Review - Viscount in Love by Eloisa James

 

2 out of 5 stars

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review 

Torie needed protection from her grasping, unkind father. He needed a mother for the twins. 

Viscount in Love kicks off a new series called Accidental Brides. The first twenty percent of this, Torie's sister Lenora is engaged to Dom, the Viscount. It's by no means a love match, Lenora never wanted to marry a Duke (I guess it was otherwise a given??) because she hates attention, so when she was a young girl she set her sights for a Viscount. Dom is known for his anger and yelling in the House of Lords (no really, you'll hear about it over and over) but otherwise tries to keep himself emotionless, this is because of daddy issues and how his father saw emotion, along with his dimples, as effeminate, so he tries not to smile. He likes Lenora because of her “ladylike” qualities and knows she won't challenge him too much but she keeps putting off setting a date for the wedding. It's when Dom's sister and her husband dies and he inherits guardianship of their twin children that Lenora decides that's a bridge too far and ends up, sort of, eloping with a baron. Leaving Dom at square one and wanting a nanny-wife for the twins. How fortuitous that Lenora's sister Torie has spent this twenty percent of story time befriending the twins and catching Dom's eye. 

Torie had a dizzyingly joyful feeling that she had found some family members who liked her, even given her deficiencies. 

This was almost four hundred pages long and since I wasn't feeling the, obvious given prompt of “rom-com” and “spice”, vibe, this dragged a lot for me. I didn't feel any relationship development between Dom and Torie, maybe the last 15% had more what I was looking for, They both like the eye-candy value of the other, Dom feels protective of Torie because of how rude and hurtful her dad and sister comments are to her in regard to how she can't read (dyslexia) and Torie thinks she catches glimpses of the caring person Dom is under the thunderous expressions. Since I didn't feel or thought I saw any relationship/emotional development between the two, Dom's protectiveness felt empty posturing and when the open door scenes started in the later second half, his “on your knees” spice left me feeling nothing. 

He leaned over the desk. “What's the going price for a bride?” 

The twins played a decent size role in this and I guess are there to supply the rom-com, they're just so wildly, freshly precocious with their eleven year old selves. Around sixty percent is when Torie and Dom finally marry, I wish we could have started the marriage of convenience more towards the beginning middle for some of that great proximity tension, but they don't have a problem starting their physical relationship pretty quick. From there it's just Tori realizing, oops, I do love this person and Dom coming to grips with the fact that, yes, he can feel love too. The third act break-up does have some character work with Dom realizing that his learned forms of communication from his father is not healthy and having to go chase down Torie and apologize, promising to do better. There was some of that emotion I was looking for in ending scenes and a reveal to Dom as he tried to do a big gesture for Torie that hit really well. 

He was a grumpy man, her husband, but all the same, she saw a gleam of pure delight in his eyes when she kissed him. 

The vibe in this never really jived with me, Dom's protectiveness and “mine” attitude felt empty and childish without the emotional/relationship development I like, the children's madcap antics felt forced, and Torie felt a little distance to me in her own story. Secondary characters that should have had some importance, Torie's dad, sister, and the Duke of Queensberry, fell extremely flat. However, if you want a historical romance that seems to be going for rom-com and spice (with a late addition rabbit that poops everywhere), though, you'd probably enjoy it more that I did.

Reading Update: Page 1

A new Eloisa James series! 

Dominic had his bride picked out, suitable and willing to take care of the twins he's now guardian to. 

Then, the prospective bride eloped. 

So what's a Viscount to do? 

Why marry her sister, of course! 

Torie has always wanted to marry for love, but for the sake of the twins, she agrees to Dominic's proposal. And just maybe, Torie might get what she's always wanted as their heated debates fuel their passionate kisses, and an arrogant viscount's heart gets stolen. 

Viscount in Love by Eloisa James preorder (July 23rd) link

Sweet potatoes Taco Bowls recipe

Review: Not That Duke

Not That Duke by Eloisa James
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.5 stars 

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review 

“I will never marry Lady Stella.” 

Divided into two parts, you'll notice if you read the second in the Would-Be Wallflowers series, that the first of this is happening concurrently with that one. I haven't read the second and didn't have a problem following along here but there was some displacement that I felt might not have happened if I'd had the other part of the story. Basically, Stella has a crush/feelings for Silvester but as a short, freckled, wearing spectacles, bluestocking, she doesn't get the attention of the beautiful en vogue Yasmin. Yasmin has caught the attention of the ton men and has Silvester thinking he could be in love with her as he's dazzled by her smile and how well they seem to get along. Silvester's friend Giles, seems like he'd be a good match for Stella but Stella has caught the looks between Giles and Yasmin and, rightly, thinks they'll be married by seasons end. This first part takes up the first half of the book, there's some time jumps as they just seem to go from party to event, Yasmin getting the attention, some mean girlness from the chorus, and Stella enjoying the friendship she has developed with Silvester but trying to not fall in love with him as the rumors are that he's going to propose to Yasmin at any moment. 

The very sad, very secret, truth was that she was captivated by a frivolous aristocrat. 

Like I said, I didn't feel lost in the first half but while I was getting to know Lady Stella, orphaned at eight and sent to live with her aunt and uncle, who while distantly caring never quite meshed with Stella, causing her to feel somewhat unlovable for who she is, Silvester, the Duke of Huntington, who never felt cardboard but also felt like a distant character, I felt I couldn't quite sink into his distant emotions. After the dolloped here and then there with some time jumps first half, the second half settled down and focused on Stella and Silvester. While we got some telling of Silvester visiting Stella a lot, Stella and her aunt felt it was in friendship, even brotherly, there's enough to allude to the reader that he is genuinely starting to develop feelings for Stella, though. It did still feel a little abrupt when he asks her to marry him (reading the second book could have helped here with more context) and we get a little time devoted to Stella not believing in any feelings he may have for her, allowing that he may feel lust for her, and then getting strong armed into accepting his proposal. 

For the rest of his life, Silvester never forgot the experience of desiring his new wife so desperately that his hands shook as he removed garment, after garment, after garment. 

From there, we get sexcapades for a while, which were satisfyingly steamy but even though we were 65% into the story, I still felt new to this couple because of how the first half went. Then the latter second half gave us different povs from a chorus character named Blanche and Silvester's mother. Both felt out of place and gave a disjointed feel to the story. Blanche's felt like a jammed in pov to make readers anticipate her book and while I, for the most part, liked Silvester's mother, the placement of her pov didn't quite fit right, especially since goodwill feelings for her started to whither with how self-assured she was with saying Silvester still loved Yasmin and the like, creating more problems for our couple where they weren't needed. 

“We can make this marriage work,” she whispered. 

Since I didn't read the second book, I didn't have any feelings toward Yasmin or Giles, one way or the other but oh boy is Yasmin discussed in this one; I wonder if her name appears more times than Stella's. While that couple is featured, you don't get to know them, thoughts or feelings, so by the last twenty percent, I was done with hearing about Yasmin. It came off a little forced with Stella still thinking so surely that Silvester still had feelings for Yasmin and the last dark moment felt more annoying with, aforementioned mom, and Stella blowing out of proportion how Silvester acted at a party that Yasmin showed up to. I know I'm reading outside and not “in it” as the characters and Thee Emotion and Drama plus Stella's insecurities and all, but Silvester was pretty clearly head-over-heels for his wife, so yeah, some annoying forced in for drama ending. 

He seemed to...to care too much for his wife. 

There were also a good amount of little historical additives that helped to, outwardly anyway, to give this a feeling of time and place. Overall, I did enjoy this one, there was something about the chemistry between Stella and Silvester that couldn't be denied. There was a quick ending speech, I think readers would have loved a more immediate public showing/grovel, from Silvester to finally convince Stella his love was true and we got our happily ever after with an epilogue to expand on it. If you read the second, you'd definitely have to continue with this one but don't be afraid to jump in here either as I did, Stella and Silvester were at turns friendship and bedroom goals.

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Reading Update: Page 1

 

I can't quit staring at this model's hair 😍 Gorgeous!

I haven't read the other books in the series yet but I can only stay away from a series title "Would-Be Wallflowers" for so long, so I'm jumping in here. 

Y'all, buckle in. Lady Stella is "eccentric" and frowns at the Duke of Huntington over her spectacles. She's an heiress, he jokingly calls her "Specs", and they somehow end up married. 

The Duke is shocked he's in love with his wife, but she's laughing and claiming to be in love with someone else. 

I can't wait to dive in! 

Not That Duke by Eloisa James (Releases tomorrow!) purchase link

Buffalo Chickpea Meatballs recipe

I had problems getting these to stick together, if you couldn't tell by less than perfect ball shape lol. I really liked the flavoring, though. 

Review: A Kiss at Midnight

A Kiss at Midnight by Eloisa James
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

2.3 stars 

“I did it,” Gabriel said, conversationally. “I met the woman, the only woman for me. I met her, and now I’m going to meet my wife.” 

This month's TBRChallenge theme was Fairy Tale, last year I did a Beauty and the Beast because my tbr is full of that theme as it happens to be a personal favorite. I wanted to switch it up this year so I went with a Cinderella inspired. I got this book from a garage sale around 6 years ago and since I've read James before, I figured I would generally like it. 

“Why did Caesar bite Victoria, anyway? I never thought to ask.” 

“She was feeding him from her mouth.” 

“What?” 

“Holding a piece of meat between her lips and encouraging him to take it from her. Foolish business, coming between a dog and his meat.” 

Kate shuddered. “That is disgusting.” 

Look, it was a bit rough of a start between me and the heroine Kate, she was pretty vocal about not liking her step-sister's three little doggies. I'm an avowed crazy dog lady, who, maybe this is too much information, could hold a treat between my teeth and let my Rottweiler take it out of my mouth. I never got bite once and, obviously, don't find it as odd/disgusting as Kate. She also said this about the doggies: She disliked her stepsister’s pack of little dogs, affectionately, or not so affectionately, known to all as the rats. Granted, I'm not big on little Maltese dogs but calling them rats had me growing cold towards Kate even more. I graciously read on and decided to give the heroine time to improve her attitude. 

With that personal huffiness aside, the beginning of this was chaotic, we get the basic set-up of Kate's mother dying when she was in her early teens, her father remarrying two weeks later, and then her father dying pretty soon after to leave her with a step-mother and step-sister a couple years younger than her. Leaning into the Cinderella inspiration, the step-mother doesn't share any of the inheritance the father left her with Kate, gives it to her daughter Victoria as a dowry and does her best to bankrupt the estate. Kate gets moved to the attic and basically treated like a servant. Kate wants to leave to start her own life but feels guilty leaving the tenants to fend for themselves. What starts off this whole story is that Victoria's lip is infected from the dog bite and she was supposed to travel with her betrothed to meet his uncle, who just so happens to be a prince. They can't postpone the meeting because Victoria and the betrothed have been anticipating the wedding night for three months and Victoria is pregnant, they planned on getting married after meeting the prince, the betrothed's mother won't let them get married until the prince approves. For some reason that didn't quite make sense to me, Victoria's lip can't be seen in public so the mother concocts the plan that Kate will take her place and pretend to be Victoria. They sort of resemble each other because, GASP!, they are actually sisters, Kate's father was cheating on her SICK mother and after the SICK mother dies, marries his mistress. This plan really made no sense to me. 

Gabriel Albrecht-Frederick William von Aschenberg of Warl-Marburg-Baalsfeld 

Our prince, of the many fabulous names, has his own trials going on. His oldest brother is going through it back in the home country and has decided to lean in hard to the teachings of a religious zealot. Because of this, he has kicked out anyone not willing to become devout and Gabriel has taken the heathen relatives, friends, and workers with him to England. He feels guilty leaving them on their own, I guess. Personally, he's always wanted to be an archaeologist but the callings of duty. However, he's a poor prince and must marry a rich Russian princess, who is making her way to England, where if everything goes according to plan, they will become betrothed at the Ball. 

She turned around, mouth open. “You can’t go about trying to seduce young ladies!” she squeaked. “If I weren’t betrothed already, I would consider marrying you.” 

You can probably tell where this is going, but it wasn't quite as predictable as I thought it was going to be. Kate and Gabriel meet and have an instant attraction but by 30% Gabriel knows who Kate really is and why Victoria isn't there to meet him. We learn that Gabriel's majordomo is his illegitimate half-brother and along with how he feels responsible for everyone, connections are there for Kate and Gabriel to bond. The problem was that with the chaotic beginning, we don't really get to sit with characters, Kate and Gabriel especially together, and that ruined some emotional connection between them. 

“Oh damn,” he said, and there was a kind of hoarse hunger in his voice that spoke of truth, “I wish you were my Russian princess.” 

The first half also introduces us to Kate's godmother, Henry. Kate didn't know about her and due to Henry loving Kate's father but him choosing an heiress over her and then Henry being barren and Kate's father not understanding her grief and thinking naming Henry godmother would make her feel better, they never connected over the years. But what is Cinderella without the godmother? Henry played her part well and helped to give love, life, and fashion advice to Kate. Around the midway point, Kate and Gabriel finally start to spend sometime together and while they have some nice conversations, this couple was really more about the teasing and foreplay. I do like how they didn't just jump to sex and some of the teasing seduction scenes were played out well but I kept wishing some of the side characters and their stories had been pushed to the side more so that we could have gotten to know Gabriel more and Kate and Gabriel as a couple could have shown me more of the mental emotional reasons they were falling/in love. They were really more of a bedroom couple. 

And then she knew what the emotion in his eyes was. It was despair, and rage—and love. Love. “Gabriel,” she said, with a little gasp. 

With his Russian princess arriving any day, Gabriel makes a bet with Kate that if he restores the reputation of a girl Kate has befriended, she must let him kiss her. They've kissed and fooled around at this point but both keep saying Kate can't give up her virginity to him. The night of the Ball, Gabriel organizes things to have Kate up in his turret room and they have a fairly steamy seduction sessions with Gabriel having to go downstairs to be with his Russian princess and then sneaking up to continue the seduction with Kate. It starts to feel like, Gabriel, my man, Stop. But we need that ending angst. At 80% they have sex and still think Gabriel will marry the princess and Kate will go with Henry to London to find a husband. Of course when Kate is leaving, she loses one of her “glass” slippers. 

His foot brushed something. He bent down. It was one of Kate’s glass slippers. It shimmered in his hand, as delicate and absurd as any bit of feminine nonsense he’d ever seen in his life. He said it aloud, because there was no reason to be silent. “I am—undone. She has undone me.” And his hand closed around the glass slipper. 

The next chapter jumps to 41 days have passed and Kate is depressed in London but of course, Gabriel shows up and does a romantic thing and happily ever after with an epilogue. The money problem gets solved with a book advance(??????) (have to remember back to Gabriel wanting to be an archaeologist) and Kate's dowry wasn't as stolen as she thought. This is definitely not a leave your family on pilgrimage to find this book and read it, but it had some nice moments. The step-sister not being evil/mean was a nice turn and Henry as the godmother was a treat but I never felt like Gabriel was a full character, would have loved more of him and his half-brother Wick, and Kate and Gabriel's relationship was more in the teasing seduction than feeling romantically complete. There were some odd/uncommon additives in this (a lion who maybe eats dogs who eat pickled food, all the secondary character probably/maybe not needed side-stories, and I can't let this go, a butler named Cherryderry) that made it feel chaotic and stole away from the romance of the main couple. You probably won't be bored because of the “what's that now??” quality but I can't say you'll be romanced either. 

(I know you all are wondering and yes, Kate sort of changed her mind about the doggies, at least one of them anyway and became a dog lady herself :)

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Review: Say Yes to the Duke

Say Yes to the Duke by Eloisa James
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.3 stars 

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

In the fifth Wildes of Lindow Castle series, Viola, who is the duke's stepdaughter is making her debut into society. She's the extremely shy one, who pukes when she gets nervous, and just rather become a wallflower. Viola's nervousness comes from feeling like she isn't a true Wilde, because of her 'step' status. I'm new to the series and found I had no problem jumping in here, in fact, I wish there had been more scenes with Viola and the Wilde family. She spends a lot of time with her sister, Joan who is also debuting but I wish we could have seen her with her mother and especially stepfather to get some heartfelt scenes where he explains that he feels she is his daughter, no 'step' to it. 

He had found a treasure in the Lindow library, and he merely had to win it away from a vicar. How hard could that be?

When Viola meets the new vicar, she can't believe how handsome he is and how she feels comfortable around him, so she decides that he is who she should marry, even though the vicar is already engaged. This issue was handled a bit unwieldy where the vicar's fiancee is uptight and has an offputting personality, so Viola feels vindicated in “saving” the vicar from the fiancee and the story kind of stays away from judging Viola for going after him. Our hero the Duke of Wynter, Devin, comes into the picture when Viola overhears him saying he wants her sister for a wife because Viola isn't a true Wilde. Devin doesn't make the best first impression, to Viola or readers, but from the first conversation he has with Viola, his character comes alive. 

Then he thought about the way her eyes sparkled when she scolded him. It was an outlandish thing to find attractive.

I really enjoyed the first half, these two had good byplay and the way Devin kept trying to grasp Viola as she flittered away kept me locked in. These two had some sweet moments and I do think their journey to love, especially Viola, Devin falls first, came across in the pages but the second half slowed way down for me. There were long scenes of them just focused on the wanting to kiss and just when I was starting to really delight in them, sex scenes took over and I lost some of their good conversational play. 

“No one would have arranged a marriage between us, which I think is to our benefit. And I think you would be a marvelous duchess.” Her eyes were shocked, so Devin added firmly, “I am going to woo you.”

I also thought the second half spent too much time focused on the vicar's romantic troubles; it really felt like the author ran out of steam for the main couple so moved onto the vicar. Even though Viola and Devin had pleasing chemistry, I still felt like Devin wasn't developed enough. He had an abusive father, lost his mother young, and then had an uncle and two cousins for his only family. It is also brought up that he likes, is good at math but so little was done with this, I'm not sure why it was even included. These were plot points to his character but he still only felt sketched out, like I said, he does come alive more in Viola's presence but when we lose them in the second half, he becomes even less memorable. 

He was in love with his wife, desperately, wildly in love with his wife, and she was telling him that he was the reason for the greatest anguish she’d ever experienced.

The beginning half was sweet but when I was really starting to sink into the story and enjoy the couple together, the second half slowed down, had more sex scenes than the conversational byplay I was delighting in, and focused more on a side character's romance issues. I think some emotional moments were missed on not having scenes with Viola and her stepfather and even more with her step-siblings. I do think Viola will reach the heart of some who never feel they quite belong or feel dull in the presence of others who shine so effortlessly; it was lovely to see Viola, who feels that way, become the shining star in Devin's universe. 

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Reading Update: 30%

 

My first book in the Wilde series, starting with book #5 shouldn't be a problem, right? Usually like to start a series at #1 but just worked out this way.

Monday nights are for historical romance, good food, and, currently, NHL playoffs :)

Have a good week, all!

Say Yes to the Duke by Eloisa James purchase link

Spicy Shrimp and Tomato Cream pasta recipe

Review: Talk of the Ton

Talk of the Ton by Eloisa James
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.5 stars

I think Random Number generator thinks it is Friends' Recommendation month because it picked another one! Thanks to Nia for the enjoyable recommendation :)

This collection of short regency stories seemed to be connected by having a little bit steamier tone and jealous women. With no stories rated below 3 stars, I quite enjoyed this anthology.


A Proper Gentleman by Eloisa James
3.5 stars

It was good for a man to know straight off that there were times when he might---be obeyed, and there were others when he should understand his place.

My favorite of the collection and the hottest (funny how that worked out, huh ;). A long standing betrothal, hero who gains a reputation for liking French women a bit too much (really spent a couple months in Paris drowning his sorrows because his brother died), fervent gossip, and a forgotten fiancée who decides to take charge.

The heroine decides to go to a masque ball and pretend to be French and entice the hero. The reasoning involving a Shakespeare quote the hero supposedly said mixed with some gossip is all a bit forced but I'll let it go because the heroine taking the reins was fun. There's some hot flirting, sexual tension, and disrobing. The hero and heroine both give as good as they get and I was there for it.

The Vicar's Widow by Julia London
3 stars

"Nefarious?" She laughed. "Lord Montgomery, how you tease me! I'd wager you've not a wicked bone in you body!"
He gave her a look that suggested she knew better than that, leaned slightly toward her, and said low, "You'd be quite wrong, madam, were you to wager. I've more than one wicked bone in this body."

Probably my least favorite with us getting a decent amount of pov from the villain of the piece; a jealous girl who spreads reputation hurting gossip. Heroine and hero have a forbidden kiss but then heroine's vicar husband dies a year later and hero hasn't forgotten her.

Hero was a bit drab with his overly calm ignoring, not caring about the gossip circulating about him having serious intentions about the jealous girl and how heroine's reputation was getting dragged through the mud as jealous girl started rumors.

Hero and heroine were sweet together but too much town gossip focus for such a short story.

Clearly a Couple (Free Fellows League #4.5) by Rebecca Hagan Lee
3 stars

"You belong to yourself now, Lady India, you're not obliged to service any man in order to survive."

The most intriguing with our heroine being captured by pirates and forced to live in a harem for five years (we only get told, not shown this). Hints of steamy naughtiness because heroine knows every which way Sunday to pleasure a man and has a jewel in her belly button that hero can't look away from. Hero somewhat stumbles upon her and must escort her to London but the majority of story is their one night in cabin.

I was completely interested in this one but it was hurt by the short restrictions and our hero and heroine fall in love within a night and are married within a head spinning time. The hero seemed calm, cool, and sexy and our heroine would have given him a great run for his money (she sort of does anyway) if given a full length novel.

Miss Jenny Alt's First Kiss by Jacqueline Navin
3.5 stars

"Why, I get the distinct impression that you do not approve of me."

Back to the jealously, our heroine is the poor relation cousin who has spent her life making sure her cousin shines, making cousin turn out to be a spoiled little bi…umm, miss. Recluse earl cousin comes to stay in London to find a wife, jealous girl wants him but he is intrigued by shy cousin.

Look, I eat shy miss, only guy to see the hidden gem trope up with a spoon. I liked hero and heroine back and forth with their challenging each other's comfort zones and their blossoming sexual tension. Hater girl hates but gets a little comeuppance in end and our bluestocking gets her happily ever after.


Satisfying quick regency stories if in a time crunch or looking for a quick fix.


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