Julia, the Duchess of Colton, is desperate to seduce her estranged husband who left her after the wedding ceremony eight years ago. She seeks the advice of a famous courtesan to show her how to pretend to be one.

Simon Winchester (Nick's friend) helps her with her plan and travels with her to Venice. Nicholas, the Duke of Colton, known as the "Depraved Duke" married Lady Julia because of his father's wish and left England eight years ago. He doesn't want anything to do with his title and his wife and hasn't seen her in the past eight years.

Now he meets the gorgeous Juliet Leighton (the name Julia uses as a courtesan), his friend's lover, and he is smitten and can't get her out of his mind. Julia's plan to seduce her husband and conceive an heir seems a perfect plan until Julia starts to know Nick and feels guilty about deceiving him. She immediately leaves Venice and return to England. As soon as Nick learns that he was deceived by his friend and his wife, he becomes furious and follows his wife to England for revenge.

I loved THE COURTESAN DUCHESS from the first page and couldn't put it down. The writing, the characters, and the plot are fantastic. THE COURTESAN DUCHESS is the first book I read by Joanna Shupe and it is fabulous. The story is captivating with great plot and passion. I highly recommend this amazing book.