The Ugly Duchess [Mass Market Paperback]

Eloisa James (Author)

Book Description

Release date: August 28, 2012

“Eloisa James is extraordinary.”
—Lisa Kleypas

“Nothing gets me to the bookstore faster than a new novel by Eloisa James.”
—Julia Quinn

New York Times bestselling author Eloisa James gives the classic Hans Christian Andersen story of “The Ugly Duckling” a wonderful, witty, and delightfully passionate twist. The Ugly Duchess is another fairytale inspired romance from the unparalleled storyteller whose writing, author Teresa Medieros raves, “is truly scrumptious.” A sexy and fun historical romance, James’s winning tale of a glorious reawakening does not feature ducks and swans—rather it’s a charming story of a young woman unaware of her own beauty, suddenly duty-bound to wed the dashing gentleman who has always been her platonic best friend…until now.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"James expertly infuses her latest fairy-tale love story with just the right ratio of tart wit and sensuality to create a hopelessly and hopefully romantic tale that will have James' fans swooning with delight." -- Booklist, "starred" --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Back Cover

How can she dare to imagine he loves her . . . when all London calls her The Ugly Duchess?

Theodora Saxby is the last woman anyone expects the gorgeous James Ryburn, heir to the Duchy of Ashbrook, to marry. But after a romantic proposal before the prince himself, even practical Theo finds herself convinced of her soon-to-be duke's passion.

Still, the tabloids give the marriage six months.

Theo would have given it a lifetime . . . until she discovers that James desired not her heart, and certainly not her countenance, but her dowry.

Society was shocked by their wedding . . . and is scandalized by their separation.

Now James faces the battle of his life, convincing Theo that he loves the duckling who blossomed into the swan.

And Theo will quickly find that, for a man with the soul of a pirate, All's Fair in Love—and War.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Avon; Original edition (August 28, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0062021737
• ISBN-13: 978-0062021731
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (234 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #142,036 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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#5 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Romance > Historical Romance

#5 in Books > Romance > Historical

#47 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Romance

#51 in Books > Romance

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

#5 in Books > Romance > Historical

#47 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Romance

#51 in Books > Romance

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

393 of 419 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Not for me August 28, 2012

By Jen TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Mass Market Paperback

This book pushed my buttons in a bad way. I know many people enjoyed it. Most were able to get over the things that got stuck in my craw. But it did not work for me at all.

I had problems from the very beginning. James and Theodora grew up together. Theo had been taken in as ward of James' father. They were essentially raised as siblings. Unfortunately, Daddy Dearest lost all of his money in bad investments and some of Theo's dowry too. If anyone were to find out, he could go to prison. So he forces James to propose to Theo to hide the crime and legally get his hands her remaining funds. James cares for Theo and knows what he doing is wrong, but he does it anyway.

I thought this dynamic was kind of squicky. Rather quickly, though, James begins to have less than brotherly feelings towards Theo and their marriage is the real deal. Until Theo finds out why he proposed. She is heartbroken and orders him away. James takes her demand seriously, heading to the high seas, where he spends the next seven years as a pirate.

That's right. I said SEVEN YEARS. He leaves her the entire responsibility of running his estate and getting it out from under his father's debts. He leaves her to deal with his father's death alone... and then her own mother's passing as well. Not to mention that she is left to shoulder the cruel moniker of the "Ugly Duchess," she was given by all the newspapers from the day they wed. They had been married only two days before he left her, and her humiliation was heartbreaking.

In her husband's absence, Theo remakes herself. She ends up very successful and the height of fashion. She moved on with her life, but in a very closed-off way. James broke something inside her and what remained was icy and distant.... It was just as she was preparing to have him declared dead that James returns. He has decided he wants her back and somehow he thinks he is entitled to it. Despite his lies to get her to marry him. Despite the fact he abandoned her. Despite the mistresses he took while he was gone.

Yes. Mistresses. And he has no problem with the fact that she knows it. He even talks to her about them, about how he considered their marriage over.

This was the point that I was ready to stop reading. I didn't even want them to work it out. I didn't want him to be redeemed. I just wanted to rage. This is not ok. You can't go around shtupping other women in your randy pirate life then come back and say no other man will ever touch your wife. You can't consider your marriage over, yet still consider it valid when it suits you. You can't make me like you again.

Unfortunately, I can't say Theo holds onto her anger quite the same way. To the contrary, one nice bath and a couple of hours naked and all seems forgiven. Let's reiterate the seven years part. And the mistresses part. No. Just no. Read more ›

107 of 113 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Not a good book by a great author August 30, 2012

By Elizabeth Archer

Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I had to buy the "Ugly Duchess" the moment I could. I love Eloisa James's novels, as a rule. I did not love this one. Once the hero started lying and whimping out, I started losing the romance. Then she tells him to leave. And he does. For seven years.

I couldn't stand the long part in "Jane Eyre" where she goes wandering around with her distant cousins. I usually skip that part because when the heroine isn't with the hero, or even in the near vicinity hoping to catch a glimpse, romance novels get boring fast. This one went south in a hurry. I never thought, in a million years, Eloisa James could get boring. She did. The whole pirate thing was a dud. Even worse? Dying as one pirate and becoming...another pirate. Yep. That was really strange. And getting me nowhere close to a romance with our poor "ugly" heroine. No, she did not grow into a swan. That was major disappointment number two.

There is that great moment in when Audrey Hepburn walks in to the ball in "My Fair Lady" and she is a princess in the eyes of everyone. In "The Ugly Duchess," we have a chance for the same moment. But no, the crowd still thinks she's ugly. So ugly they rudely tell her how ugly she still is...after all those years of fashion work and new hair style and confidence, her husband still has to beat up everyone who calls his wife a dog. Not what I want from a romance novel. I want my swan to be a swan. To win them over with her style. So what if her features are strong? Angelica Huston has carried it off.

Then, on top of the fact that the pirate has lost his singing voice from a cut throat, which I have no idea why was necessary or part of the plot, he has decided to wear lots of brocade and gold cuffs. He also has decided that sex is a cure for a seven year gap in a two day marriage.... His friend pirate didn't even sleep with his bride. Evidently, this is a common disfunction for English pirates of noble blood. How stupid does James think we are? Just because you call it a fairy tale doesn't mean it shouldn't make sense.

She is unable to end the book in any kind of sensible manner, so the pair just start having passionate sex like fiends without even getting to know one another at all again. Really?

I notice Ms. James now has a lot of staff to thank. Maybe they are part of the problem. Her life seems to have gotten too busy for writing, like so many successful authors. I guess the book was due and it was scraped and patched together somehow. But it feels that way. Like patches of book thrown together, with a desperate happy ending. I would rather the books were delayed than come out like this one, half baked.

Please, dear Eloisa James. Take your time on the next one, and give us your best. You are so wonderful when you take the time... Read more ›

38 of 42 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Really disappointing! August 30, 2012

By I. Wu

Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I was anticipating this release from James for the better part of a year. I pre-ordered it as soon as I read the description. But it was a horrible disappointment. 3 main issues:

1. Hero-Heroine were separated for something like 70 pages! Living separate lives across 7 years. Could have been more pages (I didn't count, because I skipped most of them), could have been less (it FELT like it was half the novel). I'm an avid romance reader and it's like a huge no-no to separate the main protagonists for so long with no interaction whatsoever.

2. As the 2 characters developed apart from each other over 7 years, essentially turning into different people, it stretches beyond belief that they would still be in love with each other after so long with so much between them, as essentially two strangers. I'd stopped rooting for them 10 pages into reading about their separation.

3. The final chapters of their reunion defies reality! Suddenly, after so long, as two strangers, sex solves everything. In one night. Just a couple of days after the husband returns after a 7-year absence.

Truly I expected so much more from James. I don't think I will ever buy another of her novels after this one.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Very disappointing coming from Eloisa James September 2, 2012

By Dellme

Format:Mass Market Paperback

This book was extremely disappointing as I am a huge Eloisa fan. The first 3 chapters were really good and I really loved the book until then but after that it just went downhill. The fact that James left Theo for 7 years and didn't give her a single thought just doesn't sit well with me. If he loved her so much, how could he just let her go without a fight? And then he decides he wants to come back and she has to accept him. What rubbish! And then come his mistresses! Oh dear, it is so annoying that James just wants her to accept them and move on. If the book had gone in different direction, I am sure I would have loved it. I am giving this book 1 and 1/2 stars just for the insipid plot.