Wilde in Love: The Wildes of Lindow Castle – A Rakish Duke's Son and a Private Woman – A Witty Georgian Romance Named a Cosmopolitan Best Book of 2017

Lord Alaric Wilde is a younger son of a Duke. After the death of his eldest brother, he became an explorer. He traveled the world and has written books about his adventures. His books are best sellers. His exploits have made him a super star among women. There is even a very popular play called Wilde in Love. His image is everywhere and women keep drawings of him in the bedrooms. All his fame has happened while he was traveling. So, when he arrives home he is shocked to find that there is nowhere that is safe from his fans. Women are willing to do anything to see him, to touch him and even more. Wilhelmina (Willa, Evie & Eve) Everett Ffynche is a young woman who is beautiful and humorous and very intelligent. She has no interest in most of the many men who have proposed to her. They are boring. She and her best friend, Lavinia, have become stars of their first season. They have made a pact to appear to be soft and ladylike. None of those qualities are actually who they are. Willa became an orphan at the age of 9 and Lady Grey, Lavinia's mother, became her surrogate mother. Willa quickly figured out that being a perfect young lady would make her exactly what Lady Grey wanted in a little girl. On the surface, Willa and Lavinia appear to be perfect young ladies. Underneath the surface, they are wonderfully aware of human nature and the humorous part of humanity. They share secrets and jokes and wisdom. Lavinia is a shopaholic and Willa reads Pliny because she is curious about history. Alaric meets Willa and immediately likes her. He is enamored of her wit and humor. He is attracted to her beauty. And he is intrigued that apparently Willa is the only woman in England who does not fall at his feet. This is a sweet romance. There is not instant bed sport. There are conversations, and flirting and laughing together. As a sign of his devotion to her, Alaric gives Willa a baby skunk as a gift. (I had pet skunks and descriptions of Sweetpea are quite accurate.) These two people are perfect for one another. They share intelligence and a sense of adventure. But, it takes work on the part of Alaric to get Willa to admit who she truly is. This is a story of many types of love. The love in the family of the Duke of Lindow is quite obvious. The Duke loves his children. His third wife is pregnant with his most recent child and everyone in the family is excited at the upcoming birth. Alaric's brother North is betrothed and besotted with Diana, he has changed his entire being in order to please her. Lavinia and Willa are best friends and share an understanding, trust and a love for one another. I have not read a book by Ms James in awhile. For some reason, they were not appealing to me. This story is an Eloisa James Story! I fell in love with Willa and Alaric. I loved the pace of the story, it is evident that a courtship is in full bloom. It is a sweet story. And the people who populate this book are generally good and kind people. I found people I would like to know. I loved Alaric's Aunt Knowe. She is capable of saving any situation. All the secondary characters bring a great deal to the story. Since this is the first in a series, we are introduced to others who will be characters in the following books. I look forward to their stories. I am so happy that I read this book. It is just what I hope for from Ms James.

Wonderful book filled with wit and gumption. I love the forward thinking of Willa while she still tries to stay within mainstream of society. Alaric is delightful as a hero and I greatly enjoyed how he fell in love first. Said it first. I also like how he told Willa not to say the words. "It's not a bow or curtsy you have to make." The slow burn of the story line was wonderful. James always has perfect timing with her stories. Alaric returns home surprised with his fame from his travels. At a house party his father is hosting, he meets Willa, a private person who doesn't want to take chances. She has a goal; to find a simple husband she can kind of control. However, upon first meeting each other, sparks and wit fly. As the house party continues, Prudence, steps into the picture from Alaric's past travels and tries to destroy Willa and Alaric's budding relationship. The book follows a very known pattern of HEAs which is the reason we always return. We know what we are getting. And you can always count on Eloisa James on adding in a quirky item or 2.

I loved this book and I loved reading it! I read it when it came out at midnight and I've been excited for it of some time! I think it might be one of my favorite Eloisa James to date. ( Maybe tied with the When Beauty Tamed the Beast) One thing that I really enjoyed about this book was the new timeline that Eloisa James writes in. It's only a little different from her other books, but because it's a different time the dialogue and interactions can be a litte different . It seems like there weren’t as many restrictions on what women could say and I think that allowed the witty banter and clever dialogue to really shine. Reading it felt like driving the new version of an old car that you've always had. It was sleek and a little more modern but everything you liked about the old car was still there. It's fun when an author you've always liked continues to have good (if not better!) books. *spoilers* Be prepared, it's definitely a slow burn romance. It takes a while for them to figure things out but the build up is nice nice nice if you ask me. The writing is so good at times I have to stop and think "wow." This particular line, "Her eyes widened, as if she shared his feeling that the unlocking of her body was a still moment in a turning world" really got me. SO GOOD. I LOVED the nickname he makes for her. Its such a sweet way to say to someone that you know them, you see the parts of them that other people don't see and you want to keep learning. Willa is VERY into Alaric and I love how the heroine is not shy or missish, she really is into him and she wants to get down n' dirty wid him. You can tangibly feel that when you're reading and its different and fun. - Probably my favorite aspect of their relationship was how they save a part of themselves for each other, their private lives. Willa has a private person and Alaric sees that and brings that part of her out, not to share it with other people but to get to know that person too. The book could have gone the route of "he only wants me because he's into a challenge" #angst but I think there was a really good balance of Will not liking him because she preferred a less absurd person than she thought he was and she preferred privacy. Once they got over that they didn't stay apart for some dumb reason or bad communication. There's very little angst, so if you're looking for a book with angst read something else! If you're looking for a fun sweet read get started! Lavinia was really likable and I CANT WAIT for her story. And Diana was intereresting but something was off, so I'm waiting to see what is going down with that story too. All in all, it was so much fun to read. It was worth staying up late to read it!

I liked this story very much. The hero is not tormented, but has enough courage to give the heroine time and space to fall for him. I also liked the scene there he used his hand instead of cold water for cooling down.

i like these historical romance novels

Honestamente no creo volver a comprar un libro de esta autora, no tanto por que fue un libro malo (en realidad estuvo muy entretenido) si no por que no me gustó mucho leer una historia de amor en este contexto. A pesar de eso, si te gustan las novelas romanticas, cheesy y algo rated R entonces sí lo recomiendo.

Ceci est le 1e livre d'eloisa James de me décevoir un peu. Il était juste trop long, et l'histoire de sconce est vraiment tirée par les cheveux.

I have been less than impressed with some of Eloisa James' recent offerings and foolishly read some reviews before starting the story. Inevitably, this initially coloured my judgement, but instead I thoroughly enjoyed this first book in her new series, the Wildes of Lindlow Castle. It is a light, fun, entertaining read. The story centres around a house party, at which Alaric, the returned adventurer is the star guest; also visiting are Willa and her friend Lavinia. Willa is determined not to like Alaric, because she thinks, erroneously, that he enjoys all the hero worship. He meets Willa, and starts falling in love with her more or less straight away. His character is endearing and engaging - he pursues Willa, adamant that they are destined to be together. She resists, but finds herself coming round as she sees more of the real Alaric. James doesn't give us one of those annoying heroines who blow hot and cold - Willa knows she is falling for Alaric but tries to push her feelings away because of the standards she has set for herself in a husband, moulded to some extent by her parents' actions [she is an orphan]. I loved the banter and humour between the large cast of characters. The villain was signposted very early in the book, and the villainous actions were entirely expected. I am not sure whether the author used this simply to reinforce the depth of feeling between Alaric and Willa, but it worked for me. Eloisa James always makes her readers feel like part of her family - if you look at her website, she often gives snippets of family life - and that includes family pets. So the skunk and cat also worked for me! The other feature that I like with her books is that at the end, she usually gives some background history to certain features within the story - including, in this one, the inclusion of the pet skunk! Her epilogues are always heart warming and leave one feeling that a loving relationship has come full circle. I am looking forward to the next one - the cliffhanger at the end of the book [a marketing ploy, but I don't care!] is genuinely shocking, and I look forward to finding out the background to it in the next book. Read it, enjoy it and don't overanalyse. A delightful read.