THIS DUCHESS OF MINE

Author: Eloisa James ISBN: 9780061626821 6/2009 HISTORICAL Publisher: AVON
Time Period: Georgian, 1784

No man can resist Jemma's sensuous allure . . . Except her own husband! Wedding bells celebrating the arranged marriage between the lovely Duchess of Beaumont and her staid, imperturbable duke had scarcely fallen silent when a shocking discovery sent Jemma running from the ducal mansion. For the next nine years she cavorted abroad, creating one delicious scandal after another (if one is to believe the rumors). Elijah, Duke of Beaumont, did believe those rumors. But the handsome duke needs an heir, so he summons his seductive wife home. Jemma laughs at Elijah's cool eyes and icy heart—but to her secret shock, she doesn't share his feelings. In fact, she wants the impossible: her husband's heart at her feet. But what manner of seduction will make a man fall desperately in love . . . with his own wife?

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

I can’t attest to the other novels in Eloisa James’ ‘Desperate Duchesses’ book series (as I haven’t those), but I have to say, if they are as entertaining and interesting as THIS DUCHESS OF MINE, I will have to give them a look.

Jemma is having a simply marvelous time in France, with an entourage the envy of everyone (who is anyone), but she really wants her husband. She is infatuated with him, in fact (which amuses her cynical, jaded friends), but the man won’t have anything to do with her! More interested in work than in play, he has let her run free for years upon years and then decides to call her home. Jemma was ready for battle, however, and made a curious suggestion—she’d woo her husband until she had his heart.

I won’t say that Elijah was a snake, or that he did what he did for all those years out of spite. Truth is, the marriage started out as a marriage of convenience, and that suited them both the best. Or so they said, at least. He wasn’t a hard man per say, but he was definitely a man who didn’t budge easily. He saw things his way, and that made him quite good at his job (his seat in the House of Lords), but not very good at anticipating his wife.

Circumstances change, of course, forcing Elijah to face his spouse and for Jemma to face her feelings, but in truth, that mattered very little to me. Jemma was a force. A true force that wasn’t vain (despite her immense beauty) or jaded, she was simply Jemma. She understood herself and sought to understand her husband because she wanted to. Not because she had to—they could have easily begotten a heir and gone their separate ways once more—but because she wanted something more.

The Epilogue is a hoot. Spoilers are given for at least one character’s love story (yet to be published, but soon will be later this year), and the Author’s Note is very interesting. It's truly a wonder what you will learn when researching a stray plot thread in your head, it seems.

Alexandra Cenni