I'm not sure what to score this book, because I only started to enjoy reading it halfway through. In the first half of the book, everyone was just so unlikeable and I got really frustrated. But bit by bit, I started to enjoy the book. By the end, the characters had a lot of depth and that made them way more complex and likeable. I think I will be reading the next book in the series as well.

Heroine: Roberta is really not that likeable. First of all, she claims instalove after a not so romantic first encounter. I guess I can throw her a bone and say she's a very determined young woman, but she really needs to get her senses straight and go for the right target.

Hero: The Earl of Gryffyn is the "true" hero of DESPERATE DUCHESSES by Eloisa James but I guess it would be hard to figure this out if it weren't for the book summary. I'm a sucker for Daddys with Cute Little Kids and the Earl of Gryffyn definitely falls under this category. It's not his fault that he had such a sucky plotline. He would have been a more dashing hero if the circumstances had been different and the heroine had been more interesting and less naive.

Supporting Cast: I think the fact that I enjoyed the supporting characters and the subplot a lot more tells a great deal about how much I enjoyed Desperate Duchesses by Eloisa James. I much rather would have liked to just focus on Jemma and the Duke of Beaumont but apparently, that's another book! I don't know why they played such a big part then, because it ended up just being a really big teaser of a book to come.

Plot: The plotting of DESPERATE DUCHESSES by Eloisa James is unfortunately somewhat a mess. Really, I had a hard time figuring out who the true star of this little soap opera was. There were subplots aplenty, and sadly, the least interesting one ended up being the main highlight of DESPERATE DUCHESSES.

Romance: The Duke of Villiers is such an anti-hero that there really is no romantic tension. There's not even a pseudo love triangle. So obviously when you are introduced to the Earl of Gryffyn, there is a clear winner already. I guess they have banter and good chemistry, but nothing mind-blowing and quite memorable enough to make a lasting impression.


I guess every author has their not-so-great book. ​DESPERATE DUCHESSES ​by Eloisa James is not my favorite work by this author. Though disappointing, I am certainly not discouraged to pick up more books by her.

There was a lot about this book that I enjoyed, like the swirl of couples that always seemed to be in flux for me. I didn't know if Roberta was going to end up with Villiers or Damon, I wasn't sure if Jemma was going to succumb to her attraction to Villiers or stay faithful to Beaumont or if Beaumont himself was going to pick up another mistress. Teddy was super cute, gross like little kids can be. What I didn't like was that this felt like a contemporary romance with just the trappings of Regency era. It really just felt like a country girl was going to her distant relations in London today to get into society. The strict societal norms of the time were not really in place in this book for most of the characters. The author explains it away by using characters who already live outside the norm, like a scandalous wife living in Paris for 8 years and an eccentric country nobleman who just lives by his own rules.
All in all, this felt more like contemporary romance than historical romance to me and I'm not a big fan of contemporary romance.

2109 re-read: listened to this on audiobook for a change and enjoyed myself. It was harder to follow at first because of all of the swirling characters and POVs. Everything still stands from my original review above, though. This time I was more irritated by Roberta because I saw her as a girl silly with "love" so that she can't see the truth right in front of her. But it was still ok, the sex scenes were pretty hot so that alone might earn it an extra star from 2 last time to 3.

Loved it. Roberta & Damon are an adorable couple. The plot reminded me a little of an old time comical movie. She's chasing a man who doesn't want to be caught & is being chased by the right man. All the chasing and fooling around, sneaking around is lovely. I d however have a problem with the Duke & Duchess of Beaumont. The descriptions of their history together is completely different from that in their own story. This couple is vicious & snarky & have been cheating on each other for 8 years. In their story it was much calmer & less cheating. In this book I couldn't find it in my heart to like either one.

Can't wait to start the next book!

The characters were so wonderfully and intricately drawn in this beautiful story. I fell in love with them all. I am so excited to have found a wonderful new author!