This Duchess of Mine - Eloisa James

No man can resist Jemma's sensuous allure . . . Except her own
husband!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?

I am a bit undecided on how to grade this book. Although it is not worse than any of the others in the series the truth is that it did not live up to my expectations. I spent the first 4 books of this series thinking that Jemma and Elijah, the Duke and Duchess of Beaumont, were the most interesting characters of the group even if they are just secondary characters. James had announced book nº 5 would be about them so I dutifully read them all, with my expectations rising, just to get to this one. Well this book is not what I was hoping for!

8 years ago Jemma found her new husband with his mistress and run away to Paris after he told her he loved the said mistress. Now she has returned to London after he told her it was time they produced an heir. Jemma is as in love with her husband as she was 8 years ago but she can’t forget how he hurt her. Elijah, while not being a bad sort, still hasn’t provided a justification for his behavior which seems a bit out of character for what we now know of him.

My problem with this story is that it seems that past became unimportant. For most of this story Jemma and Elijah engage each other in seduction and flirtation trying to seduce one another and their courtship is only disturbed by the fact that Elijah has a heart ailment and there’s the fear that he might die.

Although they speak of while he had a loved barely two weeks after his wedding and after leaving his wife’s bed the excuse sounded a bit lame to me. Not to mention that they never even speak of the fact that he told Jemma that he loved the woman. I needed to have this subject addressed in a deeper way and somehow I just felt Jemma accepted it all too easily. The book did have some nice scenes and if it weren’t for my expectations I probably would have graded it better. But you see, after finding them the most interesting couple for 4 books I spent their book more interested in Villiers and his children than Jemma and Elijah…

Grade: 4/5