This Duchess of Mine [Hardcover]

Eloisa James (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Avon (2009)
• ISBN-10: 1615231609
• ISBN-13: 978-1615231607
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,463,760 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.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Match between Masters, May 28, 2009

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C. Klaassen (New Jersey, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: This Duchess of Mine (Desperate Duchesses) (Mass Market Paperback)

This is book five of the Desperate Duchesses series and it is Jemma, Duchess of Beaumont, and Elijah's, Duke of Beaumont, story. We were first introduced to these characters in book one, Desperate Duchesses, at that time Jemma had recently returned from nine years of self-imposed exile in France where she was rumored to have run rampant. Jemma was a beautiful provocateur and she delighted in tweaking the sensibilities of her seemingly stodgy husband. Elijah, an upstanding member of the House of Lords, had recently experienced a frightening collapse on the floor of the House of Commons. This collapse precipitated his insistence that Jemma return home. It was time for her to settle down and give him an (legitimate) heir.

As the series progressed the characters of Jemma and Elijah evolved. We realized that Jemma cultivated her outrageous reputation. We also realized that this reputation might not be entirely deserved. Jemma acted as she did for two reasons: to pay Elijah back in spades for betraying her when they were young newlyweds and to make sure he did not forget her. Elijah, in turn, was revealed to be a proud man grabbling with making amends to his wife and his own mortality. His public collapse was not his first and not the only sign of his imminent demise. His father died young and Elijah realized his own time was most likely limited. Elijah always seemed to take one step forward and two steps back when he tried to repair relations with his wife.

The book begins with Elijah rescuing Jemma from the king's yacht. (See When the Duke Returns for the details of the prisoners plot and attack on the yacht) The excitement of the rescue brings Jemma and Elijah together but their physical reunion is halted when Jemma witnesses another collapse. Jemma now realizes that Elijah's collapse in the House of Commons was not a random event. She resolves to heal him and their marriage. In typical Jemma fashion, she decides that she must seduce him away from all other distractions. As she plots to woo Elijah, she sets up the Marquise de Perthuis, a beautiful young French woman, as a rival for his affections. (Never mind that Elijah has no interest in the Marquis and is more alienated than enticed by her machinations.) Elijah, steady as always, turns the Marquise's interest to his advantage.

The relationship between Jemma and Elijah has always resembled a chess match between masters and in this book Ms. James uses the game to great effect. The blindfolded chess match that consummates their relationship is sensual and clever. There are funny bits in this book and heartrending moments too. At times the plotting of the novel seems off, not so much in a secondary storyline involving the Duke of Villiers, but in the primary storyline. We don't expect the course of true love to run smooth, especially with these two, but sometimes their actions don't seem reasonable. For example - Jemma's seductive schemes seem to come and go and appear a bit improbable given her knowledge of Elijah's illness. The character's prior infidelities are explained and excused as much as is possible, but might taint the story for some.

The secondary storyline involving the Duke of Villiers and his illegitimate offspring is compelling and holds great promise. His story will be out in July/August in A Duke of Her Own

All in all an entertaining, if not perfect, romance. (Kind of like the main characters.)

The prior books in the Desperate Duchesses series are: Desperate Duchesses, An Affair Before Christmas, Duchess By Night, When the Duke Returns

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Secondary character steals the spotlight, May 27, 2009

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Kathy Kaiser - See all my reviews
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This review is from: This Duchess of Mine (Desperate Duchesses) (Mass Market Paperback)

I was tempted to only give this 3 stars because the central relationship between Elijah and Jemma is weak. Eloisa James didn't pull the plot together until almost 150 pages into the book. By then, my mind was wandering. I couldn't figure out (and I don't think James could either) where the source of the tension was in their relationship. Was it the fact that Jemma had left their marriage early on to live in Paris? The fact that they had both had affairs? Was Elijah's work the first priority in his life above his marriage? Would something cause his life to be cut short? They come together again at the beginning of the novel to produce an heir, but they obviously both still love each other. The reader knows they love each other within 100 pages, so I think James scurried around presenting too many ideas in which to keep the plot moving along another several hundred pages. Sadly for me, none of the plotlines were interesting. I've given this 4 stars, however, because there's no doubt that James is a good writer. She knows the Georgian time period well and her writing is smooth and authentic. She doesn't use contemporary language in her prose or in her character's speech. I appreciate that. But, the main reason I began to enjoy this novel was for the character of the Duke of Villiers who is a secondary character. I'm assuming his story is next. James spends quite a bit of time on him and his search for his children in this novel. I'm really looking forward to reading about his frantic search for a wife who will help him care for his bastard children. That looks to be a funny, enjoyable tale. This one, however, plods along at a slightly placid pace.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Now Eloisa, you know you can do much better than this..., July 10, 2009

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Flush Barrett-Browning (Tennessee Valley) - See all my reviews

This review is from: This Duchess of Mine (Desperate Duchesses) (Mass Market Paperback)

'This Duchess of Mine' reminded me why I gave up on most romance novels. It reads as though it were outlined long ago when the series was conceived and then written quickly at a much later date.

It begins in media res - which works only if one has been reading the series. I haven't. James could easily have written a prologue catching up new readers - and perhaps she would have kept them.

The story doesn't go anywhere much, just fills the pages. Jemma and Elijah, the Duke and Duchess of Beaumont, have decided to have sex after a nine year hiatus, and James attempts to make them (and the reader) anticipate the event for a long boring while. Elijah has a fatal heart condition, but the reader who knows James knows that he may Just Manage To Live, so the suspense generated by this is limited.

This felt like the prelude to a far more interesting story - Villiers is a much more compelling character - and I sincerely hope that James takes the time to frame his story in a way that new readers can catch up. Someone will have to kindly drop me a note and tell me how things go, because I won't be taking this path in the future.