The Day of the Duchess

Scandal & Scoundrel, Book III

By: Sarah MacLean

Narrated by: Justine Eyre

Length: 10 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's Summary

The one woman he will never forget

Malcolm Bevingstoke, Duke of Haven, has lived the last three years in self-imposed solitude, paying the price for a mistake he can never reverse and a love he lost forever. The dukedom does not wait, however, and Haven requires an heir, which means he must find himself a wife by summer's end. There is only one problem - he already has one.

The one man she will never forgive

After years in exile, Seraphina, Duchess of Haven, returns to London with a single goal - to reclaim the life she left and find happiness, unencumbered by the man who broke her heart. Haven offers her a deal: Sera can have her freedom just as soon as she finds her replacement - which requires her to spend the summer in close quarters with the husband she does not want but somehow cannot resist.

A love that neither can deny

The duke has a single summer to woo his wife and convince her that, despite their broken past, he can give her forever, making every day The Day of the Duchess.

©2017 Sarah Trabucchi (P)2017 HarperCollins Publishers

Loved it!

Loved this story! I though Seraphina was amazing and brutally honest. I loved her spunk and wit. She was strong and wanted a divorce. HAHA! in the 1800's. Too funny. I really liked Malcolm too. He knew he screwed up and was taking his punishment, sort of. LOL

The story line and plot was great. I really enjoyed it. Too funny when he made her come to a house party to select the candidate to replace her as his wife. OMG the sisters are hilarious. Love them all.

I am looking forward to "The American's" story. LOL

As for the narration, it's Justine Eyre so you know what your getting. She does the men's voices well, albeit they all sound the same mostly. She is not my favorite but I can definitely listen to her.

Narrator just ruined the book for me

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Perhaps in print but not in audio version.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Justine Eyre?

No, her over dramatization prevents me from actually getting into the story. The male voices are the worst. Usually I complete a book before moving on to another, but this book required breaks. Just couldn't listen for very long even though I've enjoyed Sarah MacLean's books in the past.

Good story, abysmal narration

I enjoyed reading this book very much and decided to get the audiobook despite reading the negative reviews on the narrator because I thought the story would hold its own despite the narration. The reviews were right; the narration was not good. The narrator has an irritating lilt at the end of every sentence. I can't describe it. Best to listen to the sample first before purchasing this book just to see if you can listen and stand that lilt. I made the mistake of not listening to the sample first. The voice difference between men and women wasn't all that clear but that wasn't an issue for me. It was that godawful lilt at the end of every. single. sentence that killed this book for me. I'm staying away from all books narrated by Justine Eyre from now on. :(

Disappointing

Oh, it kills me to not enjoy a Sarah MacLean book. And I hate to write a less than stellar review. But this book was not enjoyable. The writing was fantastic, as usual, and the dialogue was typical SM, witty and fun especially when the sisters were involved. I just didn't like the entire premise of the story. And the whole regency version of The Bachelor was a little much. The plot is available elsewhere so I'm not going into it but there was too much angst and annoyance for me to enjoy. Sure, a good book will tug at all emotions and I like that. This book just made me uncomfortable and finishing it was, frankly, a chore - something no other of Sarah's books has ever done. She's a fabulous author but this is not her best.

Justine Eyre does her fabulous good work with the narration of the audiobook. At times it was difficult to determine right away which dialogue was spoken and which was only thought. Not the narrator's fault but something authors may want to keep in mind.

I'm so disappointed by this book. I assume Sarah MacLean will give us more great books in the future.

So good!

I could hardly put it down, and I loved the humor. Some new plot twists really livened the story. It was nice to see earlier characters making an appearance.

Enjoyable, yet overly dramatic plot

What did you like best about The Day of the Duchess? What did you like least?

The story was original by the historical romance genre standards, the author’s style is an enjoyable blend of humor and snappy dialogue. The characters were fully fleshed and went through interesting and complicated emotions.

What did you like best about this story?

The premise of the book and the author's style.

Would you be willing to try another one of Justine Eyre’s performances?

Not particularly, I found her slightly irritating. However, I have to say that she read thru the overly dramatic scenes in a way that made them much more palatable and enjoyable.

Was The Day of the Duchess worth the listening time?

Yes

Any additional comments?

Too much drama

I really wanted to LOVE the audio but I didn't.

What did you love best about The Day of the Duchess?

I love the story. I have the ebook and audiobook but the narration ruined it for me.

What does Justine Eyre bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I honestly didn't enjoy Justine Eyre's voice. I think it just lacked the passion and age of characters. When I read the ebook, their voices and character had more passion and I cried reading it because the emotion was there. Justine Eyre just didn't deliver it for me.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I cried reading the book myself.

Any additional comments?

Sarah Maclean is my queen.

Good book but barely okay narration..

Okay, I liked Sera and Malcolm, and the story was good, and they did deserve a HEA BUT we deserved something too. Something other than a 384 page of a love story, and angst and one stupid misunderstanding. It was good just too much of it.

A robbery, a stalker, something, anything, would have been nice. That’s just too much romance.

For years I’d only read historical romance, but it got to the point that when you read one you’ve read them all. That’s why I started reading murder mysteries about 2 years ago. Now I read romances only occasionally, and then I realized why I read the mysteries.

I did love the Soiled S’s. They were great sisters. They were all so smart mouthed and sassy. I liked Caleb, too. I imagine the next book will be about him and Sesily. This book was the only one I have read in the Scandal & Scoundrel series and if I read anymore of them it’ll be a while. As soon as I have my fill of mysteries.

There was explicit sex in this, and the F-bomb was used 5 times.

As to the narration: I’m not a big fan of Justine Eyre’s. I can put up with her occasionally BUT she makes her men sound like they’re groaning every time they speak, or they’re constipated, I’m not sure which.

Ugh! Another Let Down

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I LOVED King and Sophie's story - the first in this Scandal and Scoundrel series! I listened to it a few times. I hated the second in the series about King's Scotties friend - so much so not worth going back to find his name or the name of the book. Had high hopes this third would redeem the series as it focused on Sophie's eldest sister who we learn of her and her Duke in the first King book.

I felt this story dragged on and on and there were SO many repetitions within the book - how many times did we need to read (or listen) to the Duke tossed into the pond by Sophie? The only good parts were when the sisters were all together and they were too few to make this a fun read.

I listened to King's book all at once, this one took many, many attempts as I fell asleep numerous times trying to get through it. The ending was roll your eyes worthy and I was happy it was over. Could have been an excellent conclusion but fell as flat as the Duke in the pond.. sorry - like the author and the other prior series about the gaming hell but this one.. PASS!

Wow

The level of character development and the emotion behind the characters’ actions had me in TEARS! That’s all I’m gonna say.

A story About Stupidity.

The Heroine is said to have trapped a Duke, when it all goes "Pear Shaped", she flees and makes a new life for herself, leaving her family behind.
The Hero, is the Duke, who seems to be quite happy to risk his "loves" reputation. Then blames her for everything that happens, suffers a major "Temper Tantrum", lashing out at everything.
Having worked through his Tantrum, he realises he loves her, starts searching the world to find her.
She returns with a plan to secure her future and then immediately turns into a "Door Mat" for her husband.
The "love lorn swain", continues to be a "Douchebag", manipulates her and justifies his treatment by saying. He wishes to make her see they belong.
The only light moments are when the sisters are involved.
This is a very Toxic Relationship.
I don't enjoy stories were we are described one character, but the person involved is an exact opposite, ie the strong woman, turns out to be a wimp.

I really tried

I found the narrative stiff (no pun intended) and finally too frustrating to listen to. There was no depth to the reading.

The story compared to 'bombshell' (which was brilliant) and 'Rogue not Taken' was ... was frustrating. i struggled with this story as the Duke was manipulative and cruel. I felt sorry for Sarah. I couldn't finish this book.