The Infamous Duchess by Sophie Barnes | Audiobook Review

I received this book for free from Library, Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

A woman with a shocking past…
Branded a money-hungry con artist for marrying the elderly Duke of Tremaine days before his death, Viola Cartwright has found refuge in her work at St. Agatha’s Hospital. No one must know the painful reason behind her marriage. She steers clear of attachments—until Henry Lowell, heir to the Viscount Armswell, lands on her operating table after a duel. Charming and wickedly handsome, Lowell is one of London’s most inveterate scoundrels. Yet he may not be all that he appears.
And the man who can promise a future filled with love…
Posing as an unrepentant rake has helped Lowell avoid women pursuing him only for his title. But now that duty has finally called on him to marry, he finds himself entranced by the mysterious, independent-minded Viola. Then her late husband’s son returns from overseas, contesting Viola’s inheritance. Lowell longs to help her and sets out to convince Viola that a strategic union may be the best way to save all she holds dear. But can he also persuade her to take a chance on love…?

Why Did I Listen To The Infamous Duchess by Sophie Barnes?

The Infamous Duchess by Sophie Barnes is another in my line of historical romances on my TBR cart. I have been on such a roll listening to this genre and finally getting these books read. As it turns out, I do really enjoy listening to a good historical romance. So, of course, it also made sense to use a Hoopla borrow on a book I already had that was just waiting in the wings to be read and passed along.

What’s The Story Here?

Sophie Barnes’ The Infamous Duchess is fourth in the Diamonds In The Rough series. I haven’t read any of the previous books in the series prior to this one. The book opens up with Henry Lowell, heir to the Viscount Armswell on the operating table at St. Agatha’s hospital after a duel. He is treated by Viola Cartwright, the Duchess of Tremaine. Lowell wakes up later on and is immensely attracted to Viola. However, Viola has a reputation in society for being a gold digger because she married her late husband just days before he died and he left her everything. As it turns out though, she’s spent the lion’s share of the inheritance on St. Agatha’s hospital.

To make matters worse for Viola, her late husband’s son has come back from overseas and he is absolutely not okay with Viola’s inheritance. So he files a suit to strip her of the inheritance as well as the hospital that she’s spent so much of the money on. Lowell decides to help Viola out. And well, seeing as how he needs to get married too, he tries to convince Viola to marry him as a matter of strategy. Also? Viola is desperately attracted to him but doesn’t think herself good enough due to something awful that happened in her past.

How Did I Like The Infamous Duchess?

So without having any context with the previous books in the series, I felt like this was easy to follow. I could tell that the book was alluding to previous characters who already had their love story told. However, it wasn’t anything that took me out of the story or made me feel lost. As for The Infamous Duchess, I really enjoyed this audiobook. Viola is just such a wonderful character and I could relate to her insecurities. And Lowell, Henry, is super sweet, even if he does seem to get into duels a little too much. And then the ending! It was perfect and quite the twist. Overall, I can’t wait to listen to more from this series. I do plan to listen to The Illegitimate Duke quite soon given how much I enjoyed this book.

How’s The Narration?

The audiobook is narrated by Carolyn Morris and is 11 hours and 26 minutes unabridged. I listened to this at 1.75x speed mainly because I am so antsy to get through more books before I am out on maternity (when you read this review, I’ll be on maternity). Morris has a lovely voice and I never felt like she was an inappropriate narrator for the story. If she narrates any of the others in this series, I will be happy to listen to them as well.

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April (Books&Wine)

April is in her 30s and created Good Books And Good Wine. She works for a non-profit. April always has a book on hand. In her free time she can be found binge watching The Office with her husband and toddler, spending way too much time on Pinterest or exploring her neighborhood.

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