Avon
Featuring: Duke of Fletcher; Lady Perdita Selby
400 pages ISBN: 0061245542 EAN: 9780061245541 Kindle: B000W91396 Mass Market Paperback / e-Book Add to Wish List
The handsome Duke of Fletcher was enjoying a perfect
moment. It was Christmas time in Paris, and he held his
beautiful and sweet fiancée, Lady Perdita Selby, in his
arms. But as he leaned down to give Poppy a passionate kiss,
she shoved him away and declared that an English lady simply
did not do such things. Being a man of honor and an
optimist, he married Poppy anyway.
Four years later, the duke's life is a living hell. He is
desperately in love with his wife, and wants nothing more
than to worship her body, yet she shows no signs of feeling
the least bit of desire for him; in fact, she shows no
response of any kind while they're in bed together, no
matter what he does. Fletch has no wish to be unfaithful,
but four years of pent-up frustration is beginning to wear
on him, and he's begun to seriously consider taking a
mistress. But when Poppy catches him flirting with a woman
who turns her back on him once she learns he's Poppy's
husband, Fletch lashes out with hateful words that alert
everyone within earshot that the Duke and Duchess of
Fletcher have ceased marital relations some time ago.
Poppy is devastated by Fletch's attack because she has done
everything she can think of to make him happy, yet within
the past year, he has begun to look at her with contempt and
disgust. Her mother warned her in no uncertain terms before
her marriage that a wife must tolerate the horrid actions
which a man desires in bed, going so far as to tell Poppy
that she might throw up the first time. While Poppy
certainly hasn't had that reaction, she has been so
conditioned by her controlling mother to think of sex as a
chore to be endured, that she's been unable to feel any
passion for her husband. But Fletch's outburst releases a
torrent of anger, and she promptly moves into the house of
her friend, the Duchess of Beaumont. Once there, she begins
to realize that she has lived her entire life attempting to
please someone else; first her mother, whose greatest wish
was for Poppy to marry a duke, any duke, and then Fletch,
who doesn't seem to understand the first thing about her.
As for Fletch, he suddenly finds his sweet wife replaced by
a spiteful mother-in-law who has moved into his house with
the goal of "reforming" him so that Poppy will agree to
return. Fletch begs Poppy to come home, but Poppy's not
about to give up her independence, especially since Fletch
is acting as though he only cares about getting rid of her
mother. But as the months pass, Fletch begins to realize
that the woman he is attempting to woo is very different
from the passive wife he thought he knew, and that to win
her heart and ignite her desire, he will need to become a
man worthy of her love.
AN AFFAIR BEFORE CHRISTMAS is a cleverly crafted novel that
pushes the boundaries of the historical genre. Eloisa James
writes with a degree of honesty that makes her characters
utterly convincing. In her world, fashion is often painful
not beautiful, the members of the ton are not necessarily a
sweet-smelling lot, and the reality of marriage is not
always happily ever after. Fans of Eloisa James will be
delighted to know that this book picks up where DESPERATE
DUCHESSES ended, and that the secondary character storylines
guarantee that there is more to come. AN AFFAIR BEFORE
CHRISTMAS is a wonderful holiday read!
One spectacular
Christmas, Lady Perdita Selby, known to her friends and
family as Poppy, met the man she thought she would love
forever. The devilishly attractive Duke of Fletcher was the
perfect match for the innocent, breathtakingly beautiful
young Englishwoman, and theirs was the most romantic wedding
she had ever seen. Four years later, Poppy and the duke have
become the toast of the ton... but behind closed
doors the spark of their love affair has burned out.
Unwilling to lose the woman he still lusts after, the
duke is determined to win back his beguiling bride's
delectable affections?and surpass the heady days of first
love with a truly sinful seduction.
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