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21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
I agree with the naysayers, April 15, 2006
I have to agree with the reviewers who were disappointed with this book. I was disappointed with the Rafe/Imogen angle. I read this whole book expecting to see glimmers of when Imogen discovered Rafe was playing Gabe and I never saw them. We were never in Imogen's head and hearing her thoughts, so I felt sort of disgusted with her. It seemed like she really was having an affair with Gabe.
From things I have read elsewhere, I believe Ms. James realizes her error and she is backtracking trying to remedy it. For me, it is too late. I didn't like all Ms. James earlier books, but I have enjoyed the Essex sister's stories. But this one has me shaking my head. I would really like to have known that Imogen knew it was Rafe. I think that would have made some delicious scenes, where she knew it was him, but he wasn't sure if she knew. That never happened and the book came to an abrupt end. If the tidbits were there that she knew, they were very vague. I don't like to be hit over the head with something, but a few more helpful hints wouldn't have hurt. I honestly don't believe the author had any hints.
One thing I did enjoy about the book was Miss Pythian-Adams and Gabe. Their story was tremendously entertaining. When EJ gets it right, she gets it very right.
I hope Ms. James listens to her reader's comments and does a better job with Mayne's story. That is one I hope she gets right.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
3 1/2 stars. Well written, but a bit of a mess . . ., May 3, 2006
While I always enjoys Ms James' writing style and her wonderful dialogue the romantic relationship here just didn't work. Well one of them did and one of them didn't as there is a "secondary" romance that is not so secondary.
Rafe is the rather blithely tipsy Duke of Holbrook who unexpectedly found himself guardian to four sisters in first in the series, MUCH ADO ABOUT YOU. He's perpetually rumpled, shaggy-haired and paunchy. He's just discovered that he has an illegitimate brother, Gabe, whom he welcomes into the family fold. Rafe is also carrying a torch for one of his wards, the impetuous widow Imogen, Lady Maitland. Unfortunately, Imogen does not share Rafe's feelings, rather his drinking and dishevelment disgust her.
Imogen has never come to terms with her husband's death, their too brief time together (a week), nor the realization that she loved her husband far more than he loved her. She is determined not to marry again and so she decides to take a lover. When Gabe arrives on the scene she sets her cap at him. Unfortunately for Imogen, Gabe's head has been turned by Gillian Pythian-Adams the fiancee from whom Imogen stole Draven, her late husband. Keeping up so far? When Imogen corners Gabe and arranges an assignation, Gabe later changes his mind and asks Rafe to take his place. And so begins the mistaken identity farce that Ms James hoped to create.
Unfortunately, I think Ms James tried to be too clever by half and tripped herself up. A Shakespearean farce works for Shakespeare, but not in a story where you are supposed to believe that these are "real" people. It was never clear to me that Imogen knew she was with Rafe instead of Gabe until well after they had had sex. Not good! And I really wondered at Rafe's self-respect to allow her to fall for him all the while thinking he was someone else. Pathetic! And, once he gives up drinking and loses a few pounds, Rafe is suddenly handsome? He was never, to my memory, described as handsome in either of the prior books in this series. Though the author attempts to convey Imogen's vulnerabilities as regards her marriage, I never warmed up to her. She was just so brittle and hard and I felt that Rafe deserved better. Personally, I had always hoped that Rafe would wind up with Josie who is so warm and down-to-earth.
On the other hand, I did enjoy the relationship between Gabe and Gillian very much. At times, their romance overshadowed Rafe and Imogen's, however. Ms James loves to coyly tease her readers by playing musical chairs with her characters but I just don't think it worked this time. Well, it looks like Josie will wind up with the world weary Mayne eventhough he supposedly has become engaged at the end of this book. I'm going to hope that Josie gets a story she deserves!
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
3 1/2 stars...a humorous and thoughtful read...romance a little shortchanged, but best yet of the series, April 2, 2006
This is the third book in the Essex sisters' series about four daughters of a viscount who, upon his death, are made wards of Rafe Jourdain, the handsome but frequently inebriated Duke of Holbrook. This book focuses on Imogen, who is married for only two weeks when her reckless husband is killed in an accident. It nicely redeems the troubled heroine, who up until this point in the series has been rather hard to like. It is now a year since her husband's death, a year filled for Imogen with loneliness, anger and a good deal of self-destructive behavior. She returns to Rafe's estate, determined to turn her life around. She does not feel ready to marry again, but hopes to find a man with whom to have a discreet affair. Who should also be staying with Rafe but his long lost look-alike brother Gabe. Gabe has all of Rafe's good points, but without his perpetual drunken haze, and Imogen immediately sets her sights on him.
Meanwhile, she and Rafe spend endless hours goading and tormenting one another - she over his drinking and he over her loose behavior - but it is clear that something is simmering right below the surface. They look more like a frustrated and bickering married couple than a guardian and his former ward, which is not lost on his very observant brother. So after Gabe reluctantly agrees to meet Imogen for a nighttime rendezvous, to which they are to come in disguise, he gets Rafe to take his place. Rafe's disguise gives him the courage at last to approach Imogen as more than his ward. He spends a passionate night with her and finally admits to himself that he loves her. However, Imogen thinks that her memorable encounter is with Gabe, and so the complications begin.
This story takes place against the backdrop of an amateur theatrical production of a comedy being staged at Rafe's estate, and it is a very apt setting. "The Taming of the Duke" is like a Shakespearean comedy of errors, rife with intrigues and misunderstandings, and with twin-like brothers to boot. Of course Rafe has all the most important roles, and he performs them all admirably. His effort to quit drinking is one of the most interesting aspects of the story, and lays the groundwork for his clear-eyed pursuit of Imogen. The leads' insecurities play nicely off each other to create both humorous and tender moments. The humor somewhat overshadows the romance, though, and the pretense drags on too long and is resolved too late, weakening the romantic impact. The book is well-written, however, with good dialogue and a very attractive hero. There is also a fine secondary romance involving the enigmatic Gabe, and the appealing Gillian Pythian-Adams in an encore performance.
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