Beguiling the Beauty (Fitzhugh, book 1) – Sherry Thomas Free Audiobook

Written by Sherry Thomas
Read by Jenny Sterlin
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 64 Kbps
Unabridged

Series: Fitzhugh Trilogy, Book 1
Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins
Release date: 12-07-12
Publisher: Recorded Books

When the Duke of Lexington meets the mysterious Baroness von Seidlitz-Hardenberg on a transatlantic liner, he is fascinated. She’s exactly what he’s been searching for – a beautiful woman who interests and entices him. He falls hard and fast – and soon proposes marriage. And then she disappears without a trace.… For in reality, the “baroness” is Venetia Easterbrook – a proper young widow who had her own vengeful reasons for instigating an affair with the duke. But the plan has backfired. Venetia has fallen in love with the man she despised – and there’s no telling what might happen when she is finally unmasked….

Venetia Easterbrook is blindsided when Christian de Montfort, the Duke of Lexington, recklessly states during a Harvard lecture that all beautiful women are untrustworthy and then twists the events of her past marriages to illustrate his point. The twice-widowed beauty gathers her wits and plots the perfect revenge–she will disguise herself during their transatlantic crossing, make him fall in love with her, and then drop him. But her bold plan has unexpected consequences when their passionate, soul-searing affair flares into something more.

Venetia realizes too late that she has fallen in love and into her own trap–and Christian will never forgive her deception. While a handful of intriguing, nicely introduced secondary characters spark interest in the stories to come (Ravishing the Heiress, Jul.; Tempting the Bride, Oct.), it is Christian and Venetia, with their compelling, conflicted relationship, carefully guarded secrets, and independent personalities, who will captivate readers.

Dinosaur fossils, scientific tidbits, and shipboard detail add a touch of realism to this late Victorian romance, set in a period that, along with the following Edwardian era, is beginning to attract more writer interest.

VERDICT Tender, discerning, and lushly romantic, Thomas’s latest offering drills down into the characters’ emotional depths to produce a devastating love story