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3.6 AVERAGE
3.6 AVERAGE
Love at first sight. How original. Those wigs must be poisoning their brains.
i always love eloisa james even when she isn't at her best and i loveddddd this. it is very not-like-other girls and almost read like a georgian boy band/ofc fanfic (where the ofc has, of course, no feeling at all or care for the celebrity and then voila is won over by his charms) but despite that willa and alaric have so much chemistry and their witty banter is so good and feels so period appropriate (and that is such a skill that so few romance writers have)!! anyway--i enjoyed it all very much despite its extreme fanfiction-y tropes lmao.
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Eloisa James did not come to play when she wrote the first novel in The Wildes of Lindow Castle series. I read this book and fell utterly in love with Alaric Wilde, and then promptly had to devour the rest of the series to meet and marvel at the other siblings' romantic escapades.
I highly recommend this to anyone who likes a good, saucy historical romance. The research James did of the Lindow Marsh where the Wildes make their home, as well as the research of the time period, made this an incredibly delightful and interest read in between the well-placed and lushly written romantic encounters.
I highly recommend this to anyone who likes a good, saucy historical romance. The research James did of the Lindow Marsh where the Wildes make their home, as well as the research of the time period, made this an incredibly delightful and interest read in between the well-placed and lushly written romantic encounters.
Mediocre story. I'm glad that I read [b:Too Wilde to Wed|35887284|Too Wilde to Wed (The Wildes of Lindow Castle, #2)|Eloisa James|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1515521512l/35887284._SY75_.jpg|57403800] before this else I would not have considered reading the other book in this series. I feel that H and h lacked chemistry.
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I was convinced this’ll be my first Eloisa James’s book. As it turned out, it was my second, and looking at the rating I gave the first one I've read ([b:Pleasure for Pleasure|428677|Pleasure for Pleasure (Essex Sisters, #4)|Eloisa James|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1407707344l/428677._SY75_.jpg|417683], 2 stars), I’m starting to think… this author is not for me.
Wilde in Love is not a horrible book or badly written one. On the contrary, Eloisa James’s prose is quite pleasant to read: not to dense to obscure the story and smooth enough to keep one reading, and the romance seems to have all the important elements to make it fun. And still… there is just something crucial lacking in it for me to enjoy it.
The premise of a heroine, who seems subdue and proper, but secretly likes "bawdy jokes" meeting this absolutely not proper, over the top manly Lord, seemed interesting and fun. A promise of a series revolving around a family of almost eccentric members of the Wilde (this name…) family sounded fun, and I really looked forward to explore books about them.
But, to be completely honest Wilde in Love was a dud for me, and after reading it I’m not that interested in the rest of the series.
I didn’t like either of the protagonists: through the whole book Willa seemed pretentious and unpleasant, and Alaric absolutely obsessed with her for no real reason. The promised bawdy jokes never happened, or I missed it. And the way Willa’s bookish nature was used seemed almost caricatural. She's heroine in a romance novel and vehemently hated fiction books and only read philosophical treatises. Oh, and while describing how her ideal husband should look – to somehow disparage Alaric’s attractiveness - she used Aristotle’s likeness. I mean, c’mon. Maybe it was intentionally used to juxtapose Lavinia’s, Willa’s best friend, obsession with how handsome Lord Wilde was? I mean she went so far as to plaster her bedroom walls with his portraits, like all the teenage girls known to history always do, right? If that was the case, it could actually be clever. But I doubt it.
Still, Lavinia was probably one of the few characters I actually liked a little, but only when she interacted with her future love interests, Perth. When she shared any scenes with Willa, I was annoyed with them both. They reminded me so much of the over used, almost meme-like, stereotype of “mean girls”.
Alaric’s presence in the book was not as annoying – I enjoyed almost all his scenes with his brother or best friend – probably because I still have a kind of soft spot for old-school, bodice ripper, type of alpha heroes. But, there’s only so much nostalgia can take. I just didn’t get why he went from obsessively lusting over Willa (presumably because she clearly wasn’t interested in him at first) to loving her. Also, for a hero who was described as ladies-man, he wasn’t that charming or suave. I guess, the author aimed for a mix of ‘enemies to lovers’ and ‘friends to lovers’ tropes while developing their relationship, but it felt shallow and almost artificial.
The sub plot of Alaric’s super fans or the “crazy” missionary’s daughter was so awkwardly over the top, I just couldn’t find them enjoyable. I was hoping for some type of plot twist, where the plays about Wilde’s escapades were actually written by Willa, or better yet, Alaric’s brother, but alas.
There’re of course secondary romances thrown into the mix (it’s a series after all…), and between the two I obviously enjoyed Lavinia and Perth’s attraction fueled dislike more. Forcibly vague hostility Diana expressed for Roland didn’t make me curious about them at all, and the cliffhanger at the end only reinforced those feelings.
To be fair, Eloisa James admitted in her author's notes all the books will have some sort of cliffhangers, but the way this one dragged on at the end was awful. The last two, two and a half chapters were weirdly put together and didn’t fit the flow of the story.
So, did I like anything about Wilde in Love? Yes, I did.
Like I said the prose was good, some bits of dialog witty and fun. Although I didn’t really like any of the main characters, I enjoyed some of the slow burn romance they shared. I mean, that one intimate scene of Alaric? Pretty nice. Sweetpea was kind of a brilliant character, and… I really liked the covers. Full disclosure, I saw the pretty men and thought this series would be fun.
Wilde in Love was clearly not for me.
I understand Eloisa James is a huge figure in the historical romance genre and I heard good things about her Fairy Tales series, so maybe I’ll give her books another chance. But, so far her stories seem not to hit that sweet spot for me.
~2/5 Stars
Wilde in Love is not a horrible book or badly written one. On the contrary, Eloisa James’s prose is quite pleasant to read: not to dense to obscure the story and smooth enough to keep one reading, and the romance seems to have all the important elements to make it fun. And still… there is just something crucial lacking in it for me to enjoy it.
The premise of a heroine, who seems subdue and proper, but secretly likes "bawdy jokes" meeting this absolutely not proper, over the top manly Lord, seemed interesting and fun. A promise of a series revolving around a family of almost eccentric members of the Wilde (this name…) family sounded fun, and I really looked forward to explore books about them.
But, to be completely honest Wilde in Love was a dud for me, and after reading it I’m not that interested in the rest of the series.
I didn’t like either of the protagonists: through the whole book Willa seemed pretentious and unpleasant, and Alaric absolutely obsessed with her for no real reason. The promised bawdy jokes never happened, or I missed it. And the way Willa’s bookish nature was used seemed almost caricatural. She's heroine in a romance novel and vehemently hated fiction books and only read philosophical treatises. Oh, and while describing how her ideal husband should look – to somehow disparage Alaric’s attractiveness - she used Aristotle’s likeness. I mean, c’mon. Maybe it was intentionally used to juxtapose Lavinia’s, Willa’s best friend, obsession with how handsome Lord Wilde was? I mean she went so far as to plaster her bedroom walls with his portraits, like all the teenage girls known to history always do, right? If that was the case, it could actually be clever. But I doubt it.
Still, Lavinia was probably one of the few characters I actually liked a little, but only when she interacted with her future love interests, Perth. When she shared any scenes with Willa, I was annoyed with them both. They reminded me so much of the over used, almost meme-like, stereotype of “mean girls”.
Alaric’s presence in the book was not as annoying – I enjoyed almost all his scenes with his brother or best friend – probably because I still have a kind of soft spot for old-school, bodice ripper, type of alpha heroes. But, there’s only so much nostalgia can take. I just didn’t get why he went from obsessively lusting over Willa (presumably because she clearly wasn’t interested in him at first) to loving her. Also, for a hero who was described as ladies-man, he wasn’t that charming or suave. I guess, the author aimed for a mix of ‘enemies to lovers’ and ‘friends to lovers’ tropes while developing their relationship, but it felt shallow and almost artificial.
There’re of course secondary romances thrown into the mix (it’s a series after all…), and between the two I obviously enjoyed Lavinia and Perth’s attraction fueled dislike more. Forcibly vague hostility Diana expressed for Roland didn’t make me curious about them at all, and the cliffhanger at the end only reinforced those feelings.
To be fair, Eloisa James admitted in her author's notes all the books will have some sort of cliffhangers, but the way this one dragged on at the end was awful. The last two, two and a half chapters were weirdly put together and didn’t fit the flow of the story.
So, did I like anything about Wilde in Love? Yes, I did.
Like I said the prose was good, some bits of dialog witty and fun. Although I didn’t really like any of the main characters, I enjoyed some of the slow burn romance they shared. I mean, that one intimate scene of Alaric? Pretty nice. Sweetpea was kind of a brilliant character, and… I really liked the covers. Full disclosure, I saw the pretty men and thought this series would be fun.
Wilde in Love was clearly not for me.
I understand Eloisa James is a huge figure in the historical romance genre and I heard good things about her Fairy Tales series, so maybe I’ll give her books another chance. But, so far her stories seem not to hit that sweet spot for me.
~2/5 Stars
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
I absolutely love the chemistry between Willa and Alaric. It's the best I've read in a romance, in quite a while.
