It's no secret that Eloisa James took inspiration for her
newest historical romance from the classic fairy tale, "The
Ugly Duckling." Her hero and her heroine change the way they
look -- and how society sees them -- but they eventually learn
that it's how they see each other that really matters.
THE UGLY DUCHESS is the name society pins on Theodora Saxby.
When she was just a child, Theo's father died, and his best
friend, the Duke of Ashbrook took in Theo and her mother. He
also took over managing their money -- or rather, spending
it. Now that Theo is of marrying age, the duke has to act
fast to keep her from finding out he's lost her dowry. His
solution: his son and heir, James Ryburn must marry the girl.
James was brought up to think of Theo as his sister, so when
his father suggests that he marry her, James is outraged.
He'd be betraying his best friend, lying to her, cheating
her. Once the idea is put into his mind, though, he begins
to see the beautiful, desirable woman that she has become.
Though he's torn, he doesn't see any way around it, so he
proposes, and the first few hours of their married life is
pure bliss.
Then the unthinkable happens, setting off a chain of events
that ends with Theo throwing James out of his ancestral
home. They spend the next seven years following separate
dreams and nursing broken hearts. When a brush with death
brings James home, they have to decide whether they've
healed enough to try again or if they've grown too far apart
to ever be happy together.
I loved THE UGLY DUCHESS, but then I love everything Eloisa
James
writes. Her characters are always so vivid and alive. When
the story begins, James and Theo are teenagers. They're
energetic and passionate, with strong feelings about
everything. Theo knows she looks terrible in the
overly-ruffled gowns her mother insists on. James is
determined not to give in to the violent temper he inherited
from his father. They both want only to please each other.
Then comes the separation. It would be easy to do a "flash
forward" but Eloisa lets us see the important moments of
those seven years, the life-changing events that help the
young couple develop into adulthood, always moving the story
along. Once James and Theo are together again, we see their
struggle to maintain their independence, to not give in to
the passions that tore them apart in their youth, and to see
themselves beyond what they can view in a mirror.
Fans of Regency romance will have a wonderful time watching
this pair transform from awkward youth into elegant,
confident maturity. Stick around afterwards for the
delightful bonus short story, "Ever After."
How can she dare to imagine he loves her...when all
London calls her The Ugly Duchess?
Theodora Saxby is the last woman anyone expects the
gorgeous James Ryburn, heir to the Duchy of Ashbrook, to
marry. But after a romantic proposal before the prince
himself, even practical Theo finds herself convinced of her
soon–to–be duke's passion.
Still, the tabloids give the marriage six months.
Theo would have given it a lifetime...until she
discovers that James desired not her heart, and certainly
not her countenance, but her dowry. Society was shocked by
their wedding; it's scandalized by their separation.
Now James faces the battle of his lifetime, convincing
Theo that he loved the duckling who blossomed into the swan.
And Theo will quickly find that for a man with the soul
of a pirate, All's Fair in Love—or War.
Excerpt
Early evening of the day following the wedding of James
Ryburn, Earl of Islay, and heir to the Duchy of Ashbrook, to
Theodora Saxby, known to her new husband as Daisy.
A flare of anger ignited by fear swept over James. "What
in the bloody hell are you getting at, Bairley?" he said
sharply.
"The papers are all calling her the ‘Ugly Duchess,'" his
valet replied miserably.
"What?"
"The ugly duchess, a play on that fairy tale, The Ugly
Duckling. My lord, please keep your voice down. Her ladyship
is next door. She retired to her room directly after
returning from the modiste."
"When you say the ‘papers,' which ones do you mean,
precisely?" James pulled off his shirt and tossed it on the
bed. Daisy must be devastated. They were all blasted liars.
He'd kill the reporters himself. He'd have the presses shut
down by the next morrow. He discovered his fingers were
shaking slightly with rage.
"All of the dailies," Bairley replied. "All except the
Morning Chronicle, which said that she had the profile of a
king."
"That's all right," James said, deciding to spare the
Morning Chronicle. He tore open his breeches and a button
skipped across the floor.
Bairley scurried after it.
"I'll have a retraction and apology from every one of
them tomorrow morning," James said through clenched teeth,
"or by God I'll torch their buildings myself. There's some
power in a dukedom yet, and I'll use every iota of it to
destroy them."
"Yes, your lordship," his valet said, having found the
button. He turned to pull evening clothing from the wardrobe
and lay it carefully on the bed. "Unfortunately, her maid
reports that her ladyship saw the papers when she visited
the modiste today. It's not only the papers—there are
prints in the stationers' windows already. They did them
overnight because of all the excitement about the wedding."
"Oh, for—" James broke off. "Lady Islay went out
and saw all that, and now she's ... where?"
"Next door," Bairley said. "She went straight to her
chamber, her face white as a winding sheet, that's what Mr.
Cramble said."
James threw his breeches and smalls on the bed. "I'll
have a quick bath and then pay a visit to my wife. Tell
Cramble that I want no one interrupting us until I ring. Not
even her maid," he said to Bairley, over his shoulder.
Five minutes later he pulled on a dressing gown, and
headed for the door to Daisy's room.
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