REVIEWED by Alexander
TITLE: The Duke in Denial
SERIES: Scandal in Sussex book 1
AUTHOR: Alexandra Ainsworth
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 9 hours
NARRATOR: Joel Leslie
BLURB: Sebastian Lewis never expected to become a duke. But with the sudden deaths of his cousin and uncle, Sebastian’s position changes. He is determined to fulfill his new responsibilities with grace, even if it means remarrying, and even if the attractions of women, so often lauded by poets, fail to interest him.
Captain William Carlisle, newly returned from India, is elated when he meets Sebastian. Nobody knows of his inclinations, but his harrowing experiences in battle have prompted him to reach for the type of companionship he longs for. He thinks Sebastian might feel an attraction as well, but to his dismay, he discovers that Sebastian is courting his sister, Dorothea.
After a semi-arranged engagement and a disconcerting romantic tangle with William, Sebastian escapes London to look after his manor, only to face mysterious thefts, a headless ghost, and the arrival of his fiancée, her brother, and his family. Sebastian’s new estate sits on the south coast, England’s most vulnerable location, and Napoleon has set his sights on conquering the area. Amid this growing turmoil, Sebastian must sort out his feelings for his fiancée’s brother and keep his home safe…and determine if he has the courage to reach for his own happiness in the process.
REVIEW:
Admission time…I don’t like historical stories. Second admission…I really liked The Duke in Denial.
Yes, I too was surprised, but the story of Sebastian and William set in the late 1700s had me engaged from the beginning. Sebastian, the new duke, torn between who he wants and society’s expectations for and of him, shows his strength of character, his desire to do the right thing, and his deep, dark desire to be with men. William, the injured army Captain and his sister Dorothea have their own dilemmas, Dorothea’s fiancé died, leaving her dependent on Sebastian’s charity. William on the other hand is back from the war in India, with a severely wounded arm, at a loss for something to do.
In other words, Ainsworth created some complex characters, each wanting to do the right thing, each with strengths and flaws, helping us to empathize with them. But the realism and depth of character trickled down to the many secondary characters as well, giving the story the added depth while never detracting from the main characters.
The story itself was enjoyable from the beginning until Ainsworth pulled together all of the characters and plot threads, and then the story became impossible to pause, so full of action, deceit, and wild adventure, even by our standards. I may not be a fan of stories set in the past, but I never once felt that the events or actions were out of line for the time period portrayed, which I think is pretty good considering my general opinion (see above, LOL!)
So let’s go back and expand on the second sentence for a moment. I firmly believe that Leslie’s incredible performance had a significant impact on my enjoyment of the story. The range of voices, consistency, and quality were second to none, and each one was easy to differentiate from beginning to end. Additionally, I found Leslie’s range beyond compare, and haven’t come across many narrators who could perform so many different characters so effectively, and with the ability to make me believe in the characters and draw me into the regency period for perhaps the first time. Now here is the unfortunate part: there were three duplicated sentences throughout the book which did draw me out of the story, hence an otherwise perfect performance had those minor flaws.
Needless to say, I can easily recommend The Duke in Denial to virtually any reader, if not for the story, then definitely Leslie’s superb performance.
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