• What the Duke Desires

  • The Duke's Men, Book 1
  • By: Sabrina Jeffries
  • Narrated by: Corrie James
  • Length: 10 hrs and 40 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (544 ratings)

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What the Duke Desires  By  cover art

What the Duke Desires

By: Sabrina Jeffries
Narrated by: Corrie James
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Publisher's summary

Maximilian Cale, the Duke of Lyons, long ago buried his grief for his missing elder brother, Peter, who was presumed dead after being kidnapped. When a mysterious note arrives from Tristan Bonnaud asserting that the Duke's brother is alive, it leads Max straight to the winsome Lisette Bonnaud, illegitimate daughter of a viscount and Tristan's sister.

Soon he and Lisette are traveling to Paris posing as husband and wife, in search of Tristan, who has disappeared. And the longer he spends with Lisette, the easier it is for Max to see that the line between dukedom and desire is easier to cross than he imagined....

©2013 Deborah Gonzales (P)2013 Tantor

What listeners say about What the Duke Desires

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Romance, Mystery, and a Duke.

This is a fast paced romance with mystery that held my interest throughout. The story was believable and the two main characters (Maximilian and Lizette) had some great chemistry. I enjoyed the bantering between them.....it made the story endearing. The other characters added some depth to the story which should make any other books in the series even more entertaining.

The narrator was great. She had a way of changing her voice for every character. Her French accent was realistic too.

I am looking forward to more books in this series.

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23 people found this helpful

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

A must for HR fans!

"Forgive me, madam, it appears that you and I got off on the wrong foot."

"You got off on the wrong foot. I merely watched you shove it into your mouth."

-conversation between Max and Lisette


After having seen first-hand the broken promises her papa made to her mama, Lisette is in no hurry to find a husband, believing there is no good reason for one. Maximilian, the Duke of Lyons, is an austere man who keeps many at arms length. Forced to work together to uncover the truth regarding Max's brother, Lisette and Max find themselves undeniably drawn to one another. Sparks fly, tension fills the pages, these two burn red hot.

I love books where the chemistry of the main characters are off the charts and the supporting casts liven the pages further with their unique personalities. Add in a great tale of loyalty and family and this book has become a definite favorite of mine.

I truly enjoyed the banter between the two main characters. I loved how Lisette was such a strong-willed female with brains, wit, and charm. She is fierce in her loyalty and protectiveness of her two brothers even when confronted by a Duke and his demands. Max, although used to getting what he wants, is not a spoiled individual. He stands by his morals and does not like to be lied to or deceived. He is strong in command with a sharp mind and lots of responsibilities yet he is conscientious of those he is responsible for. The two of them make a fantastic pair and the progression through their love story was so much fun to read. I adored both of them throughout the entire book, each character having strengths and weaknesses that complemented each other. A true HR fan will not be disappointed with this read.

Narration
Narrator: Corrie James
Performance: 5/5
James was splendid in her narration. Reading smoothly with distinction in each character and between male and female. She also did a fine job with the British and French accents and her tone and pace was perfect at 1.25X normal speed.

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9 people found this helpful

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

DELICIOUS - A REGENCY QUEST WITH DANGER & LOVE

For those fellow listeners out there who know SJ's work then you know what you're going to get from her historical romances - but if you haven't heard of her before then this book is just why she's an auto download and a non-stop listen for me.

This is the story of Max and Lisette, two very likeable characters who have instant chemistry and a nice slow building romance ensues as they embark on an adventure to solve mysteries and finally get some hard won but maybe unwanted answers and along the way they encounter some fascinating characters that are villainous, charming, intriguing or just plain nice. As the truth and lies begin to unfold so too does the blossoming romance and by the end of their quest they've laughed, cried, lost much but they have also found love.

Worth a credit? Yes, and I'm looking forward to spending more on the next in the series.

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9 people found this helpful

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

Humility, kindness AND a Duke? Who can resist?

Max, the handsome Duke of Lyons, gets a note from Tristan Bonnaud, someone he had met as a teen, telling him his long thought of as dead older brother may still be alive. After the note is delivered Tristan disappears. Hoping the news is true and longing to have his brother back in his life again, even if it means losing the dukedom to him, he sets off in search of Tristan, the only man who can help him locate his brother. His quest brings him to Lisette Bonnaud’s residence. In order to get her aid, he reluctantly agrees to have her accompany him to France in search of her brother. He also agrees to disguise as someone without a rank and they pretend to be siblings so that they can travel together without drawing any attention to themselves. At the start of their journey they run into Lisette’s neighbor and the Duke claims to be her husband in order to save her from ruination. Doing this forces them to continue their travel as husband and wife, which means sharing rooms at night. Romance begins to sizzle between them and seduction takes on a delicious flavor as they spend more time in one another’s company. An unexpectedly good book. I was pleasantly surprised.

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5 people found this helpful

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

Pleasantly Suprised

I'm not sure why. .but I went into this book expecting it not to be that good. I was wrong! This book had a good plot, with a mystery, and nicely blossoming romance.

I liked both Lisette and Max and thought they were a good match. There was good dialogue between them. I did think Max was overly "Dukel" (if that's the correct spelling) but that may have been the narrator's influence also.

The narration was also good. I felt it was well preformed and not just "read". I am not a big fan of French voices done by most narrators, but in this case they were pretty good.

I would rate it R...but not the most descriptive love scenes I've ever listened to....but not too tame either.

I am really looking forward to the whole series. I think it is worth a credit and definitely worth it if you ever catch it on sale (which may be why I had it in my library in the first place)

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4 people found this helpful

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

What happened to the ending?

Despite great characters, a wonderful love story, and a promising plot, the whole story evaporates to nothing under the weight of unresolved plot points, making this book a disappointment for me.

This could have been a great book, and I think that's why I'm so disappointed. The author failed at coming up with an ending that made sense, and once it fizzled, I felt like I was standing around waiting for the big reveal, only to see people clearing the set while the actors all went home. It was a let down.

There are two mysteries: the unrelenting, and unexplained, murderous hatred of a stepbrother toward his step siblings, and the kidnapping and death of a young heir. The two intermingle, bringing our H and h together in a mad dash across post revolution France. Sounds fun, doesn't it? Unfortunately, we never feel as if we are in France, as most of the action takes place either in a carriage, on a steam ship, or in an apartment. (I did enjoy the scenes that took place under quarantine, but that's all I'll say about that.)

I don't know why the heir was kidnapped. (The explanation given is convoluted and strains credulity.) The stepbrother's hatred is thwarted, but never explained, or resolved. We get our HEA, which is nice, but it isn't enough to save the book from expiring into mist.

There are some steamy sexcapades that show the author knows how to write a love scene, and her characters are compelling, so perhaps with later books, the plots she comes up with will be worthy of them.

Corrie James did a great job with the narration. I would say that she is probably the reason I listened to this book, but in fact, I liked the book until I got to the end.

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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

Entertaining!

I enjoyed "What The Duke Desires", it was well written with engaging characters. The narrator did a great job.

Our hero, Maximilian (Max) Kale, the Duke of Lyons, was a second son who became the heir when his older brother was kidnapped as a child. The Duke, having a mad father and Great Uncle, fears madness runs in his family and dreads having to marry to produce an heir. So when he gets a note saying his older brother may be alive, he makes an assignation with Tristan Bonnaud, who supposedly has proof, and can lead him to his brother---but Tristan is a "no show" and has gone missing himself. Searching for Tristan leads Max to Tristan's half brother, Dom, who owns an investigative business. Dom is out of town on business, so the Duke ends up aided (and manipulated) by the investigator’s half sister, Lisette Bonnaud, the illegitimate daughter of a viscount, and Tristan's sister.

A big part of the story takes place on a trip from England to France, where Max and Lisette travel as a middle-class married couple. The mystery is well done and keeps one guessing.

Well worth a credit!

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2 people found this helpful

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

A delightful romance

I had not read anything by this author before, but I am glad I ran across this book. I shall look for others now. Enjoyable from beginning to end. A bit of mystery, great sexual tension throughout, and the way I like my romance stories to end: HEA. This was no cookie cutter story. Very imaginative plot.

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1 person found this helpful

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

NOT THE BEST NOR THE WORST.

If you are looking for something to pass by the hours until your next entertaining book then I would say purchase this book ( I bought it on sale @ $4.95, definately don't waste a credit on this). Its not best and not the worst book I have read. Corrie James does a fairly decent job narrating, though at times I would catch her swallow as she narrated and her dipiction of the duke sounds more like Humphrey Bogart than a British aristocrat but still, I will say, she is probably why I kept reading this book. I would like to listen to her narrate a really good book, i think that will let her stand out from the others. The story itself quite frankly is a bit dull; the chemistry was a little forced. Jeffries is not my favorite author just because most of her books are predictible but once in a while I do catch a really good book that she has written and that is why I bought this book in hopes that it was one of those good books; I was disappointed that this was not the book since the summary promised to be a yummy little read.

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

A fun story with an excellent narrator

Any additional comments?

This was my first Sabrina Jeffries book as well as my first time to hear narrator Corrie James, and the experience was most enjoyable. The heroine is feisty but not irrational, and the hero is appropriately "dukely." Part of the story is a road trip to France, traveling as a middle-class married couple, and it's fun. The mystery was well done and kept me guessing. The entire plot takes place over just a few days, however, and the duke's devotion to his lady happened way too quickly.

Corrie James did an excellent job handling male and female voices as well as British and French accents. For Lisette, born and raised in England to a French mother, she did just the right mix of accents. I will definitely be on the lookout for more books narrated by her, especially the next book in this series.

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