Eloísa James has always been an all or nothing with me. When she’s good, she’s great, and even some things I don’t like in the story don’t take away from the overall enjoyment. This was one of those books.
The H and h are Duke and Duchess, married when h was a child after which H ran out a window and became a sculptor in Greece. He comes back to grant her an annulment so she can marry a Marquess who from the very first we see (and everyone sees) is a horribly stuck up for propriety man who has no passion whatsoever for her. Her feelings toward him are very contradictory because she seeks him for the steadiness of his character and to have a family but she also hopes against all proof that they’ll have a passionate marriage. This push and pull between wanting the marquess or wanting her husband goes in through the entire novel until the very end. Usually this sucks but it happened in between so many other events and also handled so interestingly that it was mildly annoying and not a deal breaker. The Duchess, Gina is a sweetheart. She’s happy, and sweet, capable, easy going and very responsible managing the estate. The hero, Cam is a cool dude. He genuinely likes the Gina, they grew up together and always kept in touch while he was living abroad. when he comes back their relationship is super friendly, which makes it easy to open for the passion Gina deserves. However, he is a care free (financially independent, at least!) guy with no desire to stay or manage the estate and it never occurs to him Gina could need help. However he is genuinely supportive of her when she gets upset. So while he was pretty unstable and flighty until the very end, they suited each other nicely.
There are two other romances intertwined in this book and they all complimented each other (since this all happens at a country party). The two other ladies are Gina’s friends, both married and with scandalous reputations that are all bark and no bite. Carola estranged from her husband Tuppy, I loved their story. It was a train wreck of two super awkward individuals where miscommunications rule the day in an authentic way. They provided some good laughs because James is so good at not forcing comedy, just letting it happen.
The other friend, Esme is a gorgeous friend with a bad reputation for being a flighty trollop. Her story is very sad and I think the ending treated her way too harshly for events that were not her fault. She is married to a baron who is a good hearted man but who is in love with his mistress (a widow). While Esme is not in love with him, she is very resentful of what he has with his mistress (true love) and to have them parade around others their love and affection (although she’s the one who gets the bad rep for flirting around). The marquess (yes, Gina’s marquess) has a passion for her. However, her story is the serious part of the book.
It’s worth the read.
The characters were fun to follow, the three amigas were so fun and lively. The story was different, too! Three estranged marriages: where will they lead? It wasn’t as predictable as regency romances always are.
There were some things I didn’t like but as I said before, they did not take away from a very enjoyable read, in fact they were surrounded by outcomes I approved of. Spoilers ahead!
Warning! Spoilers!
Toward the ending it got way too melodramatic with the married-not-married bs, and that last ‘I don’t know who I want’ bit that forced a stupid separation of the hero and heroine. The marquess was an utter moron and it is first time that this type of stuck up character messes up because of their uptightness, gets others hurt, and doesn’t get saved with a patched up ‘forgiven forgotten’ ending. What he did was very stupid and had devastating consequences. I was very glad Esme rejected him and showed character and fortitude. Esme’s ending was too harsh for her, I don’t think she deserved it. Her only bad move was to sleep with the marquess and only because of the consequences it brought after for her and others. Because by the time she slept with him, everyone and their mother knew Gina was going to stay with her husband and the marquess had never loved her. I hope she gets her own book but that it is NOT with the marquess.
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