10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
What if Jane Austen had the sense (and sensibility) of Sex and the City's gal pals?, September 8, 2005
Lady Beatrix Lennox is not your average society miss. Caught in the arms of a rake during her first season, Bea found herself ruined and disavowed by her father. Other disgraced debutantes might have gone straight into hiding, but not Bea. Now a dame de compagnie to Arabella, Viscountess Withers -- herself the subject of gossip -- Bea has blossomed into a dazzling sophisticate well-versed in affairs of the heart. Accompanying Arabella to Wiltshire for a house party for her expectant niece, Esme Rawlings, Bea decides to amuse herself by teaching the very proper Helene, the Countess Godwin, how to seduce the very proper Stephen Fairfax-Lacy.
Weary of his duties in Parliament, Stephen Fairfax-Lacy accepts an invitation to attend a house party held at the country home of "Infamous Esme." He figures a house party filled with beautiful and notorious women will provide him with a new mistress to relieve his ennui. Before long, however, Stephen finds himself swimming in a sea of feminine intrigue and caught in a web between three women: engaged to Esme, designated lover to Helene, and utterly smitten with the ineligible Beatrix. What's a gentleman to do?
What if Jane Austen had the sense (and sensibility) of Sex and the City's gal pals? The result just might be something like Eloisa James' A WILD PURSUIT. Witty, amusing and heartwarming, Ms. James scandalous ladies are back and better than ever. While ongoing plots continue to unfold such as Esme's ongoing pregnancy (surely a record in the annals of romance fiction!) and Helene's ongoing feud with her estranged husband, the romance at the heart of A WILD PURSUIT belongs to Bea and Stephen. Bea hides her unhappiness behind skillfully applied maquillage and a seductive manner, but Stephen looks beyond the gloss and finds a soul mate. Their unorthodox path to true love runs the gamut from playful to poignant and will long remain in a reader's memory after the turn of the last page.
While each story in this series can stand alone, it is highly recommended that readers start with DUCHESS IN LOVE and FOOL FOR LOVE in order to be familiar with ongoing plots and recurring characters. And for those already caught up with these extraordinary women and their unforgettable men, your next book should be YOUR WICKED WAYS, Helene's and Rees' story. Don't miss this delightfully wicked and totally original series!
TheSchemer
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Provocative., April 29, 2004
Now this was fun! A country house party filled with scandalous, flirtatious women. Properly-bred ladies, ethical in their way, but misunderstood by society. "A Wild Pursuit" is a story saturated with lust and desire, yet the author sidesteps heavy intimacy. However, it is the lightweight jealousy Eloisa James employs that delivers the most appealing reading sensation - humor. This is a comedy of errors. A mixture of misunderstandings that create tantalizing subplots that keep the pages turning for the reader.
The only male guest invited to the house party is Stephen Fairfax-Lacey, the Earl of Spade. This puritanical gentleman is a respected Member of Parliament, and a duke's heir. To his utmost delight, Fairfax-Lacey finds himself hobnobbing with these scandalous women. The women have included him in this celebration because he is husband material. If the marriage plans don't work, Stephen might be the perfect man to be a lover. Unhappily, Lady Beatrix Lennox finds herself very interested in his love talents. Lady Beatrix is a social outrage. Caught in a compromising situation during her debut season, she truly remains on the edge of society. Initially, I found Beatrix and her rebel attitude too foolish and too extreme; however, I did warm up to this character by the time the book ended. But it is Fairfax-Lacey's preoccupation with this lustful little upstart that is sheer entertainment.
The second subplot is the enticing tale of Esme Rawlings and Sebastian, the Marquess Bonnington. This is the first romance book I have read where a late-stage pregnant woman engages exuberantly in lovemaking and relishes the activity. This passionate intimacy is a magnificent move by the author. Sebastian is a splendid man. He is a caring lover, he is concerned, he is soothing, and he frequently talks to the unborn baby. Sebastian loves Esme, but Esme is confused. She has decided to become respectable. Unfortunately, the Marquess laid the groundwork which resulted in her husband's death. To marry now would create a scandal of enormous proportions. To this reader, Esme's beliefs are nonsensical. But, I will grant Esme's irrationality to hormones running amuck in the late stages of pregnancy.
Finally, the subplot that aroused this reader's future buying attention. Helene Holland, the Countess Godwin is truly out of place among these impulsive party women. For Helene is a lady, a gentlewoman who is also lonely. She exists in a life separated from her heartless husband Rees Holland, the Earl of Goodwin. Far too young when they eloped, these two people sadly discovered they were incompatible. Rees accused Helene of being a frigid lover, and now he lives his life akin to an alley cat. This scoundrel flaunts his mistress, allows her to occupy Helene's bed chamber, in a house Helene once called home. Enough is enough. Helene eyes Stephen Fairfax-Lacey as the tool to end this vile marriage, she will commit adultery, and finally get a divorce.
Although the story began slowly, it grew, and soon I was hooked. This is the first book I have read from Eloisa James, and I enjoyed this effort very much. Undeniably, I will go on and read Rees and Helene's story in "Your Wicked Ways."
Grace Atkinson, Ontario - Canada.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
This book was hard to put down, May 15, 2004
I am a big fan of Eloisa James and this book did not disappoint me; I enjoyed this book from begining to end.I laughed so hard through parts of this book that my husband had to tell me to be quite! I would recommend that before you read this book that you read Duchess In Love and Fool For Love as all these books are connected, but if you have or just want to enjoy a good book this is it! I always love to see a story line that has more than one set of main characters that flow together really well in the story and this book has that. I loved Beatrix and the way that she handled most situations with her honest approach to people, and the way she had Stephan practical eating out of the plam of her hand. She is one of my favorite leading ladies in a book. The fact that she is honest about who she is and only plays a few games with Stephan is refreshing. Alot of times I get sick of romance novels because the plots feel all the same, and granted the endings are a given in most of them the story lines do not have to be. I think that Eloisa James is one of those authors who is very good at giving a great story line with characters that do not make story hard to enjoy.
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