Duchess By Night audiobook

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 MEH ending (which actually I think is the only weakness in these books, the endings are always so HEA anti-climactic since they're stand-alone and you know they're gonna end up together). I think this might be one of my favorite ones, I just thought she took a bunch of cliches and made them fresh, yay!

✨”I look really good with no clothes at all!”✨Crying in the CLUB the first half of this was a little slow but that second half???? I am a puddle. I was gonna do it. I was gonna stick to my guns and give this 4⭐️s because the first half of the book was just slow and a bit tedious for me but that second half blew my unmentionables off. I loved Jem’s daughter and she added an extra layer to the story and I am SO excited for her book!!! I didn’t think we’d get one but the epilogue had me wondering!The SEX the LOVE the ANGST. I sleep at the feet of Eloisa James. I’m serious the sex in this one took a WHILE but once we got it we got IT. Three long scenes at least and just so much sexual tension and chemistry. I was fizzing over just watching Harriet absolutely vex Jem while she was Harry. The angst and tension of him finding out was just So Good.UGH I loved both characters and I loved the supporting characters especially Villiers. I loved how Harriet definitely realized that she deserved to be loved and appreciated and made the man work for it. Jem was just so gone for Harriet and it’s okay he was a little dense pound cake at times he’s still a hottie. He was definitely and emotional guy and when it mattered he wasn’t afraid to show it. That second half I just… 🤌🤌🤌 it was giving. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5*/5 🌶🌶🌶.75/5* I’m thinking to myself that I should rate this 5⭐️s because I’ll definitely come back and reread it so if I do, then I’ll up the rating. The beginning will honestly be skipped by me and I’ll probs jump to 50% upon my potential reread. So if you do read this book, don’t get discouraged!! Still a bit confused on why her husband unalived himself and it wasn’t handled in the best way because he was often described as foolish for leaving her. I do think Eloisa would treat it differently today.

❤️❤️❤️½This audiobook was a romantic comedy set in the Ton.Widower Duchess Harriet Berrow is still coming to grip with her husband’s suicide over his failure as a chess gamer when she decides to aid her friend, another Duchess, in a plan to lure her husband back to London.The plan involved Harriet dressing up as man named Harry Cope and accompanying her friends to reside at Lord Jem Strange’s estate.Part of the amusing part of this story was trying to pull off the ruse as well as the inner musings of Lord Jem who found himself attracted to “Lord Cope”. I chuckled often and I enjoyed the personal growth of Jem and Harriet. It made me think of transgendered people in the Ton and the sheer terror it would have been for them. This story wasn’t about that but I thought about it anyway.Harriet and Jem fit because they challenged each other mentally, academically and they were physically attracted to each other.It was a fun story

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. This one will require a number of future rereads, I can already tell. DON’T FORGET THIS BOOK, FUTURE ME! Because this book is freaking AWESOME!This book has EVERYTHING:-Heroine being like, “I should cross dress to get some freedom even though I don’t know anything about being a dude!”-Duchesses being like, “I should do some shady stuff to get my estranged husband home!”-Hero bringing all the Mulan vibes like, “You're a spineless, pale, pathetic lot and you haven't got a clue!”I loved this book so much. Harriet deserved a HEA so bad and I loved this journey for her. From everything with Villiers, to her finding things she had courage and passion for, her strength and and and the ending 😭😭😭😭 I. Love. Harry. Almost as much as I love Lord Strange. Good lord, that man. I was cackling at his thoughts and dialogue throughout the book but especially when his early interactions with Harry. He is ripping her constantly and pushing her to be a man and omggggg I loved it so much. I’ll even throw Villiers into this review cause I love this dude too. I LOVE a good redemption story and him and Harriet are just the best! I seriously am obsessed with the heroine disguised as a man trope so much but was this my favorite?!?! Omg, Eloisa James is killing me right now with these brilliant books!

Rounding up from 3.5 stars because this series is weirdly engrossing. As I read the books, I see the flaws, but I still care enough about the characters to keep going and really want to know what happened. So, I mean, win?I think part of the issue is that this is very much a book that you have to give it it's premise. Lady Isidore wants to court scandal and prompt her absent husband to return home, so she decides to go to Lord Strange's house. Except she needs someone to go with her. So clearly Lady Harriet must also go, but dressed a man. For... reasons.Look, even characters in this book admit she could have gone dressed as a staid older woman acting as chaperone. The only way the set-up is even remotely credible is if you assume Harriet is provoked by everyone assuming she won't do something so daring, that she decides to show them she can be adventurous and have a little fun, and dressing as a man will let her do so incognito. (I think this might be sort of what the text is going for, but it never really explicitly gets there. Either way, you really need to Just Accept The Premise.)Once you accept the premise, this is kinda fun. Jem and Harry have all kinds of chemistry (and he has much confusion given he's never felt attraction for a man before). Villiers is sort of excellent in his role of giving Harry advice on how to be a man. Harry fending off the attentions of all the women at the house party is fun, as is Jem teaching Harry how to fence.Jem's daughter was perhaps a shade too precocious at times, but I generally liked her. And Harry's role in her life is lovely.I mean, I'm not 100% sure how I feel about the plot arc. The reveal has potential consent issues involved - (view spoiler)[dude figures out she's a woman, thus making their lust okay, and starts slicing off her clothing in the middle of a fencing lesson - 'tis weird (hide spoiler)]. I like the final conflict, which to me reads as 'while being Harry is a fun adventure from time to time, Harriet wants a more settled life in the longterm than Jem's current lifestyle.' He of course takes this as straight up rejection, because they don't entirely communicate well. And upon self-examination, realizes he doesn't like his current lifestyle either. Unfortunately, a lot of it happens fast, and the subsequent resolution happens even faster.I generally feel that the character arcs are about 75-80% there, and if they'd been tightened just a bit, this book would have been so much better.Also, on one hand, I'm glad the reveal happened relatively early (because I dislike the inherent dishonesty in plots like this one), but I was also sort of hoping that Isadore and Harry would leave Strange's midway through the book , his true identity intact (as they plan to do, before other dramatic events cause a change in plan), and then Strange and Harriet would meet back in London, and he would recognize her. I think that would have been a very interesting book.Can I also just say, I continue to enjoy the supporting cast. Villiers and his general tendency to be unlucky in love, but also to now examine his life is growing on me. I particularly like that, despite being sometimes thoughtless in her comments and actions, Jenna is very much consistently cast as the supportive, understanding friend/shoulder to cry on when one of her friends is in trouble. I like it.Anyway, bottom line, weirdly readable. I'm a fan.

3.5 stars. Pros - EJ (with Mary Balogh) does Georgian settings really well - the debauchery, French influences, and gaudy fashions although we get to see less of the fashions in this book since the heroine is dressed as a young man for much of the story.- Strange is an interesting, widly debauched MMC.- Cross dressing is one of my fave HR tropes, but so few authors do it well. This one doesn't hold a candle to Georgette Heyer's These Old Shades, my gold standard for this trope. Cons- The story isn't as intriguing as Poppy's nor is Harriet as interesting a character. All in all, not a bad read, but if you're reading this in order, you can probably skip this one and not have it matter as much in the latter books. The series is interconnected with many of the stories happening simultaneously which can make it a little confusing if read out of order.

This one took me a while to get into. Despite my love for Alanna, I'm not the biggest fan of romances where the woman disguises herself as a man. There's too much deceit inherent in the premise and too much, "Oh noooo, I'm attracted to a man."But it did eventually grow on me! I like the relationship and I liked the kid.I did not really understand the final conflict.

Cross-dressed duchess andbrilliant bad boy bring the feelsin hot Georgian romp.

I enjoyed Duchess By Night more than An Affair Before Christmas (Book 2), but it still wasn't as good as Desperate Duchesses (Book 1). Using the cross-dressing trope to get Harriet to find herself again really worked for me, her self-discovery seemed more genuine than Poppy's. I did think Strange's attraction to Harriett/Harry was a bit, well, strange. His mindset seemed to be something along the lines of "I think this guy is attractive, I must be turning gay in my old age." I'm also really starting to like Isidore and Villers, looking forward to their books!

Loved it!!! I think so far its my favorite one from the DD series. Loved Jem and Harriet. I did wish at times that her disguise would be revealed sooner. I felt it dragged out a bit too long but the reveal was amazing and made up for it. Eloisa managed to make something so incredibly awkward into something really intense and sexy. The sword fight scene was my favorite scene in the book! And Jem is just such a sexy hero, far from perfect and stubborn headed but so much fun. Awesome read. Really fun and manages to suck you in. And can I say the cover art/stepback page is enough to make you want to read the book. Seriously takes your breath away. Gorgeous!!!ETA: Just ended up winning this. Woot! Can't wait to read it again.

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3.5 Sinfully Free Stars”Embrace sin as if it were a friend, and run to meet it.” Take a lonely widow eager for an adventure dressed as a young man, a rich man with a sordid reputation and a house filled with sexually free people and you have one helluva story! I absolutely loved this book. Henrietta was brave and brilliant. Lord Strange lived up to his name in so many ways. Villiers, Isidore and the rest of the household kept the story interesting and very amusing. If there is one book to read in this series, this one is it. It is a definite must read .

Harriet, the Duchess of Berrow, is bored with her privileged life. She needs a challenge. Thus begins her elaborate plan to disguise herself as a notorious rake at one of Justinian Strange’s unique parties. Lord Strange entertains actors and actresses, rakes, scoundrels and ladies of questionable character. His parties are lively, scandalous and the talk of the town. Harriet is both shocked and intrigued.Jem Strange watches his new arrival with curious interest. Although the gentleman seems but a pretty youth, he is unaccountably attracted to him. Steeling himself against the young man’s charms, he tries to distance himself, but is thrown together with Harriet repeatedly. How long can Harriet maintain her disguise before Jem’s probing eyes?