The Duke Disaster

The League of Extraordinary Widows, Book 1

By: Kathleen Ayers

Narrated by: Sarah Kempton

A fussy prig of a duke meets his match in a notorious widow.

The Duke of Hartwood is a precise, exacting man. As head of the prestigious and well-respected Barnes family, he demands perfection. A Barnes must be above reproach and never mentioned in the gossip columns. When a distant cousin's widow decides to scandalize London by courting disaster and tainting the Barnes name, Hartwood is summoned by his family.

Do something, anything, about Mrs. Celia Barnes.

After a terrible, lonely marriage, Celia has found her independence as a widow. Vowing never to wed again, she embraces the social whirl and outlandish behavior. Thumbing her nose at the priggish Barnes family is vastly pleasurable...until the Duke of Hartwood unexpectedly barges into her bedroom, demanding Celia cease embarrassing his family. He doesn't care if she beds every man in London, just be discreet about it.

Celia has never responded well to authority, and Hartwood is no exception, even if she finds him attractive. They agree on only one thing…

Mutual dislike.

But one angry kiss and a far too pleasurable carriage ride later, dislike has turned into something else… an unexpected passion, so strong it threatens to ruin them both.

©2025 Kathleen Ayers (P)2026 Podium Audio

Enchanting!

A staid, pompous Duke relentlessly bound by a sense of duty browbeaten into him throughout his childhood meets his match in the free spirited widow of a distant cousin.

And his pet name for her?????? My autumn🍂🍁🥰

I absolutely adore Kathleen Ayers’ books! Her storylines inject new energy into the tried and true historical romance tropes, turning them on their heads and offering wonderfully enchanting stories that have helped reignite my love of the genre.

Great Characters Created

Sexy, subdued funny dialogue, & I actually teared up for the heroine & hero. Noone loved either, & they were each so used & misjudged unfairly. I deeply rooted for them both to just love each other. It was so heartfelt & very well-written.

This story made me FEEL & painted an amazing story of two people truly seeing each other, caring deeply for each other, & falling in real love. The holding of bad people (& getting the "last word" on vicious gossips) accountable was also nearly as satisfying as the beautiful HEA.

Good gracious. How long must we wait for the next in the series?! Over 950 romance novels in Audible, and this one ranks in the top 25 favorites. I'm eager to savor the next. The ladies we were introduced to at the start of this story seem binge-worthy. I can hardly wait!

Absolute perfection from story to narrator.

I loved the story, the characters’ interactions and the humor. The main female character was, thankfully, presented as strong willed and happy go lucky. The main male character was strong willed too but more controlled in behavior. He was a duke after all. From their first meeting you knew the story would be good. It was. I also appreciated the contributions from the supporting characters. They all came to life. And the narrator was absolutely superb in making that so in her reading. All loose ends were wrapped up neatly at the end. A great, fun read.