:) Desperate Duchesses (Roberta and Damon) Hero I most wanted to smack in the head: Simeon, Duke of Isidore (Book 4)Ĭharacter that I wish had ended up with someone else: IsidoreĬharacter most likely to end up in their own series: Well, they all had children. Heroine I most wanted to smack in the head: Poppy, Duchess of Fletcher (Book 2)

Least favourite book: When the Duke Returns (Book 4, Isidore’s story)įavourite secondary characters: Jemma and Tobias Summary of summariesįavourite book: Duchess by Night (Book 3, Harriet’s story) Such is the nature of an Eloisa James book. Or try the first and see if you don’t get hooked. If you only buy one, you’ll want the next. For the lazy crowd, however, I have prepared a summary of summaries below and I have given an overall recommendation at the end of all the reviews-surely you can scroll down and read the end, yes? If you can’t, just buy the books. I will discuss and review each book individually. Everyone gets their happy ending, of course, but not without several machinations of their own or of others’-just like a chess game. The series is interspersed with several chess matches as, like chess itself, a game of intrigue, coquettishness and desire is played out between the characters of each novel. Her return to England allows her to renew her friendships with her contemporaries-most of the other duchesses in this series-and due to her love of chess, begin a friendship with the Duke of Villiers, her husband’s ex-best friend.

Jemma was a well known social butterfly in Paris and had somewhat a scandalous reputation. Elijah had what seems like a heart attack while at parliament, and he has asked Jemma to return so they can begin the process of begetting an heir, while he still can. This series begins with Jemma, the Duchess of Beaumont, who returns to England from France in the late 1700s (during the Georgian period) to be with her husband, Elijah, from whom she has been estranged for several years. Like the games of chess that run through this series, the romances are filled with strategy, intrigue and surprise moves.

A duke of her own by eloisa james