Duke of Depravity

Sins and Scoundrels, Book 1

De: Scarlett Scott

Narrado por: Shane East

Crispin Ashforth returns from battle the newly inherited Duke of Whitley with two sisters under his charge. Publicly lauded as a hero, he is haunted by the bitter mission that nearly saw him killed and cost the life of his best friend. He’s desperate to drown out the demons tormenting him by any means, regardless of how depraved.

All he needs to do is find a proper governess for his hellion sisters so he can drink and wench himself into oblivion. Enter Miss Jacinda Turnbow, who is as lovely as she is prickly. It doesn’t take Crispin long to realize he’s found precisely the sort of distraction he needs in the prim governess.

But Jacinda has secrets of her own, and she’s no ordinary governess. To save herself and her father from ruin, she has agreed to infiltrate the duke’s home and search for evidence that he’s a traitor. Resisting his advances grows more difficult by the day, however, as she discovers there’s more to Crispin than the careless life of sin he’s cultivated. And the greatest danger she faces is losing her heart to the man she has no choice but to betray.

©2021 Scarlett Scott (P)2024 Dreamscape Media

Solid Book and I Love Shane East’s Narration

The premise is very interesting. Scarlett Scott can tell a good story. Her plotting of key points in the story was good. Both of the main characters were flawed and traumatized from losses in the Napoleonic Wars. Neither of the main leads were likable, which is okay. The secondary characters who had more page time were developed well, but at times they felt somewhat underdeveloped. I liked the romance, but there were chunks where it felt sluggish. I would continue in the series.

Shane East’s Narration is better than Chocolate!!

Shane East’s Narration is better than Chocolate!! He has the most silky smooth voice ever!!!! Combined with Scarlett Scott’s story is the Best Ever!!!

Silky Male Narrator, Dark Story

I liked this book a lot more than I thought I would. There's a male Narrator, and this is more his story than hers.

I'm okay with that. Dealing with PTSD is a major part of the story, no spoilers.

The Narrator was fantastic as well.

Wonderful book

I listened to this book when it first came out and was enchanted with it. With this new edition the audio book is even better. Shane East did a masterful job of recording this book. I can’t wait for the next installment to come out.

Crass without any Storyline to follow or connect with.

Nothing but crass female descriptors, abusive talk, power-over actions, & denigration for first 8 chapters. I kept hoping something better would redeem it, but at some point, it wasn't worth it or the credit. I've listened to a few erotica, a couple with great storylines that contextualuzed it well; but the constant "I'm an animal" & "war is hard" nonsense was tedious & it was excruciating to have the hero behave thusly nearly nonstop - not counting the other male characters who were all despicable jackasses. This was just too dark to be a believable romance, and too light on the storyline to be an effective erotica, & just awful to see such pathetic humans throughout. The last-minute redeemability and tiny peppered charity "discoveries" from about chapter 5 through 7 just looked like sad writer inserts that didn't balance out any solid hero qualities against half the book's debaucherous descriptions of his actions. Even the heroine was so pathetic and weak that I couldn't even respect her either. Suddenly she has an urge to kiss a stranger, her "boss" who manhandled & fondles her without permission, abuses her verbally, and humiliates her constantly while we as the reader get to hear his thought-stream of sexualizing & demeaning things about her? Definitely a big no thank you. Again, the few times she spoke up just did not weigh out against most of the book's story about her. For someone who started out so strong as a smart loyal talented women in chapter one, she acted like a weak ninny with every kind of excuse for liking or acquiescing to her abusers starting with the fact that she "had to hide her mission" & "act ladylike." Huh? Seriously, not believable or likeable. I like this author & I also like this narrator a lot - I rate them highly & seek out their works. But this book was a huge disappointment. I hated both the hero & the heroine, and that's never happened to me before. Sad that I wasted a credit.

Couldn’t get through it

It’s not what I’ve come to expect from Scarlet Scott. It was way too dark and brooding.
It was like listening to a film noir.