Rowena’s review of The Duke is Mine by Eloisa James.
Hero: Tarquin, Duke of Sconce
Heroine: Miss Olivia Lytton
In the capable hands of USA Today and New York Times bestselling author Eloisa James, the fairy tales we loved as children take on vibrant—and sensuous—new life. With The Duke is Mine, the beloved author of A Kiss at Midnight and When Beauty Tamed the Beast gives the classic tale of the Princess and the Pea a delightfully romantic Regency spin. Fans of Victoria Alexander and Julia Quinn will simply adore this historical romance gem about a lady reluctantly betrothed to one duke but pursued by another; a tantalizing tale of love, lies, and one very uncomfortable mattress.
What a delightful read this book turned out to be.
I’m not quite sure why I haven’t read more books by Eloisa James but I need to seriously get on that in 2012. This book was such a delightful read that I needed to read another historical book from Avon immediately following this one.
This book follows Miss Olivia Lytton as she stumbles her way to her happily ever after with the guy that she didn’t think she’d end up with. You see, Olivia’s been engaged to the future Duke of Canterwick since she was a wee lass. It’s all she’s ever known so she’s never let herself get her hopes up about being with anyone else because she’s known where her duties lay and even though she can be a bit of a goose (a hilarious one, at that), she knows that she’ll do what she must to please her parents.
At least that was the plan until she met the Duke of Sconce.
Upon first meeting him, her dress is drenched and plastered to her body, he kisses her like she’s a common wench and she thinks he’s a servant and lays into him like he’s not the master of the keep…
…and the fireworks go off every single time they’re in the same room with each other.
I really enjoyed this book and my favorite part of this book was the heroine, Olivia Lytton. She was a riot, a total laugh a minute sister and I enjoyed getting to know her. I loved how loyal she was to both her sister and her fiance, even though she knew that what people were saying about him was true. She defended him to everyone and even when her heart wanted what it wanted, you could see the conflict within herself. She didn’t want to want Quin but she couldn’t help it and she didn’t want to hurt her sister and tried hard to stay away but the heart wants what it wants and I’m glad that everything worked out for her.
Olivia and her inappropriate jokes (that she sometimes didn’t get) had me cracking up out loud more than once and the wordplay between her and Quin made this book just that much more delightful.
I enjoyed getting to know both Olivia and Quin but moreover, I enjoyed getting to know the other characters as well. Olivia’s sister Georgie and Quin’s aunt Bumtrinket and even Quin’s cousin Justin were all wonderful additions to this story. All in all, the story was one funny scene after another that strung together a wonderful romance that I enjoyed quite a bit.
There were some things that I had me gasping all over the place. I mean, the whole scene with Rupert and Olivia in the beginning before he leaves for the war? Yeah, I almost threw up and then my eyes about fell out of my face but even through that messed up scene, Olivia found things to laugh about through all of that madness and that made me love her all the more. She was just flat out awesome.
I recommend this book to fans of Eloisa James work and to fans of the historical genre. There’s a little bit of everything for everyone and a whole lot of laughs to keep the good times rolling.
Grade: 4 out of 5.
This book is available from Avon. You can buy it here or here in e-format.
This sound pretty good, I have been meaning to check out these fairy tale stories but I kind of have a hate-sometimes-love with EJ’s writing and I Wasn’t sure.
But you totally just sold me with this review!