Audio: Say no to the Duke - Eloisa James

Narrated by: Susan Duerden

Series: Wildes of Lindow Castle, Book 4

Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins

Unabridged Audiobook

Release date: 06-25-19

Language: English

Publisher: HarperAudio

Historical romance

I got this book in exchange for an honest review

I tried not to picture them too much, I did like that it was 1780s, but the wigs, ugh, the wigs, lol.

Betsy has done her best to put on the persona of the good girl persona, the perfect society girl, the perfect bride to be. All to wash away the stigma of her mother running away with a Prussian (also her sister's book looks to be really interesting as she is blonde and obviously not a Wilde.)

But yes, Betsy is not really the quiet demure one, she is a Wilde, she rides horse standing up shooting arrows. She plays billiard and she wants to wear breeches. But she also wants to show everyone that she can catch a Duke. She is also really scared that showing passion means that she will run away and leave her kids. She carry her mother's shame in her heart.

Jeremy has ptsd from the revolutionary war. He drinks (and not) and tries to continue a normal life.

They banter, a lot! The things they say, wow, this is not regency. They do say the naughtiest things.

One problem I had was that they talk, a lot! Honestly a bit too much, the whole book was these two talking.

I also wanted more of aunt know? I have no idea how to spell that. But she fun! And the brother's books do sound fun, as those her sisters that will come.

I also felt that she should totally have gone for the Duke. Sure he was stuffy, but I think he would have been great. But then she was wild and he was too. So Betsy and Jeremy will surely continue to banter the rest of their lives.

I did want more of the supportive cast cos they sounded fun!

Narrator

She was great with all voices, she really got Betsy's voice right, the perfect blend of demure and wild.

Lady Betsy Wilde’s first season was triumphant by any measure, and a duke has proposed - but before marriage, she longs for one last adventure.

No gentleman would agree to her scandalous plan - but Lord Jeremy Roden is no gentleman. He offers a wager. If she wins a billiards game, he’ll provide the breeches.

If he wins...she is his, for one wild night.

But what happens when Jeremy realizes that one night will never be enough? 

In the most important battle of his life, he’ll have to convince Betsy to say no to the duke.

#FitReaders Check-In: May 29, 2015 and 2 reviews

#FitReaders is hosted by Geeky Bloggers Book Blog  and That’s What I’m Talking About.

Join in :D

Sun, 1 h bike

Mon, 4 km bike, 30 min walk

Tue, 8 km bike, 1 h workout class

Wed, 4 km bike, 30 min walk

Thu, 4 km bike

Fri, 30 min walk, 4 km bike

A horrible week :/ I am back to  why even bother? Sigh

.......................................

A Fool Again is the story of Genevieve, who once made a dash to Gretna Greene to marry, but was caught by her father. Now, a few years later, she attends the funeral of her elderly husband (not the man she ran away to marry) and who does she see but The One Who Got Away! Can they make their love work this time around or will Genevieve be A Fool Again?

My thoughts:

This one was kind of boring. I thought about giving up, but eh, it was under 80 pages.

Genevieve ran away, was found and was forced to marry an old guy. Then he dies and she meets that old flame again.

Yawn. She was kind of annoying in a way, yeah did not really like her. Her old flame was better. He wanted her, he gets her. The end.

Meh.

ebook, 74 pages
Published April 26th 2011 by HarperCollins e-books
Duchess Quartet #1.5

1 Ley Line Drifter by Kim Harrison - Pixy Jenks faces murderous dryad locked inside statue 

2 Reckoning by Jeaniene Frost - Bones, faces New Orleans ghouls who eat victims alive - horror 

3 Dark Matters by Vicki Pettersson - JJ superhero has illicit affair with Shadow agent Solange 

4 The Dead, the Damned, and the Forgotten by Jocelynn Drake - Savannah vampire Keeper Mira investigates murder 

5 Two Lines by Melissa Marr - Eavan resists sex and murder that morph her into a glaistig until Daniel Brennan, sex slaver, tempts her into both. 

My thoughts:

How to review a book where I dnfed half of it?

1 Ley Line Drifter by Kim Harrison 

Yawn. So very boring about a pixie, fairy whatever doing stuff. DNF

2 Reckoning by Jeaniene Frost 

It was about?...oh right Bones. DNF

3 Dark Matters by Vicki Pettersson 

This one I actually read, and kind of liked it.

4 The Dead, the Damned, and the Forgotten by Jocelynn Drake 

I also finished this one. I can't say I was all wow, but eh. Read it.

5 Two Lines by Melissa Marr 

Yawn. What was this about? DNF

A very boring anthology. I guess you need to love those series to like it.

Paperback, 358 pages
Published September 2009 by Eos (first published August 18th 2009)
The Hollows, #7.5; Night Huntress, #0.5; Sign of the Zodiac, #4.5; Dark Days, #0.6)
Urban fantasy, anthology
Own

Review: The Lady most willing - Julia Quinn and more

Step into the glittering world of Regency and prepare to have your hearts warmed by Julia Quinn, Eloisa James and Connie Brockway...

During their annual Christmas pilgrimage to Scotland to visit their aged uncle in his decrepit castle, the Comte de Rocheforte and his cousin, Earl of Oakley, are presented with unique gifts: their uncle has raided an English lord's Christmas party and kidnapped four lovely would-be brides for his heirs to choose from ...as well as one very angry duke, Lord Bretton. As snow isolates the castle, and as hours grow into days, the most honourable intentions give away to temptations as surprising as they are irresistible.

My thoughts:

3 stories in one and they are all connected. I did like the previous anthology by these authors more though. Still it was a fun one and the ending, haha, love it. I would have quoted it here if it had not ruined the end.

The first story is by Quinn and I can't go into detail as it spoils it all. Anyway it gave me a few laughs, she knows how the keep it light.

Next up is Eloisa James who brought in some passion. This I did not like as they all fall in love fast as it is. And then they wanna jump each others bones too just after a few days? No. Too fast. I already had to escape into happy world and believe it was true love all around.

Then we have Connie Brockway with a couple who fought the attraction the longest.

At this castle we have two sisters, one a flirt, one sensible. A shy heiress. A Duke. A poor woman who should not be there. And the gentlemen who was lured there by their uncle. All in all making it a fun few days at a castle. And as for the uncle, oh he was a hoot.

Cover:

nice

Series: Lady Most #2
Genre: Historical romance
Pages: 384
Published: 2012 by Avon
Source: Own

Review: A kiss at midnight by Eloisa James

Miss Kate Daltry doesn't believe in fairy tales . . . or happily ever after.

Forced by her stepmother to attend a ball, Kate meets a prince . . . and decides he's anything but charming. A clash of wits and wills ensues, but they both know their irresistible attraction will lead nowhere. For Gabriel is promised to another woman—a princess whose hand in marriage will fulfill his ruthless ambitions.

Gabriel likes his fiancée, which is a welcome turn of events, but he doesn't love her. Obviously, he should be wooing his bride-to-be, not the witty, impoverished beauty who refuses to fawn over him. 

Godmothers and glass slippers notwithstanding, this is one fairy tale in which destiny conspires to destroy any chance that Kate and Gabriel might have a happily ever after.

Unless a prince throws away everything that makes him noble . . . Unless a dowry of an unruly heart trumps a fortune . . . Unless one kiss at the stroke of midnight changes everything.

My thoughts:

Still trying new formats :)

Once upon a time:
There was a woman named Kate. She was strong willed, wanted the best for her dead father's tenants and was treated like a servant.

She had a stepmother who swam in jewels and pretty dresses and a step-sister who was a silly little thing.

Then one day she was bullied to save her sister's reputation and met a prince. This prince was as princes are and they bickered and sized one another up. That is how love began.

But alas no, the prince needed to marry for money and told her so. Good old Kate did a silly thing that the reader did not approve of. Let that be a lesson to all. She threw away virtue and all. Now you dear reader tell me what else is new? But I shall tell thee. In some stories this may work, but here is another story. These two were starcrossed lovers. She knew so, he knew so. They told each other so. Still she went for a night of passion, still he seduced that which was not his to take. She should have been ruined for all but as we all also know, this is love and love always finds a way. I still say nay.

And that was the story of how Cinderella found a prince. A historical romance with a fairy-tale story. Since so many names were utterly silly and the whole story had the right fairy-tale vibe.


Conclusion:
A cute little story.

And oh how this format was wrong. So not trying it again!

Cover: Eh

Series: Fairy tales #1
Genre: Historical romance
Pages: 304
Published: 2011 by Piatkus
Source: From a great blogger :D

Review: The Lady Most Likely - a novel in three parts

Authors: Julia Quinn, Connie Brookway, Eloisa James
Genre: Historical romance
Pages: 372
Published: 2010
Publisher: Avon
Source: My shelf

Hugh Dunne, the Earl of Briarly, needs a wife—so his sister hands him a list of the very best young ladies on the market. And then, because he refuses to tear himself away from the stables where he trains Arabian racehorses, she invites all those ladies to a house party, along with some other bachelors, of course. So who will Hugh choose? The Botticelli-esque, enchanting Gwendolyn? The outspoken, delightful Katherine? If he doesn't work fast, he'll lose those ladies to his closest friends, and then where will he look for a wife? Perhaps, just perhaps, toward a lady who's not on a market at all, and would require a great deal of persuading.

My thoughts:

This is not an anthology and that is perhaps why it worked so well for me. But it is still a book written by three authors. Each one takes on a couple and let them fall in love, but it is a flowing novel since it all happens during a house party and each author writes about everyone really.

To start this: I liked Julia Quinn's story the best. It was a sudden romance and she always writes such sweet stories I am not gonna say who it is about but it was lovely.

The second story by Brockway was about good too, and I liked how much the man knew what he wanted.

The third story was the one I wanted to like the most, but turned to be the one I liked the least. Though it was still good. It was the story I knew would come from page one, still, maybe it was because there was no courtship at all. 

Between each stories we Hugh's sister who is trying to fix him up and the whole book is just cute and funny. It worked truly well to write a story like this and it flows well. It never stops.

But I must mention a thing, I have noticed it before and then it came here too. A man is kissing his virginal interest for the first time, and then he at once goes for the breasts and nipple kissing...really? If I guy did that the first time I kissed him I would have been rather shocked. Not to mention it most often takes place where someone could find them too. I mean mouth and then suddenly boob. Especially if I had been an unkissed virginal Miss from a century where I barely had seen myself naked before.

Conclusion:

Sweet and lovely are the words. I enjoyed this one

Cover
Lovely.

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My flash fiction for this week

The Taming of The Duke by Eloisa James

The Taming of The Duke by Eloisa James
(Essex Sisters 3)

I didn't even know that there were two other books about the main characters sisters, and you really don't have to know that to read this book.

Lady Imogen Maitland is a widow and in the position of taking a lover. A man who knows how to keep quiet.

But she is still under the watchful eye of her former guardian, rafe, the duke of Holbrook. he believes that she still needs someone who watches her. But she laughs at the idea that a lazy drunk of a man can do anything. Why should he have anything to say what she is doing.

Then the illegitimate brother shows up, and Gabriel is everything Rafe should be. and they even look the same. He interests her and he would suit perfectly for her need. He agrees to escort her to a play in disguise, but who is it really she is with, Gabe or Rafe?


I needed some fun and this was just the right book for that.

I wans't sure that a could like drunk who wasn't described in a nice way, but I did started to like him. Imogen was an allright heroine, but dunno if I liked her or not. I guess I did because I wanted her to get a happy ending, and get her ideas of affairs out of her mind. And then I learned about her previous marriage. An to get back to Rafe, I have sure not read about a drunken hero before, and it's not like they had AA meetings back then.


The brother Gabe, well he was kind of boring, and not onyl because he was a professor of divinity. Reading about her sisters Annabell and Tess, well that made be wanna read her two other books. And i guess I want to know what will happen to the fourth one, Josie. Oh and Griselda needs some loving too.


This book fitted my needs, regency and romance. I smiled, and giggled. I actually liked it a lot. She has an easy way of writing, and that makes it easy to read too. A good book when you don't wanna think at all, just get lost.


3,5/5

The two other books are:
Much ado about you
Kiss me, Annabell