The Courtesan Duchess

Wicked Deceptions, Book 1

By: Joanna Shupe

Narrated by: Carmen Rose

How to seduce an estranged husband - and banish debt! - in four wickedly improper, shockingly pleasurable steps.... 1. Learn the most intimate secrets of London's leading courtesan. 2. Pretend to be a courtesan yourself, using the name Juliet Leighton. 3. Travel to Venice and locate said husband. 4. Seduce husband, conceive an heir, and voila, your future is secure!

For Julia, the duchess of Colton, such a ruse promises to be foolproof. After all, her husband has not bothered to lay eyes on her in eight years, since their hasty wedding day when she was only 16. But what begins as a tempestuous flirtation escalates into full-blown passion - and the feeling is mutual! Could the man the courtesan duchess married actually turn out to be the love of her life?

Contains mature themes.

©2015 Joanna Shupe (P)2015 Tantor

Critic reviews

"This original and alluring novel is a very promising beginning to Shupe's career." ( Publishers Weekly)

Story good, narration was off

The love story in this book is complicated from the beginning. Julia deceives the husband she hasn't seen in eight years by pretending to be a courtesan in order to produce an heir. The story begins with Julia's seduction of her husband and their romance in Venice. It's steamy and explicit so if you don't like those type of bed scenes, this book isn't for you. I thought the villains were rather predictable. In addition, a storyline where the main characters are distant and at odds for half the book isn't my favorite. Other than that I thought the story was well written and mostly believable. However, it seems unlikely that a Duke would abandon everything and allow a distant relative to take over. But it's necessary for the plot so…
The narrator was interesting. She does a decent job but her pauses and segues into the next scene are awkward. A few times I realized the scene had completely changed but the narrator never paused so it took a minute for my brain to adjust and change scenes then catch up. Her inflections during the dialogues were often unexpected because they weren't natural to the conversation and I had to re-narrate in my head to make sense of it.
Overall, however, I enjoyed the story and will listen to the next book in the series. This was my first time reading a Joanna Shupe novel.

magnificent!

This is my 1st Joanna Shupe book. But it will not be my last.

There is an interesting twist at the end

There is a lot of anger and sex in this book. It was a good distraction.

Creative alluring…

I have to say not my normal read, but an excellent book. Not for children.

Interesting Story Premise

I found the story to be interesting. Fairly unbelievable that the hero did not recognize the heroine, but still interesting.