A Duke of Her Own by Eloisa James
Why I love this book: Because this is the other one. Also, Villiers. That’s it. One of my favorite heroes. Plus, Eleanor is a feisty heroine who knows what she wants. And despite the premise putting her in opposition to the mentally ill Lisette, there’s no ill will between the two women and no “catfight.” The love triangle gets drawn out much too long, but the depth of emotion between Villiers and Eleanor makes up for it. Plus, the audio narration by Susan Duerden is outstanding.
Content Warnings: Mental Illness, animal cruelty, child abuse and neglect.
Pleasure for Pleasure by Eloisa James
Why I loved this book: Seriously one of the hottest, sexiest, most sensual first kisses. I sometimes reread just this kiss, because it gets me every time. This book has actually two age-gap pairings in both constellations, woman-younger and woman-older. Like often with James’ books, it’s not immediately clear who’s whose love interest. Her books can be hit or miss; she’s written some romances I absolutely loathe, but also two of my absolute all time favorites, and this is one of them. Plus, if you like to listen to your pleasure, Susan Duerden is a stellar narrator. Her heroes are some of the sexiest intonations. Her voice is like sex for the ears.
Content Warnings: attempted assault. Body shaming. Kind of cheating? The synopsis doesn’t make it quite clear, but the rake it speaks of is NOT the hero of this book.
