Desperate Duchesses
A Steamy and Pageturning Regency Romance Book
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4.2 • 34 Ratings
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- £2.99
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- £2.99
Publisher Description
font size="+1">'Nothing gets me to a bookstore faster than Eloisa James' Julia Quinn, bestselling author of Bridgertons
The first book in the New York Times bestselling Desperate Duchesses series, perfect for fans of Julia Quinn's Bridgertons and Eloisa's Wildes of Lindow Castle
'Choc-full of romantic heroes romantic heroes that would give Darcy a run for his money.' Carole Matthews
Spring 1783 . . . Jemma, Duchess of Beaumont, has just returned from Paris and is planning to shock all of London High Society - not to mention horrify her estranged husband - with scandalous soirees and a debauched grand ball.
But irritating her husband comes naturally, and she needs a challenge. When her country cousin Lady Roberta St. Giles asks for help seducing the Duke of Villiers into marriage, Jemma jumps at the chance. She transforms Roberta into the most delicious and desirable woman in town. Then she lures Villiers to the house, ostensibly to play chess.
But the plan backfires. Villiers responds enthusiastically to Jemma's challenge and, ignoring Roberta or indeed Jemma's husband, offers her a match - three games, the last of which is to be played blindfolded. And nude.
And in bed.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
If Shakespeare had written an 18th-century romantic comedy, it might look something like this novel. In her latest, veteran James offers a larger-than-life portrait of Georgian England, complete with oversexed aristocrats, posturing courtesans and a feuding duke and duchess. At the heart of it all is Roberta St. Giles, an ingenue who's intent on marrying the duke of Villiers, a chess player and notorious womanizer. Roberta, the daughter of the poetry-addicted "Mad Marquess," wants nothing more than an unsentimental husband like Villiers. But in her quest to become the sort of woman who would attract the duke, she finds herself falling for Damon Reeve, her tutor in the art of pleasure. James embellishes her tale with a number of characters, each with their own desires, vices and schemes. At times, the profusion of people and plot threads overwhelms the primary romance. Roberta, in particular, pales next to the vivacious but unhappily married duchess of Beaumont, who begs for her own story. Despite this lack of focus, James pulls everything together in the final third, making for a colorful, spirited romance that will leave readers desperate for a sequel.
