A Wild Pursuit

There's one thing you can say for Eloisa James. Her heroines are very sex-positive. A Wild Pursuit is another novel in the Duchess Quartet full of extremely horny people being extremely horny for one another. Not only that, they are very shameless about their desires. This is of course not a bad thing! I appreciate heroines who know what they want and who go after it. If you get nothing out of this book, at least know that there will be a lot of lusty scenes.

The chemistry between the characters is very clear and very strong, but the characterizations of them individually is on the weaker side, in my opinion. Beatrix Lennox has fallen into scandal on accident, and after being treated horribly by society, she decides to embrace the show more identity she's been given. This would seem like a show, except that Beatrix has actually taken lovers! She knows what she's about, and it's fun to read about someone so genuine. The only thing that was odd about her is that, as soon as she meets Helene, they begin discussing Helene's very private marriage, which would never ever happen in the Regency era. The conversation was so risqué (no one would even talk about it among strangers today) that it completely broke the immersion for me.

Unfortunately, everyone else in the book was faker than a set of boobs in Orange County, CA. Stephen Fairfax-Lacy constantly moralizes about how women are so much prettier without makeup and that Beatrix shouldn't put on airs. Because apparently being confident in one's sexuality isn't sexy to men and so must be an act. He's only satisfied after he does some mental gymnastics that makes her out to be a virgin of pleasure because he must be the only man to really satisfy her. Blegh!

Then, there's Esme who flirts with every man in sight, even when her best friends call dibs. She's the type of person no woman wants to be friends with because she will flirt with your partner no matter what and then will act astonished when you get mad at her. She's supposed to grow in this novel by realizing that "respectability" isn't all it's cracked up to be and to follow her heart. Except she experiences no consequences, so she still gets her reputation restored to her, even when she marries ol' Judge Frollo.

Aside from Beatrix and Helene, who had a bigger part in this novel, this story was a bore and another tale where women "must" want families and children, "must" look a certain way to be desirable (which is either innocent sexy or oozing sex without even trying), and they "must belong" to only one man to be truly fulfilled in life. I don't recommend this book to anyone unless you're a completionist like myself. show less

2.5 stars rounded up. It was actually driving me batty, but I finally decided that I should just consider it a comedy of errors with a cast of nitwits, and then it was actually much easier to swallow. If there is an awful option on the table, they will choose it! Absolutely preposterous stuff. Beyond the horrible decision making and daftness of the characters it was fine though.

The romance between Beatrix Lennox and Stephen Fairfax-Lacey was, to me, the least compelling of the plot strands in this novel. That isn't to say that I didn't enjoy it, just that I found the continuing story of Esme and Bonnington, and the dysfunctional relationship between Helene and Rees more interesting.

Once again James juggles a large cast of characters very well. A house party setting can seem a bit claustrophobic but after having read romances where the characters seem constantly to be travelling from one place to another, this was a refreshing change. It allowed James to focus more on the relationships and emotions of her characters.

Aside from the romance, I really enjoyed the strong female friendships. The love and loyalty show more between Esme, Helene, Bea and Arabella was a delight to read and contributed a lot to my enjoyment of the novel.

Again, not my absolute favourite of James' novels, but a very enjoyable read. show less

Not as wonderful as others, I still enjoyed Esme's desperate attempts to become respectable, and the Marquess' devotion to her despite it all.

Sweet and sexy, this one is fun.

Another book in Duchess Quartet series that takes place on Esme's estate. Aunt Arabella comes to take care of Esme who is 9-months pregnant and brings'a couple' of friends. And that's how the party started... :)
This book has too many romance plots happening all at once, I think if we count fake engagements and affairs that there was 10 or more at the same time in one house. Very chaotic and of course funny situation happens as plot complicates...
I don't know but I really was not much invested into this book. Maybe I read too many books from this series one after another. Maybe the problem is that i loved [b:Fool for Love|658353|Fool for Love (Duchess Quartet, #2)|Eloisa James|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1333587395s/658353.jpg|644437] show more so much and this just fell short...

My rating: 2.5 stars

I recommend this book to fans of: historical romances with a couple of love stories happening at once show less

A nice light and fast read. My only quibble with this book was that I wasn't sure who the main characters were, although it was nice to see a resolution to the stories of two of the couples, although Esme's resolution felt a little rushed at the end.

I really enjoy Eloisa James' books, and didn't mind this one, but I did find it a bit slow at times. I like the characters and enjoyed reading the next installment in the lives of these duchesses, but did find that I skipped a few pages here and there to get to "the good parts".