This Duchess of Mine

Written by Eloisa James

Narrated by Susan Duerden

Eloisa James, New York Times bestselling romance author of When Beauty Tamed the Beast, puts a chilly, powerful duke in bed with an intelligent, beautiful woman…his wife. In name, anyway.

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?

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperAudio
• Release date: Oct 16, 2012
• ISBN: 9780062246233

Eloisa James

Eloisa James is a USA Today and New York Times bestselling author and professor of English literature, who lives with her family in New York, but can sometimes be found in Paris or Italy. She is the mother of two and, in a particularly delicious irony for a romance writer, is married to a genuine Italian knight.

Reviews for This Duchess of Mine

[Janice L Betrue Roney · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was one of my favorites from the series. I loved Elijah’s morals and I loved the fact that this couple stayed together through so many hurts and hardships. Jemma’s character was one of my favorites too, because she was all too human, fragile, vulnerable and insecure — despite her great beauty and appeal.

In addition, VA’s developing story was heartwarming — his friendship with Elijah and Jemma was as well. I can’t wait to see what happens next with Leopold, the outlandish Duke of Villiers.

What a deep and caring person, on every level, Ms. James must be. You couldn’t develop these characters so lovingly and not be a truly fine person yourself.

Don’t miss, This Duchess of Mine!

[jorgeousjotts · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I think perhaps James painted herself into a corner with this couple in the series. Rather than just teasing their potential like she has done pretty successfully with Villiers (we've seen him grow through the series, but his final relationship hasn't begun yet), most of their story had already unfolded before this book even began. They started out in the first book having a decent hurdle to overcome before their happily ever after, but progressing that storyline through each book- by the end of the 4th one it was pretty much wrapped up! (Their history has already been explained, the other man/other woman has already been dealt with, their interest in the other has already evolved since their separation... there's not much left to engage readers for several more hours of story). So James was left trying to conjure up some drama for them, but it just feels so transparent and contrived! The characters act like hen-wits so they can sufficiently be in their own way long enough for a few hundred pages of a book... The meat of the book (the page by page descriptions, conversations, etc.) are decently written, but without the bones of story arch, and character development, and a struggle beyond simply overcoming your own inept plans and poor communication, etc. it just sort of lies there in a sad heap. I had liked these two in the previous books, but my interest drained away the further I got in this one. (When someone gets into a mess entirely due to their own daftness, it's hard to even care how they'll fix the problem they caused for no good reason (except to fill pages). =/ ) I feel like an actor who can't muster any effort is asking flatly 'Oh no... ! What-ev-er will they do...?' (things A-F), 'How could it poss-ib-ly go wrong...? *exaggerated shrug*' (things G-M). None of it felt clever, or unique, or the least bit surprising, and that tediousness made the remaining pages seem to go on forever. (And in all those pages they never even addressed why the hero had told his wife he loved his old mistress. They've been hammering on it since like the 2nd chapter of the first book, but then it was suddenly conveniently forgotten here, (and to hear him tell it, in this book, he didn't give a fig for her. So... wth?)). If it weren't part of a series I might not have finished it. James can do much better than this!

[narshkite · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Absolutely charming historical. I loved Elijah and Gemma and liked the few side characters as well. The no sex part of it and the contrivances to keep our couple apart were silly and weak, but it did not wildly diminish my enjoyment. The info about the discovery of digitalis at the end was really interesting, and I am so glad James included that. It was also fun seeing the start of Tobias' journey since I already read his book. I have had a stressful week, this audiobook was my escape for a few days, and it did its job very well.

[bookworm2bookworm · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Let me start this review with telling you not to do what I did. Don't read this series out of order. I started with the book one, Desperate Duchesses (Desperate Duchesses, #1) , then I skipped to Duchess By Night (Desperate Duchesses, #3) , followed by A Duke of Her Own (Desperate Duchesses, #6) and finally this one, This Duchess of Mine (Desperate Duchesses, #5) . I still have to read An Affair Before Christmas (Desperate Duchesses #2) and When the Duke Returns (Desperate Duchesses #4). Which I'll probably do next week.

It's very important that this particular series be read in order, especially because of this couple. We've met the hero and heroine in book one and all through the series they come in and out so that by the time we get their own story, we already have preconceived notions of who they are and what their personalities are like.

We already know that their marriage was prearranged when they were very young and that they really didn't know each other much when the marriage took place. Jemma, our heroine, began to fall in love with her husband, that is until one faithful afternoon she drops by his office in Parliament, and finds him having sex with another woman. And that was that for these two.

Jemma decides to bail and high tails it to France, proceeding to flaunt her many affairs, just to embarrass her husband. For NINE years she's been living in France and evading the responsibility she, as well as Elijah, had toward the title, producing an heir. The only reason she comes back to England is to produce an heir because apparently Elijah may not have much time to live. The man has some heart defect.

Right there was my first problem with these two. Infidelity in romance, at least for me, is off-putting and it needs to have a significant plot in order for me to change my mind about it, like there really wasn't any real "cheating", or the heroine was still a virgin, while the hero is assuming otherwise. Stuff like that will redeem the story for me. No such luck in this story.

My second problem was the start of this book. I truly couldn't recognize the two as the people I've met in the first four books. Slowly, I finally begun to recognize them and it took me a long time to at least understand them, but I never bought into the love they finally professed to each other.

What I loved about this book is the secondary plot of the Duke of Villars's character development and his search for his illegitimate children. I recommend this book on this alone.

Melanie for b2b

[sammii507 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Eloisa James is an author who I like sometimes, and who sometimes bores me. She tends to have two stories within a book, and sometimes she ruins the main plot by concentrating too much on the subplot. This one wasn't so bad in that way. She kept the subplot to a minimum and didn't bore me with it. I was never too crazy about the main characters when I had seen them in other books, but she did a good job with it.

[anniik_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Eloisa James is an author who I like sometimes, and who sometimes bores me. She tends to have two stories within a book, and sometimes she ruins the main plot by concentrating too much on the subplot. This one wasn't so bad in that way. She kept the subplot to a minimum and didn't bore me with it. I was never too crazy about the main characters when I had seen them in other books, but she did a good job with it.

[jenj5 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

There's more emotional stakes and heft here than with many romance novels, I think thanks to the developing of Jemma's story throughout the first four books. I really enjoyed seeing this relationship finally resolved.

[riverwillow · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Jemma. Duchess of Beaumont fled to France after discovering her husband having sex with his mistress. Nine years later she returns to do her duty and provide an heir. Initially attracted to Lord Villiers, she slowly starts to fall in love with her husband, who may be dying. A lot more fun than it sounds.

[wyvernfriend · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

When Jemma and Elijah married things didn't stay staid for long. Jemma ran away to France to be feted by the French court and Elijah burried himself in politics. However he's approaching the age his father was when he died and Elijah needs an heir, the fainting spells and racing heart are reminders of his mortality.Jemma returns determined to woo him.Today we can tell that he has high blood-pressure and he needs medication but then there wasn't much medication that would work for them. They're at the cutting edge here of stuff that was little understood. Their issues and problems are interesting and it was interesting to see the two of them fall in love with each other. An enjoyable instalment in the series.

[kayceel_4 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A charming addition to the series. Jemma and Elijah finally have their book! Married for several years, estranged for most of them, Jemma returns to her politician husband when he asks her for an heir. Despite the pain his long ago affair caused her, she's determined for them to mend fences, but when she discovers herself falling in love with him again, she fears for her heart.Sweet and definitely sexy - recommended.

[reneebooks · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the fifth book in the Desperate Duchesses series and I haven't read any of the previous books. I haven't read many books by James (only 2) but I really must go find some of her backlist because I enjoyed this book. This is a troubled marriage plot which is one of my favorites. As the story begins Jemma and Elijah are reunited after a 9 year separation after she catches him in the act with his mistress. Now he wants an heir and Jemma has reluctantly returned from Paris to do her "duty". The beginning of the book felt like I had jumped into the middle of the story so I have a feeling I should have read the previous books, but I did enjoy the story anyway. There is lots of sexual tension and the plot involves chess (Jemma & Elijah are both chess masters) and some issues with Elijah's heart condition which was all expertly handled in both pacing and dialogue. A thoroughly enjoyable book. A secondary character, the Duke of Villiers, has an interesting storyline involving his illegitimate children and I look forward to his book, A Duke of Her Own, which was recently released. I'm also intrigued enough to checkout the previous books in this series. (Grade: B)

[dianaleez · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

is Duchess of Mine' reminded me why I gave up on most romance novels. It reads as though it were outlined long ago when the series was conceived and then written quickly at a much later date. It begins in media res - which works only if one has been reading the series. I haven't. James could easily have written a prologue catching up new readers - and perhaps she would have kept them. The story doesn't go anywhere much, just fills the pages. Jemma and Elijah, the Duke and Duchess of Beaumont, have decided to have sex after a nine year hiatus, and James attempts to make them (and the reader) anticipate the event for a long boring while. Elijah has a fatal heart condition, but the reader who knows James knows that he may Just Manage To Live, so the suspense generated by this is limited. This felt like the prelude to a far more interesting story - Villiers is a much more compelling character - and I sincerely hope that James takes the time to frame his story in a way that new readers can catch up. Someone will have to kindly drop me a note and tell me how things go, because I won't be taking this path in the future.

[readinggeek451 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Elijah and Jemma, the Duke and Duchess of Beaumont, were estranged for many years, but now they are back together and determined to make an heir before his bad heart fails him. But there are many things standing between them, including their past mistakes, his crusading spirit, the Duke of Villiers, and various chess games. Can they heal their hearts, both metaphorically and literally?Another affecting, sexy romance from Eloisa James.

[phyllisd_5 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This Duchess of Mine is the fifth installment in Eloisa James' Desperate Duchesses series. When I read book one I was wondering where this relationship could possibly go. Elijah and Jemma seemed so far apart but over the next three books they came closer together. I thought some of Jemma's fears about where she stood with Elijah were tied up too quickly. In some ways the book was a little morbid, but I was pulling for the couple and enjoyed the read.