This one was a lot of fun. I pretty much adore James' books - her heroines are smart, witty and strong-willed, while her heroes are sexy and smart enough to adore their smart loves.

Josie is a very full-figured young woman, and has had the misfortune of taking the advice of a seamstress who's crammed Josie into a ridiculous corset, earning (and keeping) the unpleasant nickname, the Scottish Sausage. Josie's brothers-in-law are well-meaning as they urge their friends to dance with her at balls, but it's not until a family friend, the Earl of Mayne, convinces her she's beautiful without the stupid corset that she begins to come into her own.

The characters in this are charming and winning, and though I found it annoying that Josie's figure is described as very full, but with a surprisingly tiny waist (of course it is. Sigh.), the story was fun. And thank God the conflict wasn't dragged out forever to heighten tension!

Funny, sweet and sexy - Recommended! ( )

The final chapter in the Essex sister story is a grand one. It has a little bit of everything you would expect to see in it. And I have to say that few books ever make me laugh out loud, and yet this book at several points made me laugh so hard I thought I was going to cry.

The beginning starts out a bit sad, poor Josie the youngest of the sisters hates her body, and has been dubbed the Scottish sausage which is a horrible nickname. And of course there for the Ton all avoid her, no young men her age will ask her to dance and only the older men her sisters or chaperone can rustle up will dance with her. The biggest crime is that she sees herself as fat. And Josie is anything but. She’s not fat; she is beautiful like a real woman.

It’s a horrid corset she wears that makes her appear stuffed. Well, enter Garrett the Earl of Mayne. I loved him in the other books when he popped up. He is a rakehell who isn’t feeling like much of a rakehell anymore. He is engaged but none the less he kisses Josie, and shows her what its like to be a real woman. She taking his teaching well gets rid of the corset and indeed becomes a woman who leaves young men slavering after her. She has the body of a Madonna, and she has just a fun personality.

Follow this story is a true romp of fun, and finding love where you would least expect it. Mayne has had a little dabble in with all of the Essex’s sisters in one form or another. Who would have guessed that he would have one with Josie as well? There is a particularly funny scene in which Mayne believing Josie has been ravished picks her up while she is asleep. Josie wakes and proceeds to slug him, giving him a black eye. What a fine way to say hello to a gentleman.

But Mayne can have a good laugh too as Josie’s expense including a time in which he dumps a glass of water over his head and startles Josie into thinking he is a ghost. The romance is there as well, and there is love to be found for everyone. Even Griselda whom who have followed as a widow through it all does indeed find her own happy ending. If you have enjoyed the other books in this series, you must read this one. And if you haven’t read the others, I recommend you do so you can read this one as well. You will not be sorry in the least. You will laugh, cry and enjoy it. ( )

Entirely forgettable book. Pleasure for Pleasure is about the youngest Essex sister Josie's insecurity over her weight - she's supposedly fat and undesirable, a social pariah and the brunt of cruel jokes perpetrated by the mean spirited members of the ton. All this changes overnight (literally!) when she visits a modiste who gives her magic dresses that show her true beauty and ta da. She's no longer fat, she's the sexiest, curviest woman alive and everyone loves her. Not to sound insensitive, but her self-image issues were so superficial and insincere that I found them more frustrating than endearing (or whatever it is they were supposed to be.) Josie has no personality in this story. She just whines about being ugly and fat, when she is clearly neither. Her delusions are also handy for a those big misunderstandings that are so good at destroying any modicum of pleasure I might have derived from this book - she can't believe Mayne loves her, it's inconceivable! This in turns leads to some confusing, bizarre high jinks that just leave me scratching my head and wishing the book was over already.

In addition to shoddy character development, there is minimal romance in Pleasure for Pleasure - Josie has no chemistry with Garret, the earl of Mayne, who's been an interesting character up to date. But all his appeal and charm is washed out here. He's engaged to another woman at the start of the book, but the author isn't fooling anyone into thinking that there's any feeling between the two. Theirs is a self-defeating relationship transparently set up to fail, to prove what "real love" is like (we have Mayne and Josie to show us what love is, of course), and to reflect very badly on the poor other woman, who is clearly so very wrong in who she is and what she feels. She's sabotaged as a character (because she started out kind of interesting,) and all for nothing, because Josie and Mayne's relationship certainly doesn't convince me of any genuine love between the two of them either.

Pleasure for Pleasure is also just plain messy. It's full of random events that never go anywhere, plot threads that sprawl all over the place, distracting and incoherent. Even if there was anything of substance between Josie and Mayne, the reader is never given a chance to find it out because there's so much else that crowds around and interferes with their romance. In previous books, Eloisa James has skillfully balanced an ensemble cast of characters, and while the hero and heroine did have to share the stage a lot, these other characters and relationships enhanced the book and didn't detract from the romance. James seems to have lost that talent here. I did not enjoy this book. It had none of the wit or vivacity of the first two books in this series, and you wouldn’t miss anything if you passed it up. ( )

This is the fourth and final book in the Essex Sister series and also my favorite. Josie is a fascinating character full of contradictions: excellent with horses but afraid to ride, young and innocent but wise, self-concious of her looks but bold in her speech. An unexpected yet perfect countess for the damaged Earl of Mayne. ( )

This is my first Eloisa James book, and I have to say that I think she's a fun author. I enjoyed reading every bit of this novel. The characters were fun and fresh, and they were different from the characters that show up in a lot of other novels (ie, different from the Cynsters). And I loved that the main female and a few of the other females were truly curvy women, not "petite" women or "with subtle curves." No, these were real women, and that's so often hard to find in romances. In fact, the only complaint (and I use that word loosely) is that the illustration on the cover was not of a curvy woman.

Other than that slight pet peeve, I loved the book. There were so many different personalities on display, so many different venues, so many different ways the story went. It was fantastic. It was wonderful to see Josie's transition from the "Scottish Sausage" to a woman who is proud of her curves and the affect they have on men. She really accepts herself by the end of the story, dimples and all, and it was fantastic to read.

Of course, the side plots were interesting too. Where Sylvie ends up, Darlington and Griselda, Thurman, Gemima, and more...all was on display. I love that multi-faceted aspect of novels.

All in all, a great read, particularly if you're looking for something with a bit of spunk. ( )