Review on Eloisa James' novel "Too Wilde to Wed"

Eloisa James' novel is the second installment in The Wildes of Lindow Castle. I am a big fan of Eloisa James but lately after her novel "Four Nights With the Duke" I have not been as excited to pick up her recent work, particularly this series, that she has recently penned.

The series picks up with the story of Lord Roland, or North, as he likes to be called by his close friends and relatives. He has been away for two years in the colonies fighting the Americans after he was summarily jilted by his fiance Ms. Diana Belgrave. James' last novel ended with the encounter between North and Diana. It was a cliffhanger as he heard the sounds of a baby crying and assumed, incorrectly as we later discover, that she has been unfaithful and given birth to an illegitimate child. When he finally returns home he is shocked to discover that Diana is an employee of his household acting as a nanny for his younger sister and her supposed child. North finds out that everyone in the ton has been gobbling up the gossip that North is supposedly the father, that he had raped Diana, and left her and the child destitute. We soon discover that Diana had lied to protect her nephew, her sister Rose's child, that she had had by her fiance who perished in a carriage accident. North fights his lingering feelings for Diana and she too does not want to given into temptation because she feels that she would make an inadequate duchess. The sexual tension is rife throughout the novel and I would say the sexual scenes were even more explicit than in James' previous novel in the series. Some may find this difficult to read but I had no qualms about the scenes. They were not tasteful in any sense of the world but realistic nonetheless. Diana's character was frustrating and not to my liking. She was very flighty and did not think things through. She could have done many other things than the option she choose, which was to be employed in North's household. I suppose that is part of her charm but I did not find her charming. North's character is the typical brooding duke but James' puts a slight spin on it in that he is a mentally wounded soldier coming back from the horrors of war. Overall the story was an enjoyable read and the relationship that develops between Diana and North was agonizingly sweet but sensual as well. My favorite parts were when the two of them would sit and eat bread during the night. This closeness that they developed during those moments sets the tone for the whole novel.