The Corset Diaries

By: Katie MacAlister

Narrated by: Ann Marie Lee

Length: 13 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

No woman in her right mind would consent to wearing a corset for a month. Especially a "skinny-challenged" woman like Tessa. But dreams of being debt-free dance in her head at the offer of appearing in a reality TV show. "A Month in the Life of a Victorian Duke" is about real people pretending to live on an English estate, circa 1879. And Tessa's leading man - a real-life duke - is so handsome she can barely breathe, with or without the corset....

©2004 Marthe Arends (P)2013 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Reality TV has never been more entertaining than here as the wickedly funny MacAlister has her heroine record her hilarious experiences with a quirky cast of characters and her passionate encounters with Max in a laughter-laced diary that is a saucy, sexy delight." ( Booklist)

Funny, Sexy and a little surprising - Spoiler-ish

I enjoyed Katie MacAlister's Ashling Grey Series and thought I would give her non-supernatual books a try. I picked this one because the concept was interesting. A modern day woman agreeing to live as a Victorian Duchess for a month. Everything will be period for that month, no electricity, no modern plumbing, servants to do everything from cooking and cleaning to dressing and bathing the family of the house. And yes, there are corsets. Just that alone had me interested in the story. Ms. MacAlister's sense of humor and the way her main character, Tessa, uses her wit and sarcasm to address her situation kept me smiling if not laughing. As for the sex in the story, Ms. MacAlister can write one heck of a good sex scene. As for the surprising part, it came early in the story and I wasn't sure how it would play out. Tessa is not a petite woman, she comes out and says it she's a little chunky. I could relate to her body image issues. The way she reacted to some situations is exactly the way I have. She's not comfortable in her own skin. She may have accepted that this is the body she has but she's not confident or secure that others will see past her outward appearance and see who she is. She uses her sarcasm as a way to protect herself from being hurt. How this plays out in the story had me looking at myself and helped me address some of my body image issues. I was not expecting that. It was a very pleasant surprise.

Boring dialogue, Terrible plot, & bad narration

It doesn't get much worse than this. The plot is nonexistent, the dialogue is boring, & the narration is so annoying.

Sophomoric plot and insipid characters

I regret I listened as long as I did. This book was told in the first person by a 38-year-old widowed woman who sounded and acted like a teenager.
I quickly tired to the many times she brought up that she was a size 18, fat, fleshy, whatever. I listened to 1/3 of the book hoping it would have a plot, the characters would suddenly have personality, or the writing would improve. I gave up waiting.
I do not recommend this book.

Absolute waste of an audible.com credit

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

Maybe if you enjoyed 50 Shades of Crap?

Would you be willing to try another one of Ann Marie Lee’s performances?

Maybe. I actually felt sorry for her, having to read this one.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Nope! Actually, no, I take that back -- the end. Reaching the end was such a relief.

Any additional comments?

I cannot begin to tell you how absurdly silly it is to hear words like penis, boob, and poop in a book allegedly for adults -- much less a "romance." The main character is utterly immature, and the writer has also written her as being over-the-top fixated on how she can't possibly be desirable because she's "chunky." I didn't find her antics to be in the least humorous, as a reader I felt like my intelligence was actually insulted.If this had been a book instead of audiobook, it would have gotten my signature treatment in the first chapter - I would have thrown it across the room. An absolute waste of an audible.com credit.

I just cant with this book!

Wow, this is pretty stupid and childish. I can't even continue on with this story, it's ridiculous. It's written in the first person and she is annoying. Blah blah blah thoughts from her. Talking about herself being fat etc all the time. Over it!

The narration is fine.

Annoying

As a big girl myself, I found the main character extremely pathetic. We understood she was a big girl the first 30 times she mentioned it so many pathetically self deprecating ways in the first 2 chapters. If that’s how big girls are supposed to define their self worth then I’ve been raised wrong! She whines about EVERYTHING and has the emotional maturity of a 16 year old. It started to seem as though it was getting somewhere but I gave up halfway into the book. I’m honestly ashamed I held out that long. And the narrator herself was beyond annoying as well.

Not my cup of tea.

This book annoyed me so much, I want my measly $4.95 back. Tessa was a nitwit, Max was a jerk, and the story was non existent.

Dramatic and High Maintenance

The story had potential. I was anticipating a light, humorous, quirky romance story. What I got was irritation, annoyance and eye rolls. The narrator was ok. Some parts she tried too hard to spice things up or portray some form of emotion that just fell short in the delivery, but overall it wasn't bad. The female lead, however, was a trainwreck. Insecure and overly dramatic. Her insecurities made me cringe and if I was the man that she was in pursuit of in this book I would have told her to pack her bags and ship out pages ago. If you love the overly self-conscious, high maintenance, act first take notice of things later female lead then this book is for you. I finished the book to the end, but not without asking myself over and over again why someone would write a character to this magnitude of dimwittedness. The further into the book you get the harder it becomes to actually like or connect with the female lead. I am struggling with giving the story 3 stars to 2 stars simply because it would be great if it had someone entirely else starring in it than Tessa. The writer is trying too hard with her, and I am not even sure for what because there is nothing cute, funny, quirky, or witty about Tessa. This being my first book by Katie MacAlister does not make me want to explore anything further she may have written in fear of what other disastrous characters I will encounter.

Worst book yet, a real waste of her time

I have noticed that when an author reaches a lead in following and income they start putting out titles just to pay rent and this is one.

Terrible & insipid

Anyone who likes MacAlister's fantasy books & is looking into expanding, just don't. It's stupid & trying & this is the 2nd of them that I've tried & they are stupid, boring & the main character is so whiny as to be unrelateable. Terrible.