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Cocky Duke  By  cover art

Cocky Duke

By: Annabelle Anders, Hero Club
Narrated by: Desireé Ketchum, Tim Campbell
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Publisher's summary

Mrs. Ambrosia Bloomington, now a widow, is ready to start a new life amongst Mayfair elites without the overarching reach of her late husband, Mr. Harrison Bloomington. With her trunks loaded safely onto her own private carriage, she's ready to face the world as an independent woman in Regency London.

She does not, however, bargain for cocksure Frenchman, Mr. Charles Cochran Bateman coming along and turning her very ordinary journey into the adventure of a lifetime.

She does not bargain for his laughter, his enthusiasm, nor his Joie de vie.

And blast and fiddlesticks, she certainly is not expecting to experience the sparks that charge the air between them.

And, it seems, apparently, neither is he....

©2020 Annabelle Anders and Cocky Hero Club, Inc. (P)2020 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about Cocky Duke

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    5 out of 5 stars

A Wonderful Second Chance

First off, the narration on this book was fantastic! I knew Tim Campbell would be his "swoon worthy" self in the characters voices & he lived up to my expectations & beyond. I was very impressed with Desireé Ketchum - she did a fabulous presentation & I enjoyed her voices of the characters immensely.

I had read Cocky Bastard by Penelope Ward & Vi Keeland and this was a mirror of the book in different centuries. Cocky Bastard was from the 21st Century & Annabelle Anders' Cocky Duke takes place in 1823 Regency England.

The first half of the book is given in Ambrosia Bloomington's (Aubrey) point of view. She is kind, non-confrontational & a lovely young widow on her way to begin in new life in London. She has inherited a townhouse in Mayfair & enough yearly allowance to be self sufficient. Her biggest worry is establishing herself in society.

Chance Bateman gives his side of the book in the second half. He is a handsome, cocky, hilarious man that finds humor in life but he hides many secrets & responsibilities from the outside world. He is travelling to his home for his 30th birthday party but it is obviously not a happy occasion for him.

Due to many unforeseen problems, Aubrey & Chance are thrown together to travel across the country together with her driver & the wonderful little rescued dog, Mr. Dog. I felt all the emotions possible between this couple - I went from laughing out loud to having my heart ache, in the space of a few pages. I highly recommend this book to all romance readers - Annabelle Anders has created the perfect couple to complete the perfect story & I will remember this book for a long time.

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6 people found this helpful

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Cocky Duke

Cute addition to the Cocky Hero Club! Loved this retelling of Cocky Bastard as a historical romance. Of course it wasn’t the same but the major plot themes were there. She’s recently widowed (in this case) and traveling across England to a new home. He meets her and they end up traveling together. Instead of a blind, fainting goat they have a big toothless dog but he’s just as loveable. Fun listen for the day

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5 people found this helpful

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French Duke and his Princess

I totally recommend this book. The dual narration was very well done. It was a very heartfelt lovdstory as told from the hero and heroine perspectives. There was humor and romance that were great. M heart broke for Chance and Ambrosia. The road to the HEA is a rough and long one, but oh so worth the journey. I highly recommend this and any by Annabelle Anders. Five stars.

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2 people found this helpful

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better than expected

I am not a big fan of historical romance, so I almost skipped this one, but I want to read all the cocky hero club books, so I gave it a chance. I am glad I did. I really enjoyed this adaption of cocky bastard.

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2 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Cocky confection is on the sweet, touching side

.For a book in the Cocky Hero Club, the man in this regency romance seemed more jaunty than cocky, and both his character and the story progressed into solidly sweet and touching territory through the middle, and then to maudlin and over extended angst in the last third, before finally getting to the HEA.

The first third of the book is entertaining as cocksure Chance Batemen needles and shamelessly flirts with widow Aubrey Bloomington. Aubrey is finally free of an old, cold, and controlling husband. As she travels to London, she is ready to live and open to new experiences. Chance is also traveling the same path and circumstances conspire to pair them together. Although I don’t normally like French accents, the female narrator was so good, I didn’t mind. The writing was saucy and fun.

The second third loses sauciness as Chance, although still a flirt, reveals himself to be considerate and a gentleman. I was disappointed to lose the fiery sparks to the soft glow of attraction. But, I still enjoyed the writing and narration. As the pair grow closer, Chance clearly has secrets and the story starts to slide down the usual plot device of creating conflict through lack of communication and misunderstandings. When the fortune teller appeared, I foretold a longer, tortured path to the HEA.

The final third of the book dragged as Aubrey inconceivably refuses to let Chance explain the secrets that came between them, and then after learning said secrets still mopes on about there being no second chances. I would have liked the book better if the final third of this book had been 30 minutes instead of 2.5 hours of them being apart for no good reason.

This is the first book I’ve listened to where the dual narration is starkly split, with only female narration for the first 5 hours and then only male narration for the last 2.5 hours (except for one quick epilogue swap at the end). To me, the lack of male narration for two thirds of the book made his narration rather meaningless and unnecessary. Also, by then I was used to the female narration and the male narrator’s French accents felt off.

If you are looking for a good, fairly traditional regency romance (some kisses and two rather tame sex scenes in second half), this is a fine listen (especially if you speed up the final third). If you were hoping for a truly naughty, cocky romance that does justice to the Vi Keeland/Penelope Ward tribute advertised from the Cocky Heroes Club, I suggest Cocksure Ace.

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2 people found this helpful

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Loved it!

This book had a slow burning heat with great chemistry and banter between the characters. A great retelling regency style of the Cocky Bastard book. I already read and loved Ambrosia and Chance’s story but these narrators were wonderful!

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Just ok

The first book that started the “Hero Club Series” Soraya and Graham’s story Is “Stuck-Up Suit” by ViKeeland and Penelope Ward it took me forever to figure it out.
You don’t need to read the first book but if you want to....

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1 person found this helpful

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Chance and Aubrey

Swoon!!! This is such a great rewrite in a different era and so romantic. Loved every minute of it.

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1800's Cocky Bastard

Interesting take on the original Cocky Bastard book set in the 1800's. Story flowed well and the narrators did a good job. Female narrator did amazing. I wasn't all that pleased how the book was divided in first half girl perspective and second half male. I would like to have a better balance.

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Great new version of this lovely story

I was supper exited once I realized this was a retelling of the Chance and Aubrey story . It definitely did a very good job in converting this story to a Jane Austen era story LOVE IT !!!

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