The Ugly Duchess

You'll fall in love with fairy tale and true classic romances again. In Eloisa James's The Ugly Duchess, the fourth installment in the Fairy Tales Book Series, she spun a beautiful historical romance, based on Hans Christian Anderson's The Ugly Duckling, and weaved an intricate heartfelt story of her own. Theodora "Theo" Saxby was a plain Jane and very gifted in the arts. James Ryburn was her childhood best friend and "surrogate brother", when she became the ward of the Duke of Ashbrook. Surrounded by debt, his father dared James to woo and wed Theo for her money. From there, she learned later the truth behind their marriage and the outrage behind those "ugly duchess" rumors around the ton. She kicked him out of the house. For seven years,  James was a privateer sailing the high seals and sacrificing his life. Right before she declared him dead, James resurfaced and reclaimed her as his own.

This beautiful  historical romance reminded us that beauty is only skin deep, and the inside really matters and counts. I loved the Ugly Duckling comparison to the classic fairy tale with an enchanted twist. I watched how Theo became confident and graceful as a beautiful lithe swan in her own way. It made me want to root for her to become strong. I cried, sighed, and smiled with a light heart, that they worked things out, when their love withstood the hands of time. You'll fall in love with them again, like they did for each other and built a marriage out of faith, honesty and love for their own fairy tale ending.

Check out this enchanted love story right now!

This Duchess of Mine

In Eloisa James's This Duchess of Mine, the 5th book in the Desperate Duchess Series, this historical romance dealt with Elijah and Jemma, who met at an arranged marriage by their parents, and have been separated for nine years. That's when she learned a shocking discovery and bolted from the altar.  She went abroad and created a scandal, if anyone believed those lies, Jemma swore she'll win Elijah back in order to have a heir, and wooed him to fall in love with her. When she learned about his heart ailment, she'll do anything to have him love her, no matter what the price. Sooner than later, the duke fell in love with his own wife. 

I loved the theme that it dealt with a match of chess.  I thought it was a clever maneuver and a quirky setup. The backstory between Jemma and Elijah of how they spent their nine years apart and led their separate ways. This showed what people would do for love and to even the score. Between Jemma's wittiness and Elijah's heart condition, this would grip you into suspense and make you ooh and ahh at every page turn. It's a priceless love story.

Check out this enchanted historical romance today!