Tedious and annoying. Why I bothered again with Eloisa James, I haven't a clue. The premise had potential, though the simultaneous storylines didn't help at all and only served as an unwelcome interruption to an already deteriorating plot. I have no idea who was supposed to be the main heroine and hero. ( )

Not nearly as good as the first book, Desperate Duchesses... less action and a lot of scenes that fell very flat. The hero and heroine were not nearly as interesting as the supporting cast. Still, James's writing is wonderful and the Duchesses are fun to follow. ( )

This book is actually three stories - Fletch and Poppy's, Jemma's, and Charlotte Tetlock and the Duke of Villiers'. Unlike in her other books, it's hard to say which one is really dominant - they're given close to equal time. The main story - Fletch and Poppy's - is, in my opinion, the weakest, replaying parts of "Your Wicked Ways" that were done better there - the innocent bride who finds sex horrible and it tears apart their relationships, but they actually still love each other...blah, blah. Read "Your Wicked Ways" - it's better. However, the Duke of Villiers is a fantastic story, and his story - even though he's in bed the whole time, recovering (very slowly and painfully) from a sword wound he received in a duel in "Desperate Duchesses" - it's the part that captures you and keeps your interest. ( )

Eloise James is surprisingly hit or miss for me, but this is her worst book by far. I found the plot tedious and the characters annoying. After 4 disappointing years of marriage, Fletch is on the verge of having an affair but learning of his disappointment, his perfect wife leaves him instead, and finds herself. Then they reconnect and fall in love. Actually that makes it sound far better than it did. It could have been one of those serious, makes you cry and think romances, but it tried to keep it's fluffy/bright aspect and instead the whole thing became leaden. I might have liked a seroius, passionate exploration of marriage and the delusions we have before going in and what is love anyway, but this is not the book for that conversation. Instead it was just the annoying Poppy, cutting off her itching hair and discovering her inner French woman ( )

This was a very different story because it involved a married man and woman in england after the marriage. It basically picked up where all of the storybook "we fell in love, got married, and then..." leave off. A woman and her husband dont' enjoy enjoy sex together, and it's the story of how they ignite the flame of their marriage and it also shows a little more of the first of the duchess books. Not bad at all! ( )