Search - Desperate Duchesses

- I was very disappointed in this book from Ms. James! =(

- Started out with too many characters to quick to try and sort.

- And these are NOT the typical characters we love to read from Ms. James. Nothing like the "Essex" sisters we loved and laughed and cried with. This group is very superficial, self-absorbed, and even display some downright sleazy tastes to some extent.

- Roberta & Damon are very unattractive as the main couple until the very last part of the book. Roberta didn't like children and Damon had a bastard son. Roberta would tell him to "shoo, leave her alone" and also threatened to throw his kitten in the river...several times. She was horrid!

- I was much more interested in Duchess Jemma and Beaumont. I wanted to read what more of what happened early on in their marriage to force the separation because it's obvious (and these were the only 2 characters in the book *to* show real feelings for one another) they had the real story!
going.

- Ms. James is one of my favorite authors but this is my least favorite book by her ever. =( It always has to happen sooner or later but this one really surprised me.

I liked it but I also didn't like it. I had a real problem with some of the stupidity of the heroine. She kind of irked me. But, all in all, is was a good book.

Let's just put it this way - I couldn't bring myself to read the entire book. And I love Eloisa James. This was just not her best effort to date. Too many characters, many of them difficult to like, and some of the story lines were just uncomfortable. I doubt that I will read the rest of the series, so I hope that James gets them published quickly so that we can all move on to things better and more enjoyable.

A different story. Never thought about chess as such a consuming passtime. Cool!

good.

From the back cover…

A marquess’s sheltered only daughter, Lady Roberta St. Giles falls in love with a man she glimpses across a crowded ballroom: a duke, a game player of consummate skill, a notorious rakehell who shows no interest in marriage-until he lays eyes on Roberta.

Yet the Earl of Gryffyn knows too well that the price required to gain a coronet is often too high. Damon Reeve, the earl, is determined to protect the exquisite Roberta from chasing after the wrong destiny.

Can Damon entice her into a high-stakes game of his own, even if his hears is likely to be lost in the venture?