Say No to the Duke by Eloisa James

July 18, 2019
The Wildes are with us again

https://www.eloisajames.com/
Spoilers ahead
Say No to the Duke is the fourth book in the Wilde series. So far, Eloisa James latest series on the Wilde family has left me…tired. But, when times are at their darkest, one can always depend on Ms. James to pull a rabbit out of her hat. Not all is lost with the Wilde series; it appears that Say No to the Duke may be my favorite. There was also a plus in this particular story. Imagine my surprise when the hero uses the title of the book in a sentence. At last, a connection between a Romanceland title and the story line. On top of that, it was also a very poignant moment.

It is Lady Boadicea Wilde’s turn. Since no one really knows how to pronounce Boadicea, we will just call her Betsy. Betsy has a problem - her mother. Betsy has the stigma of having a notorious mother who created numerous scandals. These scandals include taking lovers, running off with a Prussian, and she may have given birth to a child who wasn’t her husbands. Plus, there is the small matter of a divorce, something that was clearly verboten in that time period. Anyway, Betsy has fought her inner demons all of her life. She does not want society to think she has inherited her mother’s character. When the story begins, we get some insight into the real Betsy. When she is young, she begs to go to a boarding school. She is eager to have friends, eager to become the perfect aristocratic girl/woman. Almost right away, she has a run-in with a bullying, catty, snot of a girl. This aristocratic snit of a girl insults Betsy and her family.  Well, maybe Betsy wants to be the perfect girl/woman, but she doesn’t take kindly to anyone bullying her, or bad-mouthing her family. This confrontation scene is a powerful moment, and shows us clearly that Betsy has chutzpah.

As she matures, Betsy continues her march toward perfection. She wants society to perceive her as something she’s not - a perfect, serene aristocratic woman. In her soul of souls, she actually craves adventure. She wants the freedoms that men have: wearing trousers, riding horses astride, going to auctions, playing billiards, and burping. I have to say that this conflict of desires created an issue for me. Betsy’s character had a strong sense of who she was. The strength of her character was so well developed, that I had a hard time buying into her desire to be such a namby-pamby society woman. I was perplexed at the conflict, and I didn’t think that a woman who knew herself so well would still have a desire for a false facade. It didn’t ring true, and it made me lower my grade.

Jeremy and Betsy. Talk about great chemistry. I had a smile on my face every time Jeremy and Betsy were in a scene together. They bantered with each other a lot. Their dialogue was delightful. They both could be their true selves when they were together. However, Betsy doesn’t want Jeremy, she had her eyes on Thaddeus Erskine Shaw, Viscount Greywick, a future Duke. Poor Jeremy. Jeremy was a veteran of the Colonial Wars, and was suffering from PTSD. He also had a drinking problem, or was pretending to have one. I actually didn’t understand why he was pretending to be drunk. Anyway, he was recuperating at the Wilde family’s estate. While he was there he found Betsy to be very irritating. But, he couldn't seem to stay away from her.

Thaddeus. I liked Thaddeus. That may not be a good thing, because in the past Ms. James has killed off characters I like. Or, they’ve just sort of disappeared. I’m hoping she gives him a book, because he is one of those stuffed-shirt nice guys I just love. You know the ones I’m talking about. They always fall for the wrong woman. Puleese Ms. James, don’t kill Thaddeus.

Even though Betsy wanted Thaddeus for her husband, in the end she made the right decision for herself and chose Jeremy. She did it without toooo much angst. She was honest with Thaddeus, and did it all logically, beautifully and without a heavy dose of drama. I loved this beautiful piece of writing. 

One more issue. Ms. James inserted an over-dramatic, crazy relative toward the end of the book. This man wanted to murder Jeremy, but he didn’t. I’m not sure why this filler was added to the story; it didn’t enhance it in any way. I have a theory that authors must attend a Villain 101 class. This class insists every book has at least one over-the-top theatrical villain scene in it before it’s published.  Anyway, that’s just my theory. In this case, the story was just fine without the minor irritation.

Overall, this was a witty romance, with a strong heroine and a hero who will give the heroine plenty of adventure in her lifetime. Jeremy and Betsy go together well, even with all of their imperfections. Those imperfections made them perfect for each other.

Time/Place: Georgian Englans
Sensuality: Warm