The Odious Duke

De: Barbara Cartland

Narrado por: Sarah Lambie

The dashing Duke of Selchester is on his way to visit Lord Upminster at Copple Hall when a stagecoach crashes into his own travelling carriage, buckling its wheel.

Worse still, his beloved pedigree stallion, Salamanca, needs re-shoeing.

Arriving on foot at the nearest village, he finds a beautiful Verena Winchcombe, who agrees to take him to the local blacksmith.

It transpires that she has been awaiting the arrival of someone she calls 'the Odious Duke', who is due at Copple Hall. With horror, the Duke realises that she is talking about him so he introduces himself by his rank as Major Theron Royd instead of his noble title.

Verena confides in the Duke about strange goings-on at an old, perhaps haunted, Priory and he agrees to investigate with her. During the visit, he is bludgeoned unconscious by a mysterious assailant.

Awaking at Verena's home, he realises that there is much more to this feisty but beautiful young woman than meets the eye as she helps nurse him back to health after serious wounds to his head.

Unaware of her the stranger's true identity, Verena begins to fall for the Duke and the two find themselves embroiled in a perilous adventure with murdered bullion thieves.

An action-packed adventure story, with a classic regency romance at the heart, a tale perfect for fans of Julia Quinn, Georgette Heyer and Lisa Kleypas.

British author Barbara Cartland wrote over 700 novels and was most famous for her contemporary and historical romances. A prominent figure in London society, the young Cartland began her writing career as a gossip columnist for the Daily Express. It was partying in 1920's London that gave her inspiration for her first book, Jigsaw, a racy society thriller.

After marrying into the McCorquodale family, she began writing romance and holds a Guinness World Record for the most number of books published in one year: 191. Her books have been translated into many different languages, as well as adapted for stage and screen. She is beloved the world over and even counts the young Princess Diana as one of her many fans.

©2022 SAGA Egmont (P)2022 SAGA Egmont

Good Story, Not Boring

Engaging, but the love part was completely unbelievable. The only sex scene was hero with another woman. And heroine's affections made no sense when the switch got flipped from hatred to sudden "I love him." And hero had literally NO moment of any kind of romantic or love moment with her at all...just little girl affection & calling her an elf or his elf. What? He acted more like an older brother & she a little sister. He didn't earn her love as any real hero does, and her heroism to save him multiple times hardly even earned her a quiet "thanks" by the hero. In fact, he mostly ignored her unless he was taking over as her guardian & controlling or advising her. Again, big brother-ish, not lover-ish. And her affections swayed every which way loving & hating three different men & loving horses. She was like a little girl "loving" toys or pets, not a woman developing love for a real relationship. You know, a grown up.

It was a really odd "romance" story. Despite the story progressing nicely & keeping this reader engaged, it didnt lead to love or romance IMO. This, too, despite my reading Cartland since the 1970s, knowing & making allowances for some of the gender limitations then not now faced by female authors writing female roles - well, the romance still wasn't believable. Or satisfying. Or sexy. Or inspiring.