Pleasure for Pleasure by Eloisa James

I don’t know exactly how or when I stumbled across Eloisa James. I know that I found her a couple of years ago, and that’s it. I also know that I love her romances. The characters are intelligent, (as intelligent as characters in love can be) and her stories are fun, funny, and sensuous. Pleasure for Pleasure is no exception. This is the last novel in the “Four Sisters” series. I must admit to not having read the middle two novels, yet, but the first in the series, Much Ado About You, was my introduction to Eloisa James. I will read the other two, probably sooner than later.

The year is 1818, and Josie, the youngest Essex sister, has made a less than successful debut. A spurned suitor has labeled her “The Scottish Sausage.” Consequently, she spends a lot of balls dancing with her sisters’ husbands’ friends. I’m not going to tell you who the hero is in this novel because half the fun of the plot is waiting (in my case not so patiently) to find out who Josie will end up with. Unlike other authors, Ms. James often doesn't reveal who the heroine will end up with until well into the novel. My only complaint is the cover of the book. I like for the characters on the cover to look like the characters the author describes in the book. Neither the hero nor the heroine on the cover looks even remotely like Ms. James’ descriptions. The hero’s hair is the wrong color, and the heroine is way to thin. To all of you publishers out there, “Read the friggin’ book! Heck, you don’t even have to read the book, just the character descriptions. Give me a break.”

Thank you Ms. James for giving us two romances for the price of one. The Essex sisters’ chaperone, Griselda, finally finds the love of her life, and her story is every bit as compelling as Josie’s. Four out of four bookworms.