The Daring Duke

The 1797 Club, Book 1

By: Jess Michaels

Narrated by: Danielle O'Farrell

The first book of the much anticipated 1797 Club series from USA Today best-selling author Jess Michaels. The dukes are coming!

The wild and charismatic Duke of Abernathe is the kind of friend anyone would wish to have. He even formed the 1797 Club, consisting of 10 men who would all be dukes. But he has full-throatedly declared he will never marry and no one understands why.

But Miss Emma Liston doesn't care why. A longtime wallflower with an absentee father who is a scandal waiting to happen, she needs to marry. Now. She decides to take a wild chance and ask the help of her friend Meg's brother James. She asks him to pretend he's interested in her just long enough to gain the attention of others. He agrees, but is quickly taken aback by how easy everything is with Emma.

When her father returns, threatening her with a terrible future, their courtship swiftly becomes all too real. Will James ever reveal the true man beneath the outer shell? And can Emma discover her own worthiness before it's too late?

Length: Full-Length (70,000 words)

Heat Level: Sizzling

This book is the first in The 1797 Club series.

©2017 Jesse Petersen (P)2017 Jesse Petersen

Cute story. Make voices need work

Enjoyed the story. It’s pretty much everything I like in a cheesy regency romance. But I did find the narrator’s James voice a bit distracting. It was fine for the villain or lesser male characters, but it wasn’t distinct from other male characters. I’ve heard plenty of female narrators do a deeper male voice. This one was kind of seedy sounding. Idk. But if you can’t get past that, all the female voices are great and the story is good.

Nice story ...but

I found myself drawn to the story. Who doesn’t like one of the wallflower captivating the Duke? Unfortunately, the overdone theatrical narration all but ruined what could have been a great book. I felt the voice for Emma, lead, was juvenile and annoying and the others weren’t much better. I believe the narrator truly has talent but was too over the top. Nothing new or different in the storyline, but pleasant. Likeable lead characters.

Well done

I liked that the characters were attractive by personality instead of lust. Narrator was fantastic.

Disappointed

The story line was weak, the heroine inane, and the hero was an ass. The narrator could not imitate male voices well and it jarred my hearing. Where are the strong heroines and gallant heroes? The basic story had potential but it fell into another sterotyped regency romance.

Had me riveted!

Great book and absolutely wonderful narration. Couldn’t stop listening. Has all the elements of an awesome historical romance with the right blend of anticipation and steaminess.