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Desperate Duchesses Eloisa James 9780060781934 Books

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Desperate Duchesses Eloisa James 9780060781934 Books

This book is an embarrassment to women. If you take all the female characters and combine them into one you still don't come up with an average-sized brain (never mind character, maturity, or simple common sense).

From the first few unlikely and irrational pages this seemed like a bad Junior High School play in which too many characters with little to contribute had been written in so the whole class could have a speaking part. (By high school, you'd expect more mature characters!) Under these circumstances, while everybody spoke, no one had anything of any importance to say. It was a completely chaotic one-dimensional farce. We are, apparently, supposed to find the antics and dialogues humorous and entertaining but "ridiculous", "spoiled", and "downright stupid" are much closer to the mark.

I can't remember a more irritating book, more exagerated stereotypes and characterizations, sillier dialogue, or more frantic pacing (every scene was short, choppy, and sloppily transitioned). Did anybody proofread this?

You never got into anyone's mind (assuming they had one) or into their hearts (presumably, the function of romantic fiction). You were too distracted by all the confusion caused by whatever nonsensical scene was exploding at the time. I have never come across a group of people with less charm, or warmth, or sense of purpose than this crew, about whom further books will, apparently, be written.

The author's biographical blurb states that she writes in her sleep because she is so overwhelmed by her children and pets. I thought she was joking but, apparently, that was the one serious comment in the whole book.


Tags : Desperate Duchesses [Eloisa James] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. <em>Welcome to a world of reckless sensuality and glittering sophistication . . . of dangerously handsome gentlemen and young ladies longing to gain a title . . . of games played for high stakes,Eloisa James,Desperate Duchesses,Avon,0060781939,Romance - Historical - General,Historical fiction.,Love stories,Love stories.,Man-woman relationships,Nobility - England,AMERICAN LIGHT ROMANTIC FICTION,FICTION Romance General,FICTION Romance Historical General,Fiction,Fiction - Romance,Fiction-Romance,General Adult,Historical fiction,Historical romance,MASS MARKET,RomanceHistorical,Romance: Historical,United States

Desperate Duchesses Eloisa James 9780060781934 Books Reviews

TITLE Desperate Duchesses
AUTHOR Eloisa James
SERIES Desperate Duchesses, Book 1

OVERVIEW
Lady Roberta St. Giles is sick of being stuck at home with her sentimental poet of a father and whatever mistress he has at the moment, so when she spies the cool, debonair Duke of Villiers at a country ball—and the duke more or less propositions her—she decides he’s the man for her and sets off for London to beg lodging with the Duchess of Beaumont, a distant cousin she’s never met. When Jemma, the duchess, gladly takes on Roberta and her seemingly impossible marital plans, the young lady seems well on her way to what she most desires, but a scandalous master chess game between her hostess and her prospective bridegroom, a visit from her versifying father, and a tantalizing flirtation with the duchess’s irresistible brother, Damon, the Early of Gryffyn, all conspire to put Roberta in a much different position than what she expected. Instead of ending up with an aloof husband who will never embarrass her in public as her father has, Roberta finds herself gladly ensconced in a series of scandalous incidents that lead to her true happy ending.

Intertwined with Roberta and Damon’s romance are a set of secondary characters and bits of story introducing them, including a set of chess matches between Jemma and Villiers and Jemma and her husband, Elijah, and a mild flirtation/friendship formed between Elijah and witty spinster Miss Charlotte Tatlock.

PROS
Accolades must first be heaped on the physical relationship between Roberta and Damon. The kissing is enticing, their first sex scene is both steamy and slightly awkward, and the next sex scene is just plain hot. Another positive in the main romance is the inclusion of Damon’s illegitimate son, Teddy, whose relationship with Roberta is a great measure for the progress of the emotional story. Roberta starts out rather resistant to the presence of a child in the house, to an extent that makes her somewhat unlikable. Roberta was also a bit unlikable because of how absurd her “love” for Villiers was, but making Roberta difficult to like early on worked well for the story; you get sick of too many fabulous, lovable characters in romances. Sometimes, it’s nice to have characters you can see grow and change their minds.

In that same vein, Villiers is a really entertaining, complex sort of “villain” in this romance. He’s a true rake, with a gaggle of bastards and plenty of scandals trailing behind him, and watching him go through the emotional complexities of deciding to get married, changing his mind, and being displaced in his betrothed’s affections is extremely compelling.

Damon, unlike Roberta and Villiers, is a delightful character from the beginning, but the revelation of just how great he is nicely mirrors Roberta’s change of emotions. At first, Damon’s attractive qualities don’t seem to hold up against the catalogue of Villiers’s attractions, but just as Roberta quite suddenly realizes how much her feelings have changed, we are quite suddenly shown just how well Damon stacks up against his rival. The reveal of all of Damon’s talents and attractions is a part of a strong denouement for the story that wraps everything up well and puts Villiers in a perfect position for moving forward.

CONS
Though the physical relationship between Roberta and Damon is great, their emotional journey and chemistry falls a bit flat. Just as Roberta’s “love” for Villiers is based on nothing more than her perception that he would be an un-embarrassing husband, her love for Damon doesn’t seem to be based on much more than her physical attraction to him. There are some nice moments between them where they are simply enjoying themselves, and Roberta’s increasing affection for Damon’s son helps show an emotional progression, but the romantic relationship falls a touch flat.

Some people may also consider the split of the story between a main romance and quite a bit of secondary story building to be a downside of this book, but I love the integration of sub-plots that continue into further books.

RATINGS
Writing 5/5 Fantastic writing as always from Eloisa James.
Characters 5/5 Entertaining and well-developed.
Plot 4/5 Iffy emotional plot, but good unravelling.
Setting 4/5 Lots of things just a little too unconventional for the period.
Romance 3/5 Strong physical relationship, lacking emotionally.
Sexiness 5/5 Top notch sex scenes, well reflecting the characters and their relationship.
Humor 4.5/5 James’s excellent humor with plenty of bad poetry thrown in.
Average 4.4/5 Hot But Underdeveloped Romance

OTHER INFO
This is the first in the Desperate Duchesses series, but unlike the novels in many historical romance series, this book doesn’t stand alone particularly well. It might still be enjoyable without intending to read any of the other books, but there’s a lot going on in this story with secondary characters and plotlines that isn’t resolved in this book. Keep that in mind if you plan on reading.
DESPERATE DUCHESSES is book one in the "Desperate Duchesses" series. Since it wasn't my first book by Eloisa James and because I've enjoyed her storytelling before, I made the mistake of purchasing this before reading anything at all about it. I'm sorry to say though that I wasn't impressed and basically just didn't really enjoy it. There were many references between chess and sex which was weird, but since I don't play chess maybe its just me for not seeing the similarities. Then there was all the talk about poetry, or rather bad poetry I should say...

There were also way too many characters, none of which stood out or were too lovable in my opinion. I didn't really feel any chemistry between Roberta and Damon until at least halfway, and even then it felt somewhat one-sided. The heroine was very naive at times, which kind of got on my nerves too. What I did like about it and what kept me reading (although rapidly) was the humor. I like Ms. James style, just not the subjects or topics of this particular novel. I'll still give another of her stories a try sometime and hope it goes over better than this one did.
This book is an embarrassment to women. If you take all the female characters and combine them into one you still don't come up with an average-sized brain (never mind character, maturity, or simple common sense).

From the first few unlikely and irrational pages this seemed like a bad Junior High School play in which too many characters with little to contribute had been written in so the whole class could have a speaking part. (By high school, you'd expect more mature characters!) Under these circumstances, while everybody spoke, no one had anything of any importance to say. It was a completely chaotic one-dimensional farce. We are, apparently, supposed to find the antics and dialogues humorous and entertaining but "ridiculous", "spoiled", and "downright stupid" are much closer to the mark.

I can't remember a more irritating book, more exagerated stereotypes and characterizations, sillier dialogue, or more frantic pacing (every scene was short, choppy, and sloppily transitioned). Did anybody proofread this?

You never got into anyone's mind (assuming they had one) or into their hearts (presumably, the function of romantic fiction). You were too distracted by all the confusion caused by whatever nonsensical scene was exploding at the time. I have never come across a group of people with less charm, or warmth, or sense of purpose than this crew, about whom further books will, apparently, be written.

The author's biographical blurb states that she writes in her sleep because she is so overwhelmed by her children and pets. I thought she was joking but, apparently, that was the one serious comment in the whole book.