My One and Only Duke

Rogues to Riches, Book 1

By: Grace Burrowes

Narrated by: James Langton

Length: 10 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

Meet the highly unconventional Wentworth family in this charming USA Today best seller with a Cinderella twist, perfect for fans of Mary Balogh.

One minute, London banker Quinn Wentworth is facing execution. The next, he's declared the long-lost heir to a dukedom. Quinn has fought his way up from the worst slums, and now he's ready to use every dirty trick he knows to find the enemy who schemed against him.

Jane Winston, widowed and pregnant, crosses paths with Quinn while her father is preaching to the prisoners. Believing his days are numbered, Quinn offers her marriage as a way to guarantee her independence and provide for her child. Neither thinks they'll actually have a future together.

He's a wealthy gutter rat out for vengeance. She's a minister's daughter who must turn a marriage of desperation into a proper ducal union. Are they doomed from the start or destined for a happily-ever-after?

Also includes the bonus novella Once upon a Christmas Eve from New York Times best-selling author Elizabeth Hoyt!

When his carriage wheel snaps in a snowstorm, Adam Rutledge, Viscount d'Arque, is forced to seek shelter at the home of the most maddening, infuriating, and utterly beguiling woman he's ever met.

"Skillfully crafted and exquisitely written, Burrowes' latest is pure gold; a brilliant launch to a promising series." (Library Journal)

"Burrowes is a writer of towering talent." (USA Today Happy Ever After)

©2018 Grace Burrowes (P)2018 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"Sexy heroes, strong heroines, intelligent plots, enchanting love stories...Grace Burrowes' romances have them all." (Mary Balogh, New York Times best-selling author)

Entertaining and fun!

Not realizing this was a series, I’d begun reading Book 5. After a few references with which I wasn’t familiar, I decided to start from the beginning. I enjoyed Quinn’s story (though Jane got on my nerves a couple of times) and the supporting characters were quite interesting. On to Book 2!

Great Start to a Series

I seldom read a series a second time, but this one is an exception. I enjoyed the characters, even the secondary ones are well written. The story starts in, of all places, Newgate Prison. It’s an unlikely place to begin a romance series but for this story it is perfect.
Not saying a lot about the narrator as his female voices are what you would expect from a male with a fairly deep voice. His “pompous aristocrats” and “pious preachers” more than make up for that minor short coming.

Enjoyable

I enjoyed the story which contained just the right amount of twists and turns to be engaging. i did have some trouble understanding the dialogue with the accents.

Nice low angst romance

Heroine is a pregnant widow and daughter to a not too nice vicar. While doing rounds at Newgate, she meets the hero who is a banker who is wrongly accused of murder but set to hang. To give the baby a name they marry. But you guessed it! He is pardoned because turns out he is a long lost Duke. He retrieves his new wife who is thrilled with the pardon. She tries to seduce him and he resists for a little because he feels guilty yadda yadda for seeking vengeance yadda yadda. Actually I really liked the premise, I liked the hero and heroine, even the side characters! However the story and plot didn’t wow me. There was little angst for better or worse but even the revenge plot was pretty predictable and low stakes. Nothing wrong with that but it didn’t grab me either. A nice light read if you’re looking for a break from big drama and angst.
The narrator was pretty good, I usually have a hard time with male narrators and this one was ok but did occasionally go into “British reporter voice” which makes my eyes glass over. But only a few times. Not bad!

Fun Easy Read

Though it started slow, the story line was good and uncomplicated. Perfect listen for a long road-trip.

Kept me up until the wee hours

I had NO clue how the author was going to get the hero out of this one. Talk about leaving the reader hanging to get to the next chapter! And that was just the start. I did NOT see the villain coming and would never have predicted the very logical but unexpected ending. Loved the descriptions of a pregnant woman trying to sit down - laughed sooo hard while cringing in sympathy. The characters are so intensely drawn that you can see them, hear them, swear you're at the table with them. In short, every time I think this author could not possibly get any better, she gives me such intensely human, flawed, and likable characters that I can't stand to put the thing on pause. I LOVE it when I can't figure out how the thing will end and I'm struggling to stay awake at oh dark hundred because I was stupid enough to start the thing on a weeknight.

Well-written, well-developed characters

This is my third time to listen to this book, but first review. Grace Burrowes has done a great job in creating this delightful tale. I love the Wentworth family and can't wait to hear the next book in the series. James Langton is a new narrator for me and he did an amazing job with this book. He has done an expecially good job as Quinn and his Yorkshire voice. IMHO a great narrator makes a greater book. Thank you GB and JL for the entertainment.

a bit iffy at first

Wasn't sure if I was going to like this book at first but it came through in the end. You pretty much knew Quinn was going to escape the gallows somehow, it was just a matter of how and what happened next. Jane was a total surprise to me in the way her character was portrayed. I thought she wasn't going to be so likable or amenable but she proves me wrong. I didn't much like Quinn's siblings but his cousin Duncan proved intriguing. I liked the path the storyline took and it turned out to be entertaining in the end. I would classify this book as a pleasant reading, not a fantastic or really good read but a pleasant and comforting read. It just made it by a hair onto my To Be Read Again List.

Fun Regency Audiobook

This is the first book I've listened to by this author. I found it well written with a little factual history at the end of the book.
this is a fairly clean audiobook that I would recommend someone who listens to Harlequin books. It was entertaining to see someone who was born gutter poor become educated and maintaining morals. It begins with Quinn in prison and supposed to hang for manslaughter. I was curious on how the author would take that and turn him into a a titled peerage (DUKE). I think it was well done. There is very vanilla sex that is so short that its basically obsolete which was nice because you can concentrate on the story. James as the narrator did a fantastic job. I'm not from England so I don't really know any accents from there but I thought they were well done and you can tell that the different characters came from different areas within England. In some ways it reminds me of the Mallory family that Johanna Lindsay wrote about with strong women, high morals, etc., but in many ways it was different because Quinn wasn't raised with aristocrats but served them and with hard work and determination became very successful. All in I think the series will be nice to listen to and a great choice I found on sale that I think is even worth a credit.

Lovely story

Loved Quinn and Jane! Wonderful story! The man’s voice was wonderful for men characters but it was a little like a man when speaking for the woman. Still worth the credit!