Vaginal Fantasy Book Club discussion

Post Spoilers and comments etc here. Have you read a straight romance before? What do you think? Did you like the writing? Was the smut too much?!

I just started "Desperate Duchesses" and I am cracking up because the opening is reminding me of "Dirty Dancing." Anyone else just waiting for Roberta to say: "I carried a watermelon?"

I hope this gets political.

I will definitely be purchasing ebook format. I still haven't come to a point of being able to show off steamy romance book covers in public with confidence. Maybe after enough time in this group I will ;)

Aside from that though, I'm looking forward to delving into this genre of smut. My experience with bodice-ripping historical fiction is very limited (I've only read Outlander to date).

I read this book a few years ago and it is on my "keepers" shelf. Eloisa James has a very distinctive style. I'm looking forward to re-reading and hearing what people think about it!

Bahamas Doris I thought the same thing to about the watermelon!!

just finished this book. i found the first 20 or so chapters rather boring, but it really picked up after that and i couldn't put it down. i will probably read the other books in the series

I've read a lot of these books. Started with Kathleen Woodiwiss and rally enjoyed the Julie Garwood books.

I personally stay away from straight up romance novels, but for you ladies, I'll give this pick a try. Seems like a light, fun read.

About 5 chapters in so far, and all I can say is that I do believe I am addicted! I'm a huge fan of period pieces in every form of media, so I was immediately drawn into this world Eloisa James created. In between customers at work today I looked ahead at the descriptions for the rest of the books in the series and I cannot wait to get to them and see what happens to the other duchesses!

Is there anyone out there who has read the entire series and can answer a few questions for me? The biggest one I have is if I should read them in order or not? Because the 5th book in the series focuses on Jemma and Elijah's relationship and I REAAAALLLY want to read all about that! I want to read all the books, obviously. But I would totally love it if I could find out the entire story of our favorite cousin and her hubby, before reading about the lives of the other dukes and duchesses!

I finished the book lastnight. It's not something I would have read on my own. however I did enjoy it very much in fact I couldn't put it down.

when i was reading the description of the book, the first thing that came to my attention was a certain french epistolary novel ( "liasons dangerause")

Justine wrote: "I read this book a few years ago and it is on my "keepers" shelf. Eloisa James has a very distinctive style. I'm looking forward to re-reading and hearing what people think about it!"

Me too! Eloise James is one of the few authors that I will buy a book without hemming and hawing over the decision. I have a lot of her books. Regency romances are my FAVORITE romances (normally the only ones that I read, until I found this group) so I am thrilled that one of my fav genres is getting read!

I'm about 48% through Desperate Duchesses and I'm a little disappointed by the lack of smut. There were some steamy times between Roberta and Damon, but at this point nothing more than some kissing under an apple tree.
I'm also having a bit of a problem because I keep on falling asleep while reading. I'm not sure if this is because the book isn't really capturing my attention or I've had a really long day at work.
I do like that this isn't really a thinking book. I don't have to keep track of dozens of characters and places. My brain isn't working overtime with this book. :)

Marcia, you don't need to read them in order. Also, This Duchess of Mine is probably my favourite of all the Eloisa James novels I've read (although I don't know if it was made better by the fact that I had four books of build-up before I got Elijah and Jemma's story).

Thank you Malin! I may just do what you did, just so that Jemma's story is even more juicy when I finally get to it.

Malin wrote: "Marcia, you don't need to read them in order. Also, This Duchess of Mine is probably my favourite of all the Eloisa James novels I've read (although I don't know if it was made better by the fact t..."

Hmmm... It is true that you don't have to read them in order; you could even read them as stand alone novels.

However, I don't think it's just build up; I think Jemma and Elijah's story actually arcs through multiple books. So does the story of another important character who shall remain nameless (for fear of spoilers). If you like the style and think you might read the whole series, I think it is worth it to read it in order.

I also found there wasn't enough smut! Although I did find it rather addicting and ended up reading it all day yesterday and finished it. Definitely would have preferred a bit more description of the characters. I felt as if I was grasping at straws as to what they look like. Maybe my brain just didn't catch the descriptions?

I read this book in less than a day. It was....steamy? I think there was neither too much smut nor too little-it seemed just right to me. The budding romance between she and Damon is what kept the story interesting for me and made the 'smut' enjoyable. I don't think I would enjoy a romance novel that didn't have characters that I connected with, even if there were more steamy scenes.
I found the writing style to be surprisingly good for what I was imagining it to be-lots of Shakespeare references, which was refreshing.
Loved the book! I had never read a romance novel and I will definitely be reading more Eloisa James.

I loved it! This is the mst common type of romance I read and I always enjoy a slightly oddball character. I know they tend to be a bit formulaic... but gosh I love them anyway.
Good suggestion by the girls.
As far as smut goes neither this nor the alt were too dirty for me... But there was enough to make me happy :)

I found the chess/sex conversations between Jemma and Villiers to be soooo WTF to my brain, how is that sexy i have no idea. maybe just for the brains of it.

Not liking Villiers character at all and did anyone notice how his name is so very very close to 'villain'? Wonder if that was on purpose.

Almost finished the book, rooting for Damon *snickers* Feeling a bit sorry for the Mad Marquess. Will probably read the next one depending on how the ending goes. easy read, though I've come from reading the Sword of Truth series to this and the writing styles were a bit of a shock. once i got over that, i flew through it.

In aggreeance with most others about the lack of smut, but i think thats cos we're all dirty gutter brains ;)

Nice break after last months books, need that light fluffy easy read after Kushiels and no doubt before Bonnies picks next month =D

PS. the name 'Desperate Duchesses' make me giggle every time!

I've gotten about 3 chapters into this one. I'm liking it but it is very different than what I'm used to.

Finished this one tonight and I was soooo pleasantly surprised. Anybody else find it surprisingly witty? Definitely going to read more of this author!

I just started reading today and I'm super excited for the smutz! :P

Does anyone else have a problem with characters acting and thinking like 21st century women? I've read too many Auten's/Heyer's and sometimes I just have to pretend these novels happen in a parallel universe! Otherwise I would nitpick the whole novel. I know these stories are not supposed to be highly detailed but I just wish there was a blend of Heyer's research with a little smut (nothing in her novels). BTW anyone who has loves the Recency area has to read at least one Heyer novel!

Also (so far) this book takes place in the Gregorian Era, not the Regency Era!

Just started chapter 5 and am shamefully sucked in -lol. I don't have much experience in this genre, but I suspect it will become a guilty pleasure of mine.

So far I think Jemma is my favorite character, she is quite hilarious. :)

Chess and sex, what a winning combination ;)

LadyCello wrote: "Chess and sex, what a winning combination ;)"

actually when I was learning how to play chess a friend told me chess is like sex: at times you whip the horse and at others you push the queen

I must be in the minority, cause I didn't really care for it at all. The smutty parts were good but there weren't that many of them and there really wasn't anything interesting happening in between. I thought the characters were all selfish asshats that I had a really hard time caring about. The ending was boring and predictable. (although the mental flashback to the episode of the guild where Codex talks about romance heroines ending up pregnant in the epilogue made me smile) Overall- it wasn't the worst book I've ever read but I feel absolutely no desire to read anything else by this author or even any other books in this genre ever again.

Have to say I really enjoyed this one and I am not much of a straight up romance reader! It made me laugh a lot, I was instantly bored when the chess games were described, but thankfully they did not take over the book. I did appreciate the intelligent mind games that went with it. Shook my head often at Roberta's teenage silly crush on Villiers and naivity with which she approached kissing and sex... sigh...
I have to say I really loved the scene where she loses her virginity (both part A and B) and thought it is possibly the most well written sex scene we have had yet. It was touching, hilarious, realistic and sexy all at once. But I did wish that he would stop calling her Buttercup.
Were people really that slutty and cheating on everyone in the 1700's?

I was really excited when I saw this was a period piece because those are my favorite. It took a little while for me to get into this one but then I couldn't stop reading it and finished in a couple of days. Really liked it.

I read lots of different books but romance is the genre I devour.

This book was very hard for me to get into and if I hadn't been reading it for this I probably would have dithered around and maybe even not got past the first quarter of the book. One main sticking point was so many characters... I'm used to that in other types of fiction, but not so much in Romance. I felt like they spent so much time on various stories that the 'main' couple in this got short changed a bit.

I will say that by the time I was halfway through the book I did end up enjoying it and I'll probably seek out the others in this series.

It's always fun to stretch myself a bit with something I might never have picked up...

Enjoying this a ton! Light, fluffy and funny!

Having reminded myself of all the books in the "Desperate Duchesses" series, I would also like to recommend book 6, A Duke of Her Own, where Villiers finally meets his match. While he's rather an antagonist in the earlier books, I always had a bit of a soft spot for him, and he really does make a very interesting romance hero.

Besides, if Lisa Kleypas can make Sebastian St. Vincent into one of my favourite romance heroes ever in Devil in Winter, after the villainous stunt he pulls in It Happened One Autumn, then Villiers can certainly be a credible hero in the right book.

Anyone else skip head to the sexy parts? I'm only 1/3 through, but I couldn't resist. (BTW, I really love being able to just search a smutty word in my Nook to find the sexy parts.) Those scenes are really hot, but the rest of the book is having a little trouble holding my attention. Although, I now what I have to look forward to, so it might get better. :)

This book just constantly reminds me of Austin Powers and how they play Chess in Russia to keep warm. Totally ruins the mood.

Haven't gotten far yet, but not so impressed. Glad to see others commenting it picks up later! Missing the complicated bits of last months book, couldn't belive I'd ever say that... This is too fluffy and stereotypical for my taste still, but I'll definately stick with it to the end.

Ack, I am a little disappointed that this is NOT a Regency, but I am still really enjoying it. I have only read a few chapters, so far, but it was so hard to put down! I love Eloisa James's writing style.

I'm a bit underwhelmed so far as well, but I'm not quite halfway yet. Maybe I'm just not a fan of the period? I'll see, there hasn't been a book yet I haven't finished, I'm too damn stubborn.

Chapter 32 sex scene: super hot!

In case you aren't there yet, I'll leave it at that.

Ok I'm on chapter 14, and am enjoying in general, but here's my problem: I find Roberta (besides having the least attractive name imaginable) incredibly annoying and stupid. Shes in love with a man because he wore a pretty coat and mentioned wanting to have sex with her? Drop it, girl! He's openly a dick and Damon's throwing himself at you. "Let's practice kissing"? Marry him already.

Took me just over a day to read this - did so on the Kindle App on my phone - very easy to read in the breaks/ whilst walking home!

It did take a while to get going but definitely worth it for the main smut in the last third. Am also a fan of the Jemma/Beaumont relationship, this alone would make me want to read more in this series and, in fact, interested me more than the main protagonists.
I could see her trying to make the Villiers character more rounded and interesting but there were times when there just seemed to be too much going on with him and he came across as almost multi-personalitied!

There were occasional slips into modern vernacular which grated and also the over use of hyphens (could just of been the kindle) got annoying but overall very easy to read.

I'll never look at a set of dominoes in the same way again!

I've read a lot of historical romance before - some smutty some not so. I agree with Erin about (Georgette) Heyer. Definitely worth a read and pretty historically accurate.

I also found Roberta annoying. I read the book about three days ago and I am having trouble drawing her to mind. She fell so flat in contrast to the other characters.
I also simply do not understand her attraction to Villiers. It made no sense to me.

I finished this book today. I would say it was the quickest of all our reads so far. It's not my favorite from all the selections I've read (that is evenly split between Soulless and Kushiel's Dart for me), but it was a pleasant, light-hearted change of pace after Kushiel's Dart.

I'm definitely a Damon fan. He did have a little alphaness to him, but his sweetness and sincerity balanced it for me. Personally, I felt him too good for Roberta, but maybe because her character made no sense to me. One minute she's falling over in love for the villainous Villiers, next she suddenly realized (within DAYS) that "Oh, I love Damon who actually gives a damn about me and won't give me a crappy marriage proposal". Also, I got somewhat annoyed by her combo of supposed "book-smarts" and lack of social skills. I realize her character was a product of secluded upbringing, but I guess it still bugged me. I also had to keep reminding myself that they were DISTANT cousins, otherwise it got briefly incestuous when I let it slip my mind.

I found a few things were left unfinished, but maybe they get addressed later in the series. I would like to hear more of where Jemma and Beaumont go after being separated for eight years (which I understand is addressed later in the series). Also, oddly enough I'd like to see a story from the viewpoint of the servants like Brigitte and Fowte. Oh the scandals they are privy to!

Overall, not something I would have grabbed myself, but still pleasant to read. I won't lie though, after the last hangout discussion, I'm intrigued to see what dark, twisted romance novel Bonnie selects. For the record, I have no problems with Cthulu.

Finished! I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised with this book. Who knew romance could be funny? I actually found myself laughing out loud a few times. :) Absolutely loved the Mad Marquess and Jemma. I actually found myself more interested in Jemma and Beaumont's relationship than in Roberta and Damon's.

Will I read more straight up romance? Probably not. Still, Desperate Duchesses was a nice break after reading Kushiel's Dart and Tigana last month, and I'm glad I read it. Can't wait to hear what Bonnie and Veronica think!

LadyCello: I'm also excited for Bonnie's month. Bring on the tentacles! :)

I'm a fair way through the book. I'm a the point where it appears Roberta, or should I say Buttercup, is about to be deflowered. I am enjoying this book. The witty banter and sly jokes are really hilarious and I needed it after slogging through Dark Guardian by Christine Feehan.

The story is pretty typical romance, but the writing and dialog are what are really selling this book for me.

This was a quick read but I didn't really like any of the characters apart from Damon. I didn't care what happened to them and the chess just really annoyed me.

Finished this book last night and, while usually bored by historical romance, this one was entertaining, witty and intelligent. I loved the parallels drawn between chess and sex (being an avid chess player myself) and thought that the combination of prudery and sexual promiscuity was appropriate for the age. I loved the scenes between Damon and Roberta! Villiers was a cad, but he had some depth that I'd like to explore in the later books. I'll also echo Molly (message 48) by saying Jemma and Beaumont's relationship intrigued me more than the one between Roberta and her men. The Mad Marquess was adorable as well, though I can understand why Roberta was such an odd combination of intelligence and naivete.

Great choice, Kiala!

Love it, love it, looove it! Almoste too steamy to read when not completely alone! Leaving my boyfriend alone in front of TV tonight, I'm spending mine with Damon... *deep sigh*

I'm enjoying the wit and humor, and of course, the smut ;-)