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Pleasures #1
Potent Pleasures
Nothing is more seductive than temptation.
Reckless desire sends Charlotte Daicheston into the garden with a dashing masked stranger. He's powerful, unforgettable, a devastatingly handsome footman who lures her - not against her will - into a grand indiscretion at a masquerade ball. Then he vanishes.
Several years later, after Charlotte has made her dazzling debut in London society, they meet again. But the rogue is no footman. He's rich, titled, and he doesn't remember Charlotte. Worse, he's the subject of some scandalous gossip: rumour has it, the earl's virility is in question.
Charlotte, who knows all too intimately the power of his passion, is stunned by the gossip that has set society ablaze. At last, there can be a storybook ending...unless, of course, Charlotte's one mad indiscretion had not been with him at all....
Reckless desire sends Charlotte Daicheston into the garden with a dashing masked stranger. He's powerful, unforgettable, a devastatingly handsome footman who lures her - not against her will - into a grand indiscretion at a masquerade ball. Then he vanishes.
Several years later, after Charlotte has made her dazzling debut in London society, they meet again. But the rogue is no footman. He's rich, titled, and he doesn't remember Charlotte. Worse, he's the subject of some scandalous gossip: rumour has it, the earl's virility is in question.
Charlotte, who knows all too intimately the power of his passion, is stunned by the gossip that has set society ablaze. At last, there can be a storybook ending...unless, of course, Charlotte's one mad indiscretion had not been with him at all....
465 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1999
838 people are currently reading
2832 people want to read
About the author
Eloisa James
123 books9,534 followersNew York Times bestselling author Eloisa James writes historical romances for HarperCollins Publishers. Her novels have been published to great acclaim. A reviewer from USA Today wrote of Eloisa's very first book that she "found herself devouring the book like a dieter with a Hershey bar"; later People Magazine raved that "romance writing does not get much better than this." Her novels have repeatedly received starred reviews from Publishers' Weekly and Library Journal and regularly appear on the best-seller lists.
After graduating from Harvard University, Eloisa got an M.Phil. from Oxford University, a Ph.D. from Yale and eventually became a Shakespeare professor, publishing an academic book with Oxford University Press. Currently she is an associate professor and head of the Creative Writing program at Fordham University in New York City. Her "double life" is a source of fascination to the media and her readers. In her professorial guise, she's written a New York Times op-ed defending romance, as well as articles published everywhere from women's magazines such as More to writers' journals such as the Romance Writers' Report.
Eloisa...on her double life:
When I'm not writing novels, I'm a Shakespeare professor. It's rather like having two lives. The other day I bought a delicious pink suit to tape a television segment on romance; I'll never wear that suit to teach in, nor even to give a paper at the Shakespeare Association of America conference. It's like being Superman, with power suits for both lives. Yet the literature professor in me certainly plays into my romances. The Taming of the Duke (April 2006) has obvious Shakespearean resonances, as do many of my novels. I often weave early modern poetry into my work; the same novel might contain bits of Catullus, Shakespeare and anonymous bawdy ballads from the 16th century.
When I rip off my power suit, whether it's academic or romantic, underneath is the rather tired, chocolate-stained sweatshirt of a mom. Just as I use Shakespeare in my romances, I almost always employ my experiences as a mother. When I wrote about a miscarriage in Midnight Pleasures, I used my own fears of premature birth; when the little girl in Fool For Love threw up and threw up, I described my own daughter, who had that unsavory habit for well over her first year of life.
So I'm a writer, a professor, a mother - and a wife. My husband Alessandro is Italian, born in Florence. We spend the lazy summer months with his mother and sister in Italy. It always strikes me as a huge irony that as a romance writer I find myself married to a knight, a cavaliere, as you say in Italian.
One more thing...I'm a friend. I have girlfriends who are writers and girlfriends who are Shakespeare professors. And I have girlfriends who are romance readers. In fact, we have something of a community going on my website. Please stop by and join the conversation on my readers' pages.
After graduating from Harvard University, Eloisa got an M.Phil. from Oxford University, a Ph.D. from Yale and eventually became a Shakespeare professor, publishing an academic book with Oxford University Press. Currently she is an associate professor and head of the Creative Writing program at Fordham University in New York City. Her "double life" is a source of fascination to the media and her readers. In her professorial guise, she's written a New York Times op-ed defending romance, as well as articles published everywhere from women's magazines such as More to writers' journals such as the Romance Writers' Report.
Eloisa...on her double life:
When I'm not writing novels, I'm a Shakespeare professor. It's rather like having two lives. The other day I bought a delicious pink suit to tape a television segment on romance; I'll never wear that suit to teach in, nor even to give a paper at the Shakespeare Association of America conference. It's like being Superman, with power suits for both lives. Yet the literature professor in me certainly plays into my romances. The Taming of the Duke (April 2006) has obvious Shakespearean resonances, as do many of my novels. I often weave early modern poetry into my work; the same novel might contain bits of Catullus, Shakespeare and anonymous bawdy ballads from the 16th century.
When I rip off my power suit, whether it's academic or romantic, underneath is the rather tired, chocolate-stained sweatshirt of a mom. Just as I use Shakespeare in my romances, I almost always employ my experiences as a mother. When I wrote about a miscarriage in Midnight Pleasures, I used my own fears of premature birth; when the little girl in Fool For Love threw up and threw up, I described my own daughter, who had that unsavory habit for well over her first year of life.
So I'm a writer, a professor, a mother - and a wife. My husband Alessandro is Italian, born in Florence. We spend the lazy summer months with his mother and sister in Italy. It always strikes me as a huge irony that as a romance writer I find myself married to a knight, a cavaliere, as you say in Italian.
One more thing...I'm a friend. I have girlfriends who are writers and girlfriends who are Shakespeare professors. And I have girlfriends who are romance readers. In fact, we have something of a community going on my website. Please stop by and join the conversation on my readers' pages.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 690 reviews
May 21, 2013
Oh, I am so torn. On one hand, I like Ms. James' writing style, the secondary characters are wonderful (I wanted more of Will and Chloe - I wished the book was about them instead of having their romance be secondary) and the heroine is beyond adorable - I'd love to have her in the family.
On the other hand, the hero is an utter fucking temper-driven idiot with trust issues, living with whom would be uncomfortable to the extreme. The main emotion he evoked in me for half the book was sheer rage, especially since he jumped to idiotic conclusions and lashed out at the heroine in an appalling fashion not once but twice!
Ummm, he doesn't sexually assault her, I suppose there is that. But that is about the best I can say for the waste of space. If at a particularly angsty part I wanted the heroine to die merely to spite him and to leave him wracked with guilt and suicidal, you are doing it wrong, author!
After the happy ending, I am left to contemplate him screaming the house down and storming out for a month after calling his wife a whore on a regular basis because his supper wasn't cooked right or because he has a headache. He is about a step away from that.
On the other hand, the hero is an utter fucking temper-driven idiot with trust issues, living with whom would be uncomfortable to the extreme. The main emotion he evoked in me for half the book was sheer rage, especially since he jumped to idiotic conclusions and lashed out at the heroine in an appalling fashion not once but twice!
Ummm, he doesn't sexually assault her, I suppose there is that. But that is about the best I can say for the waste of space. If at a particularly angsty part I wanted the heroine to die merely to spite him and to leave him wracked with guilt and suicidal, you are doing it wrong, author!
After the happy ending, I am left to contemplate him screaming the house down and storming out for a month after calling his wife a whore on a regular basis because his supper wasn't cooked right or because he has a headache. He is about a step away from that.
January 20, 2014
It's unfortunate that this is the first novel by Eloisa James that I picked up. I'm kind of glad that I had already bought a few eBooks before reading this one because if I hadn't, I may not have come back.
The thing is, the story works out most of the time. Both Alex and Charlotte are charming and I enjoyed their relationship ... until James started manipulating things against them. Indeed, my biggest problem with the novel is that James manipulates so much stupid just to provide problems for Charlotte. The biggest aspect of this is Alex himself. He's basically kind and not at all stupid until he is made to be irrationally mean by the author. And yeah, I get that his past left scars, but that's part of the problem: he's allowing his past to intrude with this lovely woman that he should know is everything he wants and needs and loves.
But it's not just Alex, though he's the lever everything else leans against.
The problem is that even with all that piling up against him, even though he feels like he might be justified, he made Charlotte a promise and he broke that promise in the most extravagant way possible. I'm sorry, but there's no coming back from that. Charlotte may have forgiven him (I mean, she does, duh), but I couldn't. I'm not sure what James was up to in engineering these circumstances to make him a monster, but in the end I felt as abused by the author as Charlotte should have felt by Alex.
A note about Steamy: Possibly the only good part of their relationship was their physical compatibility. Although even here, authorial manipulation played a role. Or can you really tell me that Alex didn't notice that his dream girl had the exact same eyebrows as his eventual wife (whose flying arch we're told time and again were distinctive and practically unique)? She powdered her hair. I kinda doubt that extends to shaving off her brows and penciling in something more common...
The thing is, the story works out most of the time. Both Alex and Charlotte are charming and I enjoyed their relationship ... until James started manipulating things against them. Indeed, my biggest problem with the novel is that James manipulates so much stupid just to provide problems for Charlotte. The biggest aspect of this is Alex himself. He's basically kind and not at all stupid until he is made to be irrationally mean by the author. And yeah, I get that his past left scars, but that's part of the problem: he's allowing his past to intrude with this lovely woman that he should know is everything he wants and needs and loves.
But it's not just Alex, though he's the lever everything else leans against.
The problem is that even with all that piling up against him, even though he feels like he might be justified, he made Charlotte a promise and he broke that promise in the most extravagant way possible. I'm sorry, but there's no coming back from that. Charlotte may have forgiven him (I mean, she does, duh), but I couldn't. I'm not sure what James was up to in engineering these circumstances to make him a monster, but in the end I felt as abused by the author as Charlotte should have felt by Alex.
A note about Steamy: Possibly the only good part of their relationship was their physical compatibility. Although even here, authorial manipulation played a role. Or can you really tell me that Alex didn't notice that his dream girl had the exact same eyebrows as his eventual wife (whose flying arch we're told time and again were distinctive and practically unique)? She powdered her hair. I kinda doubt that extends to shaving off her brows and penciling in something more common...
December 28, 2011
OK, from the date and comments I've read about this book, I'm going to assume this was one of Eloisa James' first attempts at a romance novel. So I can almost forgive her... but not quite.
If you're new to romance novels, please take my advice and DON'T BOTHER WITH THIS SERIES. It will put you off Regency romances forever, unless you like stories where men can act like complete and total jerks, expecting wives to be madonnas while secretly wanting them to be whores in the bedroom, but not able to accept it when they behave like whores in the bedroom because no proper lady could possibly be so, which means that she must really be a whore... blah blah blah, jealous anger that is so cruel and abusive, you just want to kill the guy. But the woman is so in love with this guy that her love forces him to realize.... blah blah blah. Somehow a happily-ever-after (HEA).
Basically, move on to another series by Ms. James (like the Essex Sisters or the Four Duchesses), or better yet, read Julia Quinn's The Bridgerton series.
----------------
I'm sorry to be so hard on Ms. James, but what can I say? There is a lot of good in this book, except that The Big Misunderstanding between the Hero and Heroine make it truly impossible for them to behave in any way other than schizoid or angry.
If I hadn't already read other much better romance novels by Eloisa James, I would have permanently taken her off my author list.
ONCE AGAIN: If you're considering reading this book or this series, I strongly encourage you to run the other way. Take up another set of books by Ms. James or by another Regency romance author, such as Julia Quinn or Mary Balogh, who give you the right amount of steam, romance, social issues, drama, and comedy in a romance book.
If you're new to romance novels, please take my advice and DON'T BOTHER WITH THIS SERIES. It will put you off Regency romances forever, unless you like stories where men can act like complete and total jerks, expecting wives to be madonnas while secretly wanting them to be whores in the bedroom, but not able to accept it when they behave like whores in the bedroom because no proper lady could possibly be so, which means that she must really be a whore... blah blah blah, jealous anger that is so cruel and abusive, you just want to kill the guy. But the woman is so in love with this guy that her love forces him to realize.... blah blah blah. Somehow a happily-ever-after (HEA).
Basically, move on to another series by Ms. James (like the Essex Sisters or the Four Duchesses), or better yet, read Julia Quinn's The Bridgerton series.
----------------
I'm sorry to be so hard on Ms. James, but what can I say? There is a lot of good in this book, except that The Big Misunderstanding between the Hero and Heroine make it truly impossible for them to behave in any way other than schizoid or angry.
If I hadn't already read other much better romance novels by Eloisa James, I would have permanently taken her off my author list.
ONCE AGAIN: If you're considering reading this book or this series, I strongly encourage you to run the other way. Take up another set of books by Ms. James or by another Regency romance author, such as Julia Quinn or Mary Balogh, who give you the right amount of steam, romance, social issues, drama, and comedy in a romance book.
April 6, 2016
Nice writing and interesting plot in this deeply emotional romance. However, the hero tops my list of worst heroes ever, since he distrusts and browbeats the heroine repeatedly and she is stupid enough to stay by his side despite the way he treats her. The fact that after hating both protagonists I ended up liking the book despite myself, says a lot about Mrs James writing skills. With heavy editing this could become a keeper, but with a hero like that it is barely finishable.
November 30, 2020
SPOILERS:
Eloisa James has been hit or miss for me, but this was fun if you take the hero with a big grain of salt.
The couple meet at a Ciprian Ball where they fall into a clinch right away. The hero deflowers what he thinks is either a courtesan or a servant. He’s shocked she’s a virgin and looks for her, but Cinderella has left and she’s left more behind than a shoe. Since this isn’t an HP she doesn’t get pregnant this first time.
A few years pass and the H and h meet again where he is besotted, and she’s in a freak out because she recognizes him but he doesn’t recognize her. In fairness, her hair had been heavily powdered and she was so fair he assumed she was a redhead rather than the brunette she actually is.
The H comes with some baggage as in a adulterous dead wife that accused him of impotency and a fire demon plot moppet that is adorable. He married his wife because she reminded him of the elusive woman he once bedded.
Marriage ensues and that’s where the H starts losing IQ and brownie points. He finds out the h was not a virgin and makes some assumptions based on his ex-dead wife’s behavior. He won't listen to anything she has to say which was a flaw in the book. He is not a nice guy and ships them all off to Scotland.
There he gets somewhat of a clue and vows never to distrust her again, and it’s honeymoon central. The H has some super secret business to take care of and goes to Europe. His identical twin enters stage right and the scandal sheets let loose the hounds of hell.
The h retires to ye olde estate, the twin stays away, and the H returns and breaks his vow to trust her.
We do get a big grovel, epic in fact, at a supreme moment.
I can understand why readers might hate Alex as he is cruel, but I enjoyed it all. Yes, I enjoyed the angst, his stupidity, his grovel, his unknowing secret yen for her all the years, and the heroine’s wily ways in handling the situation.
Eloisa James has been hit or miss for me, but this was fun if you take the hero with a big grain of salt.
The couple meet at a Ciprian Ball where they fall into a clinch right away. The hero deflowers what he thinks is either a courtesan or a servant. He’s shocked she’s a virgin and looks for her, but Cinderella has left and she’s left more behind than a shoe. Since this isn’t an HP she doesn’t get pregnant this first time.
A few years pass and the H and h meet again where he is besotted, and she’s in a freak out because she recognizes him but he doesn’t recognize her. In fairness, her hair had been heavily powdered and she was so fair he assumed she was a redhead rather than the brunette she actually is.
The H comes with some baggage as in a adulterous dead wife that accused him of impotency and a fire demon plot moppet that is adorable. He married his wife because she reminded him of the elusive woman he once bedded.
Marriage ensues and that’s where the H starts losing IQ and brownie points. He finds out the h was not a virgin and makes some assumptions based on his ex-dead wife’s behavior. He won't listen to anything she has to say which was a flaw in the book. He is not a nice guy and ships them all off to Scotland.
There he gets somewhat of a clue and vows never to distrust her again, and it’s honeymoon central. The H has some super secret business to take care of and goes to Europe. His identical twin enters stage right and the scandal sheets let loose the hounds of hell.
The h retires to ye olde estate, the twin stays away, and the H returns and breaks his vow to trust her.
We do get a big grovel, epic in fact, at a supreme moment.
I can understand why readers might hate Alex as he is cruel, but I enjoyed it all. Yes, I enjoyed the angst, his stupidity, his grovel, his unknowing secret yen for her all the years, and the heroine’s wily ways in handling the situation.
March 14, 2019
Potent Pleasures started out with great promise and I was expecting it to be a rare 5 star read. Alex and Charlotte were so endearing. I also loved all the details that normally drive me up the wall and E. James' writing style flowed perfectly. The secondary characters were wonderful and there was another love story mixed in as well. It was Perfection!
Charlotte
But around the 50% mark, my fabulous hero, Alex, allowed trust issues and baggage from a cheating wife to ruin everything. He completely flipped out, lost his shit, said and did some unforgivable things to Charlotte.
Alex
We're talking verbal and emotional abuse along with humiliation. Alex felt like crap ten days later and was very remorseful. He offered a lame apology that Charlotte accepted even though I felt like he needed to eat some serious crow for all the hell he put her through.
So their marriage becomes perfect again and I'm thinking this will still be a 5 star read but of course he does the exact same thing again!! To the EXTREME!!! I wanted to hit him upside the head. His immaturity and stupidity ruined me and brought this from a 5 star to a 3 star. I understand why this became a DNF for some readers and why there is a huge range of 2 star vs 4 star reviews.
This might have been a 4 star if the author hadn't waited until the very end to bring about resolution. I mean, you can't have the hero call his wife a "Whore" and threaten her near the very end of the book, and have her forgive him as if that behavior is ok. Alex was very arrogant which was added to his sex appeal. But he allowed his temper to dictate the harsh way he treated his wife. Which was odd because he wasn't temperamental in other aspects of his life.
AmyS Schmid summed it up perfectly. She wrote..."The heroine didn't get the memo that the hero has to WORK for your forgiveness when he screws up HUGE...Love doesn't make up for all acts of jackassery."
Charlotte
But around the 50% mark, my fabulous hero, Alex, allowed trust issues and baggage from a cheating wife to ruin everything. He completely flipped out, lost his shit, said and did some unforgivable things to Charlotte.
Alex
We're talking verbal and emotional abuse along with humiliation. Alex felt like crap ten days later and was very remorseful. He offered a lame apology that Charlotte accepted even though I felt like he needed to eat some serious crow for all the hell he put her through.
So their marriage becomes perfect again and I'm thinking this will still be a 5 star read but of course he does the exact same thing again!! To the EXTREME!!! I wanted to hit him upside the head. His immaturity and stupidity ruined me and brought this from a 5 star to a 3 star. I understand why this became a DNF for some readers and why there is a huge range of 2 star vs 4 star reviews.
This might have been a 4 star if the author hadn't waited until the very end to bring about resolution. I mean, you can't have the hero call his wife a "Whore" and threaten her near the very end of the book, and have her forgive him as if that behavior is ok. Alex was very arrogant which was added to his sex appeal. But he allowed his temper to dictate the harsh way he treated his wife. Which was odd because he wasn't temperamental in other aspects of his life.
AmyS Schmid summed it up perfectly. She wrote..."The heroine didn't get the memo that the hero has to WORK for your forgiveness when he screws up HUGE...Love doesn't make up for all acts of jackassery."
May 25, 2014
I love Eloisa James. She's an intelligent, sensuous, witty romance author and her Desperate Duchesses series is up there on my read-and-read-again shelf. So it was with no fear or trepidation that I picked up Potent Pleasures. How wrong I was.
This novel is like a time warp back to the bad old days of Domestic Abuse-Means-Love 1970s romances. It commits more deadly sins of romance writing than most. For example:
1. the novel centres around a conflict that could be solved with a 30 second conversation (and was pretty silly to start with)
2. the heroine starts off interesting and then descended into being a 2 dimensional cipher incapable of addressing or solving her own problems (so far away from the wonderful heroines of the Desperate Duchesses series I could hardly believe that they were written by the same author).
3. the hero is an irresponsible, jealous, immature cretin who repeatedly wreaks domestic abuse on his wife because he made some bad choices in the past (married a woman he didn't know because she had the same eyebrows as a girl he fancied - no really!). After first bout of domestic abuse he decides to forgive her mainly because he fancies her and because he realises his wife thought it was him she had slept with in the dim distant past before they ever met (in fact it was). The suggestion being if she had slept with someone else ONCE long before they met he was perfectly justified in abusing her and calling her a whore on their wedding night. He, of course, had slept with hundreds of women, including sexually molesting an innocent virgin in a garden - his future wife. But that's ok.
4. neither the hero or heroine particularly develop as a consequence of their romantic travails. The hero, Alex, only feels bad for abusing his wife, Charlotte, because he finds out he was wrong due to hard evidence. He never, in fact, learns to trust or have faith. So he is never really redeemed. Charlotte doesn't learn how to be independent or stand up for herself. She's just pathetically grateful for his love.
5. there a plot holes so large you could sail a boat through. For example, the Duchess - the heroine's mother - a devoted and protective parent, deserts her pregnant, husband-less, scandal-immersed daughter because she wants to visit a mate in the USA.
6. characters just disappear. The heroine's - apparently close - sister is present in the first quarter of the book then just disappears. No explanation. No reappearance when the heroine is in desperate trouble.
7. the secondary characters - Chloe and Will - are infinitely more interesting than the main protagonists. Having said that, even lovely, woman-loving, funny Will has a terrible "you look like a tart" moment to demonstrate he truly loves Chloe. Out of character. Unneccesary. Stomach churning.
I struggled to the end of Potent Pleasures and found myself wondering whether it was a joke because it was hard to believe someone as accomplished as Eloisa James who writes such GREAT romances and fantastic, empowered female characters would produce it.
Then I realised it must have been one of her early works, produced 15 years ago when she was still presumably learning her craft. And the traces of what she want on to write are there. Her style is polished and excellent. There are hints in Chloe Van Stork and Sophie York of the types of characters she will go on to create - nuanced, complex women who shape their own destiny.
Like good characters, good writers develop and she's now at the height of her powers.
Don't read Potent Pleasures, but equally, if you do, don't let it put you off Eloisa James. Go straight to the Desperate Duchesses and enjoy some of the best historical romance around.
This novel is like a time warp back to the bad old days of Domestic Abuse-Means-Love 1970s romances. It commits more deadly sins of romance writing than most. For example:
1. the novel centres around a conflict that could be solved with a 30 second conversation (and was pretty silly to start with)
2. the heroine starts off interesting and then descended into being a 2 dimensional cipher incapable of addressing or solving her own problems (so far away from the wonderful heroines of the Desperate Duchesses series I could hardly believe that they were written by the same author).
3. the hero is an irresponsible, jealous, immature cretin who repeatedly wreaks domestic abuse on his wife because he made some bad choices in the past (married a woman he didn't know because she had the same eyebrows as a girl he fancied - no really!). After first bout of domestic abuse he decides to forgive her mainly because he fancies her and because he realises his wife thought it was him she had slept with in the dim distant past before they ever met (in fact it was). The suggestion being if she had slept with someone else ONCE long before they met he was perfectly justified in abusing her and calling her a whore on their wedding night. He, of course, had slept with hundreds of women, including sexually molesting an innocent virgin in a garden - his future wife. But that's ok.
4. neither the hero or heroine particularly develop as a consequence of their romantic travails. The hero, Alex, only feels bad for abusing his wife, Charlotte, because he finds out he was wrong due to hard evidence. He never, in fact, learns to trust or have faith. So he is never really redeemed. Charlotte doesn't learn how to be independent or stand up for herself. She's just pathetically grateful for his love.
5. there a plot holes so large you could sail a boat through. For example, the Duchess - the heroine's mother - a devoted and protective parent, deserts her pregnant, husband-less, scandal-immersed daughter because she wants to visit a mate in the USA.
6. characters just disappear. The heroine's - apparently close - sister is present in the first quarter of the book then just disappears. No explanation. No reappearance when the heroine is in desperate trouble.
7. the secondary characters - Chloe and Will - are infinitely more interesting than the main protagonists. Having said that, even lovely, woman-loving, funny Will has a terrible "you look like a tart" moment to demonstrate he truly loves Chloe. Out of character. Unneccesary. Stomach churning.
I struggled to the end of Potent Pleasures and found myself wondering whether it was a joke because it was hard to believe someone as accomplished as Eloisa James who writes such GREAT romances and fantastic, empowered female characters would produce it.
Then I realised it must have been one of her early works, produced 15 years ago when she was still presumably learning her craft. And the traces of what she want on to write are there. Her style is polished and excellent. There are hints in Chloe Van Stork and Sophie York of the types of characters she will go on to create - nuanced, complex women who shape their own destiny.
Like good characters, good writers develop and she's now at the height of her powers.
Don't read Potent Pleasures, but equally, if you do, don't let it put you off Eloisa James. Go straight to the Desperate Duchesses and enjoy some of the best historical romance around.
September 10, 2016
I've given this a C+ for narration and C for content at AAR.
I remember reading the other two books in this trilogy several years ago, but for some reason hadn’t read the first, Potent Pleasures, so listening to this new audiobook version seemed like a good idea. Unfortunately, it proved to be a disappointing experience overall, as the story relies too heavily on the fact that the main characters just don’t TALK to each other. The narration also leaves a lot to be desired, because, while there’s no doubting that Susan Duerden is a very accomplished vocal actress, some of her acting choices proved to be incredibly irritating – so much so that I was frequently tempted to abandon the book and listen to something else.
The story begins with our heroine, Lady Charlotte Daicheston, who is on the verge of her seventeenth birthday and her come-out ball, sneaking off to a masquerade with an adventurous friend. Very soon, she finds herself tempted out into the garden by a tall, dark, handsome stranger, whose kisses and caresses are so utterly thrilling that soon she’s on her back and completely ruined.
Alexander Foakes, Earl of Sheffield and Downs and his twin brother Patrick, are widely known throughout society as a couple of hellions. A few weeks after their brief appearance at Lady Charlotte’s coming out ball, they are packed off abroad by their father, who has grown tired of their continual carousing, roistering, and troublemaking.
We then skip ahead a few years, and Charlotte is twenty-two and still husband-less. It’s not for want of offers – she is the reigning belle of the ton and cuts quite a dash in society with her short-cropped curls and daringly cut gowns. When she meets Alex Foakes, who has recently returned from Italy with a one-year-old daughter in tow, she recognises him immediately as the man who took her virginity. He, however, doesn’t recognise her at all. He’d built himself up a picture of what his “garden girl” looked like behind her domino, even going so far as to have married a woman who resembled her and Charlotte’s short dark curls don’t fit the bill.
Even so, he is very much smitten. Initially, he had decided to look about him for a substitute mother for young Pippa, but the more he sees of Charlotte, the more intense his desire for her. Alex has returned home with more than a child, however. Rumours concerning his brief, unhappy marriage to a faithless Italian woman dog his footsteps, along with the gossip about the grounds upon which the marriage had been annulled – his (supposed) impotence.
Charlotte’s mother tries to explain the nature of Alex’s supposed “difficulties”, although as Charlotte has direct knowledge of his not-so-floppy-poppy, she’s unperturbed. She is, nonetheless, furious with him for not recognising the girl he ruined and is determined to reject his suit. The trouble is, she’s just as desperately attracted to him now as she was then – even more so now she is able to spend time with him and experience the full force of his seductive personality and witness his concern for his daughter.
Even on their wedding night, Alex doesn’t realise who Charlotte is. But he isn’t overly concerned about her lack of a maidenhead – until she inadvertently lets slip that she wasn’t a virgin. At that point Alex sees red – his disgust at being once more trapped into marriage with an unchaste woman clouding his judgement. When Charlotte tries to tell him that he’s the only man she’s ever slept with, he refuses to listen and storms off.
Fortunately, Alex soon comes to his senses and apologises to Charlotte for his behaviour, promising to trust her in future. She can’t resist him, forgives him, and the interrupted honeymoon is resumed, with Alex having quietly decided that his wife’s seducer must have been his twin. And you just know that the very fact of there being a twin brother waiting in the wings is going to cause even more trouble.
Potent Pleasures is one of Ms James’ earlier books, and I have to say, it shows. There’s a lot of head-hopping with some of the POVs belonging to very minor characters. There are pacing issues because, at some points in the book, there is just too much going on away from the central couple, and the two protagonists aren’t particularly engaging or well-developed characters. Charlotte has the potential to be quite interesting, what with her determination to remain unmarried, and her dedication to her painting, but once she falls under Alex’s spell she becomes sex-obsessed, starry-eyed and rather bland. As to the hero – there’s no denying Alex is a sexy, alpha male, but the way he treats Charlotte makes him difficult to like. He’s so pig-headed; he remembers deflowering a virgin (for the first and only time) several years ago, but because of his stupid insistence on believing his “garden girl” was a redhead, he is completely unable to believe she and Charlotte could be the same person. And because he abs-o-lutely-pos-i-tively did not have sex with her, it must have been Patrick. He blows up at her and calls her horrible names and won’t even listen to her version of events or consider that his is wrong. The one thing in his favour is that he does eventually admit to having been a complete wanker, but Charlotte still forgives him far too easily.
Unfortunately, the obvious holes in the plot and lack of strong characterisations in the book were only intensified in the audiobook version, because I didn’t particularly enjoy Susan Duerden’s narration. I’ve listened to her quite a lot, and have generally enjoyed her work; she’s an experienced performer, and is very good at bringing out the emotional content of the stories she reads, which is an important factor for me. She differentiates well between the characters, has a pleasantly modulated voice, and I’ve had some very favourable things to say about her work in the past. But here, I found that the vocal ticks I’ve noticed before – her rather sing-song style of delivery and her tendency to resort to a rather strained, throaty whisper for her male characters – really got on my nerves. In fact, at those points where Alex was supposed to sound sexy and seductive, the whispering just made me want to laugh, or cringe. And in turn, my issues with the performance only served to highlight my concerns with the pacing and plot. There are large chunks of the story in the first half of the book which are spent away from the two principals, and I found myself zoning in and out of those, only bringing my attention back when the main characters returned to the stage. Had I found the narration more engaging, I suspect I’d have been able to sustain my concentration for longer periods.
When it comes down to it, this isn’t an audiobook I feel I can recommend without some considerable reservation. The story is weak and the performance is flawed BUT, if you’ve enjoyed other audiobooks by this author/narrator team, and want to complete your collection, then you’re as likely to enjoy this as their other audios. If this is your first time listening to a book by Eloisa James, or to any historical romance, I’d say leave it alone and try something else.
I remember reading the other two books in this trilogy several years ago, but for some reason hadn’t read the first, Potent Pleasures, so listening to this new audiobook version seemed like a good idea. Unfortunately, it proved to be a disappointing experience overall, as the story relies too heavily on the fact that the main characters just don’t TALK to each other. The narration also leaves a lot to be desired, because, while there’s no doubting that Susan Duerden is a very accomplished vocal actress, some of her acting choices proved to be incredibly irritating – so much so that I was frequently tempted to abandon the book and listen to something else.
The story begins with our heroine, Lady Charlotte Daicheston, who is on the verge of her seventeenth birthday and her come-out ball, sneaking off to a masquerade with an adventurous friend. Very soon, she finds herself tempted out into the garden by a tall, dark, handsome stranger, whose kisses and caresses are so utterly thrilling that soon she’s on her back and completely ruined.
Alexander Foakes, Earl of Sheffield and Downs and his twin brother Patrick, are widely known throughout society as a couple of hellions. A few weeks after their brief appearance at Lady Charlotte’s coming out ball, they are packed off abroad by their father, who has grown tired of their continual carousing, roistering, and troublemaking.
We then skip ahead a few years, and Charlotte is twenty-two and still husband-less. It’s not for want of offers – she is the reigning belle of the ton and cuts quite a dash in society with her short-cropped curls and daringly cut gowns. When she meets Alex Foakes, who has recently returned from Italy with a one-year-old daughter in tow, she recognises him immediately as the man who took her virginity. He, however, doesn’t recognise her at all. He’d built himself up a picture of what his “garden girl” looked like behind her domino, even going so far as to have married a woman who resembled her and Charlotte’s short dark curls don’t fit the bill.
Even so, he is very much smitten. Initially, he had decided to look about him for a substitute mother for young Pippa, but the more he sees of Charlotte, the more intense his desire for her. Alex has returned home with more than a child, however. Rumours concerning his brief, unhappy marriage to a faithless Italian woman dog his footsteps, along with the gossip about the grounds upon which the marriage had been annulled – his (supposed) impotence.
Charlotte’s mother tries to explain the nature of Alex’s supposed “difficulties”, although as Charlotte has direct knowledge of his not-so-floppy-poppy, she’s unperturbed. She is, nonetheless, furious with him for not recognising the girl he ruined and is determined to reject his suit. The trouble is, she’s just as desperately attracted to him now as she was then – even more so now she is able to spend time with him and experience the full force of his seductive personality and witness his concern for his daughter.
Even on their wedding night, Alex doesn’t realise who Charlotte is. But he isn’t overly concerned about her lack of a maidenhead – until she inadvertently lets slip that she wasn’t a virgin. At that point Alex sees red – his disgust at being once more trapped into marriage with an unchaste woman clouding his judgement. When Charlotte tries to tell him that he’s the only man she’s ever slept with, he refuses to listen and storms off.
Fortunately, Alex soon comes to his senses and apologises to Charlotte for his behaviour, promising to trust her in future. She can’t resist him, forgives him, and the interrupted honeymoon is resumed, with Alex having quietly decided that his wife’s seducer must have been his twin. And you just know that the very fact of there being a twin brother waiting in the wings is going to cause even more trouble.
Potent Pleasures is one of Ms James’ earlier books, and I have to say, it shows. There’s a lot of head-hopping with some of the POVs belonging to very minor characters. There are pacing issues because, at some points in the book, there is just too much going on away from the central couple, and the two protagonists aren’t particularly engaging or well-developed characters. Charlotte has the potential to be quite interesting, what with her determination to remain unmarried, and her dedication to her painting, but once she falls under Alex’s spell she becomes sex-obsessed, starry-eyed and rather bland. As to the hero – there’s no denying Alex is a sexy, alpha male, but the way he treats Charlotte makes him difficult to like. He’s so pig-headed; he remembers deflowering a virgin (for the first and only time) several years ago, but because of his stupid insistence on believing his “garden girl” was a redhead, he is completely unable to believe she and Charlotte could be the same person. And because he abs-o-lutely-pos-i-tively did not have sex with her, it must have been Patrick. He blows up at her and calls her horrible names and won’t even listen to her version of events or consider that his is wrong. The one thing in his favour is that he does eventually admit to having been a complete wanker, but Charlotte still forgives him far too easily.
Unfortunately, the obvious holes in the plot and lack of strong characterisations in the book were only intensified in the audiobook version, because I didn’t particularly enjoy Susan Duerden’s narration. I’ve listened to her quite a lot, and have generally enjoyed her work; she’s an experienced performer, and is very good at bringing out the emotional content of the stories she reads, which is an important factor for me. She differentiates well between the characters, has a pleasantly modulated voice, and I’ve had some very favourable things to say about her work in the past. But here, I found that the vocal ticks I’ve noticed before – her rather sing-song style of delivery and her tendency to resort to a rather strained, throaty whisper for her male characters – really got on my nerves. In fact, at those points where Alex was supposed to sound sexy and seductive, the whispering just made me want to laugh, or cringe. And in turn, my issues with the performance only served to highlight my concerns with the pacing and plot. There are large chunks of the story in the first half of the book which are spent away from the two principals, and I found myself zoning in and out of those, only bringing my attention back when the main characters returned to the stage. Had I found the narration more engaging, I suspect I’d have been able to sustain my concentration for longer periods.
When it comes down to it, this isn’t an audiobook I feel I can recommend without some considerable reservation. The story is weak and the performance is flawed BUT, if you’ve enjoyed other audiobooks by this author/narrator team, and want to complete your collection, then you’re as likely to enjoy this as their other audios. If this is your first time listening to a book by Eloisa James, or to any historical romance, I’d say leave it alone and try something else.
July 2, 2020
First of the Pleasure series. Alex and Charlotte, have a rocky romance. Even though I liked Alex, he deserved a thump the way he treated Charlotte. Interesting read
February 1, 2016
Jedva sam pregurala prvih 200 stranica. Misli likova su zbrkane, izmijesane jedne s drugima pa se vise ni ne zna ko govori/misli. Glavni muski lik je kreten, a glavni zenski lik glupaca. Ruzan opis, ali istinit. Autorica kao da je pokusala da podvali njihovu zaljubljenost, ali kao sto i sami likovi u jednom momentu kazu, bez povjerenja nema nicega. A Aleks definitivno nema povjerenja u svoju zenu ni nakon sto joj obeca da se nece voditi svojim impulsima i da ce joj vjerovati.
Od 200te stranice radnja koliko-toliko ide u nekom pravcu, ali po mom misljenju, zapleti predstavljeni ovdje su mogli biti puno bolje izvedeni.
Sarlot od nezavisne djevojke postaje 'lovestruck fool' pa se kao pokusa njemu suprotstaviti kad je prvi put ponizi pa mu oprosti i beskrajno je zaljubljena u njega pa je on opet ponizi i ona je opet povrijedjena i nece da cuje za njega. I opet sve isto.
Shvatam ja da je radnja smjestena u period kad je musko-zenski odnos bio uredjen strogim pravilima tog doba, ali sve vrijeme sam imala osjecaj autorica na silu zeli da spoji ovo dvoje makar zbog toga trpjeli smislenost radnje i karakteri likova.
Od 200te stranice radnja koliko-toliko ide u nekom pravcu, ali po mom misljenju, zapleti predstavljeni ovdje su mogli biti puno bolje izvedeni.
Sarlot od nezavisne djevojke postaje 'lovestruck fool' pa se kao pokusa njemu suprotstaviti kad je prvi put ponizi pa mu oprosti i beskrajno je zaljubljena u njega pa je on opet ponizi i ona je opet povrijedjena i nece da cuje za njega. I opet sve isto.
Shvatam ja da je radnja smjestena u period kad je musko-zenski odnos bio uredjen strogim pravilima tog doba, ali sve vrijeme sam imala osjecaj autorica na silu zeli da spoji ovo dvoje makar zbog toga trpjeli smislenost radnje i karakteri likova.
January 3, 2013
Started off interesting. Story definitely unfolded very differently from what I expected. Charlotte is good heroine. Strong minded. Alex, on the other hand, was despicable. It was lust lust lust, "WHORE!" followed by more lust lust lust and then branding his wife a whore again. He basically ruined the whole book for me.
November 19, 2023
4.25 stars.
I almost gave it 5 for the beautiful writing and some really special moments of love and affection between Alex and Charlotte.
However I am not blind to the awful way Alex treated Charlotte I thought I would never forgive him but I don’t know how Eloisa James pulled it off at least in my mind. Others will probably disagree.
I’m giving this book stars for entertaining read, many different stereotypes broken, great writing, really amazing heroine a small point for our obsessed bipolar hero who does realizes his insanity and therefore maybe can be forgiven?
I don’t know the logic of it but it worked for me.
I almost gave it 5 for the beautiful writing and some really special moments of love and affection between Alex and Charlotte.
However I am not blind to the awful way Alex treated Charlotte I thought I would never forgive him but I don’t know how Eloisa James pulled it off at least in my mind. Others will probably disagree.
I’m giving this book stars for entertaining read, many different stereotypes broken, great writing, really amazing heroine a small point for our obsessed bipolar hero who does realizes his insanity and therefore maybe can be forgiven?
I don’t know the logic of it but it worked for me.
September 12, 2019
this one was pretty bad. It is a prime example of the power imbalance in the ton as well as a verbally abusive relationship.
Charlotte had a tryst in a garden during a masquerade party and she lost her virginity to a stranger with silver hair. Three years after she compromised himself, she finds out her masked lover's identity. Charlotte marries Alex knowing that he doesn't remember sleeping with her but now he thinks his wife has given herself to another. Alex proceeded to help insult after insult on Charlotte and she didn't do much to really explain their misunderstanding. She just turned into a wilting flower while Alex raged like a bull.
I have read a good number of Eloisa James books and this was by far the worst. The heroine was so weak and forgave so easily, while the hero was a jerk and a bully. The apology and weak attempt to redeem Alex didn't make this novel any better at the end. I finished the audiobook thinking that I am glad I've read many of her books before this one because if this had been my first story by the author, I would not try her again. Her novels are so much more entertaining and enjoyable. This one left me feeling unsettled and lacking confidence on Alex's ability to cope with any disappointments from Charlotte in the future.
Charlotte had a tryst in a garden during a masquerade party and she lost her virginity to a stranger with silver hair. Three years after she compromised himself, she finds out her masked lover's identity. Charlotte marries Alex knowing that he doesn't remember sleeping with her but now he thinks his wife has given herself to another. Alex proceeded to help insult after insult on Charlotte and she didn't do much to really explain their misunderstanding. She just turned into a wilting flower while Alex raged like a bull.
I have read a good number of Eloisa James books and this was by far the worst. The heroine was so weak and forgave so easily, while the hero was a jerk and a bully. The apology and weak attempt to redeem Alex didn't make this novel any better at the end. I finished the audiobook thinking that I am glad I've read many of her books before this one because if this had been my first story by the author, I would not try her again. Her novels are so much more entertaining and enjoyable. This one left me feeling unsettled and lacking confidence on Alex's ability to cope with any disappointments from Charlotte in the future.
March 8, 2018
Part of the flu/romance binge. I was really, really enjoying this at the beginning. I loved the way James was weaving stories from all the characters she introduced and I was okay with the main love story. Until I wasn't. The main male love interest is AWFUL towards the end and the main character just kind of lets it happen. She turns into a doormat and everything could be solved literally in 2 seconds if she just explains where they originally met. But she doesn't, and the guy keeps exploding and doing and saying really awful things. It turned completely unenjoyable for me, unfortunately, because it had a promising beginning.
March 14, 2019
3.5 stars. The hero was a HUGE jerk - really abusive and then super sorry. Sense a pattern? Also, agree with others - super annoying that the resolution "wrap up" was left SO late! And there is obvious set up for other love stories which were interesting but delved into too deeply as they got the main story off track IMO. The sex was really good though and that really made up for a lot. 😂
July 26, 2012
My first attempt to read a book by Eloisa James and what bad luck I had to choose this story. I liked the beginning of this... a mistaken identity, unforgettable first for them. Liked it up to that point at the ball of her first come-out. Then everything went downhill for me.
I had thought he would be pining for Charlotte until they met again. But no, he got married and had a child.
My second dislike is there's a child involved. I always stay away from romances involving widows/ers with kids. Aargh, the nerve of him to look for a wife just so his kid would have a 'mother'.
Then what is he like? randy as ever and it's all lust lust lust with him when he's with Charlotte.
And he doesn't ever remember her?! And to think that mystery got revealed at the freakin' end of the book!
He btw gave the most unromantic and impersonal proposal I've read. Not love her but they suit bec they're both sexually attracted to each other. tsk tsk
And don't get me started once he found out he's a virgin. His temper and his harsh words are just unforgivable. True, he's an idiot for not remembering but his bursts of anger did not just happen once.
I do not like the hero at all! And to think I was hoping he would redeem himself or this book for that matter but no. Wasted my time reading this book.
And the heroine btw is a masochist, too obsessed-with-an-undeserving-hero heroine.
I had thought he would be pining for Charlotte until they met again. But no, he got married and had a child.
My second dislike is there's a child involved. I always stay away from romances involving widows/ers with kids. Aargh, the nerve of him to look for a wife just so his kid would have a 'mother'.
Then what is he like? randy as ever and it's all lust lust lust with him when he's with Charlotte.
And he doesn't ever remember her?! And to think that mystery got revealed at the freakin' end of the book!
He btw gave the most unromantic and impersonal proposal I've read. Not love her but they suit bec they're both sexually attracted to each other. tsk tsk
And don't get me started once he found out he's a virgin. His temper and his harsh words are just unforgivable. True, he's an idiot for not remembering but his bursts of anger did not just happen once.
I do not like the hero at all! And to think I was hoping he would redeem himself or this book for that matter but no. Wasted my time reading this book.
And the heroine btw is a masochist, too obsessed-with-an-undeserving-hero heroine.
November 4, 2013
Wow, How many times can you be called a ho and accept it? There were several things that bothered me about this historical romance and that was the corker of them all. I also disliked:
A LOT of time spent detailing the friendship of Charlette and Josie(?) I forgot the BF's name already because after the initial mundane preferences of both characters, ex: one liked dancing the other didn't, one sat straight , the other lounged, she is dropped like a hot rock.
Whyyyyyyyyy? I want best friends to be around forever. But if you have to outgrow them or get rid of them why did you spend so much time comparing them?
Charlotte's romance or wham bam thank you mam affects her greatly.
Premarital sex, verbal abuse and trust are predominant themes.
The terms I slept with him Did they really speak that way back then? it really sounded to modern and out of place.
I did like Charlotte most of the time, but her new Best Friend Sophie was an improvement.
Oh yeah there was a handsome guy but he really was a jerk a lot of the time.
A LOT of time spent detailing the friendship of Charlette and Josie(?) I forgot the BF's name already because after the initial mundane preferences of both characters, ex: one liked dancing the other didn't, one sat straight , the other lounged, she is dropped like a hot rock.
Whyyyyyyyyy? I want best friends to be around forever. But if you have to outgrow them or get rid of them why did you spend so much time comparing them?
Charlotte's romance or wham bam thank you mam affects her greatly.
Premarital sex, verbal abuse and trust are predominant themes.
The terms I slept with him Did they really speak that way back then? it really sounded to modern and out of place.
I did like Charlotte most of the time, but her new Best Friend Sophie was an improvement.
Oh yeah there was a handsome guy but he really was a jerk a lot of the time.
June 27, 2022
2.5 stars
I love EJ but this isn't one of her finer works IMO. I loved the premise of it - virgin h has a delish rendezvous at a masquerade ball with a stranger, and they run into each other years later because they basically run in the same aristo circles (but, of course).
However, the plot went off track from then on and deteriorated into rumors of impotence, a little girl he's had from his first wife and numerous other little side stories that were distracting from the love story to me. I love EJs writing style, but the plot here was a miss for me.
I love EJ but this isn't one of her finer works IMO. I loved the premise of it - virgin h has a delish rendezvous at a masquerade ball with a stranger, and they run into each other years later because they basically run in the same aristo circles (but, of course).
However, the plot went off track from then on and deteriorated into rumors of impotence, a little girl he's had from his first wife and numerous other little side stories that were distracting from the love story to me. I love EJs writing style, but the plot here was a miss for me.
August 27, 2018
4 Stars!
September 26, 2018
I posle pet godina i ko zna kog čitanja i dalje volim ovo dvoje. ❤
February 16, 2022
3.5 stars 🎇
September 7, 2024
“I’m an idiot, darling. You’ve married an idiot.”
Charlotte brought Alex’s hand to her lips, kissing his palm. Her mouth curved against his hand in an irrepressible grin.
“Luckily, I’ve always been fond of fools,” she said,
And I ‘m fond of idiot jerks 🙈🤣
Charlotte brought Alex’s hand to her lips, kissing his palm. Her mouth curved against his hand in an irrepressible grin.
“Luckily, I’ve always been fond of fools,” she said,
And I ‘m fond of idiot jerks 🙈🤣
December 19, 2016
I'm going to be completely and 100% frank. This book is the EPITOME of all things we stand against. When it comes to this specific genre, I know about the fine line between erotic domination and just plain old abuse, physical or emotional. However the author crossed so far passed the line that I doubt she could see it even if she bothered to check her rear view mirror. This book may have been passingly acceptable if it were published in the same era as its setting but today? The only people who can afford to enjoy this read are misogynists who revel in sexism as a weekend hobby. I can literally hear the feminists around the world scream in frustration and turn to lives of crime. How much emotional violence needs to be hurled against you for you to pack up your bags and leave?! I found myself pleading with the author to put a damn backbone into our Charlotte. I loved the character in the beginning. Strong willed, paved her own path; did what was best for her whether it was the 'done' thing or not. It was well received by society. However, it took one asshat of a 'hero' to walk in, marry the girl and bed her to completely cripple her self esteem. I needed the author to get Charlotte to stick to her word in the carriage. She was a changed woman with no feelings of romance or love toward the Alex anymore because she knew then that what he had done was unforgivable. One sorry excuse for an apology in the midst of using her body later and our protagonist is on her knees instead (Pun not intended). I couldn't care less as to the remainder of the book after that. However, perhaps what threw me off my rocking chair the fastest was the fact that it didn't seem to matter to this specific jerk that he has boasted about ravishing hundred- no, thousands of other women, but her having one little indiscretion had him slut shaming her into tears and all the way out onto his porch. The only way I made peace with this novel was to ignore the authors failed attempt to keep my attention and make up a much more satisfying ending. So here it is and I hope it satisfies your cravings.
- Charlotte tells the Earl to shut the F@#% up and sit the F@#% down.
- Charlotte tells him the truth
- Charlotte packs her bags and wishes him a great life alone while he begs on his knees for her to forgive him
- Charlotte tells him she could never love a man like him and would never want to.
- Charlotte leaves and marries a man who knows what he has and cherishes her till the end
- Charlotte keeps in touch with Pippa and watches her grow up into a beautiful and intelligent young lady who knows how to stand up for herself
- Charlotte sees the Earl out riding or in the streets and is as proper and cordial towards him as any other lady who has yet to make his acquaintance.
- The last time Charlotte ever sees him is at Pippa's wedding. She attends with her loving husband and her 3 children. Pippa cries at the sight of her attendance and still refers to Charlotte as Mama. She asks Charlotte to accompany her down the aisle along with the Alex, who is shaking with devastation at seeing the life he could have had
- He calls out to her as she is leaving and ask if she still has not accepted his apology. She curtsies to him and says, "it was harder than anything I have ever done but yes I've forgiven"
- When he starts towards her she holds a hand out to stop him and continues, "but it will never be forgotten." And with that she picks up her littlest girl, takes the hand of her husband and they walk off into the sunset.
- THE. FRIGGIN. END
- and that is how the author was supposed to end that story.
- Charlotte tells the Earl to shut the F@#% up and sit the F@#% down.
- Charlotte tells him the truth
- Charlotte packs her bags and wishes him a great life alone while he begs on his knees for her to forgive him
- Charlotte tells him she could never love a man like him and would never want to.
- Charlotte leaves and marries a man who knows what he has and cherishes her till the end
- Charlotte keeps in touch with Pippa and watches her grow up into a beautiful and intelligent young lady who knows how to stand up for herself
- Charlotte sees the Earl out riding or in the streets and is as proper and cordial towards him as any other lady who has yet to make his acquaintance.
- The last time Charlotte ever sees him is at Pippa's wedding. She attends with her loving husband and her 3 children. Pippa cries at the sight of her attendance and still refers to Charlotte as Mama. She asks Charlotte to accompany her down the aisle along with the Alex, who is shaking with devastation at seeing the life he could have had
- He calls out to her as she is leaving and ask if she still has not accepted his apology. She curtsies to him and says, "it was harder than anything I have ever done but yes I've forgiven"
- When he starts towards her she holds a hand out to stop him and continues, "but it will never be forgotten." And with that she picks up her littlest girl, takes the hand of her husband and they walk off into the sunset.
- THE. FRIGGIN. END
- and that is how the author was supposed to end that story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 24, 2016
What? No. Just no. I usually love Eloisa James, but this... The hero is a complete asshole who didn't deserve the heroine; Charlotte should have dropped Alex like a hot potato. He didn't trust her, verbally and emotionally abused her, and came close to physical abuse, and yet somehow everything ends up tied up in a pretty ribbon? I don't think so.
May 19, 2017
I really wish I read this series in order, because then it wouldn't have given so much away. I have to say this was the best from the 3 books. The others come in *very* close and again I have to hand it to Eloisa James she really knows how to write drama and angst-filled forlorn couples. This is totally different from her more recent works where it's more light humorous and fluffy, this series is much more dark and riddled with angst. Charlotte and Alex make you want to rip your heart out and your hair at times. I'm a drama-book junkie, I love when tension and angst is brought into a story cause it makes it that much more interesting and not boring. The story and characters in this are fully fleshed out and take you on an emotional roller coaster.
While I'm not a fan of men hurling insults or nasty words to the women they love, I still loved Alex. He's not for everyone and given what he does and how he lashes out at Charlotte in here he's a complicated character who I myself wanted to slap a few times. Alex is a very flawed far from perfect hero, he's to the point of mean and cruel at times but makes up for it when he comes through for Charlotte. I'm sure some may not have liked him for it even hated him but I found myself understanding him. Again if you like fluffy light reads this isn't the book for you. Very heartbreaking angsty story. I love Charlotte she's smart witty and has sass. While Alex made me want to punch him at times he did win me over. Great job to Eloisa James. Once again the last few chapters EJ brings it to a dramatic build where you are on the verge of bawling your eyes out. Beautifully written! I loved the book and loved the series! Wish there were more books to this series.
While I'm not a fan of men hurling insults or nasty words to the women they love, I still loved Alex. He's not for everyone and given what he does and how he lashes out at Charlotte in here he's a complicated character who I myself wanted to slap a few times. Alex is a very flawed far from perfect hero, he's to the point of mean and cruel at times but makes up for it when he comes through for Charlotte. I'm sure some may not have liked him for it even hated him but I found myself understanding him. Again if you like fluffy light reads this isn't the book for you. Very heartbreaking angsty story. I love Charlotte she's smart witty and has sass. While Alex made me want to punch him at times he did win me over. Great job to Eloisa James. Once again the last few chapters EJ brings it to a dramatic build where you are on the verge of bawling your eyes out. Beautifully written! I loved the book and loved the series! Wish there were more books to this series.
April 22, 2009
Eloisa James does a wonderful job on Potent Pleasures. Can you imagine being so “touched” from a “one night stand”(using today’s terms) that no future matches could really compare? Then imagine “falling” into them three years later and being just as enchanted. James writes about this very thing in the first book of her Pleasures trilogy (Potent Pleasures, Midnight Pleasures, Enchanting Pleasures) yet only one remembers the other even though both remember the moment. The Earl is a devestatingly handsome, strong, and confident man who also loves his little girl he’s just recently reunited with and caring for. Since the night she lost her virginity at a masked ball in the gardens, Charlotte cares nothing for marriage but only for her painting and excelling at it until the forgetful Earl comes back into her life three years later. So much compassion and passion between these two but there’s lack of trust and lots of stubbornness that interfere with the love they don’t realize they truly have for the other until the end. I believe this was one of the first historical romances that made me cry feeling the Earl’s emotions while a disturbing yet not uncommon event occurs that could take the life of Charlotte (ALMOST spilled it! This incident was a short scene yet it hit me good.).
April 3, 2019
Excellent book. Loved the writing. The main characters were very interesting and obviously destined to be together. It was cute and fulfilling without being cheesy.
September 9, 2015
The heroine didn't get the memo that the hero has to WORK for your forgiveness when he screws up HUGE...Love doesn't make up for all acts of jackassery.
February 26, 2020
It was hard to get engaged because it would randomly focus on some insignificant character like someone standing on the side of the ballroom that wasn't directly connected to the main characters. Alex was an awful hero. Most of the time he was okay but two times he was absolutely horrible to Charlotte. Those situations were resolved too easily without much fanfare. I won't be reading the rest of this series.
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