Book Review: Three Weeks With Lady X by Eloisa James

Title: Three Weeks With Lady X
Series: Desperate Duchesses, Book 7
Author: Eloisa James
Genre: Historical Romance
Sensuality Rating: Steamy
Source: review copy provided via Edelweiss
Published: March 25, 2014 by Avon

Having made a fortune, Thorn Dautry, the powerful bastard son of a duke, decides that he needs a wife. But to marry a lady, Thorn must acquire a gleaming, civilized façade, the specialty of Lady Xenobia India.

Exquisite, head-strong, and independent, India vows to make Thorn marriageable in just three weeks.

But neither Thorn nor India anticipate the forbidden passion that explodes between them.

Thorn will stop at nothing to make India his. Failure is not an option.

But there is only one thing that will make India his—the one thing Thorn can't afford to lose...

His fierce and lawless heart.

Reviewed By: J9

In a Nutshell: This was a delightful, charming and fun read. However, I did have one issue with how the heroine uncharacteristically called herself pejorative names for engaging in sex with the hero.

The Set Up: Lady Xenobia, India to her friends, was orphaned early and has an unlikely career designing rooms for her fellow aristocrats. Thorn is the bastard son of the Duke of Villiers and wants to marry above his station so asks India to remodel his country home making it worthy of the aristocracy. India and Thorn want different things in life but they can’t help the friendship or the passion that flares between them.

Why I Read this Book: Avon Addict here!

What I Liked: Thorn and India are delightful characters. India isn’t the conventional heroine of most historical romances. She’s older and less physically perfect; she’s opinionated and eeked out a living for herself while still remaining a free woman. India is self-aware of her personhood as well as her sexual being and I adored this, especially in historical romance. Thorn is also unlike most historical romance heroes because he’s emotional available. Yes, Thorn has a past that effects his life decisions but he still has meaningful relationships with his best friend, his father and stepmother, his new ward and India. I love these characters because they were mature and honest.

I also loved the relationship between Thorn and India. They initially meet and have sparks of sexual attraction and friendship. Both their friendship and their sexual relationship really grows as they write letters to each other and then see each other periodically. I loved watching them spar but also have sincere respect for one another. They had me giggling at their humorous notes to each other as well as sigh when they share intimacies, both emotional and sexual. This is relationship development at its finest for me!

What I Also Liked: I really enjoyed the gentle plot of India helping Thorn get his home ready for his potential bride and her family to visit. It’s not a huge mystery how it’s going to turn out but it was fun getting there, in part because of the secondary characters. Thorn’s family and Vander, his best friend, are delightful. India’s quirky aunt and the friendly servants all add atmosphere to this novel. Even Thorn’s potential bride and her family are good characters.

What I Didn’t Like: I had a big issue when India calls herself a whore and a slut after a particular passionate encounter with Thorn. Yes, she thought Thorn was otherwise taken but this shocked me because up to this point India had been so self-aware. She accepted her sexual nature and embraced it with Thorn. This about-face was particularly bothersome because she threw these words at Thorn, like she wanted to hurt them both. This didn’t seem in-character to me and left a bad taste for me since this issue wasn’t addressed during the big emotional denouement.

IMO: This charming novel has stellar characters and a strong friendship-romance I adored. I mostly forgive the one issue with India because the rest of the novel was so enjoyable.

J9’s Rating:

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