The Esme/Sebastian relationship is quite delightfully convoluted. While under the influence one night, Henrietta writes herself a love letter, pretending it's from Simon under the influence of her friends - and wanting very much to be mother to Simon's sisters as well as being Simon's wife - she allows that letter to be read out in public, resulting in a hasty marriage of necessity. Sure that Esme is faking her pregnancy, Simon rushes to the countryside with his two extremely young sisters in tow, where he makes the acquaintance of Lady Henrietta Maclellan, a local girl with a passion for children - and an inability to have any of her own.

Sebastian Bonnington does not approve of Esme, and sparks fly there as well as between the Duke and Duchess of Girton.įool for Love tells us more about Esme, and about her nephew, Simon Darby, who is her husband's heir - unless Esme's baby turns out to be a boy, that is.

She has a rather infamous reputation, although she and her husband, Miles, are actually somewhat friendly. We are introduced as well to Gina's friend, Esme, who has been separated from her husband for years. The thing is, the solicitor who represents Cam, decides to stall, hoping that Cam will decide to stay married and stay in England. You see, Gina's found a nice marquess, Sebastian Bonnington, whom she's going to marry, once Cam annuls their obviously unconsummated marriage. Now it's years later, his father's long dead, and the Duke has never bothered to return to England instead, he's been crafting marble statues in Greece based on his (ex)mistress.Ĭam returns to England in order to secure an annulment. Our main character is Gina (short for Ambrogina) was married by proxy when she was underage - as in, eleven or so - to Camden Serrard, now the Duke of Girton - then 18 - who (largely to spite his father) fled through a window and went abroad immediately after the ceremony.

(I actually read the later four first, only to find my introduction to a key character here - more on that as we go.)ĭuchess in Love is the first in the series. KellyrfinemanI recently read four inter-related novels by Eloisa James, which are, in turn, slightly related to a later series that I'll get to later this week.

Eloisa james duchess quartet