Book Review: Sold to the Duke by Joanna Shupe

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases made through links on this site. Your purchases help fund my content and come at no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support!

If you’ve been keeping up with my previous posts, then you probably know that I’m currently in Law School. 

And if you’ve ever gone through any kind of intense academic program, then you know just how tasking and demanding it can be. 

So, I haven’t really been able to read as much lately, even though I love reading — it’s a huge part of my life. 

It’s one of the things I’ve stayed committed to over the years, and I genuinely feel like I’ve improved.

If you’d like to see my best tips for creating a reading habit, then check out these posts.

Now, on to the review.

Grab Your Copy on Amazon

BUY ON AMAZON

LISTEN FREE ON AUDIBLE

This book is about Eliza, our female lead, who essentially decides to sell her virginity to the highest bidder so she can get some money to buy drugs for her sister, Fanny. 

The goal is for both of them to hopefully leave London and go to an American sanitarium. But she ends up being bought by her dead brother’s best friend, who thought she had been sent off to live with a relative in Scotland.

The drama here is that when her brother died, there was no other heir from their side of the family, so a distant relative inherited the baronetcy and kicked her and her sister out of the house. They’d been living on their own for five years, essentially stranded.

Now, Lucien — the male lead — is everything you expect from a historical romance rake. He’s bold, scandalous, and unapologetically debauched. The first time we meet him, he’s literally in the middle of a threesome.

Normally, I’d roll my eyes at this kind of setup, especially when the female lead is an inexperienced virgin and the man is, well, not. But somehow, this book makes it work.

Our heroine used to have a crush on him when she was younger. And now, with her new plan, she decides she wants him to be the one to take her virginity. 

It’s something she’s thought a lot about — she wants to be sexually awakened. She tells him she wants to sleep with him, but he says he can’t because he sees her as a little sister, especially since her brother (his best friend) has passed away. But she doesn’t believe that excuse.

Anyway, the push and pull continues, and he eventually gives in. 

However, what holds him back from pursuing a deeper relationship is the fact that he was partly involved in her brother’s death. He keeps this a secret until she finds out, which leads to a dramatic breakup. 

Honestly, I think the breakup made sense — it was justified — but the execution felt a bit off and detracted from the story as a whole. Which was a shame, because I really did enjoy this book. I’ve read other works by this author and enjoyed them too, so I had a good idea of what to expect.

My favorite thing about the book was definitely the female lead. Like I said, I’m usually cautious about virgin heroines, but in this case, while she hasn’t done the deed with anyone, she is still very self-aware and sexually confident. 

Grab Your Copy on Amazon

BUY ON AMAZON

LISTEN FREE ON AUDIBLE

She’s explored her own body, knows what she likes and dislikes, and knows what she wants and won’t settle for anything less. I love that. 

I love a go-getter female lead, and that’s exactly who she is. She puts her sister first, makes the hard choices, and really owns her journey — it was lovely to see.

As I said before, this is not the kind of novel where you expect a super deep, groundbreaking story, but I appreciated the attempt to add some emotional depth, especially the plot line involving her brother’s death and guilt. 

The chemistry between the leads was strong, and that’s something I always appreciate in a romance.

Also, like I mentioned earlier, I really like this author and I’ll definitely be checking out more of her books.

Grab Your Copy on Amazon

BUY ON AMAZON

LISTEN FREE ON AUDIBLE