is the third book in the Duchess series by Eloisa James. This is the story of Stephen (introduced in Duchess) and Bea. Stephen is the cousin of Cam, the hero of Duchess in Love. Bea is the companion to Esme’s aunt, Arabella. Bea and Arabella have come to stay with Esme while she is in the final weeks of her pregnancy. Esme and Sebastian’s story continues and Helene is also in this book. There is also some interaction between Helene and Rees so the reader learns more of their relationship. Their interactions made me really look forward to their story, which is the next (and last) one in the Duchess series.

At first, I had misgivings about this one. Stephen is 43, Bea is 23; so I thought immediately that this was going to be another one of those May-December books. (Personal note ~ I really don’t like reading about heroes close to my age dating and falling in love with heroines barely out of high school and/or college. This is why I quit reading Diana Palmer…well, one of the reasons…there’s also this annoying habit of her heroes calling their heroines “Little One”….and also explaining what la petite morte is…after awhile it felt like I was reading the same book over and over and over again).

Back on subject. Stephen is a man in demand. Not only does he have one woman requesting that he have an affair with her, he has one woman proclaim him as her fiancé, and yet another woman fills him with passion that he’s never known before. What’s a man to do?

This story was fun...not as fun as the first two, but still a good read. There were brief mentions of Gina (Duchess), but I would have liked to have seen Carola and Tuppy again. Maybe in the next one.

Ok, off to read.

Labels: Eloisa James, Good, Historical Romance