Review copy was received from Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Duke Alone by Christi Caldwell Narrator: Tim Campbell
Published by Brilliance Audio on October 18, 2022
Genres: Historical Romance
Length: 8 hours, 24 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Publisher
Goodreads
Amazon, Audible
Lady Myrtle McQuoid has always felt a little forgotten, and this season is no exception. When her boisterous family vacates their London townhouse for the country, Myrtle finds she’s been left behind. But she just needs to stay warm, keep her belly full, and distract herself until her relatives realize their mistake and turn back to collect her. Surely that won’t take long.
Brooding widower Val Bancroft, the Duke of Aragon, has shut himself off from the world. He craves blessed solitude—a loyal dog, a silent house, and his own company are all he requires. Certainly not the nonstop chattering of the joyful, opinionated young woman next door.
But with a potential threat lurking in the winter shadows, Myrtle may need to pluck up the nerve to approach the reclusive duke. And Val is not one to turn his back on a vulnerable lady.
I guess I should have guessed The Duke Alone was a holiday story by the synopsis but I totally missed that before starting to read. This is very much Home Alone meets a Regency romance even to the description of the thieves out to rob the house during the holidays. While I like both Home Alone and Regency Romances I’m not sure how much I like them mashed together.
Myrtle was sent away by her family to boarding school and has just returned on the cusp of eighteen right before the holiday season to a household in a huge bustle to get packed to leave London for the winter for the house to renovated in their absence. Myrtle seems like an after thought among all of this. The only interesting thing to happen in her time away is the Duke who moved in next door. There are so many rumors surrounding him about murdering the servants and being a mean man, or in her mind brooding hero, that Myrtle is intrigued.
Val is the broken hero, devastated after the death of his wife and unborn child; he has removed himself from society and definitely does not celebrate Christmas. He did not expect to be accosted by the woman next door who he can seem to get rid of no matter how surly and rude he is. She just goes on with her day and puts his life in upheaval with all her happy chatter and the way she has bewitched his dog and horse.  But there is something about her that has niggled its way in and Val now finds himself thinking of the innocent young woman in a ways he hasn’t thought of anyone since his wife.
This is a pretty cute holiday story. I didn’t love the mash up idea of it following Home Alone so closely but Myrtle was likable enough to carry most of the story. Val is an okay hero and I did like him for the most part overall but I don’t think he is particularly memorable has heroes go.
Narration:
Timothy Campbell did great and I enjoyed his voice for all the characters but especially the hero’s. He sounded like butter and it was smooth and I just wanted to spread that voice all over myself. I was able to listen at my usual 1.5x speed.
Listen to a clip: HERE
About Tim Campbell
Tim Campbell is an award winning actor and singer who lives in Los Angeles, CA. He works primarily in audiobook narration and voice over and has narrated hundreds of titles spanning almost every genre. He has won or been nominated for almost every major award in the audiobook industry, including most recently a 2018 Audie, a 2019 Audie (nom), a 2019 Voice Arts Award, and several Independent Audiobook and Audiofile Magazine Earphones awards.
He lived and trained in the UK and Germany, narrates as both an American and a Brit, and has studied performance diction in German, Italian, French, Spanish and Japanese, and Latin. He specializes in accents, dialects, and character work and holds three degrees in theater and music as well as graduating from the esteemed two year Great Books Colloquium of Pepperdine University.
In his other, musical life, Tim sings regularly with the LA Master Chorale, Los Angeles Opera, and in studio sessions for TV and Film. Highlights include principal ensemble in Candide at LA Opera, Courfeyrac in Les Miserables at Fresno Grand Opera, Jud in Oklahoma with Cabrillo Music Theater, and Anthony in Sweeney Todd with Pacific Opera Project and singing on the soundtrack for Star Wars IX: The Rise of Skywalker and films such as Creed 2, Venom, and many others.
About Christi Caldwell
USA TODAY Bestselling author CHRISTI CALDWELL blames Judith McNaught’s “Whitney, My Love!” for luring her into the world of historical romance. While sitting in her graduate school apartment at the University of Connecticut, Christi decided to set aside her notes and pick up her laptop to try her hand at romance. She believes the most perfect heroes and heroines have imperfections, and she rather enjoys torturing them before crafting them a well deserved happily ever after!
Christi makes her home in southern Connecticut where she spends her time writing her own enchanting historical romances, chasing around her feisty seven-year-old son and caring for her twin princesses in training!
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Home Alone meets a Regency romance ??? lol. I love this ! What a great idea for a holiday romance. Adding this to my holiday reading TBR
It is original. I would never have thought to put those two things together
It sure looks cute. The cover doesn’t scream “holiday” story to me.
Yeah I was a bit surprised it was a holiday story. I try to wait until after Thanksgiving to read those. But still overall a cute story. Myrtle and the dog made it.
That is a very interesting mash-up and I am not sure how I feel about it. I do want to try this author though.
I’ve read other books by this author and she always delivers a fun story. Still this isn’t my favorite by her but still an interesting concept.
Never hurts to read a holiday novel a little early 😉