The Duke I Tempted

Written by Scarlett Peckham

Narrated by Holly Chandler

He’s controlled. Meticulous. Immaculate. No one would expect the proper Duke of Westmead to be a member of London’s most illicit secret club. Least of all: his future wife. Having overcome financial ruin and redeemed his family name to become the most legendary investor in London, the Duke of Westmead needs to secure his holdings by producing an heir. Which means he must find a wife who won’t discover his secret craving to spend his nights on his knees – or make demands on his long scarred-over heart. Poppy Cavendish is not that type of woman. An ambitious self-taught botanist designing the garden ballroom in which Westmead plans to woo a bride, Poppy has struggled against convention all her life to secure her hard-won independence. She wants the capital to expand her exotic nursery business – not a husband. But there is something so compelling about Westmead, with his starchy bearing and impossibly kind eyes -- that when an accidental scandal makes marriage to the duke the only means to save her nursery, Poppy worries she wants more than the title he is offering. The arrangement is meant to be just business. A greenhouse for an heir. But Poppy yearns to unravel her husband’s secrets – and to tempt the duke to risk his heart.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lantern Audio
• Release date: Feb 1, 2019
• ISBN: 9781949278125

Scarlett Peckham

Scarlett Peckham writes steamy historical romances celebrating alpha heroines. Her USA Today bestselling debut novel, The Duke I Tempted, was named a Best Romance Novel of 2018 by BookPage and the Washington Post. Scarlett lives in Los Angeles, where she enjoys trying to think of new ways to say “wicked,” collecting vintage romance clench covers, and dressing her cat up in bowties.

Reviews for The Duke I Tempted

[Jennifer · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Good story, slightly steamy, a little predictable. I enjoyed listening to

[Renecia Glass · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It had potential, but there was too much miscommunication for my taste! The narrator was!

[edythe · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It was ok I thought it was interesting and I liked the last quarter best

[Thayna Rosales · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Very interesting. Different than I'm used to read but kept me reading it till it was over. Thank you.

[A Fishburn · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Learned a great deal within the story. A bit more history about illustrations available at the time would have been nice. Will recommend.

[sammelsurium-831072 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The central characters of The Duke I Tempted, a botanist who chafes against the limited prospects of an unmarried woman in business and a duke suffering from a hidden pain, are both interesting in themselves. The differences between the leads' understandings of what marriage and family mean and what they're getting from their relationship are central to the novel, and Peckham does a good job of illustrating the sources of conflict between them. The author skirts and undermines a lot of the sexist conventions common in historical romance--patronizing, controlling male leads exercising their lordly privileges without criticism, silly submissive heroines, sex shaming--while still paying close attention to the effects of gender and class on characters' relationships and understanding of their own power.The biggest problem with this novel is that it desperately needs a B-plot. Lacking one, it's twice as long as it needs to be and struggles to maintain a sense of conflict in its focus on the romantic arc. The main characters fight a lot and apologize to one another a lot, and it often seems like their fights are rehashing the same themes over and over again, resulting in the apologies feeling less impactful and the whole book blurring together in my memory. Although I found their conflict and romance interesting, their relationship is not complex enough to be the sole focus of the novel, and my interest in it only waned as the book stretched onwards.

[thewestwing-864351 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a decent read. I enjoyed the characters and the chemistry between them. At times I thought the plot was a little weak but the writing made up for this.

[jorgeousjotts · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This had a lot that engaged me and held my attention. The characters were interesting, and I was curious how things would play out. I might even have given it 5 stars, except the characters, mostly the heroine, started bugging me, and that robbed some of my enjoyment. For the first half or so, even when they made mistakes, it made *sense* that they would feel and behave that way. But later on the heroine really starts acting unreasonably childish, and I didn't care for it and kind of expected better or her. The hero mostly held it together except for an absolute *tantrum* he throws pretty late in the book, that felt right out of the heroine's playbook.

[electrascaife · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Poppy is an aspiring botanist/nursery owner who wants the independence to run her business and absolutely no part in romance of any kind. The Duke of Westmead is in the market, as it were, for a bride, but only to produce an heir, as he is determined never to open his heart to anyone and he certainly will never risk revealing his taste for being whipped. So, of course, they're destined for one another.This one started out strong and I enjoyed the characters very much, but good editing could have shaved off a 100ish pages of the will-they-won't-they bits. It's nice to be teased with the possibility that the heroes won't find each other in the end, but a little of that sort of frustration goes a long way, and there was more than a little of it here.

[being_b-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A lot of serious subjects that seemed to be used mainly for their capacity to induce misunderstandings-- once the hero and heroine resolved the misunderstanding, the painful event was never referred to again. Left the characters feeling somewhat contrived, and I imagine if any of said painful events had ever happened to me I'd be DNFing the book in a hurry.

Examples of painful events raised and dropped without due consideration: The heroine's orphaning at a young age, the heroine's guardian uncle's death directly before the story begins which results in her unexpected eviction from her home, a rape attempt by the heroine's childhood "friend," the hero's father intentionally burning the hero's first wife and child to death, the hero's sister entrapping the hero and heroine into marriage by deliberately ruining the heroine's reputation and business... I could go on.

Also, a personal pet peeve-- the heroine goes from 0 to riding crop in the course of an evening. Whatever happened a good old-fashioned spanking with a bare hand or a hairbrush? Walk before you run, people.

[rabidgummibear-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

3.5
This one was quite a ride. I will discuss the 'cheating' portion later in my review with spoilers.

This reads like literary romance. It's slow and steady but also very emotional. I really felt for Poppy and felt it was a steady march towards something.

It took me a little longer than normal to finish this because of the writing style. It was a slower paced read overall. I will applaud the fact that this is a twist on the normal kink in regency. I enjoyed Archer not being the dominate and Poppy's interest in exploring it.

Now for spoilers specifically what the cheating involves.
Archer, the hero, is a to submissive. This is what the cheating involves. Him and a mistress but no actual sex occurs. I'm not saying it's not cheating but it is your choice to decide if it is a deal breaker for you. I found it was resolved enough that I was okay with it in the end.

[lycomayflower · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Historical romance set in the mid-eighteenth century between Archer, a duke, and Poppy, a sort-of nearly aristocratic young woman whom his sister hires to design and execute a garden for her ball. The story revolves around secrets Archer is keeping about his past and his sexuality and Poppy's intense desire to remain an independent woman and build a successful nursery business. Each feels their desires for themselves make their desire for one another untenable, and therein lies the tale. I enjoyed this very much; the story is well written and delightfully paced. Archer and Poppy are great characters and their interactions are by turns compelling, intense, and sweet. And the setting and secondary characters are interesting. Recommended.

[cathygeha · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The Duke I Tempted by Scarlett PeckhamSecrets of Charlotte Street #1LondonMid 1700’sPrivate BDSM clubKeys MoreDifferent but well done, this romance tells of loss, pain, duty, dreams and desire. Poppy’s desire for freedom from the power men have over women. Archer’s desire and need for a type of release most do not understand. Loss of family that both have experienced. Poppy’s dream of financial independence and a successful business as a botanist. Archer’s duty to provide an heir is the catalyst that sets this story in motion. A marriage of convenience…yes…but with embers that can blow into a conflagration if honest communication is not present.I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I found both Archer and Poppy to be well crafted strong individuals that had personalities, goals and feelings that were amenable to one. The dialogue and behavior of both characters was believable. And, I found I could understand and relate to both Poppy and Archer – I cared for them and wanted them to succeed in their desires and endeavors AND find a way to a HEA. The writing was superb. The club on Charlotte Street as a basis for a series gives leave for much to happen in an interesting historical time period. I look forward to reading the next book in this series to see where this debut author will take us next. Thank you to NetGalley and NYLA for the ARC – This is my honest review.5 Stars