Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Get thee to a nunnery!

The Reluctant Countess by Eloisa James

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Yasmin’s reputation is tainted by her mother’s association with the Emperor Napoleon, and Giles certainly doesn’t need more scandal in his family. If only he could stay away from her… In a paradoxical way, though the author gave me more of the drama I’d complained was missing in How to Be a Wallflower, I disliked this book more. Indeed it made me grind my teeth I was so irritated with it sometimes. It is well-written, yes, which is true of pretty much all of James’s […]

Past, Present, and Future in Romance

The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory

Naked in Death by J.D. Robb

A Kiss at Midnight by Eloisa James

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A key feature of romance is the obstacle–what keeps the main characters apart. I’m finding it interesting looking at how this convention gets translated into different plots and time periods. Often it’s class difference or political rivalries, or sometimes it is a misunderstanding or a bad first impression. Eloisa James in A Kiss at Midnight uses the Cinderella story as her foundation, but she modernizes the narrative so that the reasons keeping her Cinderella (here, Kate Daltry) and Prince (Gabriel, Prince of Warl-Marburg-Baalsfeld) apart are more complex […]

How many Beauty and the Beast retellings can I get through? Many

When Beauty Tamed the Beast by Eloisa James

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I enjoy these fairy tale retellings quite a bit! There’s something very Georgette Heyer about the way that Eloisa James writes dialogue, in the exact vein of my favorite works of hers (The Grand Sophy*, Cotillion). All heroines are sparkling wits (and may or may not be beauties) who clash verbal swords with broody male leads and/or secondary characters (conservative ladies who hold the keys to Almack’s, clearly unsuited secondary male leads). Not everything is the same, of course–both of these novels take place in foreboding castles far […]

Exactly what you’d expect (which isn’t bad!)

A Kiss at Midnight by Eloisa James

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A(nother) recommendation via Cannonball Read-ish/Pajiba. I wouldn’t call this revelatory or a retelling in the vein of McKinley, but it’s definitely the bones of the Cinderella story transplanted to a Regency-ish setting. And I can’t deny that I, personally, enjoyed it quite a bit (as a matter of fact, here is what happened–I started reading this yesterday night, had to put it away because I was very sleepy, and then woke up early this morning remembering that I was reading something I liked without recollecting exactly what it […]

Duke seeks wife for his motherless brood of eight

My Last Duchess by Eloisa James

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The series “The Wildes of Lindow Castle” features various children of the Duke of Lindow, and I’ve read several of them.  This book is a prequel to tell the story of the Duke and his last Duchess – I don’t recall the couple making that much of an impression on me in the other books, so I was surprised to see this novella about them! Hugo, the aforementioned Duke, is in need of a wife.  His first wife passed away, leaving him with four young […]

So this was a book that I read – the heroine has a pet skunk. I know, quirky, right?

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2.5 stars Lord Alaric Wilde is the third son of the Duke of Lindow (although the eldest died in a tragic accident a few years back). He’s been travelling the world for years, having adventures and while he was gone, the books about his travels have become hugely popular, particularly because of a wildly successful play, portraying him as a tragic romantic hero. Alaric is rather taken aback by his overwhelming fame when he returns home. At a house party at his father’s, there are […]



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