Customer Reviews

An Affair Before Christmas (Thorndike Romance)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

I completely agree with the people who didn't like this book. I've also been a fan of EJ's for quite awhile and I am quite disappointed in this whole series. The first book "Desperate Duchesses" was not good & I thought this one was just a bit better. (In the sense that the hero didn't make me fall asleep.)

I won't reiterate the whole plot, since other reviewers have done so quite well. Basically, there are three stories: (1) Poppy and Duke of Fletcher have been married for years and they have had a bad sex life. They still love each other, but have communication problems. (2) The Duke of Villiers is on his death bed because he has an infection from a wound he recieved during a duel (this happened in the previous book). A spinster starts hanging out with him due to a mistaken note that was delivered to her & ends up meeting his potential heir. Both these guys are interested in her for marriage, apparently. (3) The Duke and Duchess of Beaumont are playing chess and still having problems because he slept with his mistress many years ago and then the Duchess retaliated by going to Paris and sleeping with other guys.

So, here's the deal: one of the biggest problems with this method of having 3 stories going on simultaneously is that the hero/heroine of THIS novel get shafted. Poppy came across as a whining, immature and annoying little girl. Her mother was obviously a horrible person and Poppy just let her walk all over for years -- to the detriment of her own marriage. Even though her husband was a great guy. Why was Fletch in love with her again? It didn't seem like Poppy had much going for her -- and the little personality she did have, she'd hid for years because of fear of her mother. So, basically, Poppy annoyed me and I just felt like she didn't deserve Fletch.

Which leads me to the hero: What was wrong with him? Why didn't Fletch have the authority to throw his mother-in-law out when she moved into his house and tried to take over his life? He's a DUKE... the most powerful title at that time after the King. Just one snap of the finger and she's toast. And neither he or Poppy ever thought of that? Makes no sense and makes it so that you cannot sympathize with Fletch, either. Clearly, he was lacking in the brains (and strength) department.

In short: Why should we root for Poppy and Fletch? Just because they're on the cover? Sorry, not enough. Too little.

Also, if EJ wants to link 3 storylines into one book, then she needs to start actually LINKING them. I think that one of the biggest problems is that the various plots do not exactly intersect -- so it's like you're reading 3 different novels in this one book. I have problems with this, because it's almost like none of the "mini-books" are well developed. The main one suffered because of it & the other two were just so poorly sketched and random that you had no clue WHAT was going on. Also, it didn't flow gracefully... in one chapter, we're treated to the details of a party from Fletch's perspective & then the next chapter goes BACK in time to tell us how the Duke of Villiers saw that exact scene. Well, that's kind of weird. I think this is EJ's way of dealing with her past issues about being in different character's head in the same passage -- but I don't think this new method is the way to resolve the POV issues she has.

So, unfortunately, I just could not recommend this book -- and series -- to anyone. And that's pretty sad, because EJ is one of my favorite romance novelists. However, if she continues this way, she won't be on that list much longer.

Well, I can't say I was quite as enthralled with this book as the other two reviewers. I'd give this book 3 1/2 stars, but I bumped it up to 4 because there's heart here and potential in the series itself. I can say that I really liked Fletch and Poppy's story. That said, I'm getting a little frustrated with EJ's thing about intertwining stories. I realize she's using this story, and the previous one, "Desperate Duchesses" to lay groundwork for the stories still coming, but I found myself getting annoyed with the distractions from Fletch and Poppy. Her 'intertwining' is somewhat heavy-handed, and makes it hard to say that each book in a series stands alone.

The storyline of the Duke and Duchess of Beaumont is not so bad (although I'll admit I'm interested in seeing how EJ will convince me to like the Duke after hearing the story about him with his mistress in his office hours after he left his new young wife's bed), but I got to the point where I just skipped over the stuff with Villiers. I confess that I just don't get his character AT ALL. I don't see how any man wearing the clothes she described could actually seem MASCULINE, as she describes it. It's not just that he seems so BAD, it's that I don't GET him. I know she's trying to redeem him, but it just seems so obvious, and again, heavy-handed. So, I skipped over those chapters. (I'll probably go back and re-read them before I read the next volume, but we'll see.)

I did really like Fletch and Poppy's story, though I hated that mother so much I could scream. I loved the fact that even after Poppy said she didn't love Fletch, had, perhaps, never loved him, he could still say to her, "I love you, and I've always loved you." It takes a real man to be so vulnerable, given all she's said and done. I didn't like the fact that she blamed so much on him when the cause of so many of their problems was due to her relationship with her mother. Yes, I recognize she was really hurt when she realized he was flirting with (and considering an affair with) her friend, but he really had more integrity than I felt anyone gave him credit for. And I did think his eventual handling of the mother-in-law was BRILLIANT! Especially since he seemed so helpless against it for so long. So, I guess I liked the story because I liked Fletch. Poppy got me a little aggravated. It was interesting to me that while she broached the topic of sex with Jemma, she never seemed to get to it, and realize that the issues were more hers than Fletch's. She never seemed to acknowledge she was somewhat at fault - she just kind of blamed her mother and Fletch. I can appreciate it was a matter of maturing, but part of maturity is acknowledging your own faults, and I don't think she ever did. I give EJ points for creating a great hero in Fletch, and I LOVED the whole 'hair' issue. Yuck! Great tidbit from the period. So, I enjoyed the story, look forward to the next one, and I can recommend this book to others with a few qualifications.

We open with the Duke of Fletcher, a young English nobleman, enchanted with Paris and who is wildly in love with Poppy, the even younger and oh so innocent girl he meets there, who happens to love him too. On the surface it sounds like a match made in heaven. Underneath all this wooing and love, however, are layers upon layers of fear, hurt and pain, that will lead to misunderstandings and disappointments in the four years of their marriage. At the end of those four years the Duke is dying for a simple loving human touch and Poppy is confused and fearful, not knowing what she is doing wrong. This is where the book really starts.

It's a bit like an onion, with the author peeling back the layers little by little to let us see what was really going on with our hero and heroine all this time. I'll tell readers straight up that at one point the book goes for quite a while without any interaction between the hero and heroine and from Poppy's reactions, well, at one point I wasn't sure she was actually in love with her husband at all! And I could have cheerful strangled her mother. What a poor excuse for a woman and/or mother. Eloisa is such a good writer, though, that I didn't (read, couldn't) quit and about half way through the book this one turned into a stunner. I absolutely loved Fletch and Poppy's story. I could have wished that Poppy would open her eyes about her mother sooner and not put quite so much blame at Fletch's feet, but that's me talking. From Poppy's POV I think it was exactly right. Fletch is a Prince among men. Really, I just fell totally in love with him. He loved Poppy so much that he was willing to do almost anything to keep her. But EJ wrote it so that he didn't turn into a total mushball either. Bravo. :) It was good that EJ took the time to let Poppy grow up and find herself, as it were, even if I grew a little impatient. Made it ever so much more believable. I was spellbound towards the end as I watched Fletch and Poppy find their way to each other again.

So why only four stars? That's because her use of the multi-couple plot lines was carried just a bit to far in this latest book. I remember a lot of the characters from previous books and it's good to catch up and maybe wet our appetite for more stories, but it was a bit jarring. Just as you'd be getting interested in Fletch and Poppy's story, it would switch to Jemma and her Duke. And just when something seemed about to happen there we'd switch again to Villiers and Charlotte. And this goes on a little too much and too long. If they weren't all so very interesting I'd have had to rate it lower, but EJ is one fine writer so she almost pulls it off.

All that said though, it all boils down to this. I might never read the first half of the book again, but I've read the second half twice now and am thinking of going back for thirds. Not bad, not bad at all...

I have read many books by this author that I loved - this is NOT one of them. It's a terrible disappointment, with a heroine that is irritating, aggravating, and stupid. I was never able to develop enough interest in her to care whether she got back with her husband, except that I felt sorry for her husband, despite the fact that he comes across during most of the book as a spineless martyr. So the conclusion, where the two finally get together, just didn't matter to me. Add to this the fact that the author ends the story with way too many sub-plots left dangling; the romantic affairs of both the Duke of Beaumont and the Duke of Villiers are unresolved. I guess this is the author's way of increasing sales for her next book in the series, but I find this attitude offensive.

I will say this right off the bat: I LOVED this book. It had great nuggets of historical information, a sharp, complex plot, snappy dialogue, and a great love story. I have really enjoyed the Duchess series, and this was a great installment. Eloisa James is a wonderful, talented author and I can believe her characters would actually say the things on the page (sometimes dialogue that looks "pretty" sounds absolutely purple and ridiculous when read out loud...I'm talking to you, Johanna Lindsey!).

I'm not going to recap the story; that's been done already and by better "recappers" than I would probably be.

I came to Amazon in hopes that someone would have included in a recap one of my favorite portions of the story (when Poppy finds out Fletch's real name) as I was hoping to jog my memory as to the scene where that took place, and was shocked at the reviews. Are you guys serious?

Serious faults with the book, according to reviewers, include Fletch wearing wierd clothes, letting his MIL stay with them, Poppy's brain & spinelessness, her lack of hobbies, her and her friends' shallowness, Poppy and Fletch's shallow marriage... It seems to me as though many of the disappointed reviewers were looking for a historical romance filled with contemporary characters. SORRY. A real historical romance has characters which conform, more or less (more, when it's a good author who's researched, as EJ clearly has) to the time period to which they belong. Surprise, a Georgian-era woman was not actively encouraged to have intellectual pursuits, or able to use clarifying shampoo and a hairdryer, or to go on lots of dates with her prospective spouse to get to know him. In-laws regularly lived with their adult children in that time period, and were considered a cross to bear whether they were nice, horrible, insane, or otherwise. And mens' clothing in the Georgian period looks wierd and fruity to us, but at that time they were in style, and considered perfectly masculine. Let's agree: every single time period in HISTORY had its ridiculous clothes. Let's move on.

It was really refreshing to read a *historical* romance in which the characters could actually have potentially been historical characters rather than transplanted modern-day actors emoting and having lots of angsty dates. I have a hard time taking a book seriously when the characters do things that real people of that time period would never ever have done or even considered. And how nice to read a historical romance that wasn't a Regency. I love a Regency but please - let's have some variety already! So Brava, Eloisa, for a fantastic, creative book about characters that, for once, could actually have been real!

Although the irritatingly prissy Poppy supposedly loves the Duke of Fletcher, she is such a spineless prude that this reader desperately wanted the duke to take one of the spunky mistresses. (I only managed to read the book because I was trapped on a plane, and since the flight was smooth I am pretty certain my nausea was due to this soppy story.) Poppy's excuse for her absence of original thought and sexual desire is that our wimpy heroine is under the thumb of her dragon mother. How this excuses her appalling behavior toward her hunky and perfect (true to historical romance form) duke husband is anyone's guess.

After 4 years of marriage Fletch is quite depressed about his marriage although he still loves his little Poppy. This constancy is quite impressive considering Poppy refuses to discuss anything personal ("how unladylike"), is repulsed by the duke's kisses ("sharing saliva ewww!"), has lain like a board for sexual intercourse ("for God and England"), allows her French maid to completely control her wardrobe and appearance (dreds and tallow in her hair are all the fashion), and finally Poppy invites her horrible mother to stay at the duke's townhouse for months while Poppy stays with a friend after telling him to take a mistress. This state of affairs leaves one wondering about the masculinity of the duke and wanting to squash the irritatingly simple Poppy.

In an effort to give Poppy some substance, James gives her an interest in naturalist studies. (James clearly has very little understanding of science.) Instead of beleaguering her patient husband and kind friends with naturalist tidbits, Poppy should have offered herself as a unique specimen. She is quite a miracle of nature in that she not only lacks a brain, but is also without a spine or hormones.

This plot might have been an amusing farce except that the dialogue and story line are painfully boring and stupid. If you feel like wasting time and money by all means buy this book. However, if you are looking for relaxing historical romance entertainment try Christian Dodd, Loretta Chase, Laura Lee Guhrke, Candace Camp, Liz Carlyle, or a host of others.

Usually this Author is on my auto buy list...but after this one, I cannot say that is the case now.

I had a real hard time even reading the first 220 pages, then it started to get a little more interesting.

I guess I just didn't like Poppy that much. She was the way she was because we were told so... Yes, her mother was a real piece of work, but it seemed that we were just told that this is the way things were and just expected to go with it. More INTERESTING backstory please.

I think the sub plots were a little too much like a second story, and should have been less prominent. I think they just took away from each other. I didn't feel like the other story was tied up very well, maybe priming us for another book, but I can't say I am even interested in what happens to the other duchess.

I was left feeling like I had wasted $ and time on this one.

Give us more passion and more laughs, between the H/H and focus on their story and making it a really good one.

What do I know, I am no author! It was not totally without entertainment, but I didn't really like it much.

Good luck.

I like Eloisa James. She's a solid writer. I read the first book in this series and enjoyed it. It was cute, if a bit uneven. So I read this book mostly knowing that there is an ongoing thread involving the supporting characters. The fact that there is really three different 'stories' here is not the problem. There are aspects of this book that are solid. The mother-in-law is brilliantly evil. The hero, for the most part, is interesting, if a bit 'young'. But to me the biggest 'crime' in a romance novel is to create an immature, annoying, vapid, (someone - please kill this twit) lead female character. If I didn't have a problem with burning books, I'd throw it in the fire place and light it up. As it is, I'm probably going to 'accidentally' leave it where my two-year old can find it.

The second installment in a series about "desperate" duchesses, I have to agree with readers who haven't exactly been blown away with the series to date. Personally speaking, I love the Georgian period, finding a more colourful and vibrant period than the Regency period; also, the storylines for both "The Desperate Duchess" & " An Affair Before Christmas" have been fairly interesting ones; unfortunately I didn't really take to many of the key characters very much. No, the character that grabbed my interest in both books, has been that of Miss Charlotte Tatlock, the intelligent and gallant on-the-shelf spinster, who has managed to inspire jealously in the beautiful Duchess of Beaumont's breast.

Miss Charlotte Tatlock first kidnapped this series in "The Desperate Duchess," where the impoverished spinster managed to both strike up a friendship with the Duke of Beaumont and inspire his estranged wife, Jemma, to believe that Charlotte was about to become her husband's latest mistress. In a genre almost completely populated with young, beautiful and headstrong heroines, the very existence of a vital female character that was older, plain, poor but intelligent and interesting, made me sit up and take notice. And the very fact that she turned Jemma green with jealously rather made me smile with amusement and satisfaction.

In "An Affair Before Christmas," things really become really interesting when Charlotte makes an entrance again. The entire subplot centering on Poppy, the Duchess of Fletcher, and the unhappy state her marriage is in bored me rather quickly. To begin with, it has been done before; and secondly, it was really difficult to feel sorry for a woman who practically threw her marriage away with both hands. So thankfully, things really began to pick up for me about halfway though the book when Charlotte finds herself involved in trying to give the near death Duke of Villiers a reason not to give up on life. I really enjoyed the exchanges between these two characters and was rather hoping that they would end up as a romantic pair. Unfortunately, we've already been given the hint in "The Desperate Duchess" that Villiers is destined for another one of Jemma's uninteresting, depressing friends, so it rather looks as if Charlotte's story has been hurriedly tied up in this novel. For fans and for readers who may, like me, have succumbed to Charlotte's charm, I'll not say anymore so that you can read this book for yourself and see if this potential pairing deserves a cheer or not.

For me, this series has been bearable because of Charlotte; Jemma and Poppy left me cold, and I rather suspect that the other heroines in forthcoming books are going to leave me cold as well -- esp if they turn out to be Jemma's friends. Yes, I know that more readers prefer books about beautiful and headstrong heroines, and that they sell well, but after a while, the usual starts to pall. So that when something, or rather someone as unique as Charlotte (and I use the term unique here because the author has presented her as someone that that TWO dukes find fascinating and compelling), appears on the scene, I can only cheer. And somehow, I cannot help but wonder if the author shares my affection for Charlotte as well. I'm rating this as a 3 star read, because of the Charlotte subplot; but without this subplot, this really would have been a 2 star read -- well written but not very compelling or interesting.

I don't know what is wrong with Eloisa James' books. Her characters (heroines) especially are so childish and immature that I feel uncomforable reading about them. They react in ways that no logical adult would. They constantly put 2 and 2 together and get 22, then respond with illogical and impulsive reactions that, you would think, would embarrass them on later reflection.

It isn't just this book (my last, I think) but it has become a pattern. Poppy is only one in a long procession of female characters that simply don't ring true. Their logic is non-existent as is their maturity, self-control, and self respect. Yet the author carries on as if this sophomoric behavior was, not only normal, but witty and refreshing as well. It isn't. I don't know if she is cranking out books too fast, or if this is really her take on adulthood and human relations, but the inability to create characters that are believable in any time period is vital to entertaining writing.

It's a shame because her plot ideas and the imaginary world in which she tries to develop them are not badly conceived. If she could flesh out fully-dimensional and relatively intelligent characters with "character" to populate her imaginary world and move her plot along, she could be a fine author.