Sexy and fun. James has a fondness, it seems, for established couples, married for years, to fall in love, for real, the second time.

Helene and Rees are one of these couples. Married very young and recklessly (they eloped after only a month of knowing each other, I think), after ten years, Helene desperately wants to have a child, but since she and Rees live in separate houses, and he refuses to give her a divorce, she decides to find a lover who can give her a child. She undergoes a makeover, finds new confidence, and then is stopped in her tracks by a furious Rees, who demands that he be the father of her child.

Helene, despite her misgivings and willing to do whatever it takes, moves back into the Earl's home (with his mistress!) and slowly gets to know her husband again.

It was interesting to watch a couple come back together, after having been separated by pride and misunderstandings. I also liked the musical aspect of the book - the couple came together through a love of music, and Rees convinces Helene to help him improve an opera he's been struggling with. They both come to realize the mistakes they've made and work to make amends, with sexy results... : )

Romantic - recommended. ( )

Aww. As much as I enjoy novels about new love, it's sometimes nice to read about a couple with more miles on the clock. Rees and Helene's estrangement has been a thread running through the series, and this is their book. It didn't completely knock my socks off but I enjoyed their gradual rapprochement, particularly because it required both of them to recognise their own culpability in the breakdown of their marriage. Rees was a beast, yes, but Helene caused some damage too.

I appreciated this nuanced approach in James' treatment of Lina, Rees' mistress. While I wasn't terribly interested in her plot line (and I can quite see how other readers could find being yanked out of the Rees/Helene storyline quite irritating) I loved that she wasn't a stereotypical 'other woman', the cardboard cut-out you see so often in romance who exists for the plot's sake but has no depth of character. Lina was more than she first appeared

All in all this was a worthy end to a very enjoyable series. ( )

This is one of my very favorite of Eloisa James's books. And that description leaves out one of the most salient points of the plot - Helene isn't a loose woman who just wants some man to bed her, she's a woman who desperately wants a baby, and knows her childbearing years are running out. That's why she does everything she does. That discription makes her sound a bit...wanton. But anyway, the Helene/Rees plot in this book is brilliant. Rees is a perfect anti-hero - he's clueless when it comes to women, a bit of a jerk, poorly dressed - and absolutely loveable at the same time. And it's obvious from the moment they sit down at the piano together that they're a perfect match - if only they could get over their less than perfect past together. The problem with this book, as with many of James's other books - is that she has to ruin a perfectly good and entertaining story by interspersing it with a secondary plot between Lina and Tom that is boring and pointless. I found myself desperately wanting to skip the chapters with them in order to see what was happening with Rees and Helene! The habit she has of doing this is getting more and more annoying! ( )

http://imaromancereader.blogspot.com/... ( )

Eloisa James brings us another sultry read about an estranged married couple who've been apart the past 10 years who end up reuniting and creating a spark when brought back together to produce an heir and a musical score. Helene, the countess of Godwin changes from the prudish woman to a more daring and beautiful woman who entices many men after her change including her rake of a husband, Reese, the Earl of Godwin. When she approaches him yet again for a child of her own. He agrees only if she'll come back to their house to help him with his music and all while his mistress of the past 3 years lives in her old room next to his. What a scandal...The only thing lacking for me was that I wanted a bit more "macho" action between the two men rivaling for her attentions. It's always a bit more fun when 2 men fight over a woman. ( )