Customer Reviews

Desperate Duchesses

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

As the reviewer before me just stated, it's clear that this is not meant to be a stand-alone book. There are several plots going on at one time and (of course) not all of them are wrapped up neatly by the end of the novel.

I have to admit, though, that I didn't enjoy it that much for that very reason. Perhaps if I had stumbled upon this series a few years down the line -- after all 4 books were complete -- I would have devoured this book and the sequels in quick succession. As it stands, I feel like I've been given a novel and told I'm only allowed to read the first quarter and I have to wait to have the rest parceled out over the course of another year. That wouldn't be too bad, except James attempts to sell this book also as a stand-alone & that's where it all goes wrong. There are some great characters in this book that are sketched very well -- and I know I'm going to enjoy watching them evolve over the course of the rest of the series. However, the main heroine and hero are not two of them. And that's the pity. In fact, as I type this, I'm having difficulty remembering their names -- even though I remember the names of Elijah, Jemma, and Villiers. I can't even remember the name of the heroine, and I just finished this book last night!!

In short: There is so much time invested in exploring the side characters and setting them up for their own books that the main characters pale in comparison. It's similar to what happened with Esme's character in the "Duchess" series and what happend with Imogen's character in the "Essex sisters" series. The difference, though, is that I liked the main characters in the other series -- in this one, I found the main romance to be quite yawn-worthy. I didn't like the heroine that much and found the hero to be almost invisible.

There were so many things I would have liked to have known about the hero that wasn't explored at all -- just casually thrown into a conversation between other protaganists. I wasn't able to get into his head like we've been able to do in the past with characters that Eloisa written about. And it seemed rather odd to me that, at the end, we're just told how rich, smart, and successful he is -- even though the whole book built him up to be completely useless. If he was all that, I would have thought the heroine should have figured it out, instead of having someone else just TELL her at the end. Or, at the very least, we should have had some scenes with the hero, so WE -- as readers -- knew what he was all about. It all seemed very abrupt and rushed to me.

There should have been more time spent on the h/h so we could actually enjoy the novel as a stand-alone. They were constantly put in the back-seat in favor of the secondary characters. Which is fine if you're reading the whole set of books in a row just for those characters (like Jemma/Elijah). I remember doing that with the "Duchess" series. I devoured all the books because I wanted to know what happened to Esme/Sebastian. However, now that I have to wait months and month between books, I feel like I was cheated in this book. This book should have focused more on the h/h featured in this novel -- and it just didn't.

All in all, I'll give it 3 stars for now. Maybe the rating will go up once I've read the rest of the series. That'll take about two years, if it follows Avon's usual publication schedule.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. Yes, it was a bit chaotic and confusing with all the minor character plots. And yes, I agree there was not a lot of substance to the two main characters, especially the hero (truth be told, from the way the book started out, I had no idea he was going to turn out to be the hero of the story). But it was extremely well written in terms of how she handled the dialogue, especially during the chess and domino games. I found the non-Regency setting a refreshing change of pace (this coming from a huge Regency fan like myself!) and loved the fact that many of the characters were messy, imperfect people with loose ends that weren't tied up by the end of the book. And boy can this lady write some great sex scenes!

I suspect James was mimicking the pace and tone of famous 18th century novels, plays, and operas (Tom Jones comes to mind as do some of Sheridan's plays and Mozart's operas)--all of which are known for featuring bawdy interludes and frequent secondary character side trips before circling back to the main plotline. I think she succeeded nicely in capturing the essence of that particular period in all its energy, earthiness, and color.

My only complaint is I think James is almost too creative for the formulaic historical romance genre. I'd love to see her break out into something meatier--a historical novel with good doses of romance a la Diana Gabaldon, perhaps?--and really let herself go. In the mean time, I look forward to reading her other books and seeing how this series evolves.

I honestly can say that I really didn't really care for Damon and Roberta. They barely got that many scenes in the book because there were so many characters that they were really over looked. I also was way more interest at what was happening between Jemma and her husband Elijah. I really can't wait for those two to have their own book and see how they get back together. I'm really going to get mad if Jemma and Elijah don't end up together.I hope that the author really doesn't kill Elijah off because I really want him and his wife to work things out.

I have to agree with the other reviewers who felt that this novel lacked some of the necessary plot and character development needed to make a novel great. First the positives, it is a well-written story, and avid romance readers know that sometimes a story can be poorly written and poorly edited. Additionally, I like the use of chess as a plot element, and I also like how Ms. James pushed the envelop by moving forward into the 1780's and out of the regency period.

Unfortunately, the negatives hurt this book. It is scattered, and I couldn't figure which characters were the leads. Who was this book about-- Jemma or Roberta? Roberta seems to be the heroine, but her character development is far weaker than Jemma. With 3 male leads, I also became confused which character I should care about, particularly as both of Roberta's beaus were developed equally. Plus, there was much more potential for the development of Damon's character. I think that she really missed an opportunity to flesh out Damon's relationship with Teddy. The climax and conflict are so subtle that at the end of the novel, I'm left wondering, "Is that it?"

I am hopeful that this book is meant only to pad the way for the rest of the books in the desperate duchess series (which is confusing since Roberta isn't a duchess), which will be much better! Don't let this be your first introduction into Eloisa James. There are better places to start.

I purchased this book as soon as it came out, I've been a big fan of Eloisa James since Midnight Pleasures and was eager to read her new book. I was extremely disappointed after reading Desperate Duchesses, really disappointed.

I felt that the characters were shallow, completely unsympathetic and didn't do anything to make me feel inclined towards wanting to turn the next page and read a bit more about them. It's like, Ms. James completely bypassed characterization and ignored giving the players depth. I surprised myself when towards the end I felt more sympathy towards the Duke of Villiers than ANY of the rest of the characters.

I think I know exactly what's going to happen, the Duke of Villiers will end up married to the other Duchess who asked for Jemma's help in avenging her husband. And :: gasp :: Jemma (who by the way, was pretty much painted as an immoral hussy) will get back together with her husband.

Seriously???

A little surprise next time. PLEASE.

Having read many earlier books by this author, I was expecting a witty and captivating story, but that's NOT what I got. Our main heroine was rather silly; we're told she's very intelligent, which makes her mindless determination to marry a cad like Villiers totally incomprehensible. I liked the use of chess as a sub-plot, but the rest of the book was just a major disappointment from an author who can do so much better.

I agree with "bookworm"- Damon's character needed so-o-o much more in-depth detail. Also this was so off the typical historical society's behavior that I found it a little more than unbelievable- Politically ambitious Elijah putting up with Jemma, her brother and illegitimate son, and Jemma's reputation and antics? Jemma behaving the way she was before producing an heir and a spare? Jemma so quickly accepting a distant ridiculed no-body relative, Lady Roberta into her home and promoting her? Not.

And then there's Lady Roberta not wanting to be publicly humiliated again, yet goes after a rakehell obsessed with Chess and not even trying to take an interest it? And her totally distainful behavior toward Teddy yet claiming she wanted children. And since it's called "Desperate Duchesses" shouldn't she have ended up married to a Duke not an Earl?

The only reason I gave it 3 stars was because of the unique ending describing the baby. That was so-o-o great! I could just picture it.

Recommend Sabrina Jeffries, Sara Bennet, Sari Robins, Lisa Valdez (HOT!), & Sylvia Day instead.

I didn't think I would like this book. However, I was pleasantly surprised. I really did like this book. It was deeper than most romance novels, not fluffy. The characters had depth and the main heroine did grow up in the novel. She was a bit immature in the beginning thinking that she was in love with Villiers, which by the way is awfully close to villian. Maybe just a play on letters, you decide. Plus she didn't seem to like kids much and maybe that was because she was still a child at heart too and wasn't really ready to grow up in that sense. I think she got a bit of a shock after Villiers little talking to her and really he should grow up too!!! But he is carrying around a bit of guilt also and that can be debilitating for someone to have and not deal with properly.

But like the other reviewers I was really interested in Jemma and Elijah. I think that was the point. One could almost see a chess type analogy working out here too. Whereby they would be the two most important pieces on the board directing the lesser ones around the game. Not sure if that is what Ms. James intended but it does seem plausible.

Also I thought that there was a bit of foreshadowing into Jemma's character when she and Elijah first set up to play chess in this book at about page 152. I'm not sure if after discovering her husband the way that she did if she ran or not but I am leaning towards that after the comment he made.

I haven't read the other books in this series yet but I'm sure that they will give a little bit more insight into the character study of Jemma and Elijah as well as the main focus for that particular novel.

The book was very well written and did hold your attention, however you did have to think a bit and not just read it as you would some of the novels out there. I actually do like my characters to seem more human and have some flaws. I think the true love/romance, would be how or if they can overcome these obstacles to find themselves back to each another. Given that, I am eagerly looking forward to Jemma and Elijah's story!!

This is the first Eloisa James book I have ever read and I'm not impressed. Her "frothy" style of writing is not for me so I came close to closing the book before I was even into chapter 2. I also thought that James was a Regency author but this book is clearly Georgian. Nothing wrong there necessarily. It just wasn't what I expected.

So, this was a book that I really just had to make myself finish. I really wanted to give the author a chance. But come on, who are the real main characters? I know they were supposed to be Roberta and Damon, but I often wondered if the author remembered that. There was really just so much stuff crammed into this book, with very little character development of the main hero and heroine. Jemma, Elijah and Villiers were more the main love triangle. And Roberta was just downright silly with her "I'm in love with Villiers" and "I'm going to marry Villiers." Come on. There was no hint of anything between those two so it made the story all the more harder to digest. And the superfluous fluff was just too much and was completely dumb at times... like when Selina showed up with the Prince towards the end of the book. My eyes just rolled. And what's with the abrupt scene changes between sentences? I had to re-read some sections just to make sure I didn't miss something.

All in all, I want to give the author another chance, but I cannot offer a recommendation for this book as a stand alone. It's definitely part of a series and I'm not sure I'm sold on wanting to continue it. I prefer regencies anyway, so I can always return to that realm.

Lady Roberta St. Giles, the only daughter of the Mad Marquess of Wharton, is at to the end of her wits. Knowing that at one and twenty her only option to snag a husband is to get out of the country and away from her embarrassing poetry spouting papa and his recent paramour Mrs. Grope. Arriving in London at the door of Jemma, the Duchess of Beaumont (a rather distant cousin) Roberta requested her help in securing an appropriate husband - one she'd fell in love with at first glance, the Duke of Villiers, both a notorious womanizer and keen chess player.

The duchess' brother, Damon Reeve the Earl of Gryffon, was enchanted by Roberta and more than willing to tutor her in seducing her duke. As Roberta became an apt pupil in the art of seduction, Damon knew the cynical chess-mad Duke of Villiers was totally wrong for her and realized he couldn't possibly let Roberta seduce anyone and set out to seduce her for himself.

*** James introduced so many vibrant characters into this story that at first, I wasn't quite sure who the lead characters were. However, James created them all with so much charm, depth and interest, I wasn't at all disappointed, and determined that this series opener of the DESPERATE DUCHESSES would find consecutive books with characters that would continually end up being interwoven throughout the series.

Roberta was cast as a very intelligent and determined young woman, who having grown up with the very unconventional poet labeled as the "Mad Marquess" who lived openly with his mistresses thought herself well versed in ways of the world. But at best, her education in pleasure was definitely lacking until the very handsome Earl of Gryffon began her lessons of pleasure not only to please her but himself, as Roberta had eyes for no one but Villiers as her future husband. The author captured Damon beautifully. Being titled, wealthy and wickedly handsome, the author showed him to be quite taken aback, by Roberta's initial lack of interest.

The triangle storyline and chess matches between Jemma, the extremely vivacious and sometimes outrageous Duchess of Beaumont, her husband Elijah, and the Duke of Villiers were extremely interesting and engrossing. It certainly left this reviewer extremely anxious waiting for James' next installment to determine if age and time allows for the mellowing out of Jemma's rage and hurt over discovering her husband's infidelity eight years prior. It also leaves the mystery of whatever happened to destroy the once fast childhood friendship that once existed between Elijah and Villiers.

With inspired witty dialogs, beautifully crafted characters (including Teddy, the precocious and adorable illegitimate son of Damon) this reader found herself enchanted with this engrossing opener in the Desperate Duchesses series and advises lovers of Georgian Romances to enjoy the revelry and sensual games James created in 18th century England!

Marilyn Rondeau, for www.ck2skwipsandkritiques.com