What the Duke Desires

The Duke's Men, Book 1

By: Sabrina Jeffries

Narrated by: Corrie James

Length: 10 hrs and 40 mins

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

Alright

Performance was good. Story was a little boring at times. Sex scenes weren’t bad but could’ve been better.

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.

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.

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!

Narrator Corrie James is a new favorite of mine

If you could sum up What the Duke Desires in three words, what would they be?

Great story but a tad bit too much narration by the author. I prefer stories to be told through the characters dialog rather than pages of narration telling me what they feel and thing. The audio book narrated by Corrie James was excellent - Corrie James is a new favorite of mine!

rollicking adventure and steamy romance

I love a book with imperfect characters that have a need to grow and develop. Jeffries gives us a full cast of characters who are likeable, vile, or sometimes witty. James narrates with different voices so clearly that she brings the author's vision to life. the story has characters coping with changes in the middle of their lives, not like a blank slate waiting to interact. I'm looking forward to the next book in her series.

Sabrina Jeffries is becoming one of my favorites!

I really enjoyed this novel. As an author, Sabrina Jeffries has a really high taste level. This book, like the few others of her's that I've read, is a tastefully done romance. She has a great way of communicating the attraction between her characters, and including steamy scenes without relying too heavily on sex. Max and Lisette are well-developed characters. And the other characters in the book make you want to continue listening to this series. Corrie James was also a good narrator. She helps the characters come to life.

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.

Wonderful..

What made the experience of listening to What the Duke Desires the most enjoyable?

The narrator.

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

Never heard her before but I liked her a great deal.

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

Yes

Any additional comments?

I've read so many of Sabrina Jeffries books it's just incredible, and I've enjoyed them all. The characters: Max, Lisette, Tristan, Dom and Victor were all wonderful. George and Hucker were just vicious creeps and I'm sure, eventually, they'll get what's coming to them.
AND the sex was great, not too much, not too little.
An all-around good read/listen. I found that it's great fun to read along with the narrator.

I love Sabrina Jeffries books

What did you love best about What the Duke Desires?

it was an enjoyable lighthearted read and that is always the best, also good endings and good dialog and an interesting and entertaining story, where I can enjoy some time away from the real world.

What other book might you compare What the Duke Desires to and why?

the rest of the stories of Sabrina Jeffries -The Duke's Men-

What about Corrie James’s performance did you like?

yes I did like her reading the story to me

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I very much enjoyed the story

Any additional comments?

I love Sabrina Jeffries books