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.
New York TimesBestselling Author Eloisa James
returns with the second in her fun and flirtatious
Wildes of Lindow Castle series…
The handsome, rakish heir to a dukedom, Lord Roland
Northbridge Wilde—known to his friends as North—left England
two years ago, after being jilted by Miss Diana Belgrave. He
returns from war to find that he’s notorious: polite society
has ruled him “too wild to wed.”
Diana never meant to tarnish North’s reputation, or his
heart, but in her rush to save a helpless child, there was
no time to consider the consequences of working as a
governess in Lindow Castle. Now everyone has drawn the worst
conclusions about the child’s father, and Diana is left with
bittersweet regret.
When North makes it clear that he still wants her for his
own, scandal or no, Diana has to fight to keep from losing
her heart to the man whom she still has no intention of
marrying.
Yet North is returning a hardened warrior—and this is one
battle he’s determined to win.
He wants Diana, and he’ll risk everything to call her his own.
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