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The Duchess's Guide to Corporate Warfare #1
The Duchess's Guide to Corporate Warfare: A Villainess Light Novel
When Elise Carter dies of heart failure alone in her office at 3 AM, the 42-year-old CEO expects oblivion. Instead, she awakens in the body of Elinor Blackwood, a seventeen-year-old duchess who's just been banished from court for throwing wine at the crown prince's new fiancée.
Faced with a failing duchy on the brink of financial collapse, Elise does what she does best—turns around a failing enterprise. Applying corporate strategies to feudal economics, she transforms Blackwood's antiquated systems, develops untapped resources, and negotiates partnerships that leave other nobles baffled by her "revolutionary" ideas.
Faced with a failing duchy on the brink of financial collapse, Elise does what she does best—turns around a failing enterprise. Applying corporate strategies to feudal economics, she transforms Blackwood's antiquated systems, develops untapped resources, and negotiates partnerships that leave other nobles baffled by her "revolutionary" ideas.
220 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 16, 2025
228 people are currently reading
9 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
August 19, 2025
This was quite good, though the title has VERY little to do with the actual storyline and characters.
The story was good, the characters real, the discussions, while given in generalities and repeated, never felt old, rehashed or robotic, unlike the one I read and regretted last night.
I would have liked reading more from the MC H’s POV. The additional story at the end merely whetted my appetite for more.
I also liked how the Big Bad FELT like a real threat and I was seriously concerned that they wouldn’t be able to come out on top for a bit. Very well written.
Also, the romantic age gap is mental, not under age physically or mentally and the MC h is mentally older than the MC H. Not squicky, woot!
4, this is one I would recommend, stars.
The story was good, the characters real, the discussions, while given in generalities and repeated, never felt old, rehashed or robotic, unlike the one I read and regretted last night.
I would have liked reading more from the MC H’s POV. The additional story at the end merely whetted my appetite for more.
I also liked how the Big Bad FELT like a real threat and I was seriously concerned that they wouldn’t be able to come out on top for a bit. Very well written.
Also, the romantic age gap is mental, not under age physically or mentally and the MC h is mentally older than the MC H. Not squicky, woot!
4, this is one I would recommend, stars.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 14, 2025
Enjoyable Book With Some Regrettable Flaws
First, let me say that I was so excited after reading the description. A villainess with a background of corporate espionage/warfare? Sign me up. But what ended up sticking out to me most was sheer amount of telling vs showing--and how often what was told was contradicted by what was shown.
Elise was a CEO who lived and breathed her work, was incredibly successful at it, and who had a slew of skills that made her excel. But Elinor couldn't understand or recognize that Darius was flirting with her, even with her cousin pointing it out? She's just that bad at reading people? That inexperienced, even though Elise had been married and divorced? Her inability to read a room had me seriously doubting her other capabilities. Sure, a nepo baby CEO might be able to get away without being savvy about people, but a woman building a company from the ground up? Not hardly.
The other major flaw was how repetitive the book was, down to word choices. Darius would compliment Elinor, she'd be surprised because she was using basic corporate principles (even though Darius repeatedly highlighted how rare her outlook was), he'd say something personal, she'd be confused by what he could mean in diplomatic terms, he'd back off, she'd wonder what had happened and why he was a little more reserved.
Lather, rinse, repeat, down to literal phrasing.
I would have liked to see Elinor grow and change. Elise seemed like a hard ass CEO willing to do whatever it took. Having her start aggressive and have to moderate herself based on the world would have made for a more dynamic character, as opposed to Elinor who just...slips effortlessly into this new world and her only change from the beginning of the book to the end is realizing that the guy likes her.
Also, please don't tell me that she's smart and then have her refer, out loud, to her "predecessor" or say, "As Elise..." to her love interest, referring to her past life. C'mon now. My suspension of disbelief only suspends so far.
Was it overall enjoyable, even with no growth or stakes that anyone had to worry about? Yes. I nearly didn't finish it, but at the same time, I'm tempted to read the next. But please, let Ellie do things, grow into a person, and otherwise just grow.
First, let me say that I was so excited after reading the description. A villainess with a background of corporate espionage/warfare? Sign me up. But what ended up sticking out to me most was sheer amount of telling vs showing--and how often what was told was contradicted by what was shown.
Elise was a CEO who lived and breathed her work, was incredibly successful at it, and who had a slew of skills that made her excel. But Elinor couldn't understand or recognize that Darius was flirting with her, even with her cousin pointing it out? She's just that bad at reading people? That inexperienced, even though Elise had been married and divorced? Her inability to read a room had me seriously doubting her other capabilities. Sure, a nepo baby CEO might be able to get away without being savvy about people, but a woman building a company from the ground up? Not hardly.
The other major flaw was how repetitive the book was, down to word choices. Darius would compliment Elinor, she'd be surprised because she was using basic corporate principles (even though Darius repeatedly highlighted how rare her outlook was), he'd say something personal, she'd be confused by what he could mean in diplomatic terms, he'd back off, she'd wonder what had happened and why he was a little more reserved.
Lather, rinse, repeat, down to literal phrasing.
I would have liked to see Elinor grow and change. Elise seemed like a hard ass CEO willing to do whatever it took. Having her start aggressive and have to moderate herself based on the world would have made for a more dynamic character, as opposed to Elinor who just...slips effortlessly into this new world and her only change from the beginning of the book to the end is realizing that the guy likes her.
Also, please don't tell me that she's smart and then have her refer, out loud, to her "predecessor" or say, "As Elise..." to her love interest, referring to her past life. C'mon now. My suspension of disbelief only suspends so far.
Was it overall enjoyable, even with no growth or stakes that anyone had to worry about? Yes. I nearly didn't finish it, but at the same time, I'm tempted to read the next. But please, let Ellie do things, grow into a person, and otherwise just grow.
December 7, 2025
This was a bit of an unfortunate experience. I enjoyed the premise and the first 30% or so of the book, but I quickly grew fatigued because of the increasingly dense nature of the MC and the repetitiveness of the prose.
What started as a 40-year-old cutthroat businesswoman reborn as a teenage villainess premise turned into an exercise in redundancy as the author seemingly forgot their character experienced multiple romantic relations in their previous life, including a marriage and divorce. The MC became the typical dense character from a romance story, incapable of recognizing the increasingly evident signs of attraction from the romantic interest.
Whole paragraphs of text were copy/pasted from earlier scenes in the book. Reviews for the second volume paint a frightening picture since this behavior evidently becomes more prevalent.
So this served its purpose as a quick read to deviate from the standard generic OP male isekai protagonists, but I won't be progressing further into this series.
What started as a 40-year-old cutthroat businesswoman reborn as a teenage villainess premise turned into an exercise in redundancy as the author seemingly forgot their character experienced multiple romantic relations in their previous life, including a marriage and divorce. The MC became the typical dense character from a romance story, incapable of recognizing the increasingly evident signs of attraction from the romantic interest.
Whole paragraphs of text were copy/pasted from earlier scenes in the book. Reviews for the second volume paint a frightening picture since this behavior evidently becomes more prevalent.
So this served its purpose as a quick read to deviate from the standard generic OP male isekai protagonists, but I won't be progressing further into this series.
November 18, 2025
Good premise, but excessive execution
The core concept of having a ceo taken over in a feudal environment is a good one, but over the first book and a half, the amount of buzz word bingo that gets played just goes up and up. I ended up putting the series down after the author couldn't go more than two paragraphs without having to explain the economic or political ramifications of a plan. And then they just keep repeating the plan over and over.
I want a kindle book to be an escape from my corporate drudgery, not a baby food spoon fed repetitious reminder.
The core concept of having a ceo taken over in a feudal environment is a good one, but over the first book and a half, the amount of buzz word bingo that gets played just goes up and up. I ended up putting the series down after the author couldn't go more than two paragraphs without having to explain the economic or political ramifications of a plan. And then they just keep repeating the plan over and over.
I want a kindle book to be an escape from my corporate drudgery, not a baby food spoon fed repetitious reminder.
September 29, 2025
2.5 stars.
It was interesting and then Elinor/Elise got real annoying real fast. I cannot understand why in practically every one of these stories, the Female Lead, suddenly becomes an idiot when it comes to love or interpersonal relationships. Every single time. It's one thing when they're still teenagers or something. But this woman has been married before. Yes she was divorced but presumably she has experience of being on the receiving end of someone's affection. It was alright the first time, but it felt like she was deliberately misinterpreting everything he said or did. I do not understand why it is the Female Leads are so deliberately obtuse when it comes to romance. Like it is unbelievably freak'n obvious. It's fine if the lead is fairly young to begin with but in this case we have an older woman who has been married. Alright it ended in a divorce, but presumably she's been on the receiving end of someone's affection. she knows what it's like.
The only reason this book got as many stars as it did is because of the final 10 percent or so, when What-his-name communicates his intentions and desires clearly. Nearly forgave everything right there, because it was a surprisingly satisfying scene. She tells him the truth, he accepts it and lays out the end goal of marriage, but without pressuring her into it or judging her for missing all the cues he was putting out. (I, however, am totally judging her for it. But that is my prerogative as a reader who had to deal with her leaps in logic and her "unusual" attention to detail when it came to dressing up when he came around. Please we all know why you're dressing up and you do too.) That whole scene almost made me want to pick up book 2. Almost.
Elinor still isn't a engaging character. I do not want to spend more time with her. While the implementation of modern day business practices was interesting, and I liked the way she handled the confrontation with Whatisface. Overall I do no care to find out what happens next. I nearly didn't pick this book up again because I had to put it down over the weekend and wasn't sure I wanted to read more.
That is to say I'm not inclined to continue the series, but I am behind on my reading challenge and I know it will be a quick read if I need to catch up.
So recommend? Eh
Buy/Borrow? Borrow
It was interesting and then Elinor/Elise got real annoying real fast. I cannot understand why in practically every one of these stories, the Female Lead, suddenly becomes an idiot when it comes to love or interpersonal relationships. Every single time. It's one thing when they're still teenagers or something. But this woman has been married before. Yes she was divorced but presumably she has experience of being on the receiving end of someone's affection. It was alright the first time, but it felt like she was deliberately misinterpreting everything he said or did. I do not understand why it is the Female Leads are so deliberately obtuse when it comes to romance. Like it is unbelievably freak'n obvious. It's fine if the lead is fairly young to begin with but in this case we have an older woman who has been married. Alright it ended in a divorce, but presumably she's been on the receiving end of someone's affection. she knows what it's like.
The only reason this book got as many stars as it did is because of the final 10 percent or so, when What-his-name communicates his intentions and desires clearly. Nearly forgave everything right there, because it was a surprisingly satisfying scene. She tells him the truth, he accepts it and lays out the end goal of marriage, but without pressuring her into it or judging her for missing all the cues he was putting out. (I, however, am totally judging her for it. But that is my prerogative as a reader who had to deal with her leaps in logic and her "unusual" attention to detail when it came to dressing up when he came around. Please we all know why you're dressing up and you do too.) That whole scene almost made me want to pick up book 2. Almost.
Elinor still isn't a engaging character. I do not want to spend more time with her. While the implementation of modern day business practices was interesting, and I liked the way she handled the confrontation with Whatisface. Overall I do no care to find out what happens next. I nearly didn't pick this book up again because I had to put it down over the weekend and wasn't sure I wanted to read more.
That is to say I'm not inclined to continue the series, but I am behind on my reading challenge and I know it will be a quick read if I need to catch up.
So recommend? Eh
Buy/Borrow? Borrow
November 23, 2025
I wanted to like it
The concept for this book intrigued me, and I enjoyed the first half or so, but it quickly turned tedious. The FMC’s incredibly obtuse refusal to see that the MMC was interested in her personally, not just diplomatically, was beyond anything I’ve read or seen outside of people who are ase, but her internal thoughts clearly indicated that was not the case. I rolled my eyes so hard I dislodged a contact lens.
It went too far into the details of the infrastructure changes for my liking and I got bored. Fully admit to skimming large sections to get to a scene that advanced the story, which abruptly ended without resolution of almost any plot point as this was apparently only volume 1.
Finally, ending the book which had to this point wholly been in the first person from the FMC’s point of view, with a single chapter still in first person, but from the MMC’s point of view was disruptive and didn’t add much as most of it recounted scenes already read almost verbatim.
I finished it, but only because I kept thinking it would get better. It didn’t. I won’t be reading volume 2.
The concept for this book intrigued me, and I enjoyed the first half or so, but it quickly turned tedious. The FMC’s incredibly obtuse refusal to see that the MMC was interested in her personally, not just diplomatically, was beyond anything I’ve read or seen outside of people who are ase, but her internal thoughts clearly indicated that was not the case. I rolled my eyes so hard I dislodged a contact lens.
It went too far into the details of the infrastructure changes for my liking and I got bored. Fully admit to skimming large sections to get to a scene that advanced the story, which abruptly ended without resolution of almost any plot point as this was apparently only volume 1.
Finally, ending the book which had to this point wholly been in the first person from the FMC’s point of view, with a single chapter still in first person, but from the MMC’s point of view was disruptive and didn’t add much as most of it recounted scenes already read almost verbatim.
I finished it, but only because I kept thinking it would get better. It didn’t. I won’t be reading volume 2.
November 7, 2025
Got 46% of the way through and realized I didn't care for the plot or characters. Everything feels very robotic, from the conversations to the explanations. It's also one of those really weird isekais where the person reincarnated into a 17 year old's body and they have a mind of a 42 year old. Makes it really hard to read or take any of the romance seriously since it just comes off as creepy and a little weird.
The main character is all about efficiency and that's basically her entire thing. She talks about nothing else really except maybe the male lead every once in awhile.
Not much city building like I thought there would be. Instead the main character says a few things, gives money to those things and off it goes.
The main character is all about efficiency and that's basically her entire thing. She talks about nothing else really except maybe the male lead every once in awhile.
Not much city building like I thought there would be. Instead the main character says a few things, gives money to those things and off it goes.
October 27, 2025
This book is ok, if incredibly predictable. The second book is ok until they meet the king and then the entire second half is bizarrely repetitive corporate speak and constant explanations of the dialogue in the previous paragraph. The third one appears to be from a completely different series where the FMC has magic (Wut?) and she turns into an unbelievably different, less confident person as soon as she admits she loves the FMC. I just gave up after the first third because life is too short. Do not recommend.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 31, 2025
Interesting yet not quite there yet.
The premise is intriguing and executed fairly well yet somehow I feel it is missing any extra spark to make it 5 star story. Ill check out the sequel hoping to find that je ne sais quoi but am not as hopeful as I was when I started this book. Still good just not great. 4 stars
The premise is intriguing and executed fairly well yet somehow I feel it is missing any extra spark to make it 5 star story. Ill check out the sequel hoping to find that je ne sais quoi but am not as hopeful as I was when I started this book. Still good just not great. 4 stars
November 20, 2025
This book was disappointing on so many levels. The only positive aspect is that she is very good at managing the business aspect. Other than that she’s a total failure. I thought there was supposed to be magic in this world. There was no action other than a mild confrontation with the Nieghbour. I’m not going to waste anymore time on her
December 16, 2025
Better packaging than dialogue. Very disappointed that this she’s so different troupe was ruined by the MC. How did the author even write most of this? I would be banging my head on my desk. I only managed to finish it because I was crocheting at the same time. This needed a really good editor. Such a shame really.
November 19, 2025
A very quick read, it probably could have cut out at least 10 pages had it taken out all the constant repetition. I thought the author got stuck in a loop until the end, but ultimatley it was a light, adequate read.
October 7, 2025
An entertaining light read.
I don’t recall and bad language. It was written with intelligence and wit. Light, but not childish in tone. I think it’s great series so far.
I don’t recall and bad language. It was written with intelligence and wit. Light, but not childish in tone. I think it’s great series so far.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews