How to Catch a Devilish Duke

The Disreputable Debutantes, Book 4

By: Amy Rose Bennett

Narrated by: Catherine Bilson

Length: 13 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's Summary

In this fourth installment of the Disreputable Debutantes series, the spirited daughter of an earl is in imminent danger of ruining her reputation forevermore.

Lady Charlotte Hastings - already branded a hellion by polite society - is in a terrible scrape courtesy of London’s most notorious blackguard. One thing is certain: Her name cannot appear in the gossip rags...again. However, Charlie’s bold attempt to extricate herself from the fine pickle she’s in takes an unexpected turn when the devilishly handsome Maximilian, the Duke of Exmoor - the rakehell she’s secretly loved for years - comes to her aid.

Upon discovering the irrepressible Lady Charlotte - his best friend’s younger sister - is in danger, Max Devereux feels duty bound to offer assistance. Only he soon realizes he’s also mired in deep trouble when an entirely inconvenient desire for Charlie sparks to life. If that’s not enough to contend with, Max’s manipulative mother is busily engineering his betrothal to a perfectly polished debutante. A hardened rake with an armor-plated heart, Max has absolutely no intention of becoming leg-shackled to anyone. At least not this Season.

When unforeseen disaster strikes plunging both Charlie and Max headlong into a new public scandal, Max proposes a deal: To restore Charlie’s good name and to help Max avoid his mother’s machinations, they’ll enter a temporary engagement-of-convenience. But even the best laid plans can go awry. As passion flares between Max and Charlie, their arrangement doesn’t seem like make-believe anymore...and hidden enemies intent on ruining Charlie once and for all, are waiting in the wings. Will a happily-ever-after ever be within their reach?

©2021 Amy Rose Bennett (P)2021 Amy Rose Bennett

That voice though..

Everything was wonderful but the readers voice… i wish it was the same reader from the other books

Kinda dampened the whole series

I’m sorry, but as the “Devilish Duke” is the conclusion to the series perhaps using one of the earlier narrators would have been a better choice. It was a struggle to get through Charlie’s story. I finished the story only because I wanted closure on the series. If it is possible I would suggest redoing the narration of the book and re-releasing it.
At this point, I have to return this book because I will not be able to listen to it again.

Ahmazing story

The story was amazing. I liked that there were more than a few surprises. Meaning I don’t like it when I can figure out the story line. Charlie’s story was my favorite of the four. Sigh…the narrator reminded me of the narrative on ID TV during the murder shows. The story was so well written though, the reading didn’t take away from it.

Who is the author writing for?

Enjoyed the previous book in the series. This one was a huge letdown, with ridiculous use of a silly current world mindset into the Regency period. The story was promising to start, but then bits of incongruous social mores began to yank me out of the story. Began to think that it may have been a well-intentioned, but poorly executed re-write to soothe the perpetually offended, like we’ve seen happen with some other novels from the last decade.
Each time I got yanked out and thought, “Well, that doesn’t fit the time period!”, I did my best to jump back into the story. It got harder each time the H/H said or did something that was right out of the current day. Problem enough that Charlie is manipulative and continually makes bad decisions! I swear, if WAP had been out in her day, she would have been singing it full-throated at a musicale before regretting her uncontrollable impulse. Then she would be portrayed as the victim by the author due to society’s negative reaction! That aside, the “big love scene” was the final straw, where my tolerance for nonsense was gone. Here they are, finally about to have intercourse, with him having been the holdout. Too much dialogue, full of the Duke’s “Do you want me to stop?” “I’d like to touch you there, if you want me to.” “You must tell me what you want.” “Can I touch you (name body part)?” None of this In a sexy, teasing, delaying gratification manner. It was a groveling, emasculated, 21st century “men must be ashamed and atone for any sexual appetite” kind of way. A repeated, mood-killing “can I” question from the man and a “yes, please do!” response from the woman. Before. Every. Touch. By the third or so “Do you want me to stop?” I was done! This ridiculously insecure quest for step-by-step affirmation was just…silly. Keep in mind that in the previous days she had gone down on him in a carriage to its full conclusion, talked about pleasuring herself, and had been trying to manipulate him into a sexual relationship all along! So now, after he finally agrees to have sex with her, she admits to him that she is wanton and not actually a virgin. She then spills the beans on that other sexual encounter in the hayloft with a neighbor, after “too much cider”, with details right down to the messy ending on her skirts! Because he’s about to find out anyway, right? He didn’t bat an eye, being the most patient, woman-affirming and understanding Duke in the 1800s. Or any century. Instead of being freed from restraint by weeks of her “I want you to (insert your own term here) me!” behavior and talk, he continues to behave like a supplicant. Again, not in a sexy way, but in an emasculated and unappealing way. As for Charlie, she is foolish at every chapter. By her own admissions she is also untalented, unaccomplished, self-indulgent and “wanton”. Who would enjoy this heroine, but for someone just like her? Makes me wonder who this author wrote for.
The narration was well done. Yes, she spoke slowly and I checked several times to make sure I hadn’t accidentally toggled to a lower speed. But it wasn’t unpleasant, unlike the story, Charlie, and eventually the Duke.
Just over 2 hours left and I won’t finish.

Narrator is horrible.

Narrator is horrible. Her man voice really sucks! Made it impossible to get through. Book is good. Need different narrator. Very disappointed after listening to the rest of the series then get this.

Ok story. Awful Narrator

I listened to all four books. The first one was the best. The second one was the worst. Three was pretty good. This one was good but the naration was awful. Why didn't they use one of the previous narrators. It would have been so much better.

Bad Reader

Was so looking forward to this last book but the reader was awful!! Should have used the previous one.

My two cents

Ok so I have listened to the series they are entertaining.

Admittedly so the indecision of the characters as to weather or not they are worthy or they are indeed in love was irritating after a while. It was so repetitive. I don’t fall in love, but I am in love, no I can’t be, she doesn’t deserve me, I don’t deserve her, but I want her/him, does he/she want me, they could not possibly want me and so on. It was annoying. But the narrator for the first three books was good.

The narrator to this book “How To Catch a Devilish Duke”, let’s just say I have to keep restarting the chapter to stay focused on the story. I am in chapter five but it has taken a whole day to accomplish that and I am an avid listener of Audiobooks. I wish they would have kept the other narrator.

Catherine Bilson is not horrible just not the right fit for this listen/read. She has good inflection and even fluid reading style but her voice just seems….mature for a 21 year old character. It’s to deep and husky and it tends to blend the male voices together. And it’s harder to concentrate, because after a while her voice becomes like white noise and I start thinking about something else and miss certain things or whole parts along the way. But I will finish as I stated the stories, to me, are entertaining.

Really liked this story.

Could have done without the sex detail. Other than that I really liked this book. If you dont mind the sex in detail give it a try.

Good for you, Charlie

I do not understand the negative reviews. The speed of the narration is something we control as the readers. I listened at 1.7x and the speed was good, I normally listen at 1.5. I love that Charlie knew what she wanted and got her experience those joys, but also realized she wanted more and but seriously about what kind of good she wanted to do in the world. Max was too perfect and always saying the right thing to be a deep character, in my opinion. I enjoyed it, I doubt all young women in that time were fine with the double standards of their time.