Seven Minutes in Heaven - Eloisa James (Desperate Duchesses #9, Desperate Duchesses by the Numbers #3)

Oh, Eloisa James.  You never fail me.  Not really.  Unlike the last historical romance I read, Lisa Kleypas' Devil in Spring, James' latest, Seven Minutes in Heaven, was an utter delight, even if trying to keep the relations of all the characters straight made my head ache.

 

Seven Minutes is the third in the Desperate Duchesses by the Numbers series, which is a continuation of the Desperate Duchesses series, but with the "next generation" of couples finding love.  The hero, Ward Reeve, is the illegitimate son of the hero of the first Desperate Duchesses book, the Earl of Gryffyn.  The heroine, Eugenia Snowe, is the widowed daughter of the hero of Duchess by Night, which I think was DD #3.  But pretty much all of the couples make an appearance here in one way or another, and the way they're all connected--having read the original books several years ago and even the most recent one around a year ago--gave me a bit of a headache as I tried to keep everyone straight.

 

The plot is simple.  Since her widowing, Eugenia has operated a registry for governesses, sending out the best child-rearers in the country to families in need.  Ward is definitely in need.  He's recently found himself the guardian of his two younger half-siblings, who are eight and nine years old and have to this point been raised under rather unusual circumstances.  Unusual enough that they're little hellions and have driven away not one but two of Eugenia's best governesses in short order.  So he decides he wants Eugenia--and it doesn't hurt that he's attracted to her, and that she's decided that maybe moving on from her dead husband to have a little fun would be in her best interests...

 

As with all of James' books, this is charming.  There's a simple misunderstanding at the heart of the book, albeit one that, for most of the time, the two main characters don't really know exists.  Yes, a little more communication could have been useful and derailed most of it, but the two protagonists were so concerned with being proper even within the bounds of a rather improper relationship that I can kind of see why they were being so circumspect with each other.  Their banter was delightful and witty, as James' banter always is.  And while Eugenia is willing to compromise on many things, one thing she is not willing to compromise on is that the man she ends up with must respect her--and while she thinks Ward might love her, she's not sure he respects her, and she's willing to walk away without that respect.  For a long time, I was worried that James wasn't going to resolve this, and that Eugenia would compromise on that demand for respect--but she didn't! James resolved it wonderfully, just as she always does.

 

And another high point here was the children.  I don't typically like child characters in books, but James has actually used them to her advantage quite a bit.  I don't remember Eugenia and Ward as children from the original DD books, though now I'm tempted to go back and read particularly for them, but Lizzie and Otis, Ward's younger half-siblings here, are wonderful.  They add such color to the story, but they're not weird for the sake of being weird.  Rather, they're weird because of the way they were brought up prior to their arrival on Ward's doorstep, and they have additional depths that come out as the story unfolds--such as why Lizzie really wears that veil.  They're integral to the plot and they're well-rounded characters, which is so rare for children that seeing them done so well was refreshing.

 

One thing, though: James brought a character back from the dead here!  The Dowager Duchess of Gilner was apparently killed off in one of the original DD books.  I don't remember that, but I believe that it happened--James has even owned up to it publicly on Goodreads, professing how embarrassed she was that she didn't realize it until a reviewer pointed it out and it was too late to fix, presumably by subbing in another distant relative to serve as an antagonist here.  I believe this was a mistake and not, as some readers have clamored, James taking advantage of her readers and presuming they're too stupid to notice what she did.  I mean, even James' editors have to be having issues keeping up with all her entangled families and characters by now, but I feel like James herself should have been a bit more on top of who was dead and who was still alive.

 

Overall, this was a great read, particularly in juxtaposition to Devil In Spring.  Like DIS, SMIH has a woman with her own business who also wants love but doesn't want to give up her dreams--though Eugenia's dreams, at least in a professional capacity, have already been fulfilled, where Pandora's had just begun.  But where Pandora throws out her dreams in the space of a few chapters once she experiences sex, Eugenia knows better.  She's older and wiser, yes, but overall she's just a better character.  If you read DIS and were disappointed, I'd definitely recommend this one instead--or, really, any of the Desperate Duchesses by the Numbers books, which all feature women who have their own professions despite the times in which they live.

 

4 stars out of 5.

This also fulfills my 2017 Popsugar Reading Challenge category for "A book by an author who uses a pseudonym."  Eloisa James is the pseudonym used by Mary Bly for her romance novels.

My American Duchess - Eloisa James

The romance binge-read continues!  (I'm reading other things, I swear.  I'm working through The Goldfinch at a pretty good clip and have a few other things on my radar, too, but sometimes a girl just needs a historical romance to get her through the day.)  My American Duchess is Eloisa James' newest book, and I actually forgot it was coming out until  Goodreads emailed me about it, so of course I rushed out, purchased it, and read it in one sitting.  (All right, two sittings.  There was a break for some Jimmy John's in the middle.)  The plot follows Merry, an American heiress who has gone to London to find a husband after pretty much ruining her reputation in Boston by jilting not one, but two fiances.  The book begins with her accepting the proposal of Fiance #3, Cedric Allardyce, the younger brother of the Duke of Trent.  Shortly after, she runs into the Duke himself out on the romantically-dark balcony, and the two are instantly attracted to each other, though they don't know that they're engaged to be relatives soon.  Cue mayhem.

This book is a great example of James' wit and charm and her ability to tell a story that, while not exactly ground-breaking (few historical romances are, and when you've written as many as James has, I think you tend to re-tread the ground a bit) is still deliciously good.  Merry and Trent have excellent chemistry, of course, and while Trent isn't exactly a stand-out from James' other heroes (who all tend to blur together, after a point...) the story involves not just two people falling in love, but two people building a relationship after they are married.  This is actually fairly unusual for historical romance books, which tend to end with or shortly after the marriage or proposal.  Merry and Trent, however, go from attracted friends who happen to be married to a genuine couple, and that's an interesting relationship to see grow.

And then there is, of course, the pineapple incident, which was great on its own.  Watching Merry fumble her way through British society was great.  She has enough grace and charm to do it, but not enough knowledge, grace, and charm to do it without a few snafus, like eating someone's prized, rented pineapple.  These serve a triple purpose: humor, letting Merry stand up for herself against the people who will one day be her peers and make sure she doesn't get trampled, and letting Trent swoop in to rescue her/bolster her, at the same time.  Having "damsel in distress" moments without making the damsel into a total milquetoast is one of my absolute favorite tropes, and I think James does it well.  And Merry has a bulldog!  Well, a bulldog mix.  But since I have a bulldog, that gave her an extra point in my book automatically.  And yes, Merry, his skin really is supposed to be that loose.  I mean, come on, how can you not love a face like this?

Overall, another delightful historical romance from James' pen.  I can't wait to see what's next!

4 stars out of 5.

Four Nights With the Duke - Eloisa James (Desperate Duchesses #8, Duchesses by the Numbers #2)

After having some rather befuddling historical romance-themed dreams last night (Fever dreams?  I am a bit ill.) I woke up absolutely needing to read a historical romance.  And a good one.  That's the thing with so many of these period romances; they're bad.  Luckily, I knew of two titles out that I hadn't read yet from two of my favorite HR authors: Four Nights With the Duke by Eloisa James, and Once Upon a Marquess from the pen (keyboard?) of Courtney Milan.  I adored Milan's works when I read them before, but I know James' work better, since there's so much more of it to go to, so I decided to start with Four Nights, also because I liked the one that came before it, Three Weeks With Lady X, so very much.  This wasn't Three Weeks, and while I devoured it, I didn't like it as much as I did Three Weeks.  Here's why.

I like a few things in my historical romances: a smart heroine who can be strong without necessarily needing to literally kick butt, some witty banter, chemistry between the two leads, and something to lighten up anything that gets a little too heavy.  While I think most of James' work checks off these boxes, I found Four Nights a little lacking in these respects.  This is mainly because of the couple.  The hero is, of course, Vander, Duke of Pindar, who we met in Three Weeks when he courted India.  India's now happily married to Vander's best friend, and Vander himself is quite happy to have escaped marriage because he's come to the conclusion it's not for him.  This has a great deal to do with his parents' marriage, which wasn't exactly happy.  In fact, his father spent most of Vander's life locked up in a mental institution, while Vander's mother swanned about having an affair with the landowner next door...

...who happens to be our heroine, Mia's, father.  Oh.  That is awkward, isn't it?  Also awkward is that Mia has been pretty much in love with Vander since she was fifteen and wrote him a rather ridiculous love poem, and then had the unfortunate experience of having him get a hold of it and hearing him make fun of it with his friend and someone who might be best described as a frenemy.  The encounter ended with Mia confronting Vander and saying she'd never marry him, not even if he was the last man on earth.  Which makes it extra awkward when, following the deaths of her father and brother, she finds out that she needs to marry in order to get custody of her nephew, Charles Wallace, so that his maternal uncle can't squander his estate away.  Mia's proper fiance jilted her, and now she's left scrabbling for a husband before a year--a period of time specified in her brother's will--is up.  Luckily, she has a rather incriminating letter written by Vander's father.  She plans to use it to blackmail him into marrying her.

Vander and Mia had chemistry.  I can't say they didn't; as always, James can write a pretty good love scene.  But the other aspects that I enjoy in historical romances were somewhat missing.  Mia's smart and can do the whole "witty banter" bit, if she's not too embarrassed, but Vander himself has trouble communicating in general, and so banter is largely missing here; instead, he spends his time pretty much insulting Mia when he intends to compliment her.  There's also no secondary love story going on here, like there is in many of James' works, which meant there weren't really any light moments to bring up the heavier parts of the book.  And there are some heavy parts--the details of Vanders' parents relationship, the long struggle, both in Mia's own mind and between herself and Vander, for Vander to respect Mia... This was missing a lot of the light-heartedness I enjoy in James' books, and that dragged it down somewhat for me.  I'm also not convinced of Vander and Mia as a couple, despite their sexy kisses.  Something about their relationship just didn't ring true for me.  I was never really convinced that they did respect each other, and that's a major downfall to any relationship, even a fictitious one.  Vander was also extremely possessive of Mia, edging on too much so; James tries to justify it as that's just how he expresses his emotions, but really, it seems like that's something he would seriously have to work on!

However, this book did have high points.  Vander's uncle is an utter delight, Charles Wallace is adorable, Mia's notes on her in-progress novel are quite amusing, and there are several references to Julia Quinn and (once) to Lisa Kleypas.  Quinn and Kleypas, under different names but ones that are obviously in reference to them, make cameos as other authors that Mia mentions.  Since James, Quinn, and Kleypas are pretty much my holy trinity of historical romance writers, so I got quite a bit of enjoyment out of these references, minor as they were.  I still liked James' writing overall, I just felt like the relationship, and the book as a whole, didn't come together quite as well as some of her other works did.  I'm still greatly looking forward to reading her other titles that I haven't picked up yet, though; not every book can be a hit, but James does have more hits than most, and I have high hopes for her next book!

Oh, and this fulfills my Popsugar 2016 Reading Challenge category for "A book you can finish in a day."  Easy as pie!

3 stars out of 5.

Three Weeks With Lady X - Eloisa James (Desperate Duchesses #7, Duchesses by the Numbers #1)

Eloisa James is one of my favorite historical romance authors, and Three Weeks With Lady X is a sterling example of just why.  It has all of the elements that James does so well: a hero and heroine with a fabulous capacity for witty banter, a family dynamic (the hero here is the child of one of James' other couples), obstacles between them that are just likely enough to allow suspension of disbelief but just small enough to be overcome, a secondary love story that, while not terribly interesting, adds a little bit of a different dynamic to make you want the main couple to get together even more, and a great country-house setting.

In this particular piece of work, Thorn Dautry, born Tobias and later called Juby, is trying to marry into respectability.  The bastard son of the Duke of Villiers, Thorn is beloved by his father and stepmother, has just enough polish to be noticed by well-born women (but not enough to be taken as a true gentleman) and is absolutely filthy rich to boot.  Thorn has set his eye on Laeticia, whose family has a title but is dirt poor.  Lala doesn't particularly want to marry Thorn, but is willing to do so for her family's well-being, provided that her mother will give her blessing.  Thorn figures that he needs to buy a country house to make himself out as a good choice to Lala's mother (who is a true bitch, of course) and buys Starberry Court.  He then hires Lady Xenobia, who goes by her middle name India, to make the estate into something presentable.  India is well-born and rich, but through her own doing; her parents squandered the family fortune and spent their time pretty much worshipping nature, leaving India very much on her own until they were killed in a carriage accident when she was fifteen.  Ever since, India's guardian Adelaide has shuttled her from house to house, letting India work her magic and right their woes while Adelaide visits with her friends.  Now, at twenty-six, India plans to make Starberry Court her last project before retiring and finding a husband of her own.

Over the course of the book, India and Thorn of course engage in witty banter, the exchange of witty notes, and have other witty encounters of various varieties, and of course they become attracted to each other, though Thorn is always very clear that he intends to marry Lala.  This is partly because he really does intend to marry Lala, who he feels is the ideal wife because she will bear his children, love them terribly, and never get in his way, and partly because he feels like he's not good enough for India, or that India thinks he isn't good enough for her because of his low-born origins.  This second part is, of course, not true, but becomes the main source of conflict between Thorn and India, even more than the fact that Thorn intends to marry another woman.

Fleshing out the cast of characters is Vander, Thorn's best friend who also takes a liking to India; Adelaide, India's aunt who means well but seems rather absent-minded, as she is always leaving her unmarried ward alone in Thorn's company; the Duke of Villiers and his wife, Eleanor; Lala's bitch of a mother; and even a brief appearance by Thorn's former mudlark friends.  And then, of course, there is Rose--the daughter of one of the former mudlarks who is entrusted to Thorn after her father dies.  Rose acts more like sixty than six, and bears a resemblance to Thorn even though she isn't related to him, which causes some problems relating to Thorn's respectability.

What more is there really to say?  It's a charming historical romance, which is what James does best.  Despite a few flubs in the past, I think her more recent series have really shone and I've thoroughly enjoyed them.  She does play around with history at some points (this one deals with Thorn running a rubber factory several decades before such a thing would have been realistic, which seems silly; she could have easily picked another industry for him) but honestly, do we really read historical romances for the history?  No.  No we do not.  We read them because they have a charm that is hard to capture in modern-day romances, and that is what James excels at.

4 stars out of 5.

A Kiss at Midnight - Eloisa James (Fairy Tales #1)

Every now and then, a girl likes to read a trashy romance novel.  It's one of those simple truths, a little guilty pleasure I think we all like to indulge in every now and then.  And in my opinion, if the novel is based off a fairy tale, even better, because then I get to scrutinize it for interesting twists.

This didn't have many of them.

As the title and cover would suggest, A Kiss at Midnight is based off the story of Cinderella, though it takes place in Regency-period England rather than in some place where magic trees or fairy godmothers are prevalent.  There are some changes from the original story--the stepsister isn't evil, the prince is exiled and will never be king, the heroine is posing as someone else for much of the story--but it's nothing that made my jaw drop.  Really, I feel like it didn't need to be a Cinderella story at all, and that it would have served its purpose, romance-novel-wise, if it had just revolved around Kate pretending to be Victoria.  I think a more interesting story would probably have been that of Tatiana: the Russian princess uprooted from her home to marry an impoverished prince she's never met, only to find him in love with another woman.  That could be interesting.  This?  This was...entertaining, in a typical romance novel sort of way, but I wouldn't go so far as to say it's actually interesting.

So, the plot wasn't terribly interesting.  The characters weren't that interesting, either.  Really, my favorites were Effie and Henry.  Kate and Gabriel themselves were just...blah.  Kate is a Nice Girl who slaves away for her family, servants, and tenants while her stepmother and stepsister spend all of her dead father's fortune.  After her stepsister Victoria, who is genuinely a nice person, has a little mishap with a dog bite, Kate agrees to pose as Victoria in order to secure the approval of one of Victoria's fiance's relatives; this approval is apparently vital, even though the fiance and the relative (the prince) have never met before.  Kate spends the entire story talking about duty, how she just couldn't leave her stepfamily, and whining that she will never marry Gabriel because she believes that he'll have affairs, even if she blatantly states that she doesn't think he's the type to leave.  Gabriel spends his time whining that Kate isn't rich enough for him to marry if he's going to pay for the upkeep of an entire castle and its staff because that is his responsibility.

Suck it up and find solutions.  The two of you are supposed to be adults, aren't you?

Effie and Henry, though, were delightful.  And Tatiana seems like she had potential, too, though we didn't really see that much of her.  Oh well.  That's the way the cookie crumbles.

2 stars out of 5.