Historical Romance Book Club discussion
Gaol/Buddy Reads & Challenges
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BR - Desperate Duchesses Series by Eloisa James
Lorien wrote: "I'm thinking of starting the next book on the first weekend of August. Does that work for everyone else?"Yes!
A Duke of Her Own
A DUKE MUST CHOOSE WISELY...
Leopold Dautry, the notorious Duke of Villiers, must wed quickly and nobly—and his choices, alas, are few. The Duke of Montague's daughter, Eleanor, is exquisitely beautiful and fiercely intelligent. Villiers betroths himself to her without further ado.
After all, no other woman really qualifies. Lisette, the outspoken daughter of the Duke of Gilner, cares nothing for clothing or decorum. She's engaged to another man, and doesn't give a fig for status or title. Half the ton believes Lisette mad—and Villiers is inclined to agree.
Torn between logic and passion, between intelligence and imagination, Villiers finds himself drawn to the very edge of impropriety. But it is not until he's in a duel to the death, fighting for the reputation of the woman he loves, that Villiers finally realizes that the greatest risk may not be in the dueling field...
But in the bedroom. And the heart
Leigh-Ayn wrote: "Love this series!"Hey Leigh-Ayn. Me and Priya have been reading these for a series challenge and our ratings have averaged around "they where okay" range.
Now I'm wondering if we should be calling these England times books or funny wig times...
Oddly enough what had my really engrossed in Jemma and Elijah's story had more to do with his health and less with the romance. I am a cardiac nurse and can understand how scary AFib would be for someone in that era. Cardiac patients often work tirelessly to accomplish as much as they can before "the end" and at the same time are afraid of intimacy. And that was my insight to Elijah. Also I give Eloisa an A+ for her research on the early use of Digitalis. That being said, for me Villiers was my favorite through the whole series.
Dotti wrote: "Oddly enough what had my really engrossed in Jemma and Elijah's story had more to do with his health and less with the romance. I am a cardiac nurse and can understand how scary AFib would be for s..."I can see why looking at the book from this point would be more interesting.
So I'm a couple chapters in. I'm enjoying it so far.Last night my husband picked up the book and was making fun of the step back image, and it got me thinking what Villiers looks like. Because of the course the model they used looks nothing like what my brain had come up with. I was googling actors and Villiers kind of resembles Jason Isaacs for me. But they keep saying he's not handsome. I also feel like some of the physical descriptions for this series have been a little inconsistent so ...
Lorien wrote: "So I'm a couple chapters in. I'm enjoying it so far.Last night my husband picked up the book and was making fun of the step back image, and it got me thinking what Villiers looks like. Because of..."
Bingo! That was how I imagined Villiers, initially. Lucius Malfoy fits the description and he too treats everyone with disdain. The only problem I had was Villiers hair is black, shot with three silver streaks. Lately, I imagine Bill Zane ( the way he looked as Rose's Fiance in Titanic movie) as Villiers.
I'll have to catch up I think I'm only to chapter 4, I got caught up the BOTM. I've only just started being able to read while I knit, but it's easier to read from my kindle than a paper back that doesn't need to be held open.
I didn't start reading the BOTM, yet. I am hoping to finish this one first.
Well I don't necessarily agree with Elenor's sister Anne, but I likes her. Her, Tibias and Oyster. She keeps letting her side characters steal the show.
Lorien wrote: "Well I don't necessarily agree with Elenor's sister Anne, but I likes her. Her, Tibias and Oyster. She keeps letting her side characters steal the show."
Tobias is my favourite in this book. I hope one of the next three books is his story. Oyster is definitely amusing. I didn’t give much thought to Anne.
Okay finished, definitely the best books so far in this series, but I have some mixed feelings.And I really did like Anne, she was a supportive sister who didn't mind telling it like it was and didn't judge Elenor.
I finished just now. I agree about Anne. She supported Eleanor when she announced her betrothal to Villiers, when she broke that and when she betrothed herself to Gideon again, even if she hated that man for turning his back on Eleanor.
So I know why Elenor didn't explain Lisette's issues. It would have seemed petty. And they were friends as much as someone could be friends with Lisette. But I don't understand why everyone thought it'd be a good idea for Villiers to marry her and then figure it out. She could have physically hurt the children. Were they just trying to get her off their own hands? Sounds like a recipe for a Mr. Rochester set up. Plus they never really explain what her issues were, not even in the notes. She seemed more like a spoiled brat with no impulse control and an ability to to believe her own lies. Some of my mixed feelings (view spoiler)
I couldn't help thinking that with the way Villiers well fitted breeches "showed every muscle" that the 12 pack of french letters he was always carrying would have had to be more obvious.
And a small petty thing I also thought Roberta was pregnant at the end of the first book, but at the opening party she wasn't and had no children.
And I understand how the life style then wasn't great for child mortality rates and fertility, (view spoiler)
Still I thought it was the best of the series so far. I think a lot of it was because there wasn't so much jumping around. I didn't miss Jemma at all. I'm happy that Villiers had some logical reasons behind why he'd thought on of them would be a better mother.
I think people wanted to wash their hands off Lisette. And most of these people are trying to escape her tantrums instead of getting some medical attention. I am surprised Villiers didn't know that Lisette is an overgrown baby throwing temper tantrums. There wasn't a proper background story to Lisette and Gryffin's relationship and also about Villiers' children. We saw Tobias, the twins and 2 more girls in the nursery. So, where was the 6th one. Was she still with Lady Charlotte( correct name?)?
I was wondering the same about Eleanor not getting pregnant for 7 yrs. Perhaps they used those french letters to avoid adding any more to the nursery for the time being. Good observation regarding the french letter pack stuffed into those skin tight breaches. It must be quite uncomfortable to sit on a pack too:)
Eloisa James wrote a bonus chapter for the desperate duchesses series, set around the time of Eleanor’s labour. This is better than the epilogue and includes Villiers’ children, illegitimate and legitimate. Here is the link in case you are interested. https://www.eloisajames.com/extras/ex...
Priya wrote: "Eloisa James wrote a bonus chapter for the desperate duchesses series, set around the time of Eleanor’s labour. This is better than the epilogue and includes Villiers’ children, illegitimate and le..."Thanx!
So let me know when you have to start the next one, I don't own this one and don't really want to buy it as I've been so meh on this series, so I'll be borrowing the audio version from the library. Should be interesting...
Lorien wrote: "So let me know when you have to start the next one, I don't own this one and don't really want to buy it as I've been so meh on this series, so I'll be borrowing the audio version from the library...."I don't have any particular date on my mind. I already have the book. So, I am good to start whenever your library lends you the audiobook.
Do they have waitlist for audiobooks too, like they do for print/ebooks?
They do, but it's available, so I can start whenever
Can we start this weekend? If you have an ongoing read, let me know when you would like to start.
I will probably start Monday if you'd like to start soon. I listen to audio books while I work typically depending on what I'm working on.
Three Weeks With Lady X
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 that will make India his—the one thing Thorn can't afford to lose...
His fierce and lawless heart.
Priya wrote: "Three Weeks With Lady XHaving made a fortune, Thorn Dautry, the powerful bastard son of a duke, decides that he needs a wife. But to m..."
Isn't the the hero supposed to be one of Duke of Villiers illegitimate children? I don't remember a Thorne being mentioned, or did Tobias change his name?
Yep there was just Tobias and Colin ( the boys ).
Okay they have addressed the name issue, he just made Thorne up I guess. So far I like it better than the original part of the series, but I'm having trouble picturing Throne as grown up Tobias. The letters are a fun.
Something came up and so, I couldn't start reading. I am starting today. I too don't remember a Thorn among Villiers' sons, but I assumed Villiers christened Tobias as Thornton or some similar name that could be shortened to Thorn.
I am at Ch.14 and I like this book so much thus far. Yes, the letters are fun. I love both the MCs. Thorn reminds me of Rhys Winterborne from Lisa Kleypas' 'Marrying Mr. Winterborne'.
I stopped at chapter 30 on friday, then was to busy this weekend to read much at all. I really like India, I'm finding Throne okay. I don't think he reminds me of Winterborne much. But he does remind me of someone...
I'm still not lining him up with the younger Tobias. Little Tobias seemed very insightful, practical and fairly good at reading people. Like Tobias would have figured out that India was a better fit for him and just excepted it. Rather than being a stubborn male about it.
Which is fine for this book because I do enjoy the stubborn "I can't be falling for a girl. So I'll just sleep with her and get it out of my system" trope. Watching those guys fall is always the most satisfying.
Lorien wrote: "chapter 37, Throne's an idiot ."I was about to comment the same.
Priya wrote: "Lorien wrote: "chapter 37, Throne's an idiot ."I was about to comment the same."
hahaha.
The secondary love story between Lala and Hatfield was beautiful, though we got only a few scenes of it.
Yeah, I liked that too. I'm all finished, the letters are still one of my favorite parts. I quite liked the audio for this one, I'm wondering if I would have liked the others more had I tried the audio for them.
I checked and I can get the next one from my library whenever you want to start the next one.
I might not get time to read much for the next two weeks (kids school projects) and I have yet to finish my Pirate book for Raa Challenge. Can we start after 2 weeks or later?
Yep, when ever you are ready, I've got plenty on my plate. Our other br was going to start the Duchess War, I have yet to start my pirate book at all and I have been completely distracted by Dares new book as well and then there's the 5 books I checked out of the library because I have no impulse control.
Lorien wrote: "Yep, when ever you are ready, I've got plenty on my plate. Our other br was going to start the Duchess War, I have yet to start my pirate book at all and I have been completely distracted by Dares ..."That is a lot of books:)
I finished my work earlier than expected and am ready to start the next one whenever you are.
Four Nights With the Duke
As a young girl, Emilia Gwendolyn Carrington told the annoying future Duke of Pindar that she would marry any man in the world before him—so years later she is horrified to realize that she has nowhere else to turn.
Evander Septimus Brody has his own reasons for agreeing to Mia's audacious proposal, but there's one thing he won't give his inconvenient wife: himself.
Instead, he offers Mia a devil's bargain... he will spend four nights a year with her. Four nights, and nothing more. And those only when she begs for them.
Which Mia will never do.
Now Vander faces the most crucial challenge of his life: he must seduce his own wife in order to win her heart—and no matter what it takes, this is the one battle he can't afford to lose
Give me till the end of the week, if that works for you. I want to catch up on the Duchess Wars and I still need to start my pirate book. Plus I'll be stuck at my computer for long stretches next week, so an audio book will be perfect.Let me know.
I am good to start this weekend. Meanwhile I too shall read 'The Duchess War'. I took a break from my pirate book.
Sounds good, what are you reading for your pirate book?
Lorien wrote: "Sounds good, what are you reading for your pirate book?"The Pirate and the Pagan, an old school book set in the restoration period.
Oh yes, I loved the old school art on the cover.
Historical Romance Book Club
Books mentioned in this topic
Seven Minutes in Heaven (other topics)The Pirate and the Pagan (other topics)
Four Nights With the Duke (other topics)
Three Weeks With Lady X (other topics)
Three Weeks With Lady X (other topics)
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I hope you guys have better luck with the last two books than I did. The book 5 romance was frustratng for me because Jemma and Elijah just went around in circles until they fina..."
I too hope Villiers' story is better than the 5th book. I have been looking forward for his book for a long time now.