The handsome, rakish heir to a dukedom, Lord Roland Northbridge Wilde—known to his friends as North—left England two years ago, after being jilted by Miss Diana Belgrave. He returns from war to find that he’s notorious: polite society has ruled him “too wild to wed.”
Diana never meant to tarnish North’s reputation, or his heart, but in her rush to save a helpless child, there was no time to consider the consequences of working as a governess in Lindow Castle. Now everyone has drawn the worst conclusions about the child’s father, and Diana is left with bittersweet regret.
When North makes it clear that he still wants her for his own, scandal or no, Diana has to fight to keep from losing her heart to the man whom she still has no intention of marrying.
Yet North is returning a hardened warrior—and this is one battle he’s determined to win.
He wants Diana, and he’ll risk everything to call her his own.
Release Date: May 29, 2018
Series: Wildes of Lidow Castle
Book: 2
Heat Level: Hot
Publisher: HarperCollins
Imprint: Avon Books
Price: $6.99
With all the hype around this book I expected a lot. I’ll also admit that Eloisa James has always been on my hit or miss shelf. Sometimes I love the books she writes and sometimes I don’t.
This one left me on the fence. I wanted to love North and Diana. I found North’s actions and attitudes at times rude and childish. For a hero, I expected more. Sorry, any dude with enough pompous ‘tude to throw something that belongs to me in a pond would not be getting sexy bedroom eyes from me. Sure, in the end he came around and experienced some pretty significant growth, but the early actions turned me off.
Though the heroine, her growth seemed only emotional and not physical. Diana is a woman raised for the sole purpose of landing a duke, but her education would not have made her a viable candidate for being a duchess. All in all, it seemed Diana’s character sketch was designed to make her likeable, but not the least bit sensible. While the heroine herself did several things that played to her selfless and kind nature, she also embraced ignorance where I felt she would have attempt to overcome certain deficits she possessed to better care for herself and child. I don’t want to go into further detail as it might spoil this book for others.
Outside of this, I found moments in the story I did enjoy. The secondary characters, Lavinia, Aunt Knowe, Godfrey, and Artie were breaths of fresh air. I’ll admit that after two books I am attached to Lavinia and will read book three just to see how her happily ever after turns out.
Plot situations and the book’s climax were unexpected, which kept me turning pages. I truly expected Diana’s backstory to go a different route, and color me impressed when James went in the opposite direction. I enjoyed exploring the Wildes home and grounds once more, and being re-introduced to their crazy family. North, outside of his antics with Diana, appeared to be a good brother, son, and a hero. It seemed his heroine made him nuts.
Overall, I found myself happy for this pair of people who loved and lost the first time around, but found each other once more. I think that James does a good job of wrapping up the story, and a twist on the whole love at first sight trope. Even if I’m not a fan of the hero or heroine in certain situations, they both made a good match. If you’re a diehard Eloisa reader you’ll like this story. For me, I’ll be hoping book three knocks it out of the park.
For Readers who enjoy Lisa Kleypas or Valerie Bowman.
~ Landra
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honest review