ARC Review: Wilde in Love by Eloisa James

Series:	Wildes of Lindow Castle #1
Pub. Date:	Oct. 31, 2017
Publisher:	Avon
Length:	416 pages
Source:	Edelweiss

Woohoo! A new series by Eloisa James! I really enjoyed the Wilde family and am so looking forward to the family saga as the series continues.

We start off the series with the duke's second son, Lord Alaric Wilde. For the last five years, Alaric has been adventuring around the globe and writing about his travels. Unbeknownst to him, he has returned home to England a celebrity with female fans from hither to yon. Alaric found the whole thing ridiculous, until it interfered with him getting what (or who) he wanted... and then all the twittering females became more of an obstacle than an annoyance. I found Alaric to be great fun. His embarrassment at the female attention and teasing from his siblings was endearing. But I also loved his single-minded pursuit of our heroine, and his fabulously flirty banter.

As a self-proclaimed heroine hater, I realize that I have shortcomings when it comes to heroines. I tend to be very critical because I think they should all be me. LOL. So when I find a heroine that I actually like, and that I could see myself hanging out with, I am always pleasantly surprised. And thus was the situation with the heroine of this story, Lady Wilhemina "Willa" Ffynche. Willa was a success of the season, she won over suitors with her beauty and wit, and by wearing the persona of the perfect female. Only Willa's closest friends get to see her true self, which is much more fun than the facade she shows the ton. I was happy to have an intelligent heroine, and one whose curiosity matched my own. I loved how she put men in their place by simply asking them questions to show how ludicrous some of their ideas were. 

The relationship between Alaric and Willa was a slow burn. Alaric had to work on his wooing and wear down her defenses and objections. I enjoyed the push and pull between the couple, and was glad that Willa's reluctance was not over-the-top. (I'm not a fan of those uber-reluctant heroines.) I enjoyed the friendships and family relationships just as much as the romantic relationship in this story. There are excellent secondary characters who I believe will become heroes and heroines of future books. I also loved Alaric's somewhat eccentric aunt who added some additional comedy to the story.

I recommend this story to historical romance fans who like intelligent heroines, flirty heroes and may want a different setting than England. The Lindow Castle setting and surrounding bogs, with the Georgian time period, were a nice change from the more prevalent Regency romances.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced copy of this book that I received from the publisher, Avon.