Only a Duke Would Dare

A Regency Romance (Seductive Scoundrels, Book 2)

De: Collette Cameron

Narrado por: Stevie Zimmerman

“Delightful, dazzling, and oh-so delicious.” (Cheryl Bolen, NYT best-selling author)

A duke. A vicar’s daughter. A forbidden love.

Marriage - an unpleasant obligation.

A troublesome addendum to his father’s will requires Victor, duke of Sutcliffe, to marry before his 27th birthday or lose his fortune. After a three-year absence, he ventures home, intent upon finding the most biddable and forgettable miss in Essex. A woman who will make no demands upon him and won’t mind being left behind when he returns to London. Except Victor meets Theadosia Brentwood again and finds himself powerless to resist her - even if she is promised to another and the exact opposite of what he thought he wanted in a duchess.

Marriage - an impossible choice.

Secretly in love with Victor for years, Theadosia is overjoyed when he returns. Until she learns he must marry within mere weeks. When he unexpectedly proposes, she must make an impossible decision. How can Thea elope with him when he’s marrying out of necessity, not love? Besides, if she does wed Victor, her betrothed - a man she loathes - will reveal a scandalous secret. A secret that will send her father to prison and leave her sister and mother homeless.

Buy this pause-resisting audiobook for an emotional, entertaining, and romantic Regency England adventure you won’t want to put down.

Though this audiobook is part of a series, it can easily be listened to as a stand-alone novel.

©2018 Wendy Herrington (P)2018 Wendy Herrington

Cinderella Story

Though a novella, this story has a full arc, filled with romance, intrigue, and humor. I have listened to the series and can’t wait for the next adventure!

Emotional!

Collette has given us another delicious story. Victor’s father had hung himself after he found out he had cancer. It was stipulated by his father that Victor must marry before he reached his twenty seventh birthday or everything would go to his cousin. After being gone for a while, he encounters Theadosa in the cemetery where he was at his father’s grave and he was very drunk. Theadosa had been in love with Victor every since she was a young girl. She is betrothed to a vile man that she hates. Victor wants her, but they find themselves in a bind. Stevie has done a wonderful job narrating it. I loved it!

Excellent Story - Well Paced -- I loved it

I am reviewing the audio version of this absolutely delightful story. The book is well-paced and well-written and the narrator, Stevie Zimmerman, is delightful. Her character range of voices is excellent and I am sure she is a native to England because her accent is so natural and easy. The male voices are more raspy than deep, but they are convincing just the same. All-in-all, it is a delightful listen!

Theadosia Josephine Clarice Brentwood’s father is the vicar of this parish and he is a stern, severe man. He’s been even sterner and more severe since her older sister eloped with the man she loved – even though her father had refused his suit. Now Thea and her sister are paying the price for that. When Thea is returning from paying an ‘official’ visit to some parishioners, she cuts through the church cemetery. She’s startled when she hears a moan – even though she knows it isn’t ghosts. When she hears it again, she moves toward the sound. Then, she sees Victor lying at his father’s grave asking “Why”. She knows why, but he isn’t supposed to tell – but being the kind and compassionate person she is, she simply has to tell him, so she does.

Thea has always cared for Victor more than she should given the differences in their stations. He’s stayed away almost four years – and she understands why – but his mother has been alone all that time.

Victor is outlandishly drunk and steals a kiss – or two – or three from Thea because . . . well – because. Thea thoroughly enjoys the kisses, but she knows her father will punish her severely if he discovers she’s been alone with the Victor – no matter how accidental the meeting. Then, she hears voices – her father’s – and someone else’s. They are approaching, so Victor and Thea quickly move apart. Then, to distract her father and maybe to pacify him a bit, she blurts out that the duke has promised to top off the church’s funds for a new organ and to provide new robes for the choir. Victor doesn’t call her out on that and then invites them to dinner on Friday next.

The man with her father was Mr. Ledbetter, her father’s new curate. Thea immediately feels uncomfortable around the man – especially the way he looks at her. She does her best to avoid him in the future, but somehow he always manages to ‘accidentally’ touch her.

Victor Nathaniel Horatio (I never heard his last name), Duke of Sutcliffe, has returned to his childhood home in Essex to find a wife. He will find a docile, calm, biddable woman who will be happy to be left in Essex while he returns to London and resumes his regular life. Why did his father foist this on him? For some reason, at the last minute, his father had added a codicil to his will that required Victor to marry by his twenty-seventh birthday or lose all of the unentailed monies and properties to his cousin. We never learned the reason for this – there was only love between father and son – so I can only assume it was just added to provide a stressor to the story.
As Victor meets Thea’s father, he acknowledges that he’ll make the donations to the church, invites them to dinner Friday next – and – asks the Vicar to preside over his marriage ceremony in August. The Vicar agrees and then asks about the bride and Victor admits that he hasn’t chosen her yet.

Over the next week, Victor and Thea manage to steal time together and grow closer. Victor has pretty much determined that Thea is the woman he wants to marry – not love, but marry – when the Vicar announces, much to everyone’s shock – including Thea – that Thea is now betrothed to Mr. Ledbetter.

Thea is appalled. How can her father promise her to a letcher? She’ll do whatever it takes to save herself – but how can she? Victor vows he’ll never let it happen.

I loved both Thea and Victor, but I absolutely adored Victor’s mother. She is the mother all of us should have!

I definitely recommend this read/listen. I despaired of anyone managing to find a HEA given the circumstances, but -- it was lovely. My only complaint was that I thought Ledbetter deserved more punishment than he got. Actually, if felt more like a reward than a punishment.

The Duke Dares

Victor Nathaniel Horatio, the Duke of Sutcliffe has come home after an extended absence to find a bride by his birthday (a stipulation in his father’s will). He also to hopes to find something that will help him understand his father’s suicide. Theadosia Brentwood is the local vicar’s daughter. Victor and Thea are childhood friends. When they are reunited, they get to know each other again and begin to fall in love. However, there are some rather serious obstacles in their way, not the least of which is the new curate. Now what happens? It doesn’t look like a happily ever after, but looks can be deceiving.

Only a Duke Would Dare has an interesting storyline and likeable characters. There is a nasty villain, a bit of mystery, a few twists and turns, and a Duke who knows how to solve a problem. Stevie Zimmerman’s talented and entertaining narration brings the delightful story to life for us.

Clean Recency Romance

I enjoy Collette Cameron's books as they are well written love stories without unnecessary sexual content. This book had some suspense, enjoyable characters, and a HEA. I recommend this book if you are interested in a clean quick read.

A very entertaining story

This was such a lovely, gentle romance. Theodosia was such a kindhearted, generous person. She had always loved Victor, Duke of Sutcliffe and now he was home and needed to find a wife. Victor realises that he, too, has feelings for Thea. However, her father, the rector will never agree to the match, given Victor’s reputation. Her father has a different suitor in mind, one that Thea finds loathsome. This was a good paced story which I found very entertaining.
The narrator altered her voice for the different characters, deepened it for the males, and brought the scenes to life. This was an ideal story to listen to when time is short.

I loved this book.

I had previously read this book and as always with this author's books, I loved it. Listening to it being narrated adds such a wonderful element to the story, it helps bring to life the characters and helps you picture the scenes so much easier in your mind than when just reading the story.

The narrator wasn't perfect, I found that she took pauses where I wouldn't have put them, but for the most part she was very good. She is one of the better female narrators when it comes to performing a male voice. It is definitely no hardship listening to her pleasant voice and her take on how each character sounds.

As for the story itself, I absolutely loved it. The budding romance between the main characters, Thea and Victor was beautiful. I love a good story where the couple has to beat the odds so that they can be together. I enjoyed that there was an utter scoundrel, the curate whom Thea was being forced to marry. At times I even loathed Thea's father, I couldn't believe that he could be so horrid to her, not letting her marry the man she chose for herself. Fear not, the reason why will be revealed. There, of course, will be a happy ending, but how it comes around makes for an exciting story that I had to listen to in one go.

I laughed, I cried, I wanted to shake my fist at times, and at the end, I just had a smile on my face and had a happy sigh. I love a perfect ending to a perfect story.

I am very happy to recommend both this book and this audible edition of it.

Dare to listen

This was a great story that pulled me in. I stayed up way to late because I needed to finish! Thea and Victor were a perfect match. This book was filled with mystery, a little danger, disgust, lust, love, betrayal and redemption. I can not recommend it enough. The narrator made the story come alive!

TEN STARS

If it were possible I would give this novel TEN STARS! It is now ten minutes after five a.m. Even though I have a very busy day ahead, I have spent the night listening to ONLY A DUKE WOULD DARE! It is such a beguiling tale that I simply could not turn it off. Collette Cameron really nailed it this time. The story begins in a church graveyard when the heroine!, Theadosia hears groaning and heart rending groaning comments, but looking around can see no one. Being the kind hearted, sympathetic person she is, she goes looking for the person in such throws of grief or pain. She finally finds him and recognizes her old crush, Victor the Duke of Suffolk. He is drunk and sitting on the ground, leaning against his fathers grave stone. Since her very strict father is the Vicar of the adjoining church, she knows she is not for him. Her father came into the graveyard showing his new Curate around. Then the fun begins. She is in a very compromising situation, being alone without an escort, with a man. She is seen being kissed by Victor, the Duke, but she doesn't think her father saw the kiss.

After a short time of meeting Victor clandestinely, she realizes that she is in love with him. She also knows that he is planning to get married in August, but to whom he doesn't know. Then the intrigue begins!!! But you will have to read the book or the audiobook to get the rest of the story. It will be worth it. Stevie Zimmerman does a very good narration, she makes the book come alive. Collette Cameron, has another winner here.

Great book listen to or read

I read this book a while back. i think it's great both ways. I enjoyed the narration with a British accent. Kind of makes you feel like you are in England. Thea is the Vickars daughter and she's always crushed on the Duke even if he is above her station. But when her father arranges a marriage to his latest Curric who pretty much gives her the creeps, things get quite out of hand.