Lord Roland Northbridge Wilde, better known as North, had irremediably fallen in love with Miss Diana Belgrave's laugh. The granddaughter of a grocer, Diana's family was extremely wealthy, but her ambitious mother had groomed her to entice a nobleman only. Diana embodied the height of fashion, she sported wigs that would have put Marie-Antoinette to shame; she did everything her mother demanded. North, while the heir to a dukedom, was not quite the fashion plate, so he hired a valet who would make him as stylish as Diana. It did enable him to ask for her hand in marriage, even though Diana did not even like him. But upon learning that she had an orphaned nephew, Godfrey, Diana promptly jilts North, who shortly thereafter left for America and fight for the British Empire. Two years later upon his return to England, a disillusioned North is faced with accusations of being a rapist in the gossip sheets: they think Godfrey is his illegitimate son!

TOO WILDE TO WED did not unfold quite as I expected -- and thank goodness for that! The confusion about North's supposed bad behavior is not the focus of the story, neither are Diana's actions, although I did wonder how her lack of consideration of North would work out. I must say he was a better man than I would have been in view of Diana's selfishness; she really didn't think at all about how it would affect him, or anyone else for that matter. North is a beautiful hero: kind, an angel of patience, he had remained infatuated with her because he had seen the real woman when she had laughed, and he knew she still had it in her, somewhere. Diana is generous, loving, and so impulsive that she doesn't think beyond the now, and she is utterly clueless about almost everything. I must say that I didn't understand why her desperate social climbing mother had not provided her daughter with a proper education: Diana speaks no foreign languages, has no inkling as how to run a household, she has no talent for needlework. She is not even well-versed in social platitudes to engage anyone in the habitual inane conversation when in society.

There was so much sadness at the beginning of TOO WILDE TO WED. At least that's how I interpreted the mood with Diana, acting as the well-meaning but incompetent governess to toddlers, out of her element, and slowly realizing that she acted rashly. North fighting sleepless nights, and remorse from a war he stopped believing in. But the blanket of grey gradually lifted as Diana let North get closer to her, thus began a friendship that led to more. Diana did love North, and I know I was told she was independent, but why not let the Wildes help her navigate the dukely waters? The reason for her stubborn refusal to marry North was justified briefly at some point, it made sense, but I would have wished for Ms. James to elaborate a little more on the subject.

Eloisa James has the magic touch when it comes to creating dazzling secondary characters: I adored the irrepressible Miss Lavinia Gray, and North's snotty valet Boodle was priceless. All in all, in spite of the underlying sadness, TOO WILDE TO WED is a playful little piece of froth, sweet and sexy, to which Ms. James holds the secret.