A lot of regency romances feel similar. You have a mistaken identity or a marriage of convenience, throw a few balls in, some witty repartee and voila - a romance in the bag. The truly unique ones stand out in our minds, the ones where the characters live on in our imaginations, the ones with distinct settings. And for us voracious romance readers, it often takes something special to stick out.

In SEVEN MINUTES IN HEAVEN, Eloisa James succeeds in being memorable. I've read nearly all of her works, and I can admit that several of them have blended together. I enjoyed them all, but I'm sure I mix up heroines and heroes in my mind. These two - Eugenia and Ward - are not subject to such a fate.

As Eugenia is a widow, some of the staid conventions of the ton are abandoned in this book, as she is allowed to indulge in an independent life and some flirtations of her own. Add in that Ward appears completely unconcerned with convention, and this book is easily the raunchiest of James' works. It was sexy and sassy and eminently readable for me.

I've read some other folks that had quibbles with the historical accuracy of Eugenia running her own business. For some readers, this seems to pull them out of the story. Not for me, to be honest. It was grounded enough in reality that I didn't examine it too closely. I enjoyed my time with these folks in SEVEN MINUTES IN HEAVEN and if you're a fan of romances with strong characters, I think you will too.