When the Duke Returns »

Author of eleven award-winning romances, Eloisa James is a professor of English literature who lives with her family in New Jersey. All her books must have been written in her sleep, because her days are taken up by caring for two children with advanced degrees in whining, a demanding guinea pig, a smelly frog, and a tumbledown house. Letters from readers provide a great escape!

The Duchess of Cosway yearns for a man she has never met . . . her husband.

Married by proxy as a child, Lady Isidore has spent years fending off lecherous men in every European court while waiting to meet her husband. She's determined to accept him, no matter how unattractive the duke turns out to be. When she finally lures Simeon Jermyn back to London, his dark handsomeness puts Isidore's worst fears to rest—until disaster strikes.

The duke demands an annulment.

Forsaking his adventuresome past, Simeon has returned to London ready to embrace the life of a proper duke, only to find that his supposed wife is too ravishing, too headstrong, and too sensual to be the docile duchess he has in mind. But Isidore will not give up her claim to the title—or him—without a fight.

She will do whatever it takes to capture Simeon's heart, even if it means sacrificing her virtue. After all, a consummated marriage cannot be annulled.

Yet in forcing Simeon into a delicious surrender, will Isidore risk not only her dignity—but her heart?

Kristin Ramsdell - Library Journal

Simeon Jermyn, Duke of Cosway, long absent on a globe-spanning spiritual quest of his own, is called home by his wife, Isidore, to take care of his sadly neglected ducal duties, including the husbandly ones. But Simeon and Isidore were married by proxy when she was 12 and have never met. The last thing she expects is a virgin hero who wants to wait until they have a "real" wedding to consummate their marriage. Values, cultures, and conduct clash in this intense, electric romance as two disparate people learn the real meaning of love. James (Duchess by Night) has given readers another smart, bawdy Georgian tale, the fourth in her popular "Desperate Duchesses" series. She lives in the New York City area.