Review: Once Upon a Tower by Eloisa James

Once upon a time…
A duke fell in love 
Gowan Stoughton of Craigievar, Duke of Kinross, values order and self-control above all else. So when he meets a lady as serene as she is beautiful, he promptly asks for her hand in marriage.
With a lady 
Edie—whose passionate temperament is the opposite of serene—had such a high fever at her own debut ball that she didn’t notice anyone, not even the notoriously elusive Duke of Kinross. When her father accepts his offer… she panics.
And when their marriage night isn’t all it could be, she pretends.
In a tower. 
But Edie’s inability to hide her feelings makes pretending impossible, and when their marriage implodes, she retreats to a tower—locking Gowan out.
Now Gowan faces his greatest challenge. Neither commands nor reason work with his spirited young bride. How can he convince her to give him the keys to the tower…
When she already has the keys to his heart?

First complaint is a side note unrelated to the novel per-se. Why can’t publishers double check things like the names of their hero on the blurb of a book before okaying it? It was incredibly confusing and frustrating to go into the novel expecting the hero to be called Rhys and then wonder why he hasn’t shown up and this guy Gowan is there instead. Petty, but frustrating.

Right, the book.

I love Eloisa James’ novels. They are witty, clever, and full of fantastic heroes and heroines just waiting to pull you into a slightly more romantic world. Whilst nothing will beat the ‘Desperate Duchesses’ series for me personally, James’ retelling of fairytales as regency romances has been inspired. I adored Cinderella (A Kiss at Midnight) and Beauty & the Beast (When Beauty Tamed the Beast) but there was something about this version of Rapunzel that just didn’t quite do it for me.

I read romance novels for escape when life becomes particularly problematic. I like to know that there is a safe formula that will ensure a happy ending (with a few bumps along the way) and a wonderful hero waiting to sweep the feisty and intelligent heroine off her feet before the last page.

So when I’m faced with a truly unlikeable hero it kinda puts a crimp in my plans. Gowan really frustrated me. I understand that he was meant to grow as a person and develop and change, but given the awful things that he says to Edie, he never did enough grovelling to really creep back into my good graces. He decides to follow a regimented plan for their marriage bed and as a result doesn’t communicate or even really acknowledge Edie. Edie meanwhile is in so much pain from his ministrations that she lies woodenly in bed and tries desperately not to whimper and let him get on with it. Not exactly romantic.

Now I love that James decided to go with a new version of the story, I love that she tackled problems that you don’t normally see in romantic fiction – that the hero is too well endowed and that the heroine finds copulation not only not pleasant, but downright painful. This is excellent that it’s being explored in fiction. I learnt an awful lot about relationships and sex through romance novels, and this is something that I haven’t seen tackled before, so I want to stand up and cheer for the fact that James is tackling it head on. My issue lies with Gowan being so awful to Edie (to everyone actually) and yes he has an epiphany, and yes he apologises, but for me the reader who has just been through all this awful terrible nightmare along with Edie it is not enough. He wrecks her emotionally. And sorry is not enough to repair that damage. When he returns to her she is a shell of her former self and yes she puts up a small amount of resistance and yes he is repentant, but thirty odd pages is not enough to convince me that this abusive relationship has been repaired. It was not intentionally abusive, but the effect is still the same. There needed to be more redemption, a longer road to recovery, not a quick fix, and that let down the entire novel for me.

I imagine most people will read this book and enjoy it as they would any other of James’ novels, but for those people who have either experienced or witnessed abusive relationships, Gowan is not going to be a hero you end up rooting for.

Eloisa James Book Giveaway Winner!

First I'd like to say thank you to those who entered!


As usual I entered the entries into a random generator and the winner is:


Anonymous who posted a poem!


Please could you contact me on rose.j.mercer@gmail.com with your address and we'll get the signed copy of 'Desperate Duchesses' out to you as soon as possible!


Thank you again for entering and I hope you all have a fabulous 2012!


Check back again later this month for a new giveaway!

Author Q & A with Eloisa James and a Signed Book Giveaway!

When it comes to historical romance, nobody does it better than Eloisa James. Her heroines are sassy and independent, her men are divine, and the writing is always brilliant. So you can imagine I get pretty excited every time I see a new novel is about to come from her…
And now today marks the release of her latest book ‘The Duke is Mine’ – and to celebrate Eloisa was lovely enough (despite her incredibly hectic schedule) to answer a couple of questions for me about the book, her writing, what we can look forward to next, and even a giveaway…

“Your latest novel 'The Duke is Mine' is due for release shortly, can you tell us a little bit about it?”

The Duke is Mine is the third in my series of fairy tales; this one rewrites The Princess and the Pea, the story of a princess who arrives in the middle of the rainy night and is put through a series of tests to see whether she is a “real” princess—the most famous of which involved a pile of mattresses on top of a pea.  That pea gave me so much trouble!  I had a lot of fun writing Duke because I enjoy working within strict parameters.  It forces me to be more creative to know that I am not only required to write a happy ending, but I also need to trace the plot of a fairy tale.

 In The Princess and the Pea, the girl who arrives in the middle of a rainstorm turns out to be a “perfect” princess.  Olivia, my heroine fromThe Duke is Mine, by contrast, is no perfect heroine; she’s impudent, bawdy, and plump. Her sister Georgiana, by contrast, is “perfect.”  In a deep sense, The Duke is Mine is about perfection, and what that means.  Olivia is torn between a duke with an Aspergers-like inability to express emotion, who relies on logic, and her fiancé Rupert, who is all emotion with almost no logic.  This is the first book of mine that actually has two heroes… I can’t wait to see what readers think! 

“Do you have a favourite part of a romance book to write? Does it vary between books or is there always a same moment that you love?”

I like writing dialogue, particularly between the hero and heroine.  My happiest moments are when I manage to shape a conversation that has a deep swell of emotion in it.  Here’s an example from The Duke is Mine, from a scene when the Duke of Sconce is trying to convince the heroine, Olivia, to marry him:

Quin jerked Olivia a touch closer, so that her body was flattened against his. “You don’t know what I mean because you have never lost someone. There is nothing that matters more, not science nor mathematical propositions, not my title and my lands… Nothing.”

            “There’s honor,” she said, feeling pain arrow into her heart. “My honor. I can’t betray my sister or Rupert.”

“Is there anything in particular that draws you to writing romance?”

The simple answer is that I love a happy ending.  I’ve always loved the romance genre best, even when I was just a girl.  But a more complicated answer is that romance has a rhythm and a promise to it that appeals to me.  I know the world is a tough and cold place; I’ve lost my mother and I have a child with a chronic illness.  But—and this is a big but—I also know that love and joy make all the difference. Romance reminds me that if there’s a pattern to the universe, it’s one shaped around and by love.  We can all use that reminder now and then.

“What can we look forward to you writing next?”

A couple of years ago, my husband and I moved to Paris for a year.  We sold our house, our cars, uprooted the children, rented an apartment on the internet, and just flew away.  It was a transformative year – but it was also a lot of fun.  So my next book is Paris in Love, which comes out April 17.  It’s the story of that year, along with lots of tidbits for anyone who loves Paris: museums that are off the beaten track, things to do with children, where to buy a bra… The website is up, if anyone would like to see an excerpt:  www.parisinlovebook.com.  

This giveaway is now closed!
And now for the giveaway! If you’re an Eloisa James fan and would like to win a signed copy of her book ‘Desperate Duchesses’ simply comment below and tell me why you want to win it.
The giveaway is open internationally and is open until midnight UK time on New Year’s!
If you’re a follower of this blog that’s always helpful, I will be announcing the winner on New Year’s Day! Good Luck!

The Duke is Mine
released today in the USA and in the UK through Amazon. The Kindle UK version is released on December 29th

Tarquin, the powerful Duke of Sconce, knows perfectly well that the decorous and fashionably slender Georgiana Lytton will make him a proper duchess. So why can’t he stop thinking about her twin sister, the curvy, headstrong, and altogether unconventional Olivia? Not only is Olivia betrothed to another man, but their improper, albeit intoxicating, flirtation makes herunsuitability all the more clear. 

Determined to make a perfect match, he methodically cuts Olivia from his thoughts, allowing logic and duty to triumph over passion…Until, in his darkest hour, Tarquin begins to question whether perfection has anything to do with love. 

 To win Olivia's hand he would have to give up all the beliefs he holds most dear, and surrender heart, body and soul…

 Unless it’s already too late.