Duchess in Love

by Eloisa James

Paperback, 2002

Status

Available

Call number

813.54

Publication

Avon (2002), Mass Market Paperback, 400 pages

Description

A Duke in Retreat Gina was forced into marriage with the Duke of Girton at an age when she'd have been better off in a schoolroom than a ballroom. Directly after the ceremony her handsome spouse promptly fled to the continent, leaving the marriage unconsummated and Gina quite indignant. A Lady In the Middle Now, she is one of the most well-known ladies in London ... living on the edge of scandal-desired by many men, but resisting giving herself to anyone. A Duchess in Love Finally, Camden, the Duke of Girton, has returned home, to discover that his naïve bride has blossomed into the toast of the ton. Which leaves Cam in the most uncomfortable position of discovering that he has the bad manners to be falling in love-with his own wife

User reviews

LibraryThing member crashingwaves38

This novel simply wasn't up to the standards that exist in my mind for James. It wasn't as witty or snappy as her earlier works are. The plot was so convoluted, and I found several of the characters to be hard to sympathize with. Their reasoning simply made no sense, or they were ninnies. I have no

real desire to read about any of the other characters save one, which is surprising given that I usually am driven to know all about the various characters. Maybe I am simply becoming a more discerning reader.

I'm fairly certain that I will be tossing this one back to the used bookstore. There are other books she's written that are good; this simply wasn't one of them.

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LibraryThing member phyllisd

This was a complicated plot with a lot of relationships. I liked it but I felt it wrapped up a little too quickly. When and why did Gina decide to follow Cam? I did enjoy what I would consider a triple epilogue. Happily-ever-after does take a little bit of adjustment.

LibraryThing member wyvernfriend

Gina was married too young and her husband ran away to the continent. Now she's older but she'd like a life, a romance, something. Her wanting something has lead her almost to scandal. Now her husband is back and they have to deal with their feelings and whether or not they want to actually stay

together.

It's pretty predictable but fun.

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LibraryThing member doxiemomx2

I really enjoyed Duchess in Love. It is true that there was quite a cast of characters and it got a little complicated at times. I will also admit that it took reading the second book in the series (Fool in Love) to completely warm up to some of the characters. However, I enjoyed Gina and Cam and

all the adventures.

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LibraryThing member riverwillow

A nice light, fast read for a Sunday morning. There are lots of characters, one or two who look likely to have interesting stories in the later books in the series. Passed the time very nicely.

LibraryThing member JenJ.

So much better than the last couple of romances I read, although James does not even seem to be attempting to be historically accurate. Still, it was funny with good dialogue and likeable characters.

LibraryThing member bookwormdreams

Duchess in Love is advertised as classic historical romance, but I must admit that it delivered more than I expected. We get not only the romance between duchess Gina and her not-quite-husband Camden but also we get a glimpse into a structure of a society in historical England and it's attitude

towards marriage and relationships.
The plot revolves around Gina and her circle of friends - and surprise surprise none of them has a conventional marriage. Although the focus is on a development (and of course finally HEA) between Gina and her love interests, we also get an intro into lives of her friends. I am guessing that they will be featured in the next books in this series and frankly I can't wait. I liked them - they were unorthodox and flaunting the conventions. Very refreshing instead of the usual shy and naive heroines in historical romance novels.
So why the low rating then? Because, I don't know who annoyed me more - Gina or her husband. They were both pigheaded and stubborn and could not see the obvious things...
But I love Eloisa James's writing style and her side characters, so I will get back fore more. ;)

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LibraryThing member skirret

The only time this book caught my interest was when I read the Author's Introduction at the end. I didn't know Ms James was a Professor of English Literature and found it difficult to reconcile her academic expertise with this lack-lustre historical romance.

The main story was cute: a reluctant Duke

forced to marry an 11-yr-old girl whom he thought was his cousin. Within hours of the marriage he flees to Greece, where he enjoys an idyllic life sculpting nude statues of Greek goddesses.

He returns to England with the intention of annulling his unconsummated marriage with Gina, who seems to have already chosen a new fiancé. Things don't work out that easily, however. Close childhood friends until the enforced marriage, Camden and Gina are still fond of each other and this fondness continues to grow.

The down side of this book is the fussy handling of the gaggle of Gina's merry lady friends. Within a page or two I was unable to sort out who was courting or seducing whom, and Gina's continuing attachment to the complete asshole she plans to marry once the annulment is settled is a mystery.

The story-within-a-story device of having Much Ado About Nothing performed at a country house party added a little zest to the story, but not much. In other places Ms James indulged in long passages of descriptive writing that slowed the narrative to a pedestrian plod.

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LibraryThing member Marcella1717

I like the romance between the main couple. However, there's so much going on with several other couples and other plot elements that it distracts a bit from the main couple and I found myself sometimes more interested in Esme & Sebastian's story.

LibraryThing member kelleylizak

Pretty sure this is my first full-length novel by Eloisa James and I was surely not disappointed.

Even though I knew what was going to happen throughout the whole story, I loved this book for the characters. I adored the extremely charming Gina so much and she is what really made this book for me.

And of course, the sweet and handsome Cam. I was definitely invested in this romance and it was the perfect amount of steamy for my tastes. Side note: the steamier the better!

And yes, I did like the other characters enough that I will be continuing with the Duchess Quartet series. And yes, I enjoyed the writing enough that I will be looking into other series by Eloisa James.

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LibraryThing member MyaB

I am pretty sure this is the first book I have ever read by this author. In the beginning, I was confused with all the characters that were introduced so quickly and with nicknames etc. Couldn't follow who was talking, or being talked about... after I got that sorted I found it an odd topic -

waiting on annulment to get married again.. after the estranged husband came into the scenes the story picked up much more and I was enjoying it... but then I hit one scene and I SWEAR I have read it before... but nothing else seemed familiar.. (perhaps it was an excerpt) anyway, it had good parts and some parts where I kinda lost interest. Took me almost a week to read this book.. (which is long for me) I will perhaps look for another of hers to try again... but not right away.

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LibraryThing member StephLaymon

Duchess in Love by Eloisa James is a historical romance, even though the cover screams contemporary. Anyway... Who knows who had the final decision on that one?!
Due to the era in which this story is set, it was a common practice for couples to be paired in marriage according to status, so it is

realistic that couples would become estranged, taking lovers in secret to fill their hearts desires. There are several romance story-lines involving estranged married couples during one of those lush house parties that last several weeks with balls, luncheons, and other goings on of the titled upper-crust.
The highlighted couple is Cam and Gina, who I enjoyed very much. There is enough back and forth to add tension, but not so much that it has more than a moment of what feels tedious. Who doesn't love a believable romance between an already married couple? Oh, and Gina, she's great. She is independent in as many ways as a duchess living in the time can be. As most romance goes, it is predictable in the way that we know how it will turn out, but the time that I spent getting there was enjoyable.
Eloisa James does a nice job of balancing the predictability that comes with romance with a variety of other romances that are filled with surprises. It is impossible to guess who is getting a divorce, an annulment, or who is just going to continue living a life of a forever unhappily married couple.
Duchess in Love lost some credibility with me at the very end when the drama kicks into high gear and one of the story lines crosses into dumb ass land.

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LibraryThing member JorgeousJotts

The characters are all a slight bit daft. I suppose it's easier to have the misunderstandings that promote drama when you're not that great at understandings to begin with. Worth reading though.

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