Not every fairy tale begins with a prince or a princess...

When Miss Philippa Damson runs away from home to Pomeroy Castle, she is far from a princess...she's an extraordinary beauty with ordinary dreams - to live a quiet life as a nursemaid.

Jonas Berwick, rakish son of a grand duke, has vowed never to wed.
 
He offers Philippa everything - except his hand in marriage.

Philippa has stormed the castle, but now she faces an impossible challenge: to win the love of a prince, she may have to risk everything that makes her a lady.

Will the sacrifice of her honour be too high a price to pay?

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This short story is a sequel from James' A Kiss At Midnight which is the first in the Fairy Tales series. The series is set in Fairytale time with a dusting of the Regency so they aren't as strict when it comes to historical detail and accuracy. You probably want to have read A Kiss... before reading this one but I don't suppose it's 100% necessary.

I'm really glad that Wick got his own story and from the start I thought Phillipa a great match for him. She's that perfect blend of smart and strong but with a vulnerability in her that makes her likeable and relatable. Wick was also a good hero being proud and strong but truly in need of the love of a good woman. The pair had good chemistry and I was rooting for them throughout.

I debated between giving this 3 or 4 stars but decided in the end to be generous. My reason for this indecision was that due to its short nature the declarations of love came a little too abruptly for me. The conflict was also surrounding whether Wick and Phillipa could be together due to their different statuses but when the book concluded this was apparently a forgotten problem.

Overall this is a fun, quick read with characters I'm glad got their happily ever after. It's not the best I've ever read but it's a good read to pass an hour or so.

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novella

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The Woman
Lady Henrietta Maclellan longs for the romantic swirl of a London season. But as a rusticating country maiden, she has always kept her sensuous nature firmly under wraps -- until she meets Simon Darby. Simon makes her want to whisper promises late at night, exchange kisses on a balcony, receive illicit love notes. So Henrietta lets her imagination soar and writes...

The Letter
A very steamy love letter that becomes shockingly public. Everyone supposes that he has written it to her, but the truth hardly matters in the face of the scandal to come if they don't marry at once. But nothing has quite prepared Henrietta for the pure sensuality of...

The Man
Simon has vowed he will never turn himself into a fool over a woman. So, while debutantes swoon as he disdainfully strides past the lovely ladies of the ton, he ignores them all...until Henrietta. Could it be possible that he has been the foolish one all along?

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This had all the elements for the perfect story: an arrogant lord who is brought down by the love of a woman who is so far from what he expected yet perfect for him in every way. I so wanted to love this book but it really missed the mark for me.

I liked the premise of the story and at first I liked and was rooting for both Henrietta and Simon as they seemed to play off each other well. However it wasn't long before my liking for both Simon and Henrietta took a turn for the worse. Simon was described as an elegantly perfect man who wore an astonishingly large amount of lace over his clothing including his red velvet suits. Despite the reason for the lace being explained away, the image of a man, any man, in a red velvet suit does not tend to make me giddy with lust! I could also understand Henrietta and was sympathetic to her plight however when she schemed to trap Simon into marriage simply to suit her selfish wants I really questioned her as leading lady material.

As well as the main story there was the story of Esme and her baby which, despite taking up a fair number of pages, was never resolved by the end of the book. There was also mutterings of Simon's best friends Rees and his estranged wife and talk of a married Duchess who seemed to have been previously engaged to one of the other characters within the book. I now realise that this book is part of a series after Duchess in Love and before A Wild Pursuit and Your Wicked Ways although if I'm honest this book did little to make me want to read the rest.

Finally, the number of modern Americanisms in this book was truly appalling - babies 'spitting up' and people telling others to 'give over' were just two of the more memorable that had me shaking my head in annoyance. Then you have to add in the surprisingly frequent amount of spelling and grammar mistakes littered throughout the text as well as some baffling instances of repeated words.

I've read and very much enjoyed Eloisa James before but I would only recommend this book to avid fans or those reading The Duchess Quartet in order. It's not truly terrible but it just didn't grab or hold my attention to any degree. 3 stars.

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369 pages

The Duchess Quartet:

Holy shit - these covers are hideous!



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Miss Kate Daltry doesn't believe in fairy tales . . . or happily ever after.

Forced by her stepmother to attend a ball, Kate meets a prince, and decides he's anything but charming. A clash of wits and wills ensues, but they both know their irresistible attraction will lead nowhere. For Gabriel is promised to another woman - a princess whose hand in marriage will fulfil his ruthless ambitions.

Gabriel likes his fiancée, which is a welcome turn of events, but he doesn't love her, and knows, he should be wooing his bride-to-be, not the witty, impoverished beauty who refuses to fawn over him.
Godmothers and glass slippers notwithstanding, this is one fairy tale in which destiny conspires to destroy any chance that Kate and Gabriel might have a happily ever after - unless one kiss at the stroke of midnight changes everything.

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This is the first in James' Fairy Tales five part series. There are also a few e-books that follow on from this story however these and all the rest of the series stand alone and have no connection to each other except the fairy tale theme.

From the first I liked Kate and felt for her situation. It was especially well done that although the stepmother wasn't particularly nice, she wasn't a caricature and was believable in her meanness! Gabriel was a very enjoyable hero and I always like a pair that bicker but are strong enough to stand up for themselves with each other. Together Kate and Gabriel worked really well and I really enjoyed their scenes together and thought the pair had good chemistry.

The story itself ticked over nicely and I loved the supporting characters who were vibrant but never overshadowed or upstaged the main romance. I never had a problem with wanting to pick up this book and keep reading. If I had to make one critisism it would be that there were a few too many Americanisms for my liking. Having said that, at the end of the book the author's note explains that this is set in Fairy Tale land rather than being an actual historical so I'm not sure whether that was a deliberate move.

Regardless, this was a book that I thoroughly enjoyed reading. I felt the magic and adored watching Kate and Gabriel on the path to their happily ever after.

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383 pages

Fairy Tale Series:

               

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Miss Linnet Berry Thrynne is a Beauty . . . Naturally, she's betrothed to a Beast.

Piers Yelverton, Earl of Marchant, lives in a castle in Wales where, it is rumored, his bad temper flays everyone he crosses. And rumor also has it that a wound has left the earl immune to the charms of any woman.

Linnet is not just any woman.

She is more than merely lovely: her wit and charm brought a prince to his knees. She estimates the earl will fall madly in love in just two weeks.

Yet Linnet has no idea of the danger posed to her own heart by a man who may never love her in return.

If she decides to be very wicked indeed . . . what price will she pay for taming his wild heart?

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From page one I was engrossed with this book. The characters jumped off the page and you couldn't help but love them, root for them and want them desperately to find a way to be together. Linnet was a very beautiful woman and while she was aware of that fact and used it to her best advantage you never got the impression she was spoiled and I liked her from the get go. Piers too could quite easily have been a character that was hard to like with his temper and grumpy demeanor. Quite the opposite was true and I loved him. Together the pair had chemistry and spark as well as fabulous banter and enjoyable sparring dialogue.

The plot was fast pace and kept you turning the pages. This is the kind of novel that you can't stop thinking about when you put it down and want to talk about with anyone that will listen. I was on the edge of my seat during the dramatic ending and I just adored the epilogue. If you're looking for an enchanting historical romance that you can lose yourself in for an afternoon then I would highly recommend this novel to you.

*This is part of James' Fairy Tale series. Each book is inspired by a classic fairy tale but do not have linked characters, situations or locations.* 

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349 pages

Fairy Tale Series:

               

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