Duchess by Deception

Gilded, Book 1

By: Marie Force

Narrated by: Anais Inara Chase, Shane East

In New York Times best-selling author Marie Force’s dazzling historical romance debut, the clock is ticking for a wealthy duke who must marry by his 30th birthday - or lose his title....

Derek Eagan, the dashing Duke of Westwood, is well aware of his looming deadline. But weary of tiresome debutantes, he seeks a respite at his country home in Essex - and encounters a man digging on his property. Except he’s not a man. He’s a very lovely woman. Who suddenly faints at his feet.

Catherine McCabe’s disdain for the aristocracy has already led her to flee an arranged marriage with a boorish viscount. The last thing she wants is to be waylaid in a duke’s home. Yet, she is compelled to stay by the handsome, thoughtful man who introduces himself as the Duke’s estate manager.

Derek realizes two things immediately: he is captivated by her delicate beauty, and to figure out what she was up to, Catherine must not know he is the Duke. But as they fall passionately in love, Derek’s lie spins out of control. Will their bond survive his deception, not to mention the scorned viscount’s pursuit? Most important, can Catherine fall in love all over again - this time with the Duke?

©2019 HTJB, Inc. (P)2019 HTJB, Inc.

A good listen.

I am not one for historical romance but since it was Marie Force I gave it a listen. The voices of the character's really brought it alive. I couldn't wait to find what the key opened and was not disappointed. I did get distracted by the "Simon says" wording but that is just my odd sense of humor. I will definitely be waiting for the next book in the series.

My Musings

Hmm, while there re some delightful moments in this book, I had a difficult time dismissing several problems with it. One cannot decide who will inherit his title in England. Now a duke could decide who would inherit his wealth and unentailed properties. Also, this didn’t feel like an Edwardian romance. He talked of adding a bathing room as if that were a recent invention. It is not. The aristocracy have had them for a long time. Even ones with hot and cold running water. Travel in a horse drawn carriage to Gretna Green could not have been accomplished in 2 days.

Now, let’s talk characters. While I did like both Catherine and Derek, their relationship happens extraordinarily quickly. Plus, Catherine had every right to be angry and dissolutioned when she discovers he’s a duke. This would have been a perfect time to keep them apart sexually and build the sexual tension between then which a keep ingredient in historical romance. While I enjoy sexual scenes and Ms. Force is excellent at writing them, I missed the hesitant kisses and stolen touches where the passion builds until they both combust.

Overall, this is still an engaging read, and I will read the next book in this series, but I do hope Ms. Force will do a bit more research so the die-hard historical romance fans will better appreciate her brilliant writing skills and not be pulled from the story by the inconsistencies.

I did listen the to the audio version of the book, and while they are not the best narrators I’ve listened to, there are certainly not the worst. Personally, I’m not a fan of having two narrators because for me it’s more noticeable when the female is reading the male lines that it’s a female voice trying to sound male, and the same holds true for the male narrator. Happy reading/listening!

loved it!

it took a couple chapters to get into the book & figure out the characters, but then it was wonderful!

Really loved this story by Marie Force!

I loved the story and these characters and really cared about discovering how their story unfolded. My only complaint, which has nothing to do with the book quality, is in the narration. This is my first audible book so for all I know this is the usual procedure, but I was extremely distracted by the male narrator reading the female lines with a higher voice. Why didn’t Shane just read the male lines and Anais read the female lines. For me that really took away from the enjoyment of it for me. I will definitely be reading this again on my own when I have the chance.
Thank you Marie for a beautiful story and I look forward to seeing how Derek and Catherine’s journey continues.

Loved it

Definitely enjoyed this. And as I love historical romance and love Shane East narrating it was double the pleasure. Marie Force creates interesting and captivating characters. She thoroughly entertained me with this first book in this series. And the narration is flawless. Looking forward to the next in this series.