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Pleasures #3
Enchanting Pleasures
People magazine named Eloisa James’ novel Midnight Pleasures “Page Turner of the Week” and raved “Romance writing does not get much better than this.” Now the acclaimed author returns with another sumptuous tale of passion and misadventure in Regency England. . . .
Gabrielle Jerningham cherishes the portrait of her betrothed, the perfect Peter Dewland . . . until she meets his commanding older brother Quill. But it is Peter to whom she has been promised. And how can she possibly transform her voluptuous, outspoken self into the poised gentlewoman Peter requires?
When Gabby’s shocking décolletage plunges to her waist at her first ball, Peter is humiliated. But Quill comes to the rescue, to the peril of his heart. An accident years before has left Quill plagued by headaches—the kind that grows more excruciating with strenuous exercise. Needless to say, this hardly bodes well for siring progeny. But the very sight of Gabby leaves Quill breathless. One forbidden kiss and Quill vows to have her, headaches—and Peter—be damned! But it will take a clever man—and a cleverer woman--to turn the tables on propriety and find their way to true love. . . .
Praise for Enchanting Pleasures
“Another winner . . . delightful heroine, masterful hero, and an ingenious intelligent, sexy fun.” — Kirkus Reviews
“Charasmatic characters and a healthy dose of humor . . . once again, James weaves a story as rich in plot as in character.” — Publishers Weekly
Gabrielle Jerningham cherishes the portrait of her betrothed, the perfect Peter Dewland . . . until she meets his commanding older brother Quill. But it is Peter to whom she has been promised. And how can she possibly transform her voluptuous, outspoken self into the poised gentlewoman Peter requires?
When Gabby’s shocking décolletage plunges to her waist at her first ball, Peter is humiliated. But Quill comes to the rescue, to the peril of his heart. An accident years before has left Quill plagued by headaches—the kind that grows more excruciating with strenuous exercise. Needless to say, this hardly bodes well for siring progeny. But the very sight of Gabby leaves Quill breathless. One forbidden kiss and Quill vows to have her, headaches—and Peter—be damned! But it will take a clever man—and a cleverer woman--to turn the tables on propriety and find their way to true love. . . .
Praise for Enchanting Pleasures
“Another winner . . . delightful heroine, masterful hero, and an ingenious intelligent, sexy fun.” — Kirkus Reviews
“Charasmatic characters and a healthy dose of humor . . . once again, James weaves a story as rich in plot as in character.” — Publishers Weekly
422 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published April 30, 2002
462 people are currently reading
1835 people want to read
About the author
Eloisa James
123 books9,539 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 295 reviews
May 19, 2010
This was my first Eloisa James and I must admit that it doesn't make me want to try a second one of her books. It wasn't badly written, well not too badly, but the book's bra straps were totally showing.
Erskine Dewland's viscount father has arranged for Quill, as Erskine is nicknamed, to marry Gabrielle Jerningham, the daughter of a duke's younger son who has been living in India as a missionary. However, Quill's riding accident a few years back left him with a bum leg and migraines - acute three-day migraines which are triggered by horse riding and sexual congress. Unwilling to be married if he can't be a true husband, his father compels Quill's younger brother Peter to marry her instead, much to Peter's consternation.
Thus begins a sort of comedy of errors.
Gabrielle has grown up in India in an extremely sheltered home and is utterly ignorant of English rules of decorum and social skills in general. Her frequent gaffes, clumsy moments and misjudgements are meant to be humorous, I suppose, but I found them grating. I didn't understand why she wouldn't ask for guidance or quietly observe how others behaved if she truly wanted to impress the propriety-focused Peter as she said she did.
So we stumble along the romantic love triangle plot, an odd sub-plot involving smuggling a young heir to an Indian throne and a seemingly random sub-plot romance between a male character whose presence in the novel is never explained and woman who's connected to Gabby in a loose friend of a friend sort of way. I can't for the life of me imagine what the extra romance sub-plot was included to show, but the prince smuggling was very obviously to show how very super clever Gabby is. Hello plot? Your slip is sticking out a bit there in the back.
There are a number of rather heavy handed moments like this. Gabby's friend Sophie must have been a heroine of an earlier novel, as we're given a wealth of info about her and her husband that does little to advance this plot. She's also unreasonably loyal and perfect as a friend. I get it. She's Sophie's friend. There's no need to make her a total Mary Sue to make the point.
It's evident fairly early on that Peter is gay. Not only gay, but romance novel gay - obsessed with fashion, parties and gossip. He does not want to marry the ungainly Gabby at all - dismissing her as uncultured, clumsy and chubby - and treats her unfeelingly. His POV shows a callous, selfish man rather than a sympathetic outsider caught up in unfortunate circumstances. As we spend a fair amount of time with him, it's a downer to not be able to empathize with him. And again, we get it, he doesn't want to marry Gabby, he didn't have to be a total dick about it. He is one of many unsympathetic characters in this novel.
And, to be honest, Gabby was wholly unlikeable herself. I can't abide a liar, and Gabby can't tell the truth or keep a promise. Quill makes her promise not to buy crazy remedies to try to cure his migraines, as he's tried them all and has just accepted the migraines are a part of him. So what does she do? She slips him a dangerous medication because she loves him and knows what's best for him. James does not even begin to torture her nearly enough to redeem her for that violation.
Quill was pretty much the only likeable character in the book. He's crippled by a riding accident, but gets on with it, refusing to dwell on what he can't change. When he sees how miserable Peter and Gabby would be, and he acknowledges how much he likes Gabby himself, he sets out to marry Gabby - three-day nausea-filled migraines be damned. He's honest, responsible and sensitive. He's also surrounded by idiots.
Sad to say I disliked the book. Entirely too transparent a plot, too much telling, plot exposition in dialog and unlikeable characters team up to make me a sad panda indeed.
Erskine Dewland's viscount father has arranged for Quill, as Erskine is nicknamed, to marry Gabrielle Jerningham, the daughter of a duke's younger son who has been living in India as a missionary. However, Quill's riding accident a few years back left him with a bum leg and migraines - acute three-day migraines which are triggered by horse riding and sexual congress. Unwilling to be married if he can't be a true husband, his father compels Quill's younger brother Peter to marry her instead, much to Peter's consternation.
Thus begins a sort of comedy of errors.
Gabrielle has grown up in India in an extremely sheltered home and is utterly ignorant of English rules of decorum and social skills in general. Her frequent gaffes, clumsy moments and misjudgements are meant to be humorous, I suppose, but I found them grating. I didn't understand why she wouldn't ask for guidance or quietly observe how others behaved if she truly wanted to impress the propriety-focused Peter as she said she did.
So we stumble along the romantic love triangle plot, an odd sub-plot involving smuggling a young heir to an Indian throne and a seemingly random sub-plot romance between a male character whose presence in the novel is never explained and woman who's connected to Gabby in a loose friend of a friend sort of way. I can't for the life of me imagine what the extra romance sub-plot was included to show, but the prince smuggling was very obviously to show how very super clever Gabby is. Hello plot? Your slip is sticking out a bit there in the back.
There are a number of rather heavy handed moments like this. Gabby's friend Sophie must have been a heroine of an earlier novel, as we're given a wealth of info about her and her husband that does little to advance this plot. She's also unreasonably loyal and perfect as a friend. I get it. She's Sophie's friend. There's no need to make her a total Mary Sue to make the point.
It's evident fairly early on that Peter is gay. Not only gay, but romance novel gay - obsessed with fashion, parties and gossip. He does not want to marry the ungainly Gabby at all - dismissing her as uncultured, clumsy and chubby - and treats her unfeelingly. His POV shows a callous, selfish man rather than a sympathetic outsider caught up in unfortunate circumstances. As we spend a fair amount of time with him, it's a downer to not be able to empathize with him. And again, we get it, he doesn't want to marry Gabby, he didn't have to be a total dick about it. He is one of many unsympathetic characters in this novel.
And, to be honest, Gabby was wholly unlikeable herself. I can't abide a liar, and Gabby can't tell the truth or keep a promise. Quill makes her promise not to buy crazy remedies to try to cure his migraines, as he's tried them all and has just accepted the migraines are a part of him. So what does she do? She slips him a dangerous medication because she loves him and knows what's best for him. James does not even begin to torture her nearly enough to redeem her for that violation.
Quill was pretty much the only likeable character in the book. He's crippled by a riding accident, but gets on with it, refusing to dwell on what he can't change. When he sees how miserable Peter and Gabby would be, and he acknowledges how much he likes Gabby himself, he sets out to marry Gabby - three-day nausea-filled migraines be damned. He's honest, responsible and sensitive. He's also surrounded by idiots.
Sad to say I disliked the book. Entirely too transparent a plot, too much telling, plot exposition in dialog and unlikeable characters team up to make me a sad panda indeed.
March 14, 2019
I usually love it when a book gives me two love stories all wrapped up in one package. I actually enjoyed the second couple and their love story more than the main couple.
I wasn't a fan of the heroine. She was a naive, stubborn, know it all. Her wants were more important than what was right. She would lie, connive and manipulate to get her way.
The hero wasn't scarred, but he had a previous hip injury that made riding horses and sex painful and debilitating. He was by far the best character in the book.
So I accidentally started with book 3 of the series which really sucks because it was only mediocre and this is the highest rated book in the series. Yikes!!! I guess I will try my luck with Potent Pleasures and hope for the best while reading about Charlotte and Sophie.
I wasn't a fan of the heroine. She was a naive, stubborn, know it all. Her wants were more important than what was right. She would lie, connive and manipulate to get her way.
The hero wasn't scarred, but he had a previous hip injury that made riding horses and sex painful and debilitating. He was by far the best character in the book.
So I accidentally started with book 3 of the series which really sucks because it was only mediocre and this is the highest rated book in the series. Yikes!!! I guess I will try my luck with Potent Pleasures and hope for the best while reading about Charlotte and Sophie.
dnf
December 9, 2016PERO QUE LIBRO MÁS MALO.
No me gustó
No me gustó nada
Ni la prota
Ni el prota
Ni la historia
NADA
lo dejé y no, porque como soy masoquista solo me pasé hojas y leí algunas partes.
Se me hizo una historia tonta, lenta y muy floja. Sin fundamento con unos protagonistas muy pero muy lelos.
En fin, que a mi la autora me había gustado mucho pero en esta novela no.
Es que en serio, ella parece enamorada del hermano del prota aunque nunca lo hubiera visto. Y luego, cuando se "enamora" del prota (que por cierto...no puede hacer "aquellito" que porque le dan migrañas al pobre) cae rendida a sus pies y ya se aman.
Uffff no, lo siento pero no me lo tragué.
No me gustó
No me gustó nada
Ni la prota
Ni el prota
Ni la historia
NADA
lo dejé y no, porque como soy masoquista solo me pasé hojas y leí algunas partes.
Se me hizo una historia tonta, lenta y muy floja. Sin fundamento con unos protagonistas muy pero muy lelos.
En fin, que a mi la autora me había gustado mucho pero en esta novela no.
Es que en serio, ella parece enamorada del hermano del prota aunque nunca lo hubiera visto. Y luego, cuando se "enamora" del prota (que por cierto...no puede hacer "aquellito" que porque le dan migrañas al pobre) cae rendida a sus pies y ya se aman.
Uffff no, lo siento pero no me lo tragué.
July 16, 2025
One of her earlier books, this was clearly the best written of the trilogy. Who doesn't love a spunky, plump and smart heroine who falls in love with a wounded, silent hero? Overall, a really good historical romance with an exotic touch of the East.
(Reviewed 3/29/14)
(Reviewed 3/29/14)
April 20, 2015
Historic Romance Disappointing
This is my third Eloisa James novel. After loving the first two, I found this one oddly disjointed. It starts with great promise, a likeable heroine with a vivid imagination and two lovely children in her care. But the children don't stay in the story for long, I wish they did, and the heroine loses her sense of humor not much later.
The nature of their marital conflict leaves the bulk of this novel fairly tense, as Gabby tells her newly bereaved mother-in-law,
But my bigger frustration is the hero, I just cannot abide passive aggression, and, in this novel, the hero bounces back and forth between hot and cold so often that I began to lose respect for him, as Gabby says,
That said, I cared enough about Gabby to keep reading, and, truth to tell, I did enjoy the novel. Quill and Gabby were each at fault for their stubbornness, and both recognized that by the end.
The heat level in the novel is fairly low, a few bedroom scenes, not overly detailed. In fact, this is one of those books where the title has little to do with the book itself, as far as I could see. No foul language.
This is my third Eloisa James novel. After loving the first two, I found this one oddly disjointed. It starts with great promise, a likeable heroine with a vivid imagination and two lovely children in her care. But the children don't stay in the story for long, I wish they did, and the heroine loses her sense of humor not much later.
The nature of their marital conflict leaves the bulk of this novel fairly tense, as Gabby tells her newly bereaved mother-in-law,
Quill and I would never wish you to leave your home because of us...we aren't intending to be cheerful anyway
But my bigger frustration is the hero, I just cannot abide passive aggression, and, in this novel, the hero bounces back and forth between hot and cold so often that I began to lose respect for him, as Gabby says,
I may well wish to murder you at some date in the future given your tendency to jump to absurd conclusions...You're not stupid, Quill, so don't talk drivel.
That said, I cared enough about Gabby to keep reading, and, truth to tell, I did enjoy the novel. Quill and Gabby were each at fault for their stubbornness, and both recognized that by the end.
The heat level in the novel is fairly low, a few bedroom scenes, not overly detailed. In fact, this is one of those books where the title has little to do with the book itself, as far as I could see. No foul language.
May 19, 2017
My very first Eloisa book I read and I really loved it. Really charming story. Really surprised me how much fun it was reading this. There's so much heart, love, passion and angst all in one. I love Quill. He broke my heart. I believe this is the most angst-filled series Eloisa has written. Caught me by surprise completely. The story was both really funny witty and heartbreaking at the same time. Gabby is not your typical heroine. She's different when compared to other heroine's I've read in other books. She was really fun to read although at times I felt she was a little too loosey goosey, her reactions to some things I felt were a bit much and made her look a *little* airheaded. And it did drive me nuts how prudish she was about making love. I'm not a fan of that but the way she came through for Quill made her endearing. The last few chapters just broke my heart I couldn't put the book down. Really powerful and intense. Really great read. I think the Pleasure series is some of Eloisa James' best work hands down. 5 stars all the way!!!
October 5, 2022
I was going to give this book four stars until the last 30% happens and everyone loses their minds. Gabby was already teetering on the edge of being hella annoying and she pitches herself fully off that cliff at the end by being absolutely bonkers in the worst way.
Then the dream reveal?! Of Quill and Peter’s scheme.
Yikes. This book became complete trash there at the end.
Then the dream reveal?! Of Quill and Peter’s scheme.
Yikes. This book became complete trash there at the end.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 8, 2020
Last of the Pleasure books. I have enjoyed each book .
Gabby and Quill story . Gabby was supposed to marry Quill's brother Peter. Who was horrified, that his father was making him marry Gabby. Quill liked Gabby when he first met her of the ship from India. Liked the small story of Lucien and Emily.
Gabby and Quill story . Gabby was supposed to marry Quill's brother Peter. Who was horrified, that his father was making him marry Gabby. Quill liked Gabby when he first met her of the ship from India. Liked the small story of Lucien and Emily.
January 18, 2015
I am not sure that I would characterise this novel as an ‘Enchanting Pleasure’ but more of a ‘Prolonged Torture.’ Perhaps ‘Torture’ is a tad too strong, maybe ‘Anguish’ is more suitable. Either way, my sense of relief when I turned the final page was swift and all-consuming. I feel annoyed that I have a negative view of this novel, because I have read other Eloisa James novels which I have given such high ratings, so felt all the more disappointed with this novel.
In general I would say that the main failing of this novel was its length, there was not nearly enough ‘action’ to pad out 400+ pages, and I believe that I would have been far more favourable had a hundred or two pages been cut. There was just a lot of faff and repetition which just bored and frustrated me – how many times would Quill and Gabby misunderstand each other during conversation? How many times would they be in situations where the chaperone caught them or failed to do her job? How many times did Gabby have to have rational conversations about how sinful and disgusting sex was?
I did love Quill, I thought his story was unique and he was the perfect Regency Hero. Attractive, powerful, moody yet an utter sweetheart beneath the scowls… A man of means who was possessive and lusty and just… Lovely.
Then there was Gabby…
I can’t think of another Regency Heroine that I have hated more. She was irritating and I felt that she wasn’t properly characterised. At the start of the novel she was clumsy and unkempt, yet by the middle of the novel these traits were never mentioned again beyond her hair falling constantly out of her clips. (I mean honestly, if her hair fell out of its clips once, it fell out a thousand times, by the end I was picturing it as strands of jelly it was supposedly so slippery)
In one chapter Gabby would reel off important facts regarding Indian Politics and in the next she couldn’t take a hint that she was tubby or that Peter didn’t like her, or that she wasn’t quite acting like an English Lady. On one hand she was running round kissing Quill - without a thought for Peter who she supposedly loved - and throwing herself at poor Peter in public, and then spent the rest of the novel screeching about how sinful and disgusting sex was.
I couldn’t stand how easily she fell in love with Peter, then how resolutely she stuck to these emotions despite kissing Quill and forming a bond with him, and then she just as easily fell out of love with Peter and into love with Quill… Gabby as a character was up and down more than one of Madame Careme’s bodices.
In truth I view Quill as our lead narrator and hero - swoon - and Gabby as a minor inconvenience in the telling of his story.
All of this seems very negative, I know but honestly, can I say that it is the worst Regency Romance novel that I have read? No. Was it with a sense of relief that I closed the book for the final time? Perhaps. Will I continue to read Eloisa James? Absolutely.
In general I would say that the main failing of this novel was its length, there was not nearly enough ‘action’ to pad out 400+ pages, and I believe that I would have been far more favourable had a hundred or two pages been cut. There was just a lot of faff and repetition which just bored and frustrated me – how many times would Quill and Gabby misunderstand each other during conversation? How many times would they be in situations where the chaperone caught them or failed to do her job? How many times did Gabby have to have rational conversations about how sinful and disgusting sex was?
I did love Quill, I thought his story was unique and he was the perfect Regency Hero. Attractive, powerful, moody yet an utter sweetheart beneath the scowls… A man of means who was possessive and lusty and just… Lovely.
Then there was Gabby…
I can’t think of another Regency Heroine that I have hated more. She was irritating and I felt that she wasn’t properly characterised. At the start of the novel she was clumsy and unkempt, yet by the middle of the novel these traits were never mentioned again beyond her hair falling constantly out of her clips. (I mean honestly, if her hair fell out of its clips once, it fell out a thousand times, by the end I was picturing it as strands of jelly it was supposedly so slippery)
In one chapter Gabby would reel off important facts regarding Indian Politics and in the next she couldn’t take a hint that she was tubby or that Peter didn’t like her, or that she wasn’t quite acting like an English Lady. On one hand she was running round kissing Quill - without a thought for Peter who she supposedly loved - and throwing herself at poor Peter in public, and then spent the rest of the novel screeching about how sinful and disgusting sex was.
I couldn’t stand how easily she fell in love with Peter, then how resolutely she stuck to these emotions despite kissing Quill and forming a bond with him, and then she just as easily fell out of love with Peter and into love with Quill… Gabby as a character was up and down more than one of Madame Careme’s bodices.
In truth I view Quill as our lead narrator and hero - swoon - and Gabby as a minor inconvenience in the telling of his story.
All of this seems very negative, I know but honestly, can I say that it is the worst Regency Romance novel that I have read? No. Was it with a sense of relief that I closed the book for the final time? Perhaps. Will I continue to read Eloisa James? Absolutely.
July 23, 2025
Well done!!! The relationship between Quill and Gabby was really cute.
I found myself hooked with both characters. It's always a pleasure to read them.
Gabby is plump (like me) and talkative (like me also) who appears to be brainless (kinda lurus bendul cam sha gak) but smart and have a pure heart.
I liked the part when Quill is trying to woo Gabby. It's so cute!!! The scene when Gabby drugs her husband had me laughing out loud.
Totally enchanting ♥♥♥
I found myself hooked with both characters. It's always a pleasure to read them.
Gabby is plump (like me) and talkative (like me also) who appears to be brainless (kinda lurus bendul cam sha gak) but smart and have a pure heart.
I liked the part when Quill is trying to woo Gabby. It's so cute!!! The scene when Gabby drugs her husband had me laughing out loud.
Totally enchanting ♥♥♥
August 7, 2011
So he can't have sex because he suffered an injury that leaves him with a horrible three day headache after horse riding and apparently, woman riding. Which, really, I didn't much care about because his personality was comparable to drift wood and who wants someone as boring as that to procreate and have little baby drift woods? And the heroine, remarkably dumb and naive...seriously. Though, she does have something that makes up for it--remarkably large breasts. Really James? You can do better...
August 4, 2010
Love it. Just read the back cover (which is mostly all I do with romance novels - usually - but when it says that the hero has an injury that causes him headaches from "rhythmic motion" - how can you NOT read this book?).
August 25, 2021
this was BAD bad even for an eloisa james and god knows i had low standards whilst reading this - DNF at 80 ish %…. when you’re so close but can’t quite finish it; that’s when you know it’s getting to a pretty horrific level 😬
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January 6, 2023While reading book 2 I was hoping book 1 would be the fluke, because of how much I truly didn't like the first one. But after reading this one it turns out that book 2 was the fluke because it was the best one in this trilogy. 2/3 being bad is a horrible stat for a new to me author. I'm hoping that since I'm trying to read by pub date the writing gets better and I get more of what I loved from Midnight Pleasures.
The only good things about this one was Lucien and Emily, I would've loved more of that love story and the brief Sophie and Patrick cameos.
Peter was absolutely horrible to everyone including himself. Quill didn't know what he was doing or saying, HUGE hypocrite. And Little Miss Gabrielle believed everything that was told to her and was sooo green that she could blend well into the gardens, I'm supposed to believe that she has a brilliant mind to do what she did while she changes whose she's in love with depending on the way the wind blows.
All characters sucked and I hated it all. I would much rather read about Toby from Tessa Dare's Wanton Dairymaids then have to read this book ever again...
The only good things about this one was Lucien and Emily, I would've loved more of that love story and the brief Sophie and Patrick cameos.
Peter was absolutely horrible to everyone including himself. Quill didn't know what he was doing or saying, HUGE hypocrite. And Little Miss Gabrielle believed everything that was told to her and was sooo green that she could blend well into the gardens, I'm supposed to believe that she has a brilliant mind to do what she did while she changes whose she's in love with depending on the way the wind blows.
All characters sucked and I hated it all. I would much rather read about Toby from Tessa Dare's Wanton Dairymaids then have to read this book ever again...
March 1, 2012
Like all books in the Pleasures series, it had lovable characters. Quill and Gabby could not be more opposite. He's the silent and brooding type while Gabby is the chatterbox and cheerful type.
Well, I gotta say, Eloisa James did put a part where one of them was dying... but... still. I wished there was more of Quill's romantic, desperate pleas for Gabby.
I have a favorite scene here, though.
I loved the integration of the Indian cultures though. But I had hoped that Patrick appeared more since he was from India before.
Oh and I also adore the small story between Lucien and Mrs. Ewing.
Well, I gotta say, Eloisa James did put a part where one of them was dying... but... still. I wished there was more of Quill's romantic, desperate pleas for Gabby.
I have a favorite scene here, though.
I loved the integration of the Indian cultures though. But I had hoped that Patrick appeared more since he was from India before.
Oh and I also adore the small story between Lucien and Mrs. Ewing.
October 14, 2018
I tried to read this book for the second time to get out of a reading slump but that didn't work very well. My previous 5 star rating was generous since this book does have some issues so I had to correct it but overall it was an enjoyable experience reading it.
September 10, 2009
Delight. Marred only by the fact that no satisfying conversation takes place in the end about how Quill does for his wife what he abhorred his wife doing for him.
June 4, 2019
A nice conclusion to the trilogy. Funny and fluffy read, just what I wanted. The heroine can get over the top silly at times, the Hero also gets silly too at the end.
gave-up
January 1, 2018Oh, hell to the no. Eloisa James. Susan Duerden. Not my favorite combination, but I gave them a chance.
September 21, 2024
4,25 stars, best of the series!
July 14, 2012
Even if you didn't know this was an early Eloisa novel, you could tell if you had read a few of her recent novels as I have. Her signature and beloved whimsy isn't as prevalent here, but it rears up every now and again to the delight of readers!
Pros:
-The dream sequence was neat! I hadn't encountered anything like it so far in a novel.
-A character of questionable sexuality. Again, not something I see frequently.
-Lady Sylvia! I won't be forgetting her anytime soon. Too bad the story didn't allow her to be featured more. The Duchess was a decent fill-in, though.
-Sex scenes were decent, but Eloisa has improved her pen skills there in the past decade.
-It was very cool, as a fan of Ms. James, to read an early work and see just how far she has come, and how she differs now from then. I could feel Eloisa and her blossoming in EP, which was awesome.
Cons:
-I cared very little for Lucien and Emily and their story. They were flat in personality. Their love felt rushed. Also, there was too much of a separation of their story and the main story. It felt like when a soap opera switches scene, and you'd rather continue watching the scene before.
-I get that India was an important part of this book, as well as the setting, but way too much of the content dealt with the EIC and all that hubub. Okay, so you wanted to show your readers how much heart, loyalty, and cleverness Gabby had, Eloisa circa 2001? You didn't need to go into politics and foreign battles to achieve that.
-I actually wish the character of questionable sexuality would've been the side storyline, especially how the character ties in with Gabby and Quill.
-The names Erskine and Quill. Okay. *shrugs*
-Fashion was a major part of society back then, and was important to Peter, sure. But did we need to read so much detail into it? Much of it seemed unneccesary to get across that looks were vital in the Beau Monde, as to Peter.
-Some insanely corny, cringeworthy dialogue at times. Again, Eloisa has improved since.
-The lack of directness between Quill and Gabby leads to a couple frustrating "do we have to go through this again?" moments between the two that frustrated me as a reader. One instance of that beating-around-the-bush-miscommunication is enough per book, thank you very much.
Pros:
-The dream sequence was neat! I hadn't encountered anything like it so far in a novel.
-A character of questionable sexuality. Again, not something I see frequently.
-Lady Sylvia! I won't be forgetting her anytime soon. Too bad the story didn't allow her to be featured more. The Duchess was a decent fill-in, though.
-Sex scenes were decent, but Eloisa has improved her pen skills there in the past decade.
-It was very cool, as a fan of Ms. James, to read an early work and see just how far she has come, and how she differs now from then. I could feel Eloisa and her blossoming in EP, which was awesome.
Cons:
-I cared very little for Lucien and Emily and their story. They were flat in personality. Their love felt rushed. Also, there was too much of a separation of their story and the main story. It felt like when a soap opera switches scene, and you'd rather continue watching the scene before.
-I get that India was an important part of this book, as well as the setting, but way too much of the content dealt with the EIC and all that hubub. Okay, so you wanted to show your readers how much heart, loyalty, and cleverness Gabby had, Eloisa circa 2001? You didn't need to go into politics and foreign battles to achieve that.
-I actually wish the character of questionable sexuality would've been the side storyline, especially how the character ties in with Gabby and Quill.
-The names Erskine and Quill. Okay. *shrugs*
-Fashion was a major part of society back then, and was important to Peter, sure. But did we need to read so much detail into it? Much of it seemed unneccesary to get across that looks were vital in the Beau Monde, as to Peter.
-Some insanely corny, cringeworthy dialogue at times. Again, Eloisa has improved since.
-The lack of directness between Quill and Gabby leads to a couple frustrating "do we have to go through this again?" moments between the two that frustrated me as a reader. One instance of that beating-around-the-bush-miscommunication is enough per book, thank you very much.
August 3, 2010
I don't actually have a "romance" shelf, so we'll just go with a combo of chicklit and historical fiction . . .
Anyway. This book is hysterically funny, in a truly charming way. Quill, the oldest son, knows he will never sire an heir to his family's estate, because an injury has made it impossible for him. No, it's not what you're thinking! Wait for it . . . "Repetitive, rhythmic exercise" causes him to having blinding headaches. (Take a minute to giggle.) His younger brother, a true dandy, has been betrothed from a distance to Miss Gabrielle, who has been raised in a very free fashion in India. She is frequently disheveled, and suffers from the odd wardrobe malfunction or two . . . in short, the dandified Peter's nightmare. Quill, of course, finds her delightful, and she is determined to help him make a full recovery . . . And, yes, you can take it from there. Fun, sexy, funny, and with some great historical detail.
Anyway. This book is hysterically funny, in a truly charming way. Quill, the oldest son, knows he will never sire an heir to his family's estate, because an injury has made it impossible for him. No, it's not what you're thinking! Wait for it . . . "Repetitive, rhythmic exercise" causes him to having blinding headaches. (Take a minute to giggle.) His younger brother, a true dandy, has been betrothed from a distance to Miss Gabrielle, who has been raised in a very free fashion in India. She is frequently disheveled, and suffers from the odd wardrobe malfunction or two . . . in short, the dandified Peter's nightmare. Quill, of course, finds her delightful, and she is determined to help him make a full recovery . . . And, yes, you can take it from there. Fun, sexy, funny, and with some great historical detail.
September 25, 2014
This was by far the best of the series. I think it is probably because when the potential for misunderstanding comes up, i.e. the husband saying something ridiculous, instead of getting her feelings hurt and staying silent for weeks on end, Gabby totally calls him on it. I loved it--she wouldn't really let him be too much of an idiot, which made this book a lot of fun. I also loved her quirky character and loved that Quill loved her for it. I'm also a sucker for when the "lady of the house" makes friends with the servents, although I thought this could have been developed a bit more. Oh, and I also loved her weird and wacky chaperone, Lady Sylvia! I was also glad to see that Lucien Boch finally found his woman, but would have loved to seen him get his own book!
June 15, 2010
Three stars because the heroine is completely stupid and can't figure out which brother she's in love with. Now, I don't like love triangles to begin with, but especially not in romance novels, so...
On top of this, the ending is pretty ridiculous and overly dramatic. This whole book is overly dramatic. It felt like watching an over-acted play or something, a play in which I didn't like any of the characters. The secondary romance added nothing to the story either, only made it longer.
That said, there are a few good moments (though obviously not that good, since I can't even rememebr them), and it can be quite funny when it's not trying too hard.
On top of this, the ending is pretty ridiculous and overly dramatic. This whole book is overly dramatic. It felt like watching an over-acted play or something, a play in which I didn't like any of the characters. The secondary romance added nothing to the story either, only made it longer.
That said, there are a few good moments (though obviously not that good, since I can't even rememebr them), and it can be quite funny when it's not trying too hard.
April 4, 2008
Possibly my favorite romance of all times...full of flawed people who just make you want to laugh your way into love!
April 9, 2009
Awwwww! For some reason this is one of my favorite of Eloisa's. Next to the first one in this series. I love how much Quil fights his desire. Good stuff.
December 4, 2021
I like most of the books I read these days, I jumped into this one face-first without any knowledge of the plot. I will say that though this is the third book in a series, it stood on its own. I sensed there were references to the other couples from the previous books, but nothing so obscure as to completely confuse me. I appreciated that.
That said, this book is entirely. too. long. It should have been 1/3 the length it is. There was too much going on all the time. The third person perspective actually made the book more rambling than I thought was possible. The third person POV books I’ve read previously seemed very to the point versus those with first person POVs. This story followed every Dick and Harry that showed up with any kind of regularity in the story, and I thought it was too many perspectives because many of the characters’ thoughts and observations didn’t contribute to the momentum of the plot. There was also a lot of drama going on. There was the father drama between the male MC, his brother, and their father over the entire marriage business, the fem MC’s initial engagement to the jerky brother and all the clothing issues/social embarrassment that came with it, the fem MC’s young female companion and their quest to find her aunt, then later the aunt’s romance with one of the male MC’s friends and her troubles with a pushy wannabe beu, the fem MC’s involvement in the hiding of her Indian younger “brother” and all the llama drama that came with the East India Trading Co.’s search for him, in addition to the fem MC’s budding physical relationship with the male MC and eventually their marriage (and the death of the male MC’s father during their ceremony), but after they married the drama didn’t end because then they had to have about a quadrillion misunderstandings and arguments about how to sex and the male MC’s migraines, until finally the fem MC Snow Whited herself and almost died in the process. All this occurred amidst general societal gossip that was gone over often. It was. A lot. Too many strings in this plot. Not enough time was dedicated to one string or another, or even a couple at once. I would forget about the Indian prince until he was randomly brought up again, same went for the little girl. The male MC’s migraines weren’t really an issue until after the MCs were engaged, then they were all the MCs could talk/think about. There wasn’t really any dimension given to the little girl’s aunt and her romance with the Frenchman. He showed up often at her house, even when she told him to leave, he took her out to a ball to help her career once, and he scared a leech up off of her, that was about all that happened before they were declaring they loved each other and getting engaged. So much detail was given to less (completely un) important things like exact descriptions of everyone’s clothing, but when it came to why the Frenchman left his home and abandoned his title or even why the fire took out his family in the first place, details were extremely sparse/nonexistent. That was really annoying. I cared less about the trillion banal conversations that occurred between the fem MC and the little girl than I did why the little prince was so afraid of people. It sounded like he was traumatized, but instead of coming up with a more complex and compelling story for why he was so jumpy, the author left it at “he’s a little slow”, as if shrugging and saying, “eh he was born that way, moving on. Now I’m going to describe every square meter of wallpaper in this 3 story 12 bedroomed house”.
Originally, I thought the MCs were a good fit, but towards the last 2/3s I changed my mind. They were always talking past one another when it came to arguments. These were some of the most circular, and thus irritating, arguments between literary characters I’ve come across in a long time. What kills me is the drama was completely manufactured. It was like after writing the wedding scene, the author completely forgot who her male MC was and made him into a nasty, bitter, selfish, completely non-communicative man utterly without a sense of humor who spewed vileness whenever he got mildly offended by the fem MC (usually because of some misunderstanding) or thrown off kilter. He wasn’t always an ass, but he was super super annoying with his out of the blue self-pitying ways, made even more intolerable by his tendency to spit acid at the fem MC when he was feeling shitty. His issues with “migraine cures” were perfectly understandable, but mixed in with a slurry of other frivolous arguments, the compelling nature of such a difficult moral dilemma was greatly diluted, which was horribly disappointing. I saw a lot of potential in that theme, but it wasn’t given the tender love and care it needed to really be a main plot point in this convoluted story.
I couldn’t stand the male MC’s brother. He was an ass. I didn’t get the feeling that his jerky behavior towards the fem MC was the exception to the rule. From his actions, I believe his affection/kindness towards his family and close friends was the exception. He could have easily been someone who didn’t warm up to people easily, especially someone he resented the sight of because of what she represented. Instead we were TOLD he was kind (god I hate that) and not SHOWN it. He showed no kindness to anyone but his mother (which doesn’t really count). We were also told he had a submissive personality, which I didn’t really see at all except in the beginning. Instead of calling him kind and “a good son”, I would have called him a a morally upright, emotionally reserved, metrosexual homosexual (at least I think that’s what they were hinting at during the switcheroo conversation between the brothers) who was prone to moodiness and tantrums. Nothing could/should have excused his behavior towards the fem MC. He was a dick, and he said some pretty shitty stuff without ever apologizing to her or acknowledging his part in the fiancé switcheroo. Honestly, once he had served his usefulness to the plot, the author ferreted him, his mother, and the fem MC’s old chaperone away on a long journey and never really mentioned them again. This gave me the impression they were all just plot devices and nothing more, and honestly, none of them were very 3-D. There was an attempt with the dandy’s vague backstory of never being respected by his father and talk of the chaperone’s ludicrous stories and her dead husband but none of it was fleshed out. Little nuggets of information could have been slipped between the more frivolous details and events to have given the mother, chaperone, and dandy son more robust characters.
Along the line of being shown not told, it was also mentioned the fem MC was known for being clumsy. I only saw two instances of clumsiness in the entire 400 some-odd paged book. That’s not very clumsy at all. Also what’s with romance authors only making their fem MCs clumsy? Where are the clumsy males? A female tripping over herself and making a mess of things in front of her crush can only be done so many times before it’s entirely too much.
Another random detail about the fem MC was her apparent lying habit. It didn’t come into play until, of course, after she got married. During all that time the MCs spent sucking face and talking beforehand not once did it come up. Then when that kind of habit would be useful in justifying the direction of the plot, up it pops.
I didn’t like the Snow White climax. It was much. The fem MCs flair for dramatics was previously displayed, but jesus h. roosevelt tap dancing christ drinking a literal poison to “prove” its harmlessness only to fall victim to it was something straight outta Shakespeare (now that I think on it, that was probably the point, since he’s mentioned so often and the fem MC is a “romantic”). My biggest issue with that entire section of the book was that it negated the very valid issue the male MC had with the fem MC breaking his trust when he (and her healer friend) straight out said her her compulsive need to shove medications into the male MC was something she should curb. The MCs never finished that argument, and my even greater problem, the fem MC never apologized. While she kept saying over and fucking over that her intentions were good, we all know what the road to hell is paved with, but that’s besides the point, she never acknowledged that her decision to willfully go against his wishes hurt him. He apologized for his initial deceit when he proposed, and the issue was honestly kind of resolved because he did have feelings for her then (I refuse to say he loved her because there was too much lust clogging up the room for me to believe it). The fem MC’s lies, however, were sometimes unnecessary and had the power to be much more physically and emotionally harmful, yet she said nothing in the way of “oh shit, my bad homes”.
I listened to the audiobook, and the narrator sometimes drove me up the wall, though not as badly as some others I’ve come across. She gave the fem MC (nearly all the females, really) a gaspy voice when the author distinctly described it like a voice made for phone sex, to put it how other romance authors do. The high, gaspy tone made the fem MC sound like she was 18 and immature, and the gaspiness only got worse after she read the little girl’s parts.
Why did the fem MC’s soon to be in-laws not formally go over London ton etiquette with her? They knew she was shit at it and would embarrass them, yet they did nothing to prevent her from making blunders, and the brothers only scolded her when she made a mistake. Didn’t make much sense.
One final, smaller annoyance. I understand the fem MC grew up with her asshole of a father looking over her shoulder all the time and she didn’t really have any friends/world experience otherwise, but she mentioned his teaching so (too) much it seemed like she idolized him. I liked the conversation the male MC had with her before they had sex for the first time where he asked her what her father was really like. That conversation touched on some really interesting elements of her psyche but, of course, the conversation only went so deep (very shallow) and was never re-visited again. Still glad it was done though. She was starting to get on my nerves with “my father” this “it’s a sin” that. I wanted to shake her like a salt shaker myself.
Overall, this book had a lot of interesting plot points, but there were so many that each one kinda got lost in the sauce. The sex scenes were pretty steamy, if a little repetitive and slow to come to…climax (hehehe). I don’t think I’ll be reading the other books in the series. These books are too detailed and slow-moving for me.
That said, this book is entirely. too. long. It should have been 1/3 the length it is. There was too much going on all the time. The third person perspective actually made the book more rambling than I thought was possible. The third person POV books I’ve read previously seemed very to the point versus those with first person POVs. This story followed every Dick and Harry that showed up with any kind of regularity in the story, and I thought it was too many perspectives because many of the characters’ thoughts and observations didn’t contribute to the momentum of the plot. There was also a lot of drama going on. There was the father drama between the male MC, his brother, and their father over the entire marriage business, the fem MC’s initial engagement to the jerky brother and all the clothing issues/social embarrassment that came with it, the fem MC’s young female companion and their quest to find her aunt, then later the aunt’s romance with one of the male MC’s friends and her troubles with a pushy wannabe beu, the fem MC’s involvement in the hiding of her Indian younger “brother” and all the llama drama that came with the East India Trading Co.’s search for him, in addition to the fem MC’s budding physical relationship with the male MC and eventually their marriage (and the death of the male MC’s father during their ceremony), but after they married the drama didn’t end because then they had to have about a quadrillion misunderstandings and arguments about how to sex and the male MC’s migraines, until finally the fem MC Snow Whited herself and almost died in the process. All this occurred amidst general societal gossip that was gone over often. It was. A lot. Too many strings in this plot. Not enough time was dedicated to one string or another, or even a couple at once. I would forget about the Indian prince until he was randomly brought up again, same went for the little girl. The male MC’s migraines weren’t really an issue until after the MCs were engaged, then they were all the MCs could talk/think about. There wasn’t really any dimension given to the little girl’s aunt and her romance with the Frenchman. He showed up often at her house, even when she told him to leave, he took her out to a ball to help her career once, and he scared a leech up off of her, that was about all that happened before they were declaring they loved each other and getting engaged. So much detail was given to less (completely un) important things like exact descriptions of everyone’s clothing, but when it came to why the Frenchman left his home and abandoned his title or even why the fire took out his family in the first place, details were extremely sparse/nonexistent. That was really annoying. I cared less about the trillion banal conversations that occurred between the fem MC and the little girl than I did why the little prince was so afraid of people. It sounded like he was traumatized, but instead of coming up with a more complex and compelling story for why he was so jumpy, the author left it at “he’s a little slow”, as if shrugging and saying, “eh he was born that way, moving on. Now I’m going to describe every square meter of wallpaper in this 3 story 12 bedroomed house”.
Originally, I thought the MCs were a good fit, but towards the last 2/3s I changed my mind. They were always talking past one another when it came to arguments. These were some of the most circular, and thus irritating, arguments between literary characters I’ve come across in a long time. What kills me is the drama was completely manufactured. It was like after writing the wedding scene, the author completely forgot who her male MC was and made him into a nasty, bitter, selfish, completely non-communicative man utterly without a sense of humor who spewed vileness whenever he got mildly offended by the fem MC (usually because of some misunderstanding) or thrown off kilter. He wasn’t always an ass, but he was super super annoying with his out of the blue self-pitying ways, made even more intolerable by his tendency to spit acid at the fem MC when he was feeling shitty. His issues with “migraine cures” were perfectly understandable, but mixed in with a slurry of other frivolous arguments, the compelling nature of such a difficult moral dilemma was greatly diluted, which was horribly disappointing. I saw a lot of potential in that theme, but it wasn’t given the tender love and care it needed to really be a main plot point in this convoluted story.
I couldn’t stand the male MC’s brother. He was an ass. I didn’t get the feeling that his jerky behavior towards the fem MC was the exception to the rule. From his actions, I believe his affection/kindness towards his family and close friends was the exception. He could have easily been someone who didn’t warm up to people easily, especially someone he resented the sight of because of what she represented. Instead we were TOLD he was kind (god I hate that) and not SHOWN it. He showed no kindness to anyone but his mother (which doesn’t really count). We were also told he had a submissive personality, which I didn’t really see at all except in the beginning. Instead of calling him kind and “a good son”, I would have called him a a morally upright, emotionally reserved, metrosexual homosexual (at least I think that’s what they were hinting at during the switcheroo conversation between the brothers) who was prone to moodiness and tantrums. Nothing could/should have excused his behavior towards the fem MC. He was a dick, and he said some pretty shitty stuff without ever apologizing to her or acknowledging his part in the fiancé switcheroo. Honestly, once he had served his usefulness to the plot, the author ferreted him, his mother, and the fem MC’s old chaperone away on a long journey and never really mentioned them again. This gave me the impression they were all just plot devices and nothing more, and honestly, none of them were very 3-D. There was an attempt with the dandy’s vague backstory of never being respected by his father and talk of the chaperone’s ludicrous stories and her dead husband but none of it was fleshed out. Little nuggets of information could have been slipped between the more frivolous details and events to have given the mother, chaperone, and dandy son more robust characters.
Along the line of being shown not told, it was also mentioned the fem MC was known for being clumsy. I only saw two instances of clumsiness in the entire 400 some-odd paged book. That’s not very clumsy at all. Also what’s with romance authors only making their fem MCs clumsy? Where are the clumsy males? A female tripping over herself and making a mess of things in front of her crush can only be done so many times before it’s entirely too much.
Another random detail about the fem MC was her apparent lying habit. It didn’t come into play until, of course, after she got married. During all that time the MCs spent sucking face and talking beforehand not once did it come up. Then when that kind of habit would be useful in justifying the direction of the plot, up it pops.
I didn’t like the Snow White climax. It was much. The fem MCs flair for dramatics was previously displayed, but jesus h. roosevelt tap dancing christ drinking a literal poison to “prove” its harmlessness only to fall victim to it was something straight outta Shakespeare (now that I think on it, that was probably the point, since he’s mentioned so often and the fem MC is a “romantic”). My biggest issue with that entire section of the book was that it negated the very valid issue the male MC had with the fem MC breaking his trust when he (and her healer friend) straight out said her her compulsive need to shove medications into the male MC was something she should curb. The MCs never finished that argument, and my even greater problem, the fem MC never apologized. While she kept saying over and fucking over that her intentions were good, we all know what the road to hell is paved with, but that’s besides the point, she never acknowledged that her decision to willfully go against his wishes hurt him. He apologized for his initial deceit when he proposed, and the issue was honestly kind of resolved because he did have feelings for her then (I refuse to say he loved her because there was too much lust clogging up the room for me to believe it). The fem MC’s lies, however, were sometimes unnecessary and had the power to be much more physically and emotionally harmful, yet she said nothing in the way of “oh shit, my bad homes”.
I listened to the audiobook, and the narrator sometimes drove me up the wall, though not as badly as some others I’ve come across. She gave the fem MC (nearly all the females, really) a gaspy voice when the author distinctly described it like a voice made for phone sex, to put it how other romance authors do. The high, gaspy tone made the fem MC sound like she was 18 and immature, and the gaspiness only got worse after she read the little girl’s parts.
Why did the fem MC’s soon to be in-laws not formally go over London ton etiquette with her? They knew she was shit at it and would embarrass them, yet they did nothing to prevent her from making blunders, and the brothers only scolded her when she made a mistake. Didn’t make much sense.
One final, smaller annoyance. I understand the fem MC grew up with her asshole of a father looking over her shoulder all the time and she didn’t really have any friends/world experience otherwise, but she mentioned his teaching so (too) much it seemed like she idolized him. I liked the conversation the male MC had with her before they had sex for the first time where he asked her what her father was really like. That conversation touched on some really interesting elements of her psyche but, of course, the conversation only went so deep (very shallow) and was never re-visited again. Still glad it was done though. She was starting to get on my nerves with “my father” this “it’s a sin” that. I wanted to shake her like a salt shaker myself.
Overall, this book had a lot of interesting plot points, but there were so many that each one kinda got lost in the sauce. The sex scenes were pretty steamy, if a little repetitive and slow to come to…climax (hehehe). I don’t think I’ll be reading the other books in the series. These books are too detailed and slow-moving for me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 26, 2023
So this is an early book from a talented writer and the immaturity shows. The writing style is already confident, which is why it got 2 stars. But the book is a melodramatic, histrionic mess. The hero is sooooo annoying, and he’s the more attractive of the pair. Hard to say what the heroine is, but she never makes sense. She’s smart enough to outsmart both the British Foreign Service and the East India Company (with the aid of letters and people being sent to and from India faster than a modern jet could accomplish it) but not smart enough to keep her boobies in her dress. She’s supposed to be so innocent of men that she moons over a portrait and gets hysterical over her husband wanting sex in the daytime, declaring it wicked, devilish and sinful, but somehow doesn’t think there’s anything wrong about kissing her fiancé’s brother. Every issue that comes up is dealt with at least twice. I could go on and on but the bottom line is that Eloisa James has written much, much, MUCH better books and this one is to be avoided.
June 17, 2020
3.5. I have to admit I don’t think I would have made it that far in this series if I wasn’t listening to them on audio. I like Susan Duerden’s narration but man the characters in this series were hard headed. Not to mention that, in the first 2 books especially, most of the angst could have been completely resolved early on if the H&h sat down and had a good honest conversation.
January 12, 2023
The story kept my attention, and I loved the main character. The romance was lovely. But the frequent head hopping from one POV to another was distracting to me, and the solution to the major problem didn’t seem realistic. Three stars … I don’t regret reading it, but I won’t be reading other books in the series.
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