Reviews

When the Duke Returns by Eloisa James

helenephoebe's review against another edition

4.0

Review - This book seemed to get back into the stride of the series after the last one [b:Duchess By Night|2283547|Duchess By Night (Desperate Duchesses, #3)|Eloisa James|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1442372305s/2283547.jpg|2289751] was a let down. I loved how Isidore was determined not to back down, and how Simeon wasn't the architypal English duke, but that it was these unusual quirks that made the story so addictive. It did take a while to get into it, but when I did I loved it.

Genre? - Historical / Romance

Characters? - Isidore Duchess of Cosway / Simeon Duke of Cosway / Jemma Duchess of Beaumont

Setting? - London (England)

Series? - Desperate Duchesses #4

Recommend? – Yes

Rating - 17/20

laurabb's review against another edition

challenging emotional lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

allomancersam's review

3.0

3.5 Stars

I'm starting to think that EJ isn't going to be the author for me. There was some stuff that I really liked and others that I didn't care for at all

Pros:
*Cute romance
*A virgin hero *and* heroine?? That's unheard of! I really liked them getting to know each other with no prior experience. It was really refreshing
*The actual romance was largely good, but it got kind of bogged down in all the other little bits of plot

Cons:
*I did not care the cutaway chapters to Jemma. They largely had nothing to do with the main plot and felt like a huge distraction (and cheap set up for the next book, which is about those two)
*I need these heroines to be a little more sure of themselves, dang it.
*It felt really back and forth on the annulment issue
*These two desperately needed to learn how to communicate
*Simeon could have been a more decisive lead

zeymelo's review

1.0

See, these historical sexy romance type of books all have a certain… how to say… pattern, style, tone? This book completely missed that. Something huge was missing. Maybe it lacked depth. Maybe all that weird sh*t about eastern cultures threw me off. Just don’t write about cultures and beliefs you don’t know or understand a thing about. Because the result comes off as an unprofesional looking half baked of a book.

Awful romance. Was it even a relationship? What was that? They seriously should’ve divorced. These two are not made for each other I tell you.

Only thing I like was the hero being a virgin. Only reason I started reading the book in the first place. It was a different concept and rare thing to see in this types of books. Of course, it was quite meaningless in the end.

Just don’t waste your time reading this.

britomarte's review

2.0

There were parts of this book that I loved, but overall, it wasn't quite right. I pick up a Romance novel for light, happy reading... the B romance made me sad. Flat-out sad. More than that, there was too much of the conflict based on misunderstandings.

It was well-executed, overall, but not my cup of tea.

lexi_bear's review

lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

This is a run of the mill period drama. The only thing that is unique about the story is the main male lead is a virgin, though it miraculously takes him no time to be good at sex. It’s a fun read and goes by quick despite the length, the side story was weird with the friend and felt oddly distracting.

sophiewilliams's review

3.0

All the Middle Way stuff is quite clunky. Not her best

ivy_mck's review

emotional funny lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

littlewit's review against another edition

5.0

I really enjoyed this couple's story. Also the virginal love scene was really well done.

wildflowerz76's review

3.0

I've read at least one other of these Desperate Duchesses books. I'd rather read series in order, even when it doesn't make a lot of difference, but as I don't care to actually own these books, I don't want to pay a lot for them. So I've stuck myself with getting them at either the library or used book stores. But Some of them I just can't find. So here we are. I get that they're doing a running thing with Jemma through them all, but reading them out of order's gonna make that irritating. But those party felt so disjointed from the rest of the story. Isidore and Gemma weren't together very often, so it felt weird. I had a hard time understanding the deal between Isidore and Cosway. His issues seemed incredibly stupid and they were both reluctant to talk about their issues in a way that seems extreme, even for the time period. For instance, they want a code word that he can say when it's life-threateningly important that she follow his orders? Um, why can't you just say, "This is life-threateningly important!"? Their whole story was kinda annoying. But the novelty of them both being virgins and just figuring out each other's bodies was a nice change from most of these stories.