this book is over. We get a description of a heroine that is supposed to be strong willed and that is not what we get. She was not a strong heroine at all. More whiny and pitiful really. The hero, well he was hurt 8 years ago and can never love again.. Blah Blah Blah, so sad. Now he is a rogue and not good enough for our sweet Anne!. ugh! This was an annoying story

Okay so there is misunderstandings the entire way through the last half of the book, its insane! This book literally drove me crazy and couldn't wait to finish it. It was full of repetitive misunderstanding thoughts over and over and over.

The attraction between the two is not believable. They have a few encounters and think they know everything about the other and we still have all the misunderstanding garbage going on. The story was so contradicting it was aggravating.

There was no sex in this book until you get the last 5 minutes or pages then it is so mildly written and short it could almost be a rated G book. That is not a complaint I am just pointing that out to those who look for that, or not, in a book.

The dialogue was minimal, I guess because we get read the thoughts of what he or she believes the other's expression meant. Fact. That is really how this story went.

This book does not even compare to the first book in this series. I loved the first book it was very good.

As for the narrator, he is good, but NOT for this book. Since most of this book is from her perspective (not written in the first person) I believe a female should have narrated this story.

This was a waste of a narrator to me. The book was lacking in its story already and the narration did not help it at all.

Sometimes a narrator can make an okay book better. This did not occur.

I would listen to Tim Campbell again for sure but not a historical romance set in England 1800's A medieval historical yes for sure.

The long and short of it is, this story was extremely frustrating and repetitive, not enjoyable.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

A good followup for the most part...

Any additional comments?

I was eagerly awaiting the sequel to For the Love of the Duke and within 5 minutes, I immediately knew that Christi Caldwell had done it again--later realized I was somewhat correct. I absolutely loved Anne and Harry from the very beginning. These two had so many pre-conceived notions about each other, quiet frankly, they didn't like each other... or so they thought. This is still a very good book but I felt that the conflict/angst factor went on too long.

Quick background. Harry was in the first book of the series. He tried to seduce Anne's sister Katherine but instead they became friends. Anne and Harry disliked each other with a passion. Harry thought that Anne was an airhead (simply put in modern day terms) with a sharp tongue. Someone who made impulsive bad decisions and never learned from her mistakes. Anne assumed he was a rogue who didn't have the ability to care, a man who lived to seduce wantons, widows and most infuriatingly, her twin sister. Then they spend more time together and begin to see each other in a different light. There were a lot of tender moments between these two as we see them slowly realize that they had been wrong about each other.

I smiled for a good chunk of the book. I loved the chemistry between these two. There were a lot sexually charged scenes but the sex scenes were pretty scarce but it wasn't a problem for me. Then 6 1/2 - 7 hours in and things went down hill. I hoped it wouldn't be drawn out. Anne confesses her love pretty early and I liked that. She accepted that Harry wasn't there yet but had hope that he would grow to love her. Truly, he showed signs of caring if not loving her. I thought that things were on the up and up.

Then the heroine finds herself in a compromising position and Harry offers to marry her but suddenly, she can no longer accept that he's not in love with her and flat out refuses him. She assumes that he only wants to marry her to save her reputation. Her greatest fear is that he will be resentful and regret his sacrifice. I will allow that her mother put a lot of garbage in her head and I will also allow Harry totally bungled things up when he attempted to explain himself but I expected Anne to "SEE" Harry's feelings as she did with the spectacles.

She doesn't see. She assumed that she knew his feelings and acted, like the rash Anne everyone knew her to be. She concocted a ridiculous idea to 'save' Harry from the marriage by doing something so despicable and heartless, I couldn't forgive it. She took his past hurt and fears and used it as a weapon. I felt devastated for Harry. Anne was miserable too but she'd made the sacrifice so that Harry could pursue what she THOUGHT he wanted so I had little sympathy for her. Then in a turn of even more ridiculousness, Harry blames himself for the way that ANNE treated him, say what? My sigh shook the rafters at this point.

Of course it always works out in the end so I won't get into the HEA. I was disappointed in Ms. Caldwell as she is a great writer and unique IMO. I felt that she could have created a better ending, not the usual historical romance cliche(s) of self-sacrifice, assumptions, longing and angst. You know, woman goes into relationship or partnership in this case with NO expectation of love > falls in love > hero wants to marry her for one reason or another > heroine flat out refuses because he doesn't love her. Another one of those sighs.

Even still I'm rating this book a 4. The first 6/12 - 7 hours were that good. If the angst fest hadn't gone on so long, this would easily be a 5 star read. The writing and characters were great, the buildup to the climax was too drawn out so 4 stars it is. 4 stars for Tim Campbell's narration. He wasn't bad, better than I've remembered him in the past. He does male voices better of course but held his own with female voices too.

Despite my criticisms, I know that the angst is part of the HR genre but sometimes you can't help but want something different. Bottom line, you will like this book, perhaps the drawn out self-sacrificing portions won't get under your skin as it did mine. I still highly recommend it--especially if you read the first book of the series. Chrisi Caldwell is easily becoming a go to author for me.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Lovely, heart warming, wonderful love story

I needed to read a book like this at this moment in my life. It completely warmed my heart. A grand love not based on looks but the personality. At 20 the heroine is so mature it was a delight to listen to the story. And what can I say about the hero but that he is a supreme delectable candy with a brain, heart and morality. Ok I know... A bit of a bookish character but we all need to dream about a man like this one even if they don't exist.
Buy this book with confidence that you won't be listening to a sappy storyline with insecure and fluffy characters. I also loved the twists in the storyline. Made it so unpredictable.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

More than just good!

I believe that a review should be a person's opinion about the story, performer... etc... Not a short version of the actual story.

That said... This is one of those HEA romances that has a way of eating up the time and being done before you know it! Tortured souls heal one another and all of that good stuff. I can't put my finger on it but it seems it's remarkably like another book... but not. Since I've listened to almost a thousand books I just can't think of which one it could be. It doesn't really matter, I out and out enjoyed this one.... it goes onto my replay someday list!

NARRATOR : Excellent! I generally can't
stand a male narrator's female voices... but Tim Campbell did a great job. When you hear the story and the characters and not the narrator then you know it was well done. One of my biggest pet peeves, besides obvious mispronounciation and totally lack of comfortable cadence, is the mouthy sounds of some performers. I don't want to hear wet or tongue gushy or tooth whistle kind of sounds... nor a voice that stands out as being all wrong such as a exaggerated female in a males voice. Point being that there were none of those things that bring a performance into the story... or detract from it. Two enthusiastic thumbs up!

CREDITWORTHY? : In my opinion most definitely!

HEAT FACTOR?: There were defiantly moments.... and since the story was driven by the whole 'how to seduce' lessons it is obvious what direction it took. It was not , however, steaming with sexual tension or overly explicit in the sex scenes. Definitely warm!!!

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

A Good Story

Any additional comments?

I enjoyed this book & am a huge fan of Tim Campbell...he could read the phone book & I would listen! This was a really good book to listen to & I enjoyed the story....the ending dragged on a little more than I like, Harry is smarter than that! Basically a good book I would recommend

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Would love to read more of Christi Caldwell

Have you listened to any of Tim Campbell’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Tim Campbell's is a narrator that I will read again very pleased with his performance

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

Stayed up till late in the am to finish this book. Enjoyable read can't wait for more of her books to become avalible

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Christi Caldwell is my new favorite author!

I love this series. This book was most entertaining. Very well done. I look forward to more by Christi Caldwell.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Can we kill off the mother?!

It's funny because I wasnt a big fan of Anne's but I fell in love with Harry during Katherine & Jasper's story. Once I got into the story, I couldn't help but love Anne's free spirit & clever mind. She truly was so much more than she was thought to be and she became my favorite. Of all the characters, I found myself gritting my teeth whenever the Countess of Wakefield was in the scene! I hated that loathsome woman! The Adamson sisters are deserving of pity having had to deal with that horrid woman. But the fact that she brings that kind of emotion out is a testament to Tim Campbell's phenomenal performance. His portrayal of the detestable mother and all of the characters is spot-on. He's amazing!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

It works!

Christi Caldwell has found a niche. The first book of hers I read seemed glaringly anachronistic. I was apprehensive to try any more until I hit a drought. I was pleasantly surprised. Her Heart of a Duke series glosses over any true intricacies related to the time period within which it is set. Book one did include references to the frost fair, an event I have never read referenced anywhere else, I must add, but it went on to include the same balls and parks detailed in every other novel from the period. Within this vague and contrived space, she was able to enchant me.

More than a Duke follows the charming rogue Harry, Earl of Stanton, whom we met in the first installment flirting with and befriending the Duchess of Bainbridge, accepts a request from Anne, the aforementioned Duchess’s twin sister, to tutor her in the art of seduction, so she can attract the attentions of a duke in case the mythical locket for which the entire series is based isn’t effective. What results is the standard pretend boyfriend trope. Under the guise of a legitimate courtship, Harry instructs Anne in highlighting her already innate gifts and talents. The lessons are immediately successful. The duke she wishes to court approaches her after one lesson. Unfortunately, there is no zing or fluttering as there is with Harry, so, early on, Anne starts to reconsider her scheme.

Nevertheless, the two continue to interact and get to know each other with only the occasional comment about her quarry. Anne finds out that Harry is much more honorable than she first assumed, and his philandering is much less transparently debased than his dalliances would have the entire ton believes. He lost his hope in love and faith in women when he was passed over by his first love, so she could marry an elderly duke. Anne, in turn, overturns Harry’s misapprehension that she, too, is title hungry when she explains how it felt to lose everything down to the ribbons for her hair when her father left them destitute. Her hopes for a good match is barely on security not luxuries.

The rest of the story follows as romances do. It moves briskly and without much filler. I don’t usually care for my regency romance to be narrated by men, they tend to lose a lot in genderless translation, but Campbell does a wonderful job. Not once am I pulled out of the story by his masculinity. It could be because the character, Anne, is so earnest that he does not need to feign any ridiculous emotions or it could be his talent in understanding the motivations of others. Either way, he does well not to detract anything from the story’s intent. I don’t usually read more than one of two books in a series because the quality tends to wane, but I am going to give book four a go. Auric, the Duke of Crawford piqued my interest, and I’m a sucker for the childhood crush trope. After reading books one and two and finding no similarities in plot or laziness in character development, I can only expect great things.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

loved this

Happy fast pace story. fun to watch the characters discover what is truly important to them in arelationshop.

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