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3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
DNF times 2! I tried. I really tried. I like Eloisa James, a lot. I tried to re-read this book, because I thought maybe I was in a bad place the first time, but no. I just could not get into this book. Maybe it's that the entire book takes place at one house party with endless conversations or maybe it's the foppish dress, but alas I could not get into this.
A really fun, sweet start to The Wildes of Lindow Castle series. Lord Alaric has been travelling the world, having adventures, and writing about it sharing his adventures with the people of England. Now that he's home he's really starting to understand his infamy and he's not that happy about it at all. Every where he goes he's bombarded by the young women of the ton fawning over him, except for Lady Willa. Willa has never read Alaric's books and is not impressed with his reputation but she can't deny her attraction. When Alaric needs Willa's help to deter a persistent admirer he's ready to change their fake engagement real. I enjoyed the start of the series and really liked the introduction to the other Wilde family members. It's going to be a fun series!
Everyone else in this book is more intriguing than the main couple.
I received an ARC from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
Eloisa James is one of those romance writers who are an auto-buy for me-- I know she's going to serve funny, smart women and men, families you want to spend time with, and an excellent romance. This has all of these.
Alaric Wilde is one of the Wilde children, all named after various historic warriors. With names like that, it was inevitable that one of them would run off to travel and explore. But when Alaric discovers that his writing has turned him into quite the heartthrob and hero, he's dismayed.
Willa is everything a good young lady should be-- accomplished, polite, beautiful. But behind closed doors, she and her best friend have a grand time with inappropriate jokes and discussions of their beloved books. The entire time I read Willa's interactions with her best friend, I imagined both of them cackling like lunatics the same way I do with my close friends, and that's a compliment.
Willa's BFF is enamored of the image created of Lord Wilde, and Willa is determined to not fall prey to those charms. But when she gets to know Alaric, she falls in love against her own wishes.
I really liked the slow burn between the two leads, and I can't wait to read more about the Wildes.
Eloisa James is one of those romance writers who are an auto-buy for me-- I know she's going to serve funny, smart women and men, families you want to spend time with, and an excellent romance. This has all of these.
Alaric Wilde is one of the Wilde children, all named after various historic warriors. With names like that, it was inevitable that one of them would run off to travel and explore. But when Alaric discovers that his writing has turned him into quite the heartthrob and hero, he's dismayed.
Willa is everything a good young lady should be-- accomplished, polite, beautiful. But behind closed doors, she and her best friend have a grand time with inappropriate jokes and discussions of their beloved books. The entire time I read Willa's interactions with her best friend, I imagined both of them cackling like lunatics the same way I do with my close friends, and that's a compliment.
Willa's BFF is enamored of the image created of Lord Wilde, and Willa is determined to not fall prey to those charms. But when she gets to know Alaric, she falls in love against her own wishes.
I really liked the slow burn between the two leads, and I can't wait to read more about the Wildes.
Best part about this book was the adventure on the bog and the missionaries daughter.
So, so much fun to start a new romance series. This one has many of my favorite elements (Georgians, smart ladies, fashion, cute pets...although I feel bereft that my favorite fashionable Duke, Villiers, doesn’t even get a mention, le sigh). Willa and Alaric have a slow-burn romance, the kind that makes them friends first and lovers after. I love it. Eloisa James’s romances are high on my list of favorites, not just for the couples, but because they’re all so meta-textual. I enjoy the puzzles Eloisa leaves her readers.
3.5 stars. A heroine with a pet skunk, a hero with unwanted/unknown(to him) fame.
What more could you ask for?
What more could you ask for?
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. In my opinion, it read almost like a Jane Austen novel (obviously not toward the end). The characters were witty & charming (shout out to my sassy fave, Lady/Aunt Knowe), and even the less likeable qualities - for some of them - made them feel more realistic. I'm excited to read the next one (which I picked up the day after starting the first one.) ☺
So the entire novel sans epilogue took place over two weeks at a house party, which made it read like a bunch of set pieces (the scene where they do archery! the scene where they all walk into the village! the scene where they all go riding! the scene where they play piquet!) and the two main characters had a billion interactions which I found fatiguing and which didn't really advance the narrative. I think Eloisa James is at the Julia Quinn end of the spectrum for me, which is to say fluffy and not v sexy. I am mildly curious about North and Diana tho so maybe I would read the next book.
4.25 stars.
Pleasantly surprised with this. Eloisa James is somewhat hit or miss for me. I either can't get into some of her books or I really enjoy them. This was one that I really enjoyed and had a great time while reading it.
Alaric is an adventurer and writes about his travels. He has recently returned from his latest adventure and has discovered he has a boatload of female admirers and that there's a play about him that is adored by the masses. Willa is a young woman who was orphaned as young child, lives with Lavinia and her mother and has had a very successful season, if the amount of offers of marriage is anything to go by. One thing she craves is the more quiet life, definitely doesn't want to be with a man that has scores of women vying for his attention.
Before reading this, I skimmed a little, doing a quick flip through and saw a lot of 'Sweetpea's" throughout. I was worried that Alaric would be calling Willa Sweetpea and if he was doing it that much I might be annoyed. However I'm happy to note that Sweetpea was actually Willa's...pet that Alaric gifted her. And I adored Sweetpea, she was so cute. Probably not an advisable pet but I did love her.
This romance was really sweet. It was a bit of a slow burn but that gave Alaric and Willa a chance to get to know each other. While there were a lot of women who were infatuated with Alaric, Alaric was thrilled to find that Willa wasn't one of them. She hadn't even read his books. Their relationship grows at a nice pace. There is an incident that suddenly thrusts the two into a betrothal and that was an interesting twist.
And I love the step-back cover on the paperback. I love that the couple is laughing, that is so different from the serious yet sexy embrace that is normally in a step-back.
A couple minor things did bother me as I was reading, the main one was that we didn't really know a lot about Willa's life before she got to the Wilde's home. Yes, we knew she was orphaned at 9 and she always wanted a pet but not much more than that. Another thing was we were told that Willa and Lavinia had a lot of offers for marriage and were very popular during their season but there was little evidence of that, they were rarely around other men that weren't Alaric, one of the other Wilde men/boys, or Mr. Sterling.
Overall this was a fun read and that cliffhanger, cannot wait for the next book. Very curious to see what's in store for Diana and North.
Pleasantly surprised with this. Eloisa James is somewhat hit or miss for me. I either can't get into some of her books or I really enjoy them. This was one that I really enjoyed and had a great time while reading it.
Alaric is an adventurer and writes about his travels. He has recently returned from his latest adventure and has discovered he has a boatload of female admirers and that there's a play about him that is adored by the masses. Willa is a young woman who was orphaned as young child, lives with Lavinia and her mother and has had a very successful season, if the amount of offers of marriage is anything to go by. One thing she craves is the more quiet life, definitely doesn't want to be with a man that has scores of women vying for his attention.
Before reading this, I skimmed a little, doing a quick flip through and saw a lot of 'Sweetpea's" throughout. I was worried that Alaric would be calling Willa Sweetpea and if he was doing it that much I might be annoyed. However I'm happy to note that Sweetpea was actually Willa's...pet that Alaric gifted her. And I adored Sweetpea, she was so cute. Probably not an advisable pet but I did love her.
This romance was really sweet. It was a bit of a slow burn but that gave Alaric and Willa a chance to get to know each other. While there were a lot of women who were infatuated with Alaric, Alaric was thrilled to find that Willa wasn't one of them. She hadn't even read his books. Their relationship grows at a nice pace. There is an incident that suddenly thrusts the two into a betrothal and that was an interesting twist.
And I love the step-back cover on the paperback. I love that the couple is laughing, that is so different from the serious yet sexy embrace that is normally in a step-back.
A couple minor things did bother me as I was reading, the main one was that we didn't really know a lot about Willa's life before she got to the Wilde's home. Yes, we knew she was orphaned at 9 and she always wanted a pet but not much more than that. Another thing was we were told that Willa and Lavinia had a lot of offers for marriage and were very popular during their season but there was little evidence of that, they were rarely around other men that weren't Alaric, one of the other Wilde men/boys, or Mr. Sterling.
Overall this was a fun read and that cliffhanger, cannot wait for the next book. Very curious to see what's in store for Diana and North.