From the Bookshelf of Fans of Eloisa James & Julia Quinn…

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

Eloisa James

Start date: April 1, 2014

Finish date: April 30, 2014

Discussion: Currently Reading

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What Members Thought

Apr 03, 2014 Diane rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2014-a-z-challenge

I must say that I enjoyed this book immensely. I was a fan of the novel by Eloisa James that featured his father and was in hopes the I would like this one as well. Let me say that I think that I like this one better. The two main characters are two halves of the same whole. They cannot either see it to start with, but the readers see immediately that they are perfect for one another,

Thorn, the illegitimate son of the Duke of Villiers, is a gentleman to the core whether he acts or dresses like ...more

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Mar 11, 2014 Janice rated it it was amazing

My Three Days Vacation with Lady X

Sometimes a story demands your attention and, if you’re lucky, sucks you in before you know what hits you. For me, Three Weeks with Lady X is a perfect example. Briefly, Lady Xenobia India St. Claire is the orphan daughter of a Marquess. She possesses the uncanny ability to organize and decorate households for the nobility. Along comes the bastard son of a Duke, Thorn Dautry (Tobias from A Duke of her Own) who’s ready to marry and in desperate need of setting up My Three Days Vacation with Lady X

Sometimes a story demands your attention and, if you’re lucky, sucks you in before you know what hits you. For me, Three Weeks with Lady X is a perfect example. Briefly, Lady Xenobia India St. Claire is the orphan daughter of a Marquess. She possesses the uncanny ability to organize and decorate households for the nobility. Along comes the bastard son of a Duke, Thorn Dautry (Tobias from A Duke of her Own) who’s ready to marry and in desperate need of setting up a household for his future bride and family. The renovation must be finished within three weeks. India, as a favor to Thorn’s stepmother (Eleanor from A Duke of Her Own-love her!), accepts the assignment. Set, Game, Match-let the high jinks begin. Throw in a moppet, a secondary romance for good measure and you have an outstanding Eloisa James novel that I thoroughly enjoyed. Lady X earned a spot on my keeper shelf.

After I finished the story, I thought about the reasons why it gave me the rare but wondrous “romance glow.” In my opinion, James is one of the few authors writing today with the ability to infuse her writing with scrumptious characters, complicated subtexts, deep emotion, and lively secondary storylines. She throws in a jolt of something different just for good measure. She takes all those talents and weaves a perfect story that touched my heart and made me hungry for more. When I reached the end of the book, I sat for a moment in awe (and if honest a little sad-I didn’t want to say goodbye to India and Thorn). The author amazed me with everything she packed within the pages. I’ll bet James is wicked with packing travel carry-ons. Seriously, I’ll be able to reread Lady X over and over and still find another carefully crafted jewel I hadn’t noticed before. So for me, that’s how wonderful this story is.

Speaking of jewels, if I don’t fall in love the hero, I’m not interested in reading the story. The depths James’ hero reaches to comfort his best friend’s daughter brought tears to my eyes. Plus, his quest to secure India’s happiness is epic. James is one of the best at showing characters’ emotional depths. She had me laughing out loud in one scene and crying in the next.

Needless to say, I can’t wait for the next in this new series. One of my favorites of the year.
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May 31, 2014 Jessica rated it really liked it

Shelves: romance

Eloisa James was on fire with this one.

Cleverly, EJ sent out teasers of this novel in the form of letters written between the hero and heroine, letters which do actually appear in the book. The voices of each character were so enticing, I was practically sweating in anticipation for the release date of 'Three Weeks".

Thorn Dautry- or as EJ fans may know him, Tobias, son of Villiers- is on a quest. A quest for a wife, that is. Despite his bastard status in aristocratic society, Thorn is quite the Eloisa James was on fire with this one.

Cleverly, EJ sent out teasers of this novel in the form of letters written between the hero and heroine, letters which do actually appear in the book. The voices of each character were so enticing, I was practically sweating in anticipation for the release date of 'Three Weeks".

Thorn Dautry- or as EJ fans may know him, Tobias, son of Villiers- is on a quest. A quest for a wife, that is. Despite his bastard status in aristocratic society, Thorn is quite the catch as a son of a duke and therefore could land any number of proper ton misses as a wife.

His quest, though, was not for just any miss; he wanted one that could be dumped at a "country" estate not far outside of London's outskirts as he continued to take care of business in town. As a rake of consequence, the reader can rightly assume the "business" he is referring to.

However, before this quest can begin, the country estate he's procured is in need of some...severe rehabilitation. Thus our hero and heroine unite. Xenobia 'India' St. Clair is a master at turning houses into homes and takes on the task of making Thorn marriageable. She vows three weeks will do the trick.

A lot can happen in three weeks, such as a passionate but forbidden romance that nearly jumps off the page. Thorn and India are a perfectly pitched match, sparring words by letter or by voice and creating fire with every glance or stolen kiss. Soon, the three weeks have come to pass and Thorn now has success in reach...if only he acknowledged that the silhouette of success looked a lot more like India than his other prospect.

A wonderfully paced plot; my only real issue with this novel was the drawn-out ending. EJ made the external and internal conflicts clear early on and yet, the notion of them felt beat into the ground by the time I reached the resolution. Personally, I don't think it required that level of depth to draw out Thorn- he seems much smarter than he acted and the feeling of authenticity would have benefited from the last fight being cut out. She could have reached the climax in a different fashion. Overall, it only slightly detracted from these absolutely stunning characters and their love story. ...more

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Mar 03, 2024 Diane Peterson rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical-romance, kindle-doc

Another good one in this series.

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Mar 30, 2014 Tahyun rated it it was amazing

Shelves: genre-romance, genre-romance-historical

It has been a very long time since I really enjoyed an Eloisa James novel. There was a time when I would automatically purchase her books in paperback, probably without even reading the back to see what the book was about. However, after two or three books that just failed to hold my interest, or just didn't appeal to me, I started purchasing her books for my nook, when and if I felt like it.

However, this book really did it. I mean, it was everything you could ever hope for in a romance novel, ...more

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Jul 07, 2014 Sylvain rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Having made a fortune, Thorn Dautry, the powerful bastard son of a duke, decides that he needs a wife. But to marry a lady, Thorn must acquire a gleaming, civilized façade, the specialty of Lady Xenobia India.

Exquisite, head-strong, and independent, India vows to make Thorn marriageable in just three weeks.

But neither Thorn nor India anticipate the forbidden passion that explodes between them.

Thorn will stop at nothing to make India his. Failure is not an option.

But there is only one thing t

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Apr 22, 2014 Charlene rated it really liked it

Shelves: romance, reviewed, regency, public-library, series-by-author

4 - 4.5 stars.

English Professor Eloisa James can write, and if you like Romance novels, you cannot go too far wrong with any of her books. The only reason I did not give 5 stars is because of the character issues of the heroine and the hero becoming too involved while he was half-heartedly courting another. It was too "in my face" this time.

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Oct 05, 2013 Sharlene rated it it was amazing

One of my favorite Eloisa James's novels yet. Funny, sweet, and oh so romantic. Some of the most endearing characters. This is one you will not want to miss. ...more

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