Duchess By Night, Eloisa James
Duchess By Night, Eloisa James
8 Rating(s)
List: $24.99 | Sale: $17.50
Club: $12.49

Duchess By Night

Author: Eloisa James

Narrator: Susan Duerden

Unabridged: 11 hr 2 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: HarperAudio

Published: 08/14/2012


Synopsis

A Mischievous Charade . . . Harriet, Duchess of Berrow, is tired of her title and the responsibilities that come along with it. Enough with proper tea parties and elegant balls; what Harriet really wants is to attend an outrageous soiree where she can unleash her wildest whims and desires. But to attend such an event—especially if the event in question is Lord Justinian Strange's rollicking fete, filled with noble rogues and rotters, risqué ladies and illicit lovers—would be certain scandal. That's why she must disguise herself . . .Looking forward to a night of uninhibited pleasure, Lord Strange is shocked to discover that beneath the clothes of a no-good rake is the most beautiful woman in the room. Why is a woman like her risking her reputation at his notorious affair? And can he possibly entice her to stay . . . forever?

About Eloisa James

To say, it runs in the family, is an understatement when referring to the writing career of author, Mary Bly. Her credentials are impeccable with degrees from various prestigious schools, such as Harvard, Oxford, and Yale. She is a tenured professor on William Shakespeare, and has published with the Oxford University Press.

While attending the University of Virginia on a humanities fellowship, Bly began writing romance novels. Granted, the novels are not modern day romance, but set in England's Regency Period, where her incomparable knowledge of William Shakespeare serves as an added bonus in her works. She began this genre of writing to expedite paying off her student loans. Her first attempt was very well received.......The Pleasure Trilogy......and sold many copies in hardback, and her advance payment from the book paid off that student loan debt. After that, she decided to publish under the pseudonym of Eloisa James and to only publish in paperback format. It was more of a mass-market plan. Both worked in her favor.

Most of Bly's novels are not typical in character for the romance genre. Most have a very beautiful female character and a romantic interest in a handsome male character. Bly deviates from the norm by featuring a plump female character, or a hero who annulled a marriage because of impotence. Women friends or sisters play important roles in a Bly novel, because she places importance on those relationships in her own life. Most of her novels are in trilogy form or groups of four. That format gives her more story line time to develop interesting characters.

It was several years before Bly uncovered her secret second career to her intellectually snooty colleagues. She even disguised her appearance when she addressed each group, readers of her novels, and colleagues. When she realized how popular her novels were with her readers, she revealed her secret by giving each faculty colleague a copy of her latest novel. It was well received by all. And for the fact that the talent runs in the family, Mary Bly's (Eloisa James) Father, Mother, and Uncle were writers. Her romance novels are very popular all around the world.


Reviews

AudiobooksNow review by Michele on 2008-10-02 22:32:06

From Back: Harriet, Duchess of Berrow, is tired of her title and the responsibilities that come along with it. Enough with proper tea parties and elegant balls what Harriet really wants is to attend an outrageous soiree where she can unleash her wildest whims and desires. But to attend such an event - especially if the event in question is, Lord Justinian Strange's rollicking fete, filled with noble rogues and rotters, risque ladies and illicit lovers - would be certain scandal. That's why she must disguise herself.... I really enjoyed book three of this series. The game Harriet and Justinian play shows us how good we women of today have it. We don't have to disguise ourselves to enjoy stimulating conversation.

Goodreads review by Naomi on February 29, 2016

This book had many high points and some annoying points but overall it was a descent book. Really sweet characters but at times it was just too lengthy when it didnt need to be. Overall though the storyline was really good. 3.4 stars......more

Goodreads review by Felicia on August 11, 2009

I thought this one would be a snoozer, Harriet was always pretty yawn-y in the other books, so imagine my surprise when the author took a bunch of cliches (girl dressed as guy anyone?!) and made it sooo good! I really really enjoyed these characters MUCH more than I thought of! Other than a somewhat......more

Goodreads review by Meghan on August 07, 2022

I’d give this more of a 3.5 stars. It was good and I liked the story line of “she’s the man”. I think maybe why I’m not loving this series as much as I love the new series is because this is a Georgian time period and maybe that’s just not my thing. I think I’m more of a regency, wallflowers and ball......more

Goodreads review by Angela Hates Books on February 17, 2022

How do I remember this book forever and not let it get lost in the melee of random crap my brain considers important?! I can already see myself a year from now looking at this rating and thinking, “Wait…which one is this?” It’s a tragedy that all of the details of this book with fade away over time.......more