The Courtesan Duchess written by Joanna Shupe Publisher Kensington Publishing Corporation, Zebra Books
Publication Date: March 31st 2015
Genres: Historical Romance
Series: Wicked Deceptions #1
Format: eARC
Pages: 352
ISBN: 142013552X
Rating:
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How to seduce an estranged husband—and banish debt!—in four wickedly improper, shockingly pleasurable steps...
1. Learn the most intimate secrets of London’s leading courtesan.
2. Pretend to be a courtesan yourself, using the name Juliet Leighton.
3. Travel to Venice and locate said husband.
4. Seduce husband, conceive an heir, and voilà, your future is secure!For Julia, the Duchess of Colton, such a ruse promises to be foolproof. After all, her husband has not bothered to lay eyes on her in eight years, since their hasty wedding day when she was only sixteen. But what begins as a tempestuous flirtation escalates into full-blown passion—and the feeling is mutual. Could the man the Courtesan Duchess married actually turn out to be the love of her life?
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MY THOUGHTS
The Courtesan Duchess is the first book in the Wicked Deceptions series by Joanna Shupe and I give it 3 hearts. No, don’t get me wrong! I really enjoyed the story and I loved the uniqueness of it BUT I was just bummed by the last half of the book that this ALMOST became a DNF for me.
The Courtesan Duchess is about Julia, the Duchess of Colton who is on a mission to seduce and get a child off of her estranged husband of eight years. She goes to Vienna and disguises herself as the courtesan Juliet Leighton. When they meet, both Colt and Julia are attracted to each other and sparks fly. Naturally, Colt does not recognize her (and who wouldn’t when he hasn’t seen her in 8 years?) and does everything in his power to seduce her.
What I really love about this book is the first half of it where Julia (disguised as Juliet), meets Colt. The sexually charged interactions were perfect for their reunion and the sexy times was smoking hot!
I was a little disappointed about the second half of the story. I felt that Colt acted like the classic jerk and despite redeeming himself, in the end, he still did not redeem himself to me. I felt that if I was Julia, I would insist on living separately with him. Colt did not endear himself to me, in this case, despite my love for scoundrels. Even if in the end, Colt forgave Julia of her deception, the way he went about it was just too jerk-ey for me.
All in all the book was fast paced and I was able to read through quickly until I got to the second half where I wanted to throw my Nook because of Colt’s scoundrel-y ways. I will definitely be reading more of Joanna Shupe in the future. In fact, I have read the second book in this series and it is way better than this one!
Hi readers, if you found my review helpful, please vote for it on Amazon. Thank you!
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3 Print Copies of The Courtesan Duchess
About Joanna Shupe
Award-winning author JOANNA SHUPE has always loved history, ever since she saw her first Schoolhouse Rock cartoon. While in college, Joanna read every romance she could get her hands on and soon started crafting her own racy historical novels. She now lives in New Jersey with her two spirited daughters and dashing husband.
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