One Fine Duke: School for Dukes
Written by Lenora Bell
Narrated by Beverley A. Crick
3.5/5
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About this audiobook
The third book in USA Today bestselling author Lenora Bell sexy School for Dukes series is a Dracula-Northanger Abbey mash-up, with a dash of James Bond’s Miss Moneypenny.
Ready.
Raised in the countryside by her overprotective uncle, Miss Mina Penny’s dream of a triumphant London season is finally here. She determined her perfect match long ago: Rafe Bentley, the wickedest rake of them all. There’s only one very large, very unyielding obstacle: Rafe’s brother Drew, the reclusive Duke of Thorndon.
Aim.
This was supposed to be simple. Duke goes to London. Duke selects suitable bride. Love match? Not a chance. But when Drew meets Mina, she complicates everything. How can a lady armed with such beauty and brains fall for his irresponsible degenerate of a brother? Drew vows to save her from heartbreak and ruin, no matter the cost.
Desire!
But Mina is no damsel in distress. She’s daring, intuitive, passionate…and halfway to melting Drew’s cold heart. And although Mina thought she knew exactly what she wanted, one breathtakingly seductive kiss from Drew changes everything. Now Mina must decide between long-held dreams and dangerous new desires. Could her true destiny lie in the arms of a duke?
Lenora Bell
Lenora Bell is a USA Today bestselling, award-winning author of historical romances. A teacher with an MFA in Creative Writing, Lenora has lived and worked on five continents. She currently lives in Colombia with her partner and two tiger-striped rescue kitties. She loves hearing from readers! Sign up for her mailing list to hear about new books, sales, and giveaways.
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You're the Duke That I Want Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
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For the Duke's Eyes Only: School for Dukes Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5One Fine Duke: School for Dukes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
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Reviews for One Fine Duke
27 ratings4 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I enjoyed the stories of these 2 books of this series very much, although the heroine of the first one, which is supposed to be the 2nd of the series, was a bit annoying, a miss know it all. But I loved both characters of this 3rd book.
What I wasn't very keen on was the narrators voice for the heroes. Their voices were awful. At times they sounded very effeminate. - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5One Fine Duke is the third book in Lenora Bell’s latest series “School For Dukes”. This book took me so long to read, and to be honest I was very close to DNF and I can’t believe I am saying that for a Lenora Bell novel because I have really adored her work in the past. But this book was a story that I couldn’t stay fully invested in the story and I think the heroine rubbed me the wrong way at times. Trust me I wanted to really love her but I just couldn’t get behind her in many ways. I believe another aspect I was struggling with a bit was the theme of “spies” in this book. I have read many spy themed romances and I feel like the espionage element was downplayed and I would have liked a bit more balanced focused on this element. The story itself seemed fragmented at times and trust me I don’t mean to be critical of this story or this author in any way but I do need to share my honest opinion of the story.The story itself surrounds a heroine who has been sheltered all of her life and wants some adventure and quite frankly she is bored and wants excitement and I feel like her character although I understood her good intentions, was a bit frivolous at times. She wanted to be a spy because her parents were spies but her character really bothered me because of how careless she could be and never thought of the dangers she put herself and others in and just viewed it as exciting even though her parents were killed because of their espionage activities.The hero was so swoony and I loved seeing his character in this story. He is quite the opposite of our heroine. He suffered some trauma has a teenager and now is more reclusive and he is still haunted by his past. He definitely is the reason and the common sense that Mina needs and she brings a fresh breath of fresh air to Drew’s life. In many ways their personalities compliment each other quite perfectly. Their love story was sassy, eye opening and packed with energy. It isn’t my favorite my this author in any way, but its a solid story that many fans of Regency Romance will fall in love with. SPLENDID!
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5I've read *four* 4-star books by this author, but this one is horrible, lol. I should have just DNFed it, but I hate abandoning books once I've started. It was sincerely kind of painful though. It was just a barrage of preposterousness. My eyes were trying to roll out of my head in order to escape, lol. The heroine, introduced in the previous book, was a crack shot and inventor of spy gear, determined from girlhood to become a spy. That had a fair amount of potential! But her marksmanship and inventing practically weren't touched on again!!! So all we were left with was her determination to become a spy. Fine. But, we quickly learn that she's entirely unworldly, talks out loud to herself about potential secrets, cannot lie convincingly, all her emotions are written transparently across her face, abhors violence, etc. etc. Basically the most ill-suited person ever to consider espionage. The hero is given an attempt at a traumatic backstory, but it sadly just made him seem like a weakling. (backstory circumstances and response ->) He was held for ransom at like age 10, in poor conditions (chained, given little food) for a little over a week. Would that suck? Of course! But does that justify practically being a hermit 2 decades later, keeping concerned loved ones at a distance and having frequent panic attacks? Determining that he can never have love in his life?? Dude. Pull yourself together! He wasn't even beaten or anything. They both cling to these doomed preconceived notions (and others) past the point that any sane person would. The events as well push the bounds of believability. I just kept thinking 'In what world would that ever be reasonable?!'. *sigh* It's like the author brain stormed book ideas, but then never questioned any of those concepts, just including them all. I won't swear off future books by Bell, (there were those 4 that I quite enjoyed) but I will be warrier in the future, and if it starts to seem terrible, I'll be jumping ship.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5** 4.5 Stars **I read this fast-paced, fun, steamy book in one sitting – and the pages just flew by. I loved the humor and found myself chuckling on numerous occasions during my reading. It is well-written, well-plotted with interesting characters and scenarios.Miss Wilhelmina (Mina) Penny has been chafing from the overprotective, restrictive, lonely existence she has lived since being orphaned. Her guardian (and uncle) is Sir Malcolm Penny, England’s spymaster. Mina’s parents were spies, as a matter of fact, she comes from a long line of spies and she desperately wants to follow in their footsteps. Her uncle has kept her under heavy guard on his estate, Sutton Hall, but she’s made good use of her time there – to spy on the spymaster. She’s learned all about his operation as well as how to pick locks, decode messages and has developed a real affinity for mechanical devices.Finally, Mina has persuaded her uncle to provide her a season in London and she plans to take full advantage of it. She wants excitement and independence – freedom. Her plan is simple. She’ll find Lord Rafe Bentley and make him a proposal (literally) that he can’t refuse. Rafe is the biggest, most debauched rake in the ton as well as one of her uncle’s spies who is currently in disgrace. If he marries her and they become partners, she’ll share all of her knowledge of her uncle’s operations with him and get him back in her uncle’s good graces. Well – that was the plan – then – there was a kiss from someone else and well …Andrew (Drew) Bentley, Duke of Thorndon and Rafe’s reclusive brother is NOT in London by choice. He received a blackmail letter at his estate in Cornwall and it said that if he didn’t pay, his sister, Beatrice, would be kidnapped. It also stated that they knew what Rafe had done. Talk about anger and frustration! While he’s in London to deal with Rafe and the blackmailer, he might as well find himself a bride. He shouldn’t have a problem finding some amenable debutante who could stand the wilds of Cornwall since he has absolutely no intention of ever living in London.Drew suffered an extremely traumatic event when he was fifteen and he has had to deal with the ramifications of that ever since. He panics at certain scents, enclosed spaces and crowds – so he lives exclusively on his country estate in Cornwall where his days are orderly and repetitive. No surprises.When Drew dances with Mina at her first ball, the sparks fly – but not in the way you think. She does all in her power to send him fleeing -- too bad that her actions have the opposite effect. She isn’t looking to be a duchess, she’s looking to be a spy and Drew won’t get her there. Yet, in a gardening shed later that evening, he kisses her and sparks really do fly. That can’t change her mind though.I loved both Drew and Mina and could see where and why each of them felt as they did. I could also see that they were a perfect match for each other. Each’s strengths bolstered the other’s weaknesses. Drew didn’t at all match what Mina thought he’d be – he was actually supportive and caring.So, why didn’t I give it 5-stars? Well – I just thought the villain was overcome entirely too easily. I also thought Mina held on to the ‘I won’t marry Drew’ thing way too long. I also felt a little like I was left hanging with the information on Drew’s traumatic event. I would have liked to see the reason his father refused to pay – was it because he was a cold-hearted jerk or was there some mix-up, didn’t he love Drew. There was a vague reason given, but – I couldn’t understand why that would be the reason. Another thing is that I thought Mina was much too promiscuous for a young woman who had led such a sheltered life - even if she did overhear many crass things from her uncle's visitors.I thoroughly enjoyed this read and hope you will as well.I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.