The Duke and I

Publisher's Summary

Simon Basset, the irresistible Duke of Hastings, has hatched a plan to keep himself free from the town's marriage-minded society mothers. He pretends to be engaged to the lovely Daphne Bridgerton. After all, it isn't as if the brooding rogue has any real plans to marry - though there is something about the alluring Miss Bridgerton that sets Simon's heart beating a bit faster.

And as for Daphne, surely the clever debutante will attract some very worthy suitors now that it seems a duke has declared her desirable. But as Daphne waltzes across ballroom after ballroom with Simon, she soon forgets that their courtship is a complete sham. And now she has to do the impossible and keep herself from losing her heart and soul completely to the handsome hell-raiser who has sworn off marriage forever!

©2015 Julie Cotler Pottinger (P)2016 Recorded Books

I liked it a lot

Any additional comments?

I really enjoyed this romance. It is a good story with good characters. The Bridgeton family is made up of 9 great characters - the mother and 8 children. Daphne, the eldest daughter is the heroine in this book. She get involved with the Duke of Hastings who suffers with a stammer and his hatred of his wicked father. Can the love a good woman help him get over his problems?

24 of 25 people found this review helpful

*Unpopular opinion time*

Disappointed. Actually, disappointed doesn't even begin to describe it.

Once upon a time, I wasn't into historical romance. I thought they were silly and anti-women, and I wasn't even interested in trying them. Thankfully, I discovered historical romances by Tessa Dare and Courtney Milan, and I fell head over heels for the genre.

I'm thanking my lucky stars that I didn't try this book first because I fear I would have never read the genre again.

I've been meaning to try this series for some time now. I've read Julia Quinn before, and I really liked Because of Miss Bridgerton. EVERYONE has told me to try the original Bridgerton series, starting with The Duke and I. So, of course, I decided to take the series on, and I even bought the next couple of books following the first. However, I'm absolutely flummoxed by the love for this book.

Daphne Bridgerton was the worst heroine that I've read in a long time. She is meant to be strong and spunky, but I thought that she was self-serving and TSTL. I actually hated her. She manipulated poor Simon every step of the way. She forced him to befriend her, she forced him to marry her, and forced him in other ways that found absolutely morally reprehensible. She was vile, truly, and thought herself to be entirely blameless throughout the story.

Simon didn't quite make sense either. He had a rakish reputations, one that I didn't see any evidence of in the story, and had a twisted mentality about his situation. He was self-pitying and broody, and though I didn't like him, I thought he got the short end of the stick being stuck with Daphne.

To top it off, the book was way too long, and it took me ages to finish the audiobook. I wasn't motivated to keep listening, even with a flawless narration from Rosalyn Landor, who did her very best to add personality and sympathy for these odious characters.

I know, a very unpopular opinion, but this book only gets as high as 2-stars because of the narration. Otherwise, it would be in 1-star territory.

37 of 43 people found this review helpful

Made me laugh out loud!

What did you love best about The Duke and I?

Witty banter, touching romance, lots of fun with the heroine's family and the wonderful Rosalyn Landor.

What did you like best about this story?

The humor and romance.

Which scene was your favorite?

When the heroine's 3 older brothers are taken out of her house by her mother, made me laugh and laugh!

Any additional comments?

Worth the credit for sure. My first listen from this author, will try another.

25 of 29 people found this review helpful

Disgusted, didn’t finish

I can’t believe this book gets such good reviews... I have never reviewed a single book on here but felt compelled to after this one. I listened to probably 10 hours of this book and was a bit underwhelmed, but still enjoyed the romance and their story at least. Sort of a spoiler here: then the book took a turn and the heroine did something that if the roles were reversed people would surely call it rape. I couldn’t believe her deceitfulness in the whole situation, and her complete lack of remorse. I couldn’t even finish the book - I was so turned off by her. Disgusting. I tried to finish it and then realized I wasn’t invested in the characters at all after that. What a waste. Cannot understand all the positive reviews.

19 of 22 people found this review helpful

Well worth the wait!!!

Squee!!!! I had wanted this book many years ago and it was perfect. Well worth the wait and I must have the others ASAP!!!!!!

18 of 21 people found this review helpful

4 hours too long! So many words!

Wow this book could have been shortened by at least 4 hours and it would have been so much better. So many words filling the pages. Just annoying and ruins a potentially good story.

I liked Simon and Daphne a lot. They made a good match and had real chemistry together. There wasn't much to the story line or plot really. He was born with a stutter which he over came, his father was a jerk (typical) She had 8 siblings. They married of course, went through a few issues (typical) Realized he loved her. The end.

In between all this non excitement were words and words and words and wait for it.. More words just filling up pages. So unnecessary, it really made the story suffer.

The best part of the entire book was when Daphne's mom was trying to tell her what to expect on her wedding night! I seriously LOL. Otherwise this will be an unmemorable listen/read for me.

As for the narration, It was Rosalyn Landor, she is okay at best. Nothing great nothing terrible. Her reading voice sounds like the men's voice.

You can totally tell this book was originally published in 2000. Filler.

13 of 15 people found this review helpful

Too much sex for this reader

Any additional comments?

Just a warning for those who like clean books. This one is not. Although I tried to find that out ahead of time through the reviews I couldn't. So this is for those, like me, who don't like graphic sex scenes--TOTALLY UNNECESSARY!!

81 of 98 people found this review helpful

A Book That Evokes Powerful Emotions!

If you could sum up The Duke and I in three words, what would they be?

Love conquers all.

What did you like best about this story?

The overall story: The old Duke's loss because of his pride. The results from the young Earl living his life for revenge against his father, the Duke; even after he is gone. A secret sham marriage proposal between the young Duke and his best friends sister.

Have you listened to any of Rosalyn Landor’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have enjoyed Ms. Landor's narrations many times. They were all excellent.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

The folly of pride and revenge.

Any additional comments?

Well written and narrated, well worth a credit.

17 of 20 people found this review helpful

It all about Daphne, others please step aside.

Rarely do I find heroines of a romance novel to be truly detestable. So far I can think of one and she did the same thing in that book that Daphne did in this one...rape the hero. The Duke and I started out interesting and engaging but quickly devolved into something disturbing and manipulative. Daphne's actions were not only incongruous with the time period but even by today's accepted behaviors. The only saving grace is the brilliant narration by Rosalyn Landor. I honestly could not finish and thankfully I was able to return it. Now if I could only figure out how to get my time back.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Loved this one, looking forward to the rest!

Well I just thoroughly enjoyed this book! It was a cute story about the damaged hero being unwillingly and inadvertently saved by the heroine. Daphne has a slew of brothers to protect her and keep her safe and it's both touching and comical the interactions between the siblings. I enjoyed the integrity of Simon, and the relationship between the two. There was one disappointing piece of the storyline with Daphne, and I kind of was surprised that I was as disturbed by it as I was. I was also surprised that this particular person, her character being written as it was, would do what she did.

I loved the extra epilogue. I admit I was kind of confused at the direction it took, but as I understand it, the extra epilogues make a story of their own, so I look forward to the next one. I was TOTALLY disappointed at the direction Simons fathers letters went, and we never did learn the message he gave to his old friend to deliver to Simon.

All in all this book was definitely worth the point, and I will absolutely look forward to the rest of the series. Rosalyn Landor did a fantastic job keeping the characters separate. I love her narrating.

7 of 8 people found this review helpful

At last - the Bridgertons come to audio in style!

It's been some time since I read the book and I'd forgotten how damn good it is. The romance between Simon and Daphne is beautifully developed and I adored how the author shows that Simon - in particular - is head-over-heels in love without knowing it or suspecting it.

The angsty parts work very well; I know that Daphne's actions towards the end of the book are practically unforgiveable, but they are, to an extent, understandable, if not excusable.

Rosalyn Landor's narration is everything any listener could want and is absolutely on the button every time. There are a handful of other narrators I adore who could undoubtedly have made a good job of this, but I honestly don't think any one of them could have done it quite as well. RL is something special when it comes to historical romance, and proves it yet again here.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Love this book

Have read and listened to it about 3 times over the years. Love the story a feel good regency romance.