Book Review: ‘My Dirty Duke’ by Joanna Shupe (spicy booktok recs)
For once I found a spicy book before I saw it anywhere on booktok or bookstagram, so for once I can’t say that TikTok made me do it. I think I stumbled across ‘My Dirty Duke’ by Joanna Shupe after finishing a title by Sierra Simone which is in the same wheelhouse (‘The Awakening of Ivy Leavold’) and you know how your Kindle likes to keep the ball rolling… Plus the cover for ‘My Dirty Duke’ is fabulous (more on the misleading nature of it later though).
So that’s how I found myself snapping up this book and giving it a go.
Here’s the synopsis:
“Violet knows that her father’s best friend, the Duke of Ravensthorpe, is the most powerful man in all of London with a reputation for sin.
But nothing can stop Violet from wanting to shed her wallflower ways and fulfill her darkest, most forbidden desires…even if it means seducing a man twice her age.”
Here’s an important part of the puzzle which I didn’t have when I went into this:
Note: My Dirty Duke was originally published in the Duke I'd Like to F... anthology.
This is key because not only is the ‘Duke I’d Like to F…’ an anthology featuring Sierra Simone (hence the connection Kindle made to my previous read), it makes it clear that this is a novella. Because Kindle doesn’t make that clear at first. I don’t mind novellas but I also end up feeling cheated out of some content, because that’s what this story needed. More substance.
So yes. It’s short. 114 pages to be exact. And I think that actually this book would benefit from being reimagined into a full blown novel size because everything is just so fast and almost makes it difficult to suspend disbelief. As much as that matters when you’re reading Victorian smut, you know?
For me, I liked the writing. It was easy to read and to sink into the story, however some of the content choices were difficult for me to swallow. Namely, the decision to place an 18 year old girl as the object of desire for a 41 year old man. I’m not saying that age gaps are problematic, but it’s in the handling. Since this is just a story to tantalise and raise eyebrows, I didn’t expect much from the handling. Buttttt… I was still left feeling uncomfortable.
Violet has the potential to be a really interesting character, especially with her interest in photography (imagine the places that could go!) but again, the lack of page time means this aspect gets squished in and it hardly adds to the overall arc.
The title and the cover of this novella is a little misleading, in my opinion. The cover is EVERYTHING I want from a book like this. One hundred, it’s perfect. But it also suggests something darker than what is presented. And the title? I was expecting something quite debauched and maybe even a little depraved (definitely was expecting some serious kink or sub/dom play) from ‘My Dirty Duke’.
Alas, the aforementioned duke is not that dirty. le sigh
He’s a pervert. And sleeps around without commitment due to a sad backstory. But then he falls for the buxom wallflower Violet and any promise of this duke being truly dirty goes out the window.
The story starts off with a great couple of scenes. And I thought it had a lot of potential to double down on it. but it goes from spicy to slushy, and that’s fine. It just wasn’t what I thought I’d be getting. Once I’d finished the read, Kindle yet again suggested more titles, mostly by Shupe, and these had older covers and it all suddenly made sense.
I was in bodice ripper territory. Not spicy booktok territory.
Also, I have an unfortunate aversion to the word “quim” and it featured so many times in this book its almost owed an honourable mention in the back.
Naw, to be fair, if this is your usual kind of book (historical steamy romance) then I think you’ll get a real kick out of ‘My Dirty Duke’. For me it just lacked what I usually look for in spicy booktok type title, you know?
It was entertaining, but it just misses the mark for me.
Click here to find more spicky booktok recs.
Written by Sarah
