Eloisa James: This duchess of mine jne.

Eloisa Jamesin Desperate Duchesses -kirjasarjassa on kahdeksan romaania, joissa kaikissa toistetaan samantyylistä juonta, mutta omaperäisyyttäkin piisaa. Kirjailijan oikea nimi on Mary Bly, ja ammatiltaan hän on englannin kielen professori, mikä antanee jonkinlaista katu-uskottavuutta viihdekirjallisuuden tuottamiseenkin.



This duchess of mine (Avon, 2009; ISBN 978-0-06-162682-1)

Wedding bells celebrating the arranged marriage between the lovely Duchess of Beaumont and her staid, imperturbable duke had scarcely fallen silent when a shocking discovery sent Jemma running from the ducal mansion. For the next nine years she cavorted abroad, creating one delicious scandal after another (if one is to believe the rumors).

Elijah, Duke of Beaumont, did believe those rumors.

But the handsome duke needs an heir, so he summons his seductive wife home. Jemma laughs at Elijah's cool eyes and icy heart—but to her secret shock, she doesn't share his feelings. In fact, she wants the impossible: her husband's heart at her feet.

But what manner of seduction will make a man fall desperately in love ... with his own wife?

A duke of her own (Avon Books, 2009; ISBN 978-0-06-162683-8)

Leopold Dautry, the notorious Duke of Villiers, must wed quickly and nobly—and his choices, alas, are few. The Duke of Montague's daughter, Eleanor, is exquisitely beautiful and fiercely intelligent. Villiers betroths himself to her without further ado.

After all, no other woman really qualifies. Lisette, the outspoken daughter of the Duke of Gilner, cares nothing for clothing or decorum. She's engaged to another man, and doesn't give a fig for status or title. Half the ton believes Lisette mad—and Villiers is inclined to agree.

Torn between logic and passion, between intelligence and imagination, Villiers finds himself drawn to the very edge of impropriety. But it is not until he's in a duel to the death, fighting for the reputation of the woman he loves, that Villiers finally realizes that the greatest risk may not be in the dueling field...

But in the bedroom. And the heart.

Three weeks with Lady X (Piatkus, 2014; ISBN 978-0-7499-5947-0)

Having made a fortune, Thorn Dautry, the powerful bastard son of a duke, decides that he needs a wife. But to marry a lady, Thorn must acquire a gleaming, civilized façade, the specialty of Lady Xenobia India. Exquisite, head-strong, and independent, India vows to make Thorn marriageable in just three weeks. But neither Thorn nor India anticipate the forbidden passion that explodes between them.

Four nights with the duke (Piatkus, 2015; ISBN 978-0-7499-5948-7)

As a young girl, Emilia Gwendolyn Carrington told the annoying future Duke of Pindar that she would marry any man in the world before him - so years later she is horrified to realize that she has nowhere else to turn. Evander Septimus Brody has his own reasons for agreeing to Mia's audacious proposal, but there's one thing he won't give his inconvenient wife: himself. Instead, he offers Mia a devil's bargain ... he will spend four nights a year with her.