Once Upon a Tower

Once Upon a Tower by Eloisa James

Gowan Stoughton, Duke of Kinross and Chief of the Clan MaacAulay, is responsible for a very large Scottish estate, but business brings him to England and to a ball thrown by his colleague, the Earl of Gilchrest. He is not too fond of simpering English misses or English fops, but he cannot keep his eyes of his host's enchanting daughter, Lady Edith. Gowan has no idea that Edie is actually quite sick and the quiet and ethereal beauty he delights in is caused by her illness. The Earl accepts Gowan's proposal on Edie's behalf, and as a good daughter Edie concurs with his decision, but she has no remembrance of her dances with the Duke. To get to know him, and to ensure they are compatible, she begins a correspondence with him, making clear her expectations of their marriage and divulging more about herself. Gowan is surprised to learn his fiance has quite the sense of humor and is very opinionated about certain matters including where she sees their marriage going. Realizing that marriage is about compromise he is able to compromise some of what he wants, but he is quite determined that there marriage will be consummated as soon as possible. When he returns to London he makes it clear to Lord Gilchrest that he expects to expedite the marriage.

Edie finds herself tremendously attracted to her future husband and their courtship, taking place after the engagement, makes her quite eager for the wedding night. Gowan is also a virgin, having seen his father whore his way around Scotland and his own mother sleep around, but is anxious to please his wife. Unfortunately it is quite painful for Edie and instead of telling Gowan, she follows her step mother's advice and fakes it for the first several times they have sex. Edie is not pleased that there are servants constantly around her and Gowan and they never seem to have a moment's privacy, but she likes that Gowan allows her to play her cello. Edie is a an accomplished cellist and music is her life and Gowan appreciates her talents and would never take it away from her. When he accidentally discovers that she has been faking her pleasure he feels betrayed and angry and runs away after saying some very harsh things to Edie. Edie's stepmother makes it clear that he is just as much to blame and when he returns the two of them must work together to patch things up and determine that they can indeed find mutual pleasure in each other's arms.

Edie and Gowan were both incredibly young, 19 and 22 respectively, and, at least in Edie's regard, incredibly sheltered. I have definitely come to enjoy the romance novels that have both the hero and the heroine a little older than that, although Gowan had real life experience that made it easier to overlook his age. My biggest problem with getting to truly connect with Edie was her passion for the cello and how she regarded that as the most important thing in her life; perhaps because of years of being forced to practice instruments and listening to others do so, I just cannot understand a passion for musicianship and I wanted something more from her. I liked that she was "friends" with her step-mother, but even their interactions proved how immature Edie was and she really did not do all that much, just had a lot of thoughts on her father's marriage. Gowan was more likable, and despite numerous references to his temper and yelling, it really wasn't shown in the book and just made Edie look ridiculous for constantly referring to it. He had immense responsibilities and always did his duty making him a bit of a stick in the mud, but also admirable.

They were certainly attracted to each other, but the sex was just god awful, mostly because we were treated to it from Edie's point of view and she was not enjoying it. While I understand there had to be some sort of conflict, I really did enjoy reading so many scenes where the heroine was in such pain. I sympathized with both of them in this regard; him for feeling inadequate and her for feeling like she had to hide the truth from him and the way they handled it made sense to me. Their discussion at the end, where they both took responsibility and agreed to work it out together was very mature and showed that they could work well together. The side plots involved her father and step mother's marriage and I would honestly have liked to see more of that and how they resolved it. The most jarring aspect of the book was when Gowan easily allowed the Gilchrest's to adopt his orphaned sister; I was left with my jaw hanging open.

Rating: An enjoyable, if incredibly long read, about two young people falling in love, but I could not entirely relate to either of them and felt there were a lot of hiccups in the story.

The Ugly Duchess

The Ugly Duchess by Eloisa James

Theodora Saxby has been a ward of the Duke of Ashbrook since her father died and she has grown up with the heir to the dukedom, James Ryburn. The two are the best of friends and at times they are each other's only supporters as Theo is not as beautiful as other young women and the Duke's temper causes him to lash out at those around him. James is furious to discover that his father has embezzeled Theo's dowry and horrified at his proposed solution; James should marry Theo in order to keep anyone from finding out. For years, James has been noticing Theo as more than a friend, but he does not like to be forced into anything. Theo knows she is no charming and elegant debutante, but with her best friend by her side, she feels confident facing the ton. James, without fully acknowledging he is complying with his father's wishes, begins a flirtation with Theo that quickly escalates into more and when their indiscretion is discovered he makes a romantic proposal that has Theo believing in true love. The first week of their marriage is spent in a haze of lust and romance and both are looking forward to happy life together, when the Duke spills the beans. Theo is furious and hurt and banishes both men from her life and confused and hurt, James takes to the sea.

Over the next seven years, Theo becomes a fashionista, setting trends for people from Paris to London and quickly makes the Ashbrook estate incredibly profitable by setting up a ceramics factory and a weaving factory. James becomes a privateer, capturing pirate ships with the help of another lord who ran away from society, and slowly loses all vestiges of his former self. For a long time he believes Theo would be better off without him, but over time he can't help but remember what they shared and imagine what they could still have together. Theo has moved on and has even taken steps to declare him dead, when James waltzing back into London and wants to pick up the pieces exactly where they left off. Still hurting over the way he left her and the way she had been scrutinized over his abandonment, Theo wants nothing to do with him, but James can be very persuasive and she too remembers who wonderful it was between them. They both must forgive each for past hurts in order to move forward and create a future where both of them can love and be happy.

I loved the idea of a heroine who was plain and coming into her own and gaining confidence, but Theo did not really embody everything I wanted in this heroine. Her transformation was superficial at best and she hid herself behind a mask of extreme rigidity. James was an interesting young man but when he went off to become a pirate I just couldn't help rolling my eyes and praying for it to be over. I felt like the problem between them was not all that insurmountable and definitely did not warrant him disappearing for seven years. There were definitely two halves of this novel; the first half of them falling in love and starting a happy marriage and then having their hopes crashed, and the second part about them becoming cold and unsympathetic people and then, very quickly, falling back in love with each other supposedly. And the ending was completely ridiculous: I believe it took them two days to forgive each other and begin a happy life together again. Just like that they were back in love right where they had left off after seven years of becoming very different people and it was just plain unbelievable.

The first half of the book was very enjoyable in itself, with the nice little bit of angst accompanying his feeling guilty about misleading Theo, and two people getting to know each other in a new way and falling in love. There was some very hot sex in this half and it was obviously a very important part of their relationship and the scene where she discovers his "betrayal" was written so well. Her emotions were coming off the page and my heart broke for what she was going through and I admired her strength and courage in the face of such heartache. The second half of the book contained some very major problems for me, not least that about 80 pages of the novel was spent with them completely separated from each other and engaging in activities that were illegal and dangerous on his part, and superfluous and boring on hers. I know I was supposed to understand that they were better compliments for each other now, but I was just so horrified at the speed at which everything was accomplished I couldn't really wrap my head around anything else.

Rating: A very fast read and a remarkable first half but the second half went off the deep end and I just could not bring myself to like anything that happened.

The Duke is Mine

The Duke is Mine by Eloisa James

Lady Olivia Lytton has been engaged to Rupert, heir to the Duke of Carleton, since she was born and the fact that Rupert is mentally challenged will not stand in the way of her parents social climbing or his father's desire for an intelligent heir. She has spent her childhood being "duch-ified" and while her sister, Georgette, has learned every lesson, Olivia does not really fit the idea of what a Duchess is supposed to be. She is curvy, she is loud, she is atonal, she enjoys racy limmericks, and she absolutely loathes reading etiquette books, especially the one written by the Dowager Duchess of Sconce. Tarquin, Duke of Sconce, is better with numbers than people and has decided to allow his mother to find his next wife. His first marriage ended disastrously when he allowed his heart to lead him and his wife ended up cheating on him numerous times before she ran away with her lover and ended up drowning, with their son, in the Thames. Olivia has her own duke so when Georgette is invited to a house party with the opportunity to impress the dowager, Olivia agrees to accompany her while Rupert goes off to fight Napoleon and seek glory.

It is quickly obvious that Georgette is the frontrunner to become the new Duchess of Sconce as she has taken to the Duchification process that eluded Olivia. But even as he tells himself that Georgette is better for him, and the two can certainly talk about the mathematical processes that interest him, it is Olivia he is drawn to. Olivia with her dirty limmericks and her very curvy body that he cannot keep from thinking of and whom he enjoys cornering in ballrooms and kissing. Olivia too feels the connection to Quin and she certainly enjoys the kissing aspect just as much as him, but she feels guilty for betraying her sister and her fiance. Nonetheless Olivia and Quin find themselves taking every opportunity to be alone together, sneaking off during balls and climbing trees together and otherwise engaging in activities that they should not be given that her sister could become his wife. Both must realize that, though their relationship will hurt many around them, sacrifices will need to be made for the sake of their love.

When Eloisa James is at her best she writes humorous novels with lovable characters that are immensely enjoyable and this book certainly falls into this character. I did love Olivia because she was loud and "fat" (romance speak for big breasted) and outgoing and enjoyed life while still maintaining her commitment to her duty and her family and was a good enough person not to want to hurt a mentally challenged young man. She loved her sister and her fiance and while she suffered guilt over this she still realized that she had found her chance at love and reached out to grab it with both hands. It is apparently harder for authors to write heroes because they have such a narrow confine to work within and with the success of Jennifer Ashley's The Madness of Ian MacKenzie, asperger's has suddenly become the extra oomph they can add to make their heroes different and unique. Unfortunately I don't believe James does quite a good job here as Ashley and Quin's disability with people seems like just that; a way to make him different without being too off putting for readers and shies away from some of the harsh realities of the disability.

I also felt that Quin and Olivia did not spend as much time together as I would have liked in my protagonists and what time they did spend was hindered by their guilty feelings and the knowledge that their time was very limited because of their circumstances. As with most James' books there was some sex and it was romantic but it was far from being hot and felt like it was just there because it had to be there. I did like that the periphery characters were well developed and that her fiance and sister were never demonized; they were real characters with real stories and didn't just get shoved aside to make way for the happy ending. I did feel like the matter of Rupert was resolved a little too quickly and a little too neatly and apparently was rather historically inaccurate within the history of the Napoleonic Wars. However, I do like to suspend disbelief when reading romance novels and I do like fairly nice little bows made out of big problems so it didn't bother me.

It was fun and fast and I liked reading it but I admit that James has never really been a go to author for me because she's never crossed into that excellent category.

When Beauty Tamed the Beast

When Beauty Tamed the Beast by Eloisa James 704

Linnet Thrynne is the belle of the ton and everyone has taken notice, including one of the royal dukes, the Prince Augustus Frederick. But when the scandal breaks, the Prince hies it off to a castle, and Linnet is left outcast from society with everyone believing she is pregnant. Her father, a Viscount, and her aunt, the very dramatic Zenobia, run roughshod over her suggestions and come with a solution. The Duke of Landling is desperate to find his son, Piers Yelverton, Earl of Marchant, a wife, and since Piers is believed to be impotent and the Duke is obsessed with royalty, the belief that she is carrying a royal bastard is more of a help than a hindrance. Piers has earned a reputation as a beast since he is a doctor who treats his patients with very little patience and yells at everyone who crosses him. There is no love lost between father and son as Piers has never forgiven his father for being an opium addict who, while intoxicated, threw him into a fire and permanently damaged his leg so that Piers still walks with a can. The Duke also divorced his loyal and loving wife and dragged her through the mud when she left him.

Piers is determined not to like his father's choice, but Linnet is certainly gorgeous and she brings happiness to his dreary hospital. She immediately befirends several of the patients and proves invaluable in the sickroom and soon Piers finds himself offering to teach her to swim. Seeing her in nothing but a wet chemise makes it all too clear that Piers is not impotent and he sees the need to make it clear to her that he will not marry her and she agrees that she would never marry him. But the two spend more time together, both during swimming lessons, and while Piers is grousing at patients that Linnet is trying to help, and neither can resist the other. Sparks fly between them, but Piers still refuses to admit that there is a possible future with Linnet, even while she finds that she is falling in love with her grumpy lover. When his mother begins to forgive his father, Piers clings even more tightly to his unhappiness and throws Linnet out. Only when it is a matter of life and death does he come to his senses and realizes he would do anything, risk anything, to win back the woman he loves.

I was initially worried about Linnet because the first chapter was all about how beautiful and perfect and well liked she was. But she did become real as the book progressed and I was able to see her faults and that there was a real person who had feelings, and cared about others' happiness, underneath the very beautiful facade. She was definitely not very self aware as she did spend a good portion of the book convinced that Piers was not the right man for her even as it was obvious she was falling in love with him. It was nice to see that she was able to stand up to the gossip and survive on her own. Piers was not so likeable, and that is the god's honest truth, because he was certainly miserable and unhappy and seemed to do his best to be completely unlikeable and make everyone around him as miserable as he was. Yes, he was in immense pain because of his injury, yes he had to deal with some lying and miserable patients, but I just wanted to slap him and tell him to smile. He was even less self-aware than Linnett with his bad attitude and insistence they wouldn't suit in the face of the truth.

While I could see what he saw in her, because she was caring and considerate to the patients, I really did not see what she saw in him. He was intelligent in regards to the medical profession, but the brief moments when they were together and happy doesn't equal a lasting and caring relationship to me. Other authors have done unhappy heroes much better and the heroes have ended up changing/ redeeming themselves throughout the book, but in this instance there was just one very dramatic incident at the end where Piers had to prove his love and how much he had changed. I was definitely not impressed to find out that Piers was based on my least favorite television character, Dr. House, who, to me, represents everything that is wrong with the medical profession and makes me fear going to meet a new doctor. I really did enjoy the side plot about the romance between his mother and father and it really rang true and was quite heart rending to read about a man who was desperately trying to make up for the many mistakes he had made when he was addicted to opium; it was very moving.

Rating: One character that I liked and one that I absolutely loathed did not lead for a good romance, but the writing was lively and amusing and fast so it might be worth a try.

The Lady Most Likely...

The Lady Most Likely... by Julia Quinn, Eloisa James, and Connie Brockway 113

Hugh, the Earl of Briaryly, is kicked in the head by his newest racing horse and knocked unconscious for a day. This serves as a wake up call for him and he realizes that it is time to get married and produce an heir so he enlists the help of his sister, Carolyn, Lady Finchley. She decides to host a house party for her brother to get to know several of the eligible ladies of the ton and invites a like number of males to round out the numbers. Things do not go according to plan as the ladies on her list fall for the other men. Gwendolyn Passmore is the belle of the ton and is accounted the most beautiful lady on the market but many think her cold and hard because she does not make friends. But really she is painfully shy and being around other people makes her uncomfortable; she would much rather spend her time in the country and she is dreading the house party where she knows she is being considered for the position of Countess of Briarly. Luckily Alec, Lord Charters, is bringing his sister to the party and after one memorable afternoon spent by the lake the two of them are madly in love, even if it angers his sister.

Miss Katherine Peyton is outspoken and is renowned for getting herself into scandalous scrapes. For years she had been in love with Neill Oakes, her brother's friend and her near neighbor, but on the afternoon she declares her affection he enlists in the army. Neill had been prepared to marry Katherine but her father had turned him down so he planned to go to the army before reapplying for her hand. Reuniting at the house party brings up all their old feelings and when they both admit they have been in love for years they can make a life together. Georgiana Sorrell has been widowed for 3 years but has no plans to marry even as she attends the house party given by her best friend, Carolyn. Hugh does not find any of the ladies his sister picked out for him to be suitable but he is starting to see his friend Georgina in a whole new light. After a passionate encounter in the outdoors he needs to convince her that a marriage between them can work out and that she is the only woman who could ever keep him from losing himself in his horses.

This book was different than most with multiple authors because it was not three separate stories that were each written by a different author. This was one novel and no part was credited to a single author and I was unable to figure out which part was written by whom. As is typical in these novels only a very short amount of space is given to each couple, but what is different is that they're all interacting together at the same house party and their stories overlapped. Two of the stories made sense of the shortness of their courtship by explaining that they had known each other previously either as funs or as secret loves. Gwendolyn and Alec were not known to each other before the party but it was obvious from the beginning that there was some sort of deep connection between them. I have read about shy heroines but never one whose shyness was such an important part of her personality that it affected everything she did and I found that an interesting change. All in all I found Alec and Gwendolyn to be a cute pairing of well matched characters who shared a much needed connection or they needed more time together.

Kate and Neill were secret loves from their childhood who weren't ready to declare their love and had to undergo some maturing before they could come together. Kate is supposed to be brash and outspoken and in such a short book, where it's not explained or explored, sometimes it comes across as rude and impolite. She did not undergo as much change as Neill who went from the rake about town to a promising and stately army captain. I rather fell in love with him a little myself because he was such a strong alpha character, and I enjoyed this story to an extent. I liked Georgina and Hugh's romance because it was the last one so we could see it developing slowly throughout the book and in a sense it had more space than the others. It was also the only story where the characters had sex, except for Lord and Lady Finchley, and while it wasn't exactly hot, it was nice to have in a romance. Both Georgina and Hugh were very mature and well suited for each other and I felt like they had a real relationship between the two of them.

Rating: A different type of anthology that suffered from many of the same setbacks; not enough time for each of the couples. As good as can be expected.

A Kiss at Midnight

A Kiss at Midnight by Eloisa James 919

Miss Katherine Daltry is on the shelf with very little hope of catching a husband as her deceased father left everything but a paltry dowry to his second wife and her daughter, Victoria. Mariana, the evil step-mother, spends her money on frivolous things for herself and Victoria and Kate only stays on because Mariana threatens to fire all of the servants that Kate grew up with. Kate herself is a glorified servant but Mariana enlists her help to masquerade as Victoria at a ball hosted by Prince Gabriel Albrech-Frederick William von Aschenberg of Warl-Marburg-Baalsfeld. Gabriel is the cousin of Victoria's fiance, Algie, and he needs to approve of the marriage if Algie is to come into some money or something. When Kate tries to get out of this arrangement Mariana reveals that Victoria and Kate are half-sisters; that Mariana was her father's mistress for years even when her mother was alive and then married her once his wife was out of the picture.

Kate is distraught to learn the truth about her father but she dose accompany Algie on his trip and her first meeting with the prince is not fortuitous. She immediately thinks that he is stuck up and a horrible human being while he is suitably unimpressed with her as she is wearing fake bosoms and a wig to disguise the fact that she is not Victoria. But the two end up spending a lot of time together and Kate comes to admire him for the way he has shouldered the responsibilities his older brother has foisted on him and how he takes care of those who depend on him. He is nervous about his coming marriage to a Russian princess and while at first his feelings for Kate are based on this he can't help but be drawn to this woman who does not want him for the prestige he can bring her. Neither think that happily ever after is possible between them, but with a little help from a godmother, it just might be.

So this story is obviously a slightly twisted version of Cinderella with an evil step-mother and step-sister, a god mother, a prince and the "servant" girl who falls in love with him. I've never been on for books featuring princes and princesses because it's always from some made-up country and just comes across as desperate and weird. However, because he wasn't in line for a thrown and really had no real connection to the other country I was able to overlook his lineage. Like Kate I admired Gabriel's commitment to those who depended on him- who consisted of a motley assortment of people his brother had deemed not godly enough to live in the mother-land. It made his need/ desire for money more important and his almost willingness to marry without love a little more understandable. And I ultimately liked the way his money issues came to be resolved- it was quite creative.

Kate was a little too self-sacrificing for me and her step-mother a little too awful to be truly believable. What made it really frustrating for me was that she never really got her comeuppance and we were never really told what had happened that the evil step-mother could get her hands on the dowry. I wanted Kate to stand up for herself more- both with Gabriel and her stepmother and it was odd to me that she did not because she was such a strong character and had genuinely heartfelt beliefs. Victoria was well done as the not quite evil step-sister who was really jus a little dumb, but the godmother was completely over the top. She was the former love of Kate's father and just far too outrageous for me to believe she would be accepted anywhere in polite society. It was like she was put in the novel purely for the reader to think "how crazy!" and laugh at her ridiculous antics.

Rating: A respectable showing by James who has done much better and much worse but did a good job in this interesting retelling of a classic fairy tale.

A Duke of Her Own

A Duke of Her Own by Eloisa James

When we last saw Leopold, the Duke of Villiers, he was valiantly trying to find each of his six illegitimate children and finding the task difficult as his corrupt solicitor had turned the children over to disreputable guardians and pocketed the money meant for the children, before running off. He had determined that he would need to marry in order to provide his children with a mother and determined to marry a high ranking lady to ensure that his children will not be completely shunned by society. Eleanor, the Duke of Montague's (!) daughter, had rashly pronounced that she would only marry a duke, several years earlier after being spurned by her lover Gideon, Duke of Astley, and thus has remained single. Villiers thinks Eleanor could be the answer to his prayers; she is a high-ranking lady who could ease his children into society, she doesn't seem to mind too much that he has illegitimate children, and he finds himself enormously attracted to her. However, there is the matter of Lisette, the Duke of Gilner's daughter, who, despite having never made an entrance into society, could, because of her rank, still make a passably good Duchess, so Villiers decides to head Knole House to investigate this possible spouse while at the same time checking a local orphanage for his missing twin daughters.

Eleanor's mother decides to call in a long-standing acquaintance with Lisette's diceased mother to invite herself, Eleanor, and Eleanor's nearly married sister, Anne, to Knoll House as well. The entire family is aware of Lisette's penchant for "madness," but her spells are interspersed with long bouts of lucidity and she can be quite charming at times, which makes it possible for Villiers to disregard rumours of her insanity. Instead he is charmed by the way she completely disregards society's rules and the way she makes nice with his orphaned children who were discovered being mistreated by a completely awful orphanage headmistress, whom Eleanor wasted no time firing. Eleanor announces her engagement to Villiers to head off her mother's discomfort with the situation and although he is surprised he certainly enjoys the benefits that come with it. He has an incredibly difficult time keeping his hands off Eleanor, a feeling that is definitely returned, but things are thrown into turmoil when Gideon arrives with the news that his wife has died and he wants to marry Eleanor. Villiers quickly turns to Lisette, but neither Eleanor nor Villiers can manage to stay away from each other. By the time Villier's realizes he has made an enormous mistake it may be too late as Eleanor is determined she will only marry a man who is desperately in love with her- forcing Villier's to do something he has never done before; lay his heart on the line for the woman he loves.

One probably notices how little resemblance this plot summary has to what one might have expected if someone had read the back of the book. I too, spent 50 pages rather puzzled with what was going on, as, after reading the back blurb, I assumed that Eleanor would be the uptight, propriety-driven young miss who would make a great Duchess, while Lisette is the free-spirit who Villiers desperately wanted despite knowing that she isn't what society believes would make a good Duchess. So, after realizing that that wasn't what I was supposed to expect from the book, I settled in rather nicely and certainly enjoyed Eleanor who proved to be my favorite of all of Eloisa's Duchesses. She wasn't overly whiny, she wasn't overly prone to angst or depressions, she didn't pine, and while eschewing society to some extent she hasn't completely thrown out all of society's mores. I had, of course, been looking forward to reading about Villiers immensely, especially about how James' would manage to turn him from the completely cold and uncaring man into a proper hero who could fall in love and be fallen in love with. The answer is that she does it splendidly and readers of the series will realize that his transformation starts earlier in the series and comes full circle with the addition of his children and then later being forced to confront his true feelings for Eleanor.

In fact all the characters are well written. Villier's children are cute, un-precocious, realistic, and fun. Lisette is the perfect understated villian- she isn't evil and is in fact quite likable in many scenes, yet she hides her true self from Villiers to get him to marry her. Gideon is a wonderful "villian" as well as he gives into the fight against his lustful urges and tries to turn them around to blame Eleanor for them. Her mother and sister are also fun, easy, and contribute to some great scenes in the novel. There is a wonderful bit of angst at the end as Eleanor believes that all she has ever been wanted for is her body and as Villiers thinks he really is going to lose her- first because he chooses Lisette and then because of his own stupidity. Eleanor is also interesting because of her views on sex: she is not a virgin, but the man she lost her virginity to made her feel as if her desires were unladylike and while she still enjoys it she can't help but think that a gentleman would be turned off by her experience, knowledge, and wants. This lead to some really great angst as well as to some interesting steamy scenes which, although they don't start into well into the book, are amazing and lead up to quite nicely with lots of longing, desire, and plenty of kissing. Furthermore I enjoyed how former Duchesses only make very brief appearances and how there is no chess playing, both things that have riddled the previous books in the series.

Rating: By far my favorite book in the Desperate Duchesses series this book is funny, great characters, and a little bit of everything that makes a romance novel great.

This Duchess of Mine

This Duchess of Mine by Eloisa James

This Duchess of Mine (finally) tells the story of Jemma, the Duchess of Beaumont, and her husband Elijah, the Duke. The two entered into an arranged marriage at a young age and while Jemma was infatuated with Elijah he did not return the sentiment. This was brought home all too abruptly to Jemma when she walked into Elijah's offices in Parliament to find his mistress, Sara Corbett, bent over a desk with her husband behind her. Jemma ran off to Paris hoping that Elijah would follow and bring her back, but he waited 3 years to come to her rescue and even then he didn't take her back. He had felt so bad over the way things with Jemma had played out that he believed he didn't have the right to bring Jemma home and that it was her choice to go and have affairs and risque parties because he no longer deserved her. Despite the incredible rumors circulating around London Jemma wasn't quite as brazen as many had been lead to believe as she only took two lovers while in Paris and she apparently learned more about sex and love from the other women in Paris then from anything she did in the bedchamber. After 8 years Jemma finally came back to London with Elijah as both agree that it is past time for them to beget an heir but both are a tad bit unsure of how to go about with the other.

Jemma decides, oddly enough, that part of Elijah's problem is that he never had any fun and has been haunted by his father's exceedingly scandalous death many years before. Therefore she sets up her "friend" a French marquise to flirt with Elijah, perhaps in an attempt to get him to realize how harmless and fun it can be. This attempt kind of backfires when Elijah seemingly takes the bait and the two engage in a bit of back and forth. Elijah knows he made a terrible mistake all those years ago and although he knows that he can no longer expect the tender feelings that Jemma once had for him he wants to make her happy in the short amount of time he believes he has left. His father expired at a young age due to a heart problem and Elijah finds himself experiences erratic, slow, and rapid heart rhythm so he is convinced that he too will die young. When Jemma finds out she is horrified and determined to find a cure for the heart problem and she is aided in this endeavor by Elijah's childhood friend and her own one-time possible lover, the Duke of Villiers. Villiers is also engaged in an attempt to round up all six of his illegitimate children, an activity made incredibly difficult as his solicitor has disappeared after lying about the children's whereabouts. Our ending is a sweet little happily ever-after when James brings in a real-life doctor who real-life did find a cure for some irregular heart rhythms.

I thought James did an excellent little explanation of Elijah's affair with Sara- she doesn't just write it off as just a random affair and, although it doesn't entirely excuse his cheating on Jemma apparently hours after they had been together, it was certainly a new and interesting excuse/ explanation. In the same vein James did a great job redeeming Elijah by showing that he is sorry and deeply regrets what he has done and offers as proof his celibacy during the entire time Jemma was gone, although apparently he managed to take care of things himself (something that seems to be popping up in romance novels all over the place. The book was plenty hot- although the chess game didn't exactly get me going as I find chess to be boring, long, and basically everything not sexy. It seems odd to me that there is an entire romance novel series that deals so much with chess. It was interesting and fun to read about these two learning how far to push each other and what to do with each other now that there wasn't a sea in between them. James gave the reader a great perspective from both Jemma and Elijah's point of view as they navigated their newly developing relationship. We also got a bit from Villier's POV, which was nice, but also made me a little wary of reading his novel as he seems to have absolutely no feelings for anyone besides himself- maybe interesting.

I still am very unsure what Jemma really hoped to accomplish by having Elijah flirt with the French marquise. Wanting him to have fun and loosen up seemed a little too far fetched a reason for having your husband flirt with another reason. And then that of course led to both of them trying to make the other jealous at a party and that just strikes me as so childish and immature- especially when she was the one who had instigated it! The marquise struck me as a complete moron as I could not understand why she would accept advice on marriage from a woman who ran away from her own marriage for 8 years. I enjoyed how James used real-life doctors and events when "curing" Elijah's heart problems instead of having a random magical cure come into being. I think that Jemma kind of lost a lot of the risque-ness she was portrayed as having in the previous books in the series; she was always the wild one with the reputation but here we learn that she actually isn't all that wild and just pretends to be. It seemed sort of a cop-out as if James couldn't deal with a heroine who actually had had multiple lovers and enjoyed them too. I found myself liking the characters and rooting for them but I could never really figure out quite why as they seemed so unappealing. Last but not least I think that the cover got messed up at the printers as it looks like a picture that has been overexposed with another picture. Or it was just poorly designed.

Rating: The entire Duchesses series is a good one, but some have been better than others with "Duchess by Night" being by far my favorite. An above average book, but not all that inspiring and memorable.

A Wild Pursuit

A Wild Pursuit by Eloisa James

A Wild Pursuit follows the antics of ... 3, 4... I don't know how many, different couples. Our setting is the house of the widowed Lady Esme Rawling who is her final month of confinement. An odd setting for a house party but she is indeed joined by her aunt Arebella, her lover, and several other parties. Our "main" couple, the one discussed on the back blurb, is Lady Beatrix Lennox and Mr. Stephen Fairfax-Lacey. Twenty-three year old Beatrix, Bea, is the disgraced daughter of a duke who had been kicked out of her father's house, and all respectable ton functions, after being found in a compromising position. Unlike other "compromising" positions this one was indeed compromising as our heroine is far from a virgin. She decks herself out in face paints, low cut and see through gowns and throws seductive glances at every man in her path. Stephen is 43 year-old member of the House of Commons whose dedication to the working man, despite being a Tory, has earned him a reputation as a completely respectable member of society as he is the heir to another dukedom. Upon first meeting Bea deems Stephen a "puritan" and he believes she is merely pretending to be a wanton and is hiding something he desperately wants to uncover. Both are wildly attracted to each other.

Our other characters include Esme, who is desperately trying to regain respectability through any means necessary, and the appearance of her lover, disguised as her estates gardner, is not helping matters. Neither is the fact that she is not 100% sure if Sebastian, Marquess of Bonnington, or her deceased husband Miles, is the father. And of course there is the fact that her husband died in a tuffle with Sebastian when he had snuck into Esme's bedchamber for a little tete-a-tete. They are joined by Lady Helene Godwin who had been kicked out her husband, Rees Earl of Godwin's, house and replaced by an opera singer in her husband's bed, mere months after their Gretna Green elopment. In an attempt to make her husband jealous she begins a fake affair with Stephen, but alas her husband has little reaction except to once again refuse her pleas for a divorce. And in a last ditch effort to keep Sebastian away from her, and protect her respectability, Esme claims to be engaged to Stephen. Neither the supposed affair or the supposed engagement make Bea happy, nor do Stephen's demands that she woo him instead of seduce him.

The most notable aspect of this book was the sheer amount of characters and "romances" involved. We got to read the story from the point of view of everyone involved and it certainly took skill on the part of Eloisa James that she was able to sympathetically portray not only our six heroes and heroines, but also different family members as well. But a 380 page book doesn't have room for 3 different romances and it shows. I was definitely left wishing I had learned more about Bea and Stephen and that their romance could have used quite a bit more fleshing out, especially in the bedroom. Both Esme and Sebastian and Helene and Rees' stories are obviously only partly explored in this book. There are numerous references to events that have happened in the past, presumably in previous books, and they will be continued in other books. While she certainly does a great job of providing enough back story that we are not left in the dark about events we haven't read about, it would have been nice to have read a whole romance from beginning to end. It was almost like she couldn't provide all the great things in a romance novel in one cople; we had sex between Sebastian and Esme, angst between Helene and Rees, and actual getting to know you and fall in love between Bea and Stephen. I also found it odd that so little mention was given to the 20 year age difference between Stephen and Bea except for him occasionally and briefly complaining about his age.

None of the couples provided much steam, although their bedroom antics were certainly laughable. My favorite is a scene where Helene throws herself at Stephen only to have both of them realize it's not what either of them want. A few allusion filled scenes between Sebastian and Esme are cut short before anything remotely exciting happens while the one (yes one) scene between Bea and Stephen is short, riddled with just plain odd happenings and is far from being steamy. I did like the way the author portrayed the relationship between Esme and her new son, William; she is overprotective after her younger brother died shortly after birth, and between Esme and her severely disapproving mother. And it was nice to read about so many fun women, with only a little in common, getting along so well and helping each other out, including Lady Bonnington reforming her prissish ways to help Esme through labor. Unfortunately Eloisa saved the best for the very end when both Bea and Esme decide it's time to declare their love and the epilogues were done very well.

Rating: I would have liked more of Bea and Stephen, less information from other romance novels and less setting up of her upcoming novels. I have given out quite a few 2 hearts recently and this isn't anywhere near as good as most of them.