The Duke Is Mine [Mass Market Paperback]

Eloisa James (Author)

Book Description

Release date: December 27, 2011

“Eloisa James is extraordinary.”
 —Lisa Kleypas

In the capable hands of USA Today and New York Times bestselling author Eloisa James, the fairy tales we loved as children take on vibrant—and sensuous—new life. With The Duke is Mine, the beloved author of A Kiss at Midnight and When Beauty Tamed the Beast gives the classic tale of the Princess and the Pea a delightfully romantic Regency spin. Fans of Victoria Alexander and Julia Quinn will simply adore this historical romance gem about a lady reluctantly betrothed to one duke but pursued by another; a tantalizing tale of love, lies, and one very uncomfortable mattress.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

This Duke is Mine

He is a duke in search of a perfect bride.

She is a lady—but a long way from perfect.

Tarquin, the powerful Duke of Sconce, knows perfectly well that the decorous and fashionably slender Georgiana Lytton will make him a proper duchess. So why can't he stop thinking about her twin sister, the curvy, headstrong, and altogether unconventional Olivia? Not only is Olivia betrothed to another man, but their improper, albeit intoxicating, flirtation makes her unsuitability all the more clear.

Determined to make a perfect match, he methodically cuts Olivia from his thoughts, allowing logic and duty to triumph over passion…Until, in his darkest hour, Quin begins to question whether perfection has anything to do with love.

To win Olivia's hand he would have to give up all the beliefs he holds most dear, and surrender heart, body and soul…

Unless it's already too late.

Don't miss a new version of The Princess & the Pea, asking an age-old question: What is a perfect princess?

About the Author

A New York Times bestselling author, Eloisa James is a professor of English literature who lives with her family in New York, but who can sometimes be found in Paris or Italy. (Her husband is an honest-to-goodness Italian knight!) Eloisa's website offers short stories, extra chapters, and even a guide to shopping in Florence.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Avon; Original edition (December 27, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9780062021281
• ISBN-13: 978-0062021281
• ASIN: 0062021281
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (181 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #288,472 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

A reviewer from USA Today wrote of Eloisa's very first book that she "found herself devouring the book like a dieter with a Hershey bar"; later People Magazine raved that "romance writing does not get much better than this." Eloisa wrote her first novel after graduating from Harvard, but alas, it was rejected by every possible publisher. After she got an M.Phil. from Oxford, a Ph.D. from Yale, and a job as a Shakespeare professor, she tried again, with much greater success. Currently she teaches Shakespeare in the English Department at Fordham University in New York City. She's also the mother of two children and, in a particularly delicious irony for a romance writer, is married to a genuine Italian knight.

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#2 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Romance > Historical Romance

#2 in Books > Romance > Historical

#49 in Books > Romance

#52 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Romance

#2 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Romance > Historical Romance

#2 in Books > Romance > Historical

#49 in Books > Romance

#52 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Romance

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

108 of 116 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Unusual Male Leads -- Brain Damage and Asperger's Syndrome November 23, 2011

By Reader from Washington, DC VINE™ VOICE

Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Olivia Lytton is caught between two men, both suffering from serious psychological problems.

She was betrothed as a child to Rupert, Marquess of Montsurrey, who was severely injured during his traumatic birth, leaving him with the intellect of a charming and earnest 11 year old boy. Rupert has been drilled to present an adult appearance, writes poetry, and volunteers for the British army, but marriage to him will compel Olivia to function as his caregiver and estate administrator.

Her secret love, Tarquin, Duke of Sconce, is a handsome, brilliant mathematician, who has already lost one wife and a child due to his inability to read other peoples' emotions correctly, predict their emotional reactions accurately or express his own emotions. An isolated mathematical genius with almost no friends, Tarquin's life is managed for him by his overbearing widowed mother, who wants to marry him off to Olivia's extremely proper bluestocking sister.

An alert modern reader will quickly grasp that Olivia is facing a lifetime coping with either an intellectually disabled spouse or a spouse with Asperger's Syndrome.

Olivia herself is atypical of Regency heroines, describing herself as fat, loud and fond of risque jokes. Not your standard Regency romance novel lead characters, to put it mildly. Part of the allure of the novel is wondering how the author can produce a HEA ending from these unpromising elements.

Despite the tough medical problems of the male leads, the plot is surprisingly humorous and filled with genuinely romantic sexual episodes. If you are interested in a Regency romance that takes parts of the genre's conventions and stands them on their heads, you'll like this novel.

I gave it four stars instead of five stars because I felt that the novel took too many liberties -- during the last third of the book -- with the actual history of the Napoleonic wars and the British army's real life behavior. But if you are not a strict history buff, such liberties will not be a problem.

I am now rereading the novel, after a first reading where I rushed through it. I am savoring it at leisure.

30 of 32 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars The Duke Is Mine April 10, 2012

By M. Whitmore VINE™ VOICE

Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

**Contains a spoiler that explains why I did not finish the book**

This really isn't a review since I didn't finish the book. The Duke is Mine is the first book I've read by Eloisa James. I've heard great things about this series so I jumped at the chance to read this book. I like historical romances and while I know that things back then were different and certain behaviors were more acceptable then than they are now, I could not get past how Olivia, the heroine, treated Rupert. Olivia has been engaged to Rupert since she was 10 and he was 5 years old. Now that he's turned 18, they are now to be married. Olivia hates Rupert and calls him all kinds of names like "Foolish Fiance" and "Half-wit husband". Well it turns out that Rupert is mentally disabled and is dim-witted. And the treatment of him is downright horrible. Olivia and her sister, Georgina are constantly talking bad about Rupert and making nasty, snide remarks. So far, the heroine has not endeared herself to me and I'm wondering if she ever will. The straw that made me decide to finally quit the book is when Rupert's father locks Rupert and Olivia in a room, to make them have sex in hopes of getting Olivia pregnant, hoping that her pregnancy will seal the deal with the marriage. Because Rupert is mentally disabled, he unable to get aroused and of course Olivia is pleased and tells her sister that obviously Rupert needs more than a willing woman to get himself up to the challenge. And this is when I stopped.

When I read a romance, whether it be historical, contemporary or erotic, I want to liket he characters. Everyone in this book seems downright cruel. I've spoken to other friends who've read this book and they told me if I'd kept reading, that Olivia redeems herself. I'm all about redemption in a story but I don't see how I could have liked Olivia. Just the little bit I read left such a bad taste in my mouth. Once a character has utterly turned me off, it is hard for me, personally, to find any redemption in that character.

Even though The Duke is Mine didn't work for me, I am not turned off by the author. I figured maybe this wasn't the best book to introduce me to Eloisa James. Better luck next time, I guess.

69 of 85 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Like a blueberry muffin November 26, 2011

By Ann Elliot VINE™ VOICE

Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Grasp your "disbelief" with both hands. Stuff it in a shoebox. Use a roll of duct tape to secure the lid. Place the box in the back of a closet. Now you are ready to read this book.

The story is rather like a blueberry muffin. There are good bits here and there, amid the bland parts, and there are occasional air pockets. The characters and dialog are sometimes too cute for their own good. The conversations are filled with 21st century phrases (a reference to "wardrobe malfunction," for instance, brings to mind Janet Jackson rather than ladies of the 1800s). Lapses in logic pop up -- for instance, the very micro-managing mother of the two sisters has devoted her entire life to getting her girls married off to dukes, but when the younger has a chance to achieve this goal, mother stays home and sends the girl off with her unconventional, rowdy sister?

The plot is a re-imagining of the fairy tale "The Princess and the Pea," although only a few elements of that story appear and seem thrown in as an afterthought with little to do with the story. Most of the book is entertaining, until the plot seems to veer off the reality chart completely at the end.

Readers who enjoy stories with as much realism as a fairy tale will love this book. There is some amusing conversation, as well as an abundance of batty characters. Such readers will find this tale a good way to spend a chilly winter evening, but I'll hold out for an eclair of a book rather than a blueberry muffin.