And they’re not desperate as the title might make you think. We’re in the Georgian era people and unlike the stuffy ton, the parties are more decadent, the games, the rich more careless and everyone is out for their own pleasure. Yes, I say pleasure. All these dukes and duchesses are well-acquainted with the complications of lust and leave tattered reputations behind them with relish. But what of love, well that’s where the excitment comes in as James’ heroines fight and scheme for the hardest seduction of them all, seducing one’s heart.

1. This Duchess of Mine: Jemma and Beaumont’s romance has been almost the foundation of the series, lurking in the backgrounds of almost all the books and finally come to head. The series begins after Jemma returns from Paris (where she fled after seeing Beaumont tupping his mistress and waited three years to retrieve her!), only for the purpose of making an heir since Beaumont is losing time with his irregular heart. Love should be dead between them but it isn’t, affection remains and after the will-they-won’t-they jealousy of Villiers/Jemma/Beaumont the wife and husband are determined to seduce the other all over again. Of course, they do this in totally ineffectual ways with Jemma trying to treat him like any other lover providing competition when Beaumont, staid and sturdy Beaumont doesn’t want to play games. He wants her even though he’s horrible at saying it. And even worse, his honor and his duty still means more to him despite the stress it gives him and lessening his life. The love between them is so intense and the centerpoint of chess and illicit pleasure makes the story my favorite. It’s a culmination of love, choice and loyalty and it’s wonderful.

2. An Affair Before Christmas: Perhaps I should mention this but basically almost everyne’s actions can be traced to their parents messing them up. This is especially true for Perdita or Poppy as she’s called here. Seeing sex as her duty, her sweet romance with Fletcher in Paris turns into a miserable marriage four years later. She doesn’t feel any pleasure in the act crushing Fletcher’s ego and she feels even more badly for disappointing him thus leading to resentment and her leaving him so he can have a mistress like any proper English duke. But Fletcher still loves Poppy and Poppy longs for him too. However with Jemma’s good advice, seperation makes the heart fonder. Plus the inclusion of Poppy’s overbearing mother in Fletcher’s house acting in Poppy’s place drives him insane. With her time away from Fletcher and her mother, Poppy begins to eplore her own interests as naturalist and scientist that makes me so happy for her to bloom on her own. Fletcher has his own bit of development as he begins to think about things from Poppy’s point of view and how it’s not his fault their bedroom activities aren’t working but the berating nature of her mother ruining any possible enjoyment. So thus when they come back together, it’s like an explosion of longing and new understanding that makes it a magical Christmas. It also continues the aftermath of the Villiers’ duel leaving him abed and near death, and the series’ long Beaumont-Jemma cat and mouse dance.

3. When the Duke Returns: Isidora and Simeon may have been married by proxy for elevan years but she has yet to meet him much less consummate their marriage. So after three books of attempted scandal to draw him back home, her sorjourn at the infamous Lord Strange’s house brings him from the Nile to England’s shores. And even though she’s been waiting for this moment the choice to go through with the marriage is still a difficult one. It’s one thing to be a duchess but Isidora wants love and Simeon is. . . He’s strange. He’s obsessed with the Middle Way, an Eastern teaching he learned abroad that he follows to a fault. One that will keep him in control away from fear, lust, and anger. Of which she represents two such obstacles in his life being hot tempered and beautiful as sin. Moreover, he’s a virgin! But Isidora is a stubborn one, (she’s Italian you know) and doesn’t want those eleven years of waiting to go to waste. Again, I love couples with a push-pull dynamic and their chemistry is intense but the possibility of compatibility is a question mark and keeps things interesting as Simeon learns to live with the chaos and Isidora accept his controlling ways because she knows how to jolt him out it. It only gets third because there were various chapters devoted to Villiers, Jemma and Beaumount. They were short but it made me feel like James didn’t think that Isidora and Simeon could carry the book on their own.

4. A Duke of Her Own: Ah, I was excited for this one as the brooding Villiers that stole scenes throughout the series, is finally meeting his match. However, the back summary and cover misled me to think the false romantic lead Lisette was the true romantic lead so that soured the first half of my reading as I waited for a big switch that didn’t happen. Maybe I should have realized Eleanor was the real heroine since she was the true heroine but again, I was really misled. Nonetheless, I was happy because Eleanor was one of the best heroines whose pragmatism and snark suits Villiers’ own closed-off and sardonic personality. However, the big trouble is that he’s not choosing a wife but a mother for his six illegitimate children and Lisette seems to fit the bill even though she’s cracked in the head and acts more like a playmate than a mother. Furthermore, Eleanor is unique as she’s a “wanton,” someone who enjoys sex and has had relations before marriage. Of course, she has a bit of complex about it thanks to her ex’s actions and the era they live in but it adds a spice to their scenes to see both so eagerly enjoy it. But it only gets fourth place because of the aforementioned true lead confusion and an exposition-dump of Villier’s childhood that I felt like should have been forshadowed more rather than tied up neatly at the end as an explanation for his reasonings. Also I wished there was more chess as it was a big part of Villiers’ life and Eleanor was supposed to be quite adept at it so I was waiting for another chess-sex scene like Jemma and Beamount.

5. Duchess by Night: There is nothing really wrong with this one that would make it second to last. In fact it’s quite a solid book centered exclusively on Harriet and the mysterious Lord Strange and his lusty bachannals that even Jemma would consider attending. Harriet’s story is an original one as a widow from her husband’s suicide, she feels like she’s a dumpy matron on the shelf. But a visit to Lord Strange to support her friend is a chance for her to experience life and pleasure all while wearing breeches. Yep, she’s in disguise as a man for most of it, and her newfound freedom as a male to run and fence and indulge in intellectual and moral debates without her gender getting in the way is thrilling. So is her growing attraction to Lord Strange. Strange’s own growning attraction with the young duke concerns him but it’s a great push-pull to see how long Strange can keep himself away before he gives in to his own desires, willing to date Harriet “Harry” as a male though he’s thrilled that her real sex is discovered. There’s a great thread as Harriet struggles to reconcile Strange’s prediliction for parties with untrustworthy guests and his own deep love for his daughter and his own code of honor. It’s a life devoted to hedonism but she wants more than that. However, the reasoning for Strange’s unique lifestyle is wrapped up neatly in one exposition dump near the end that I wished was forshadowed more. Especially with what happened to his sister who sounded awesome in the epilogue. She should have been mentioned more. Also because it’s so devoted to Strange and Harriet, it feels like a stand-alone than connected to the other books.

6. Desperate Duchesses: The debut book of this series comes unfortunately last as it falls under the weight of introducing the ensemble and forshadowing future trysts to the point that the protagonists feel more like a frame story for the more interesting side characters. However, Roberta was an interesting heroine on her own merits, different from other wiltering virgins as she is quite certain on whom she wants to snare and willing to play the part of the flirt to get him. It helps being the daughter of the Mad Marquess living with his mistresses that she knows the more illicit side of courting but she is less sure of how to navigate love than she first believes. So her journey from infuatuation to true love with Damon who matches her in humor and quick wit. But as I said, with the attention paid to Jemma, Beaumont, Villars and their intricate love triangle, Roberta and Damon came across as window dressing. Especially poor Damon, I think there were only two or three chapters from his point of view so his love epiphany for Roberta feels unearned.