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3.35 AVERAGE
3.35 AVERAGE
despite the gorgeous stepback, this book wasn't a success for me
this is definitely the most unique historical i've ever read so it kind of pains me to rate it low... but i just don't think it accomplished what it set out to do.
the story is told from multiple POVs and has sort of a Gossip Girl meets Pride and Prejudice feel. you've got a wise duchess who has been neglected by her husband, taking in a distant cousin who is looking to marry a sensible man. and then you've got the many men in their lives: the brother, the husband, the fiancé, the lover. set in the 1700s with LOTS of chess playing and overall machinations, the story sets itself up to be interesting. and in some ways it was... it just wasn't successful as a romance.
really my biggest complaint was the lack of payoff. you've got 2 separate relationships you think are going to happen. one never does and is never suitably resolved. and the other... was lame? there was lots of lackluster canoodling and sex but never anything to get us invested in the relationship.
ultimately i just don't think this book knew what it wanted to be. i appreciate what eloisa james does in the historical space. i think she focuses on time periods that aren't usually focused upon and i think she writes pretty sophisticated non rom-com stuff. this just didn't hit the mark.
this is definitely the most unique historical i've ever read so it kind of pains me to rate it low... but i just don't think it accomplished what it set out to do.
the story is told from multiple POVs and has sort of a Gossip Girl meets Pride and Prejudice feel. you've got a wise duchess who has been neglected by her husband, taking in a distant cousin who is looking to marry a sensible man. and then you've got the many men in their lives: the brother, the husband, the fiancé, the lover. set in the 1700s with LOTS of chess playing and overall machinations, the story sets itself up to be interesting. and in some ways it was... it just wasn't successful as a romance.
really my biggest complaint was the lack of payoff. you've got 2 separate relationships you think are going to happen. one never does and is never suitably resolved. and the other... was lame? there was lots of lackluster canoodling and sex but never anything to get us invested in the relationship.
ultimately i just don't think this book knew what it wanted to be. i appreciate what eloisa james does in the historical space. i think she focuses on time periods that aren't usually focused upon and i think she writes pretty sophisticated non rom-com stuff. this just didn't hit the mark.
One time period back (Georgian), which makes the focus on clothes quite fun. It's a bit like Les liaisons dangereuses but without that snake the Marquise de Merteuil (although Villiers runs along Valmont's lines, he's not truly an awful person).
Lots of literary references. Roberta's father does declaim terrible poetry. The one serious drawback is that there were almost too many characters in this book so it pulled attention from the central story of Roberta and Damon.
I am wondering how many books it will take before Gemma and Elijah get their reconciliation.
Lots of literary references. Roberta's father does declaim terrible poetry. The one serious drawback is that there were almost too many characters in this book so it pulled attention from the central story of Roberta and Damon.
I am wondering how many books it will take before Gemma and Elijah get their reconciliation.
I read this last year at some point and apparently forgot to mark it.
It has been about nine months since I read a romance by James. I always find her books funny and comforting.
Okay, it wasn't...it wasn't quite as bad as I thought it would be. In this context, "bad" means "not my style" in addition to its more common meaning. I realize this particular genre tends to be packed full of consent issues, given the time period and the Awakening Of The Delicate Flower plot device that necessarily is accompanied by Oh Dear, Ladies Don't Do That Sort Of Thing, so there's that to get over. But I didn't hate half the people I thought I would, and that's rather a success.
I love the concept behind Desperate Duchesses, Jemma and Beaumont are definitely the defining couple of the series, the main problem with this is that they dominate every scene they're in until I wasn't even sure which couple was supposed to have their HEA in this novel.
Roberta is a bit of a ninny, this isn't something to be hidden away. She's fallen in love with Villiers after glimpsing him across a ballroom and comes to London to be sponsored by Jemma, her 5th times removed cousin? She's unaware of possibly the most important fact about Villiers, that he's obsessed with Chess! Luckily Jemma's brother Damon is on hand to distract her.
Cue distraction. And a silly scene in a boat.
Roberta is a bit of a ninny, this isn't something to be hidden away. She's fallen in love with Villiers after glimpsing him across a ballroom and comes to London to be sponsored by Jemma, her 5th times removed cousin? She's unaware of possibly the most important fact about Villiers, that he's obsessed with Chess! Luckily Jemma's brother Damon is on hand to distract her.
Cue distraction. And a silly scene in a boat.