Stop on the Tasty Book Blog Tour for THREE WEEKS WITH LADY X by Eloisa James + Giveaway

Welcome to my stop on the Tasty Book Blog Tour for THREE WEEKS WITH LADY X, book 7 of the Desperate Duchesses series by Eloisa James. I haven’t been so excited about a historical in a long time so check out my thoughts and then enter the tour-wide Giveaway of another of Eloisa James’s Desperate Duchesses books.

***eARC provided by publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest and unscripted review

Blurb for THREE WEEKS WITH LADY X:

The next fabulous romance by New York Times bestselling author Eloisa James.

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, headstrong, 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.

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Lady Xenobia India, daughter of a deceased Marquess, India to her friends and family, grew up with unusual parents and after losing them to a heartbreaking accident one night on an unexpected journey to London, she has done her best to carve a new and respectable image for herself even while she must work to keep herself in society. She must make a living to survive even though many members of the ton frown upon her career choice. India is an interior decorator, of sorts. She helps those who need a beautiful home to pave the way into society or to stay in with the ton. When a wealthy, handsome bastard son of a duke hires her to redo his less than stellar estate, to make him more acceptable to the parents of the young woman he has chosen to be his wife, she takes on the job with determination, and a promise to herself to find a husband for her own after this final job.

Thorn Dautry knows what it is to be on the outside looking in. As the bastard son of a duke, he wants what was deprived him as a youth diving for treasures in the muddy Thames, and kept at arm’s length even after he amassed a great fortune that could rival any member of the ton. Determined to have the beautiful Lady Laetitia Ransford as his wife, he knows he must impress her parents with his wealth since his birthright is more than lacking. Having purchased Starberry Court, the rundown estate of a notoriously scandalous earl, he knew it was going to have to be made respectable for his new bride and acceptable to her parents, especially her mother. Although highly recommended by his stepmother, Thorn reluctantly hires the beautiful and desirable yet brash and contradictory Lady Xenobia India, who he quickly applies the nickname, Lady X. Despite his efforts to resist her, his desire for her soon becomes as much a determination to deny as his need for acceptance by society.

India’s attraction to Thorn becomes a goal to overcome even as her determination to create the finest home ever for Thorn, his future wife, and eventually the family he desperately craves becomes her greatest accomplishment.

THREE WEEKS WITH LADY X by Eloisa James is her finest book in a very long time. I have to admit that I was once upon time a huge fan of Ms. James’s books and absorbed them, but I soon fell away as her stories began to feel forced and frankly, rather cookie cutter. THREE WEEKS WITH LADY X however, is the talent and storytelling ability that made me fall in love with Ms. James’s stories so many years ago. This story is incredible!

Ms. James has conjured an amazing story of heartache, hesitation to seek what is truly desired, and in the end, going against all that is proper to satisfy a lust for life and obtain a taste of love. Her characters banter back and forth with a feel of today’s email or text messaging, pulling innuendos from simple statements, and drawing a line in the sand that leads to putting everything on the line to win the heart of a true love.

If I say any more, I might give away too much so I’ll just say that I highly, highly recommend this amazing, naughty, society bucking historical trip though time to join Thorn and India in a passion that will rival the great lovers of history. As usual, Ms. James gets a little out of control with her point of view stability but the story is so exquisite, I can ignore that and keep floating on the wings of golden sparrows as they soar their way through an amazing love story.

About the Author:

New York Times bestselling author Eloisa James writes historical romances for HarperCollins Publishers. Her novels have been published to great acclaim. A reviewer from USA Today wrote of Eloisa's very first book that she "found herself devouring the book like a dieter with a Hershey bar;" later People Magazine raved that "romance writing does not get much better than this." Her novels have repeatedly received starred reviews from Publishers' Weekly and Library Journal and regularly appear on the best-seller lists.

After graduating from Harvard University, Eloisa got an M.Phil. from Oxford University, a Ph.D. from Yale and eventually became a Shakespeare professor, publishing an academic book with Oxford University Press. Currently she is a distinguished professor and head of the Creative Writing program at Fordham University in New York City. Her "double life" is a source of fascination to the media and her readers. In her professorial guise, she's written a New York Times op-ed defending romance, as well as articles published everywhere from women's magazines such as Good Housekeeping and More to writers' journals such as the Romance Writers' Report.

To learn more about Eloisa James and her books, please feel free to visit her website, and follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

GIVEAWAY:
Tour-wide Giveaway of a print copy of A DUKE OF HER OWN, book 6 of the Desperate Duchesses series by Eloisa James to one lucky entry. Please use the rafflecopter to enter. Good Luck and Happy Reading Everyone!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

THREE WEEKS WITH LADY X, book 7 of the Desperate Duchesses series by Eloisa James, Avon Romance, available March 25, 2014 in print and ebook formats at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobobooks, and iTunes.

***click on the links or cover below for purchasing information