Enchanting Pleasures
Ratings3
Average rating3.7
People magazine named Eloisa James' novel Midnight Pleasures "Page Turner of the Week" and raved "Romance writing does not get much better than this." Now the acclaimed author returns with another sumptuous tale of passion and misadventure in Regency England....Gabrielle Jerningham cherishes the portrait of her betrothed, the perfect Peter Dewland...until she meets his commanding older brother Quill. But it is Peter to whom she has been promised. And how can she possibly transform her voluptuous, outspoken self into the poised gentlewoman Peter requires?When Gabby's shocking decolletage plunges to her waist at her first ball, Peter is humiliated. But Quill comes to the rescue, to the peril of his heart. An accident years before has left Quill plagued by headaches--the kind that grows more excruciating with strenuous exercise. Needless to say, this hardly bodes well for siring progeny. But the very sight of Gabby leaves Quill breathless. One forbidden kiss and Quill vows to have her, headaches--and Peter--be damned! But it will take a clever man--and a cleverer woman--to turn the tables on propriety and find their way to true love....From the Paperback edition.
Series
Featured Series
3 primary booksPleasures
Pleasures is a 3-book series with 3 primary works first released in 1999 with contributions by Eloisa James.
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Ah, Eloisa James. Sometimes I be like, “Oh wow, I'm in lurve” with her novels, and sometimes I'm like, “WTF just happened here?”. This is one of the latter times. As usual, an interesting premise - brother in law falls in love with sister-in-law-to-be. Not exactly original, but I do like Quill, a man who was crippled by a nasty injury but who despite debilitating migraines and pain, did not let it get to him. Gabrielle, however, annoyed the hell out of me. She seemed too flighty and ditzy for dear Quinn, whom I felt needed a gal with a sturdier head above her shoulders (and possibly, a bigger brain). Still, I rolled with it. I forgave EJ for that weird, extra subplot of romance between a couple that I didn't care less about. And that whole thing with the Indian prince flew past my head. It was all unnecessary padding. Take that out and it wouldn't make a difference to the story.
It's towards the tail end of the book that it began to unravel at the seams. By then Gabrielle's ditziness - which I patiently thought was cute - had gotten tiresome.
SPOILERS
There was this HUGE betrayal, and yet THAT was swept under the carpet as if it was a minor fracas. And how was that betrayal forgotten? By a convenient near-death moment that was so deus ex machina I had to roll my eyes. It was as if EJ didn't know how to solve the tangle created by the Betrayal and decided to toss it in there and then wiped her hands clean of the novel.
Only it didn't quite solve it because the characters were not repentant of what they did! Their love, in the end, feels like it stands on very shaky foundations. I don't have much faith they'd last more than a week in the 20th century!
Oh well, not EJ's best, that's for sure.
