Viscount in Love by Eloisa James

Miss Victoria "Torie" Sutton isn't jealous of her sister. She really isn't. Yes, Leonora is engaged to Viscount Kelbourne, Dominic, and the man is handsome but he going to be her brother (in-law). His niece and nephew? Adorable. Awkward, not "normal," and absolutely adorable. So when her sister runs away with another peer, Torie is heartbroken that her tie to the twins has been severed. That doesn't mean that she will immediately become betrothed to the viscount herself, just to be his nanny. 

Dom thinks its the perfect solution though. He's not really trading one sister for another because Torie really is her own person and, if he's truthful, much more attractive than her sister. He doesn't even mind that she can't read or write.

The two do eventually marry (this is a romance, after all) and we get to watch them fall in love with each other even as they build their family.

I liked that both Torie and Dom were built out people with flaws that were both immediate and found later. I wish we had seen a bit more of the children. They weren't quite plot moppets but their personalities weren't developed much beyond that. 

Accidental Brides #1

Four stars

This book comes out July 25, 2024

ARC kindly provided by Avon and Harper Voyager, and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Not That Duke by Eloisa James

Lady Stella Corsham is short and freckled, not exactly a diamond of the first water. But she has a large dowry so she doesn't lack for suitors. She mostly tends to play chess with Sylvester Parnell, the Duke of Huntington and hang out with her friends.
Sylvester is in love with the most elegant young woman of the season (and heroine of book 2 in this series). Or so he tells himself. But he has these annoying... feelings... for Stella. Of course, because his mother declares she is the woman for him, he's going to push back against that but he eventually realizes that he would be happiest with Stella. Now he just has to convince her.
I liked that the characters mostly communicated pretty well. Sylvester definitely had some missteps at the end of the book but it was overall an enjoyable read.

Would-Be Wallflowers #3

Four stars

Follows The Reluctant Countess

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

The Reluctant Countess by Eloisa James

There is a surprising amount of this book that is dedicated to the "villain" of the piece rather than Yasmin and Giles. There is so much that it leaves a little less room for our h/h and for their eventual reconciliation after the Big Misunderstanding. 

Yasmin's family is already notorious with her mother being Napoleon's mistress. Then, she runs away with a gentleman who claims they were married but he actually tricked her in order to get money from her father in order to hush it up. Now, in England and living with her grandfather, she spends her day attending society parties and trying to avoid her attraction to Lord Giles Lilford. 

Giles is also trying to avoid Yasmin as she is loud, brash, and full of fun while he tends to be a little more straitlaced. Even when he starts to realize the inevitability of their attraction he's always trying to rein her in. And it leaves me not liking him when his stodginess keeps him from being run over by his sister. 

Three stars

Follows How to be a Wallflower

Followed by Not That Duke

This book comes out November 29, 2022

ARC kindly provided by Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

How to Be a Wallflower by Eloisa James

Cleopatra Lewis might be the granddaughter of a viscount but she had a very unusual upbringing. She's also been lucky enough to have inherited a fortune, one that she is using to help others in need (while also growing it larger). The book opens with Cleo buying a costume company out from underneath the nose of Jacob Astor Addison, an American. He wants to move the company to America and the current owner, Martha, really prefers that not to happen. 
Jake is fairly incensed that the company was stolen out from under him so he devises a plan to put it out of business. He denies an interest in Cleo; he wants a restful wife. Someone like practically-his-fiancee Frederica. So what if she seems overly interested in cows? 

Cleo isn't interested in being presented but her grandfather would like to acknowledge her. She does have fun with Lady Yasmin, another woman on the fringes of society but that doesn't mean that she wants to be a success. She strikes a bargain with Jake that they will order each other's wardrobes. She will get half-mourning and he will get outlandish colors. It's too bad that they are so attracted to each other otherwise this might be a great friendship.

This was an okay story but didn't feel like it had the depth that a James story usually has.

Three stars

This book comes out March 29, 2022

Followed by The Reluctant Countess

ARC kindly provided by Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Mistletoe Christmas -- Anthology

A Mistletoe Kiss by Eloisa James
Every year the most sought after invitation is to the Duke of Greystoke's Christmas Revelry. The invitation list is carefully curated and the amusements vast. But what no one knows is that his daughter, Cressida, is the one in charge. Now the Duke is dying and he wants his legacy to continue. As a means to the ends, he makes his heir (his nephew) promise to keep the revelry going for the next ten years. Val, the heir, has no interest. Neither, frankly, does Cressida. So Val suggests to his friend Elias that he should marry Cressie so she'd be close enough to help but he wouldn't have to take care of her. Elias figures it's about time to marry so why not? But then he takes a closer look at the women who everyone has ignored and discovers that she might be more precious than he originally knew.

Even as a short story, this could have lopped a few chapters off (they got redundant) and been a little bit better but James is a master and this story once again proves it.

Four stars

Wishing Under the Mistletoe by Christi Caldwell

Lady Isabelle Wilkshire has been engaged for three years but her fiance no longer looks at her the way he used to. Instead, Cyrus Hill is too busy working, trying to prove his worth because she is a duke's granddaughter and he is the son of a stablemaster. She breaks their engagement. While she loves him, she's no longer sure he really loves her. At least she can take some solace in being mentored by a playwright.  

Ten years later, she is at the Christmas Revelry, debuting a new play and Cyrus has been assigned as her partner. Old romantic feelings well up but so do old resentments. Will they be able to make it?

I do like short stories where protagonists knew each other because it makes it more likely that they are falling in love in 100 pages or less. This story could have used just a little more exposition on how the two were going to work now but was overall enjoyable.

Three and a half stars

Compromise Under the Mistletoe by Janna MacGregor

Caroline Whitmore loves her husband. And he probably cares for her but not to the extent that he loves the estate where he grew up and now cares for. But in order to get her inheritance, she needs to prove to her uncle, the Duke of Greystoke, that she and her husband are still in love. Based on other stories in this book, I'm not sure why he would do this other than to be an old fart but... it's a reason for a good fake romance. 

Caroline has it all planned out and even has a list of rules written out for Stephen. But he has different plans. This might be his last chance to win her heart.

Four stars

Mischief and Mistletoe by Erica Ridley

Louisa Harcourt's mother wants to marry her off to someone with a title. She just wants a quiet life to write. But Ewan Reid, a poet, intrigues her.

Ewan thinks Louisa is amazingly beautiful but he has a secret he's hiding. One that he doesn't want to pull her into. No matter how much she comes to him with her own secrets or how much she'll be hurt by the secrets he is hiding.

Three stars

Four stars

This book comes out September 28th, 2021

Ebook from NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Wilde Child by Eloisa James

Two sisters. Thaddeus Erskine Shaw, heir to a dukedom, has been interested in two sisters. But both have married other people. He certainly isn't interested in the third. Lady Joan Wilde is most certainly not a biological Wilde. She has the blond hair and features of the man her mother had a wild affair with (and eventually ran away with him.) Lady Joan is a living scandal. And that's even before she decides to don breeches and play Hamlet. Thaddeus can't believe that her father would allow it. Actually, no one in the family seems to have minded Joan's earlier brushes with scandal so maybe they won't care about this one. But Thaddeus will certainly make it his business to stop her.

And that is mostly covers the blurb on the cover. Quite frankly, I was trying to figure out how that would fill a whole book because an uptight man berating the woman he eventually falls in love with isn't a book that I particularly wanted to read. But, of course, there is more to the story and a lot if it has to do with why Thaddeus is so rigid and seeing him relax a bit. Also getting to see Joan, who starts off pretty awesome and sure of herself, really get to stretch her wings and then find her place. 

Four stars

Wildes of Lindow Castle #6
Follows Say Yes to the Duke
This book comes out March 30th
ARC kindly provided by HarperCollins Publishers and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Reread as hard copy from the library June 2024

My Last Duchess by Eloisa James

Hugo Wilde, the Duke of Lindow, has just received his divorce decree. His faithless second wife is no longer "his wife." His twin sister is encouraging him to go to London and try to find a third wife. Hugo is not excited at the thought but he is realistic. While his oldest four children are close to grown, his younger four will definitely need a mother. At his first ball, he spots Ophelia, Lady Astley and falls immediately in love. And for the purposes of the novella, it is a pretty true love but when she says to back off, he does (what? I love it!) because the course to true love can't run smooth even for a duke in a novella. 

This was a fast and fun read even with one of my least favorite tropes (love at first sight). Getting to see how Hugo convinced Phee to marry a man with eight children (though his kids seemed to do most of the convincing) was the light story that I needed right now.

Four stars

This book comes out October 27th

Prequel to Wilde in Love

ARC kindly provided by HarperCollins Publishers

Opinions are my own

Say Yes to the Duke by Eloisa James

Viola Astley knows she's not a real Wilde. Her mother married into the family when she was two. Though the Duke and all of her siblings have accepted that she's a true "Wilde Childe," Viola has worked herself into such a thought pattern that she is physically ill before balls, even before just meeting eligible men. She isn't a Wilde by blood and, shorter than the rest, plumper than the rest, she doesn't even look like she belongs. But then she meets the new local vicar and falls in love. Too bad he already has a fiancee. And really too bad that a duke seems to have set his eyes on her.
Devin Lucas Augustus Elstan, Duke of Wynter, is ready to get married. He might as well marry a Wilde, but not the adopted daughter. Instead, he'll check out the one who is generally known to not be a Wilde by blood but is by name. Even his uncle pushing him to meet Miss Astley doesn't make him interested in Viola. But when she stands up to him, well, that catches his notice.
This is a fairly quiet book. Not a lot of conflict and that was just lovely right now. Even the last misunderstanding wasn't a Big Misunderstanding because they actually talked to each other.

Four stars
Follows Say No to the Duke

Followed by Wilde Child
This book comes out May 19th
ARC kindly provided by HarperCollins Publishers and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Reread as hard copy from the library June 2024

Say No to the Duke by Eloisa James

Lady Betsy Wilde's mother ran away from her father during a scandalous affair. Gossips claim that one of her children (Betsy's sibling) may not be the Duke's child. And Betsy knows that she has her mother's blood. Before she settles into a nice, sedate marriage with no passion, she wants to rack up as many proposals as possible, just to show those snobs from her boarding school that she is better than them. Fourteen proposals later, she has snared one from a duke. But she's annoyed that he proposes in front of the family hanger-on, Lord Jeremy Roden.
Lord Jeremy doesn't have much time for Betsy. He knows what she wants and he disapproves. In his opinion, she should be living her life to the fullest extent possible and not settling for the staid Thaddeus. He is willing to indulge Betsy when she proposes a billiards match. If she wins, he will take her on an adventure. And, while this is a trope we've seen before, Jeremy is surprisingly pragmatic about it. He wants to make sure that they are properly chaperoned, even on the adventure. He is also very aware that his PTSD makes him a freak in his lifetime.
This is definitely not the normal adventure story. For one thing, Betsy's other suitor and his mother come along as well as her aunt. And I liked that twist. I did not like that there was a "villain" sort of squished into the story just so that there would be one. Other than that, I do hope that we get to see Thaddeus again because he seemed like a genuinely good guy and his mother is amazing.

Four stars
This book comes out June 25th
Follows Born to Be Wilde
Followed by Say Yes to the Duke
ARC kindly provided by HarperCollins, NetGalley, and Edelweiss
Opinions are my own

Reread as hard copy from the library June 2024

Born to Be Wilde by Eloisa James

At the end of the last book in this series, Lavinia Gray discovered that she was not the heiress she thought. In fact, her mother hasy been stealing to supplement their lifestyle for the last few years. Stealing from friends. With nothing left to lose, Lavinia goes to the bedchamber of Parth Sterling, wealthy (adopted) member of the Wilde family, to propose marriage. When he says no, she realizes that she had more to lose as it chips away at her ego.
Parth Sterling doesn't actually believe that Lavinia is as shallow as puddle, but he sure deflects his feelings for her by claiming to believe it. He offers to help find her suitors but quickly realizes that he wants her for himself.
Arrrrgggh. I really enjoyed so much of this book; Lavinia growing into herself, Parth figuring out what he wanted early... but there were so many things that were annoying; Parth being a bit of an alphahole and the Big Misunderstanding. The last felt like it was just tacked on to add pages. But overall an enjoyable read.

Three and a half stars
This book comes out July 31
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley
Follows Too Wilde to Wed
Followed by Say No to the Duke

Reread as copy I own May 2024

Too Wilde to Wed Eloisa James

In the first book of this series,  Lord Roland "North" Northbridge Wilde tried to impress Miss Diana Belgrave by becoming the most fashionable man in London. But she left him anyway. An heir to a duke and he was dumped. He ran away to the war on the Continent. Two years later, he's back... and finds that his family rescued her from poverty. She's been working as his stepmother's governess.
Diana doesn't mind working. It allows her more freedom than living as a debutante ever did. What she does mind is the thought that she may have run him away from his family.
The time they have together lets them get to know each other much better than the time they spent as an engaged couple ever did.
I liked that these two finally did talk to each other... but it took a long time. The ending was a little twee but I've read worse.

Four stars

Follows Wilde in Love

Followed by Born to be Wilde
This book comes out May 29
ARC kindly provided by Edelweiss
Followed by Born to be Wilde

Reread as hard copy from library May 2024

Wilde in Love by Eloisa James

Lord Alaric, third son of a duke, is known more popularly in England as Lord Wilde. His travel books have made him famous but the play written about him has made him notorious. When he returns home, he is stalked by women everywhere. He is set up as a teen heartthrob. Well, and older women as well. But he is not impressed. These women know a facsimile of him, not the man who misses his oldest brother, the man who might just be ready to come home.
Willa Ffynche is not one of the screaming hordes. She is more impressed by dead explorers than by one man who is more than likely exaggerating most of what he's written. Too bad the man is just as handsome as the rumors say. She'll have to get over her own fear of being in the spot light to grab the man she loves.
I didn't love the fact that the ending went on. And on. And on. There were THREE epilogues. Well, two were supposedly more chapters but... it just kept going.
I did love the world building. Alaric has many, many siblings. His oldest brother, now the heir to the dukedom, fell in love with a woman at first sight. He dressed in the high fashion of the day in order to impress her. But she still ran away. I'm assuming we'll get to read North and Diana's story at some point.
Also sequel-bait? Both Willa and Alaric's best friends. Lavinia and Parth can't stop fighting which, in Romancelandia means that they are perfect for each other.

Three stars

This book comes out October 31, 2017

The Wildes of Lindow Castle #1

Follows My Last Duchess

Followed by Too Wilde to Wed

Reread as copy I own May 2024

Seven Minutes in Heaven by Eloisa James

Eugenia Snowe is well known in the haute ton as being the proprietress of the premier governess service in England. But when Edward Reeve starts demanding replacements for the women caring for his half-siblings, Eugenia is pushed harder than she ever has been before.
Edward Reeve is a bastard, but his brother and sister are not. They were, however, scarred by living with the mother that the three of them shared. Now their mother's mother is trying to gain custody of them and she is a Duchess while Edward is merely the bastard child of two aristocrats. When he meets Eugenia, he falls immediately into lust. He doesn't realize that she is not only the daughter of a marquis but the widow of a viscount and assumes that she is just a former governess, someone that is perfectly acceptable for him to dally with.
Overall a nice book. I didn't love the kidnapping but if anyone could make it even slightly less than super-creepy Eloisa James is the one.

Three stars
This book comes out January 31

Secret Passion of Simon Blackwell by Eloisa James

Okay, I've read a LOT of reviews from people who loved this book, so it might be worth a try. 
Simon Blackwell has been hiding himself away since (from the back cover) a "cruel twist of fate changed [his] life irreperably." He came out of mourning only for his aunt's birthday and helped to save the life of Annabel's (honorary) nephew. Thinking that Annabel is the nephew's mother, he reams her a new one. When the boys actual mother, Annabel's best friend, shows up, he is seduced by her beauty. But he is still attracted to Anne. Enough to accidentally seduce her. He doesn't want to marry her but he does the right thing. Annabel has to somehow work to win Simon's heart... because he's already won hers.
Too dark and grim for me. I like stories with a moral but frankly, this one was mostly ruined by the back cover blurb.