Tag: Eloisa James

Viscount in Love by Eloisa James

On By TracyIn Georgian Era (1714-1837), Part of a Series, Top Pick - Highly Recommended, Tracy's Reviews2 Comments

Viscount in Love (Accidental Brides, #1)Viscount in Love by Eloisa James

Tracy’s Rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: Accidental Brides, #1

Release Date: July 23, 2024

Miss Victoria “Torie” Sutton, the younger daughter of Sir William Sutton, never imagined that she would end up married to Dominic “Dom” Kelbourne, Viscount Kelbourne, her sister’s fiancé, but when her sister Leonora meets her betrothed’s new wards, she elopes with another suitor, leaving Torie to clean up her mess. The wards in question; Florence & Valentine are twins, and the children of Dom’s late sister. Torie falls in love with the children immediately and enjoys spending time with them, but she has no desire to marry Dom just to become their nanny – which she is pretty sure is the reason Dom has demanded that she marry him in place of her sister. Especially as Dom is widely known as an intelligent man and a powerhouse in the House of Lords, as well as, the fact that he chose Leonora for her perfect ladylike qualities – attributes that Torie does not (nor does she want to) possess. Torie is universally considered “addled” as she is unable to read or write, but what people don’t know is she possesses a photographic memory and has learned to laugh at herself, therefore deflecting society’s scorn, in addition to this, she is a gift painter and a truly nice person – definitely not the bride Viscount Kelbourne was looking for. But she won’t deny that she finds him attractive and despite her reservations, she finally agrees to marry him, but there is no way she is going to fall in love…

After being jilted by Leonora Sutton, Dominic Kelbourne is determined to marry Torie, he doesn’t care what society thinks, and finds himself strangely protective of her. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that the twins adore her and he is incredibly attracted to her. It takes some doing, but eventually he convinces her to marry him and then proceeds to fall head of heels in love with her. But Dom is not prepared for his feelings and makes one mistake after another, culminating in a mistake that may cost him the love he never knew he wanted. Can he make things right or is it too late?

What a great start to a new series! This well-written, perfectly paced story is a fun “grumpy meets sunshine” type of story. This book has wonderfully imperfect characters, great banter, lots of emotion, steamy love scenes, delightful secondary characters, a hero with a temper, a heroine who isn’t afraid to give as good as she gets, a house bunny, a sword fight and very happy ending that includes an epilogue. This was such a great read, it was the book I didn’t even know I was waiting for and can’t wait to read it again! I loved Torie and Dom individually, but I loved them even more together, this is a fictional couple that will stay with me for a long time, and I can’t wait to meet the next Accidental Bride!

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher. All opinions in this review are my own. *

The Reluctant Countess by Eloisa James

On By TracyIn Georgian Era (1714-1837), Part of a Series, Regency Era (1811-1820), Tracy's ReviewsLeave a comment

The Reluctant Countess (Would-Be Wallflowers, #2)The Reluctant Countess by Eloisa James

Tracy’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: Would-Be Wallflowers, #2

Release Date: November 29, 2022

Raised in the French court, Lady Yasmin Regnier is no stranger to gossip, after all, her own mother was Napoleon’s mistress and Yasmin herself was duped by a fortune hunter at the tender age of 16. She learned to hold her head high and ignore the whispers, but when it became too much to bear, she left France and went to live with her English grandfather, the Duke of Portbellow. While the whispers followed her to England, her connections and her beauty ensure that she is not lacking invitations or suitors. But not every man falls at her feet and unfortunately for her that includes the only man who has really piqued her interest, the grumpy Earl of Lilford, who clearly doesn’t approve of her, yet always requests the first waltz, then barely speaks to her as they dance, and then ignores her after they finish. She wonders what it is about the earl that intrigues her so and what will she have to do to make him smile.

Giles Renwick, the Earl of Lilford hates that he is attracted to Lady Yasmin, she is completely wrong for him, but she makes him burn in a way that no woman ever has. He allows himself only one dance with her but seethes watching the other men dance and flirt with her, all the while telling himself that she could never be his countess. After the scandals created by his parents, Giles sets himself to a higher standard and would never do anything to tarnish his family name or endanger his younger sister’s reputation. And though she is beautiful, connected, and rich, Lady Yasmin’s reputation and manner are all wrong for him, not to mention his sister, Lady Lydia, clearly despises her and has repeatedly warned Giles to stay away from her. But even knowing all that, Giles can’t seem to walk away and soon finds himself trying to convince a reluctant Yasmin to marry him.

As always, Eloisa James delivers another well-written, nicely-paced story populated by wonderful characters. After reading the reviews for this title, I really didn’t expect to like it, but personally, I didn’t find Giles as nasty as he was portrayed in the reviews, that is not to say he wasn’t a first-class jerk to Yasmin, but neither was he the anti-hero I was expecting. Yes, he was condescending. Yes, he was rude and insulting at times. Yes, he allowed himself to be manipulated by his vile sister. But he does see the error of his ways and while he didn’t really grovel, he does apologize. So while it was not perfect, this story kept me turning pages and was filled with emotion, steamyish love scenes – that don’t all end with a satisfied heroine LOL, great secondary characters, a bit of drama, and finally a HEA with TWO epilogues. In the end, I enjoyed the story, but I was left wishing there had been a bit more follow-up with his sister and I am keeping my fingers crossed for a HEA for Silvester, the Duke of Huntington. This is the second book in the series and has ties to “The American Duchess”, but it can absolutely be read as a standalone title.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher. All opinions in this review are my own.*