When the Duke Returns Book

Reviewed for queuemyreview.com; book release Dec08

Just how long is 'too' long to wait for your man? In times of yore (it's a historical!) there existed a practice of marriage by proxy. Meaning one member (usually the man) wasn't actually present at the ceremony but the couple was considered legally wed. Then once the absent member showed up and consummated the marriage, all was normal. Eloisa James uses the concept of a proxy marriage in her latest book, "When the Duke Returns". Her heroine has waited twelve years for her husband the Duke to return and validate their marriage. Twelve years?!

Isidore is a Duchess…well, kind of…and she's fed up with waiting for her errant husband to come home to England. Her plan is fairly simple. She will feign misbehavior to bring him home and then seduce him. It doesn't really matter what he looks like, after all he is a Duke. She won't have any problems seducing him, after all she's been lauded as a beauty since she first put her hair up. She'll have her children, do Duchessy things, and then, as far as Isidore is concerned, her husband the Duke can go right back to Africa or wherever. She'll continue her London life fully invested as a Duchess. See, simple plan. What man doesn't want to 'do it'?

Simeon has returned to England to take over his duties as the Duke. His first duty is to take charge of his wife, er…future wife. See, Simeon wants to get to know and develop feelings for his 'wife' and then remarry before consummating their union. He has held on to his chastity to stay healthy but he has always dreamed of what his wife would be like. She'll be quiet, demure, and docile and he'll have no problems keeping to the philosophy of 'the Middle Way'…no strong feelings like anger, lust, or fear. When he first catches sight of his 'wife', he's pretty sure he just lost the 'lust' part of his 'Middle Way'. And after only a few meetings, he's pretty sure that with Isidore, anger and fear won't be far behind.

I spent quite a bit of time laughing as I read about the titanic struggle between these two. Their verbal exchanges were sharp and scintillating, but it was the author's revelation of their inner dialogues that explained the most about their motivations and intentions. The plot intensifies as each character figures out what they really want as opposed to what they'd always 'thought' they wanted…and why. Very nicely done. There are also several appearances by (mostly) heroines from earlier books who help move the plot along. An evolving secondary romance is just the icing on the cake.

Eloisa James' historical romances are always a treat to read. The witty wordplay between primary and secondary characters and her wonderfully descriptive period vocabulary draws the reader into the world of her heroes and heroines…and it's a very fun place to visit. "When The Duke Returns" is another engaging story from one of historical romance's bigger names.