Wilde in Love: The Wildes of Lindow Castle

I received a copy of this title to read and review for Wicked Reads

3 Stars

I need to be honest, and I don't know whether it was my mood or not, but I struggled throughout the entire novel. Eloisa James was an author I found when I first began reading historical romances, and I adored those novels, spurring me into a love of the genre. However, Wilde in Love was close to being did-not-finish by me many times over, and it was only because I am a fan of the author that I forced myself to finish.

At the start, I talked myself out of giving up multiple times. Why, you may ask. Silly. That is the only word that came to mind for the first 20% of the novel. Silly. Every bit of dialogue had to be a zinger, whether it was witty banter, dry humor, or over-the-top vapid silliness. I couldn't take the characters or the story seriously enough to fall into it and enjoy myself.

I was intrigued by Alaric, but equally annoyed at the attention paid to him. It felt unrealistic. Now, I realize this may have been written to be 'humorous'. But there is humor, and then there is this feeling of forcing unbelievably on the reader and calling it humor. If Alaric's horde of fans were any indication on society, it's unimaginable that the downfall of civilization didn't happen in the Georgian period. I realize this is to mirror today's society with young girls fangirling hot celebrity actors. But, bear in mind, these were GROWN women, not children collecting lockets and portraits of the object of their affections as young girls did with posters when I was a child, or girls do today with saving pics to their phones.

I know I sound overly critical, and I realize every book isn't written for me. I'm writing this portion of the review for those who are more of a serious nature, who would have a similar reaction as I did. We enjoy humor as much as the next person, but it has to make sense. Those who know they get a chuckle from this sort of thing, on the flip side, they obviously know this is promoting it toward purchasing it.

If Alaric had unwanted fans, he had just as many family members. As the second son of a duke, with the oldest gone, Alaric fled responsibility and grief. His father, the duke, is on his third wife and his third set of children, leaving Alaric with the luxury of doing his own thing, no matter his birth order. Alaric wrote a series of books featuring his adventures all over the world, only to arrive back home to realize a play had been made in his false image, with a horde of admirers meeting him at the docks.

Willa is not an Alaric fan- she doesn't read fiction, seeing Alaric's books as an exaggeration on events rather than nonfiction. Willa is an academic, not prescribing to the silly notions of romance and falling all over a man because everyone else is. Yet, every time she looks at Alaric, the reader is subjected to a rundown of his attributes. I felt this contradicted Willa's personality traits, anticipated it every time she caught sight of him in the beginning portion of the story, but felt it fed into the love-hate tension Willa was tossing out at Alaric at every turn. Willa didn't like what Alaric stood for, but she enjoyed the pretty trappings.

Willa and Alaric's personalities and lives simultaneously balance yet contradict one another. Willa doesn't want to be a member of his fan club, wishing for a private life. Alaric begrudgingly enjoys the attention, yet only has eyes for Willa because she doesn't want him due to his celebrity status. My issues aside, the romance between them does unfold organically, creating a believable balance of a public persona versus a private life.

With such a large cast of characters, often at times, it felt as if the setup for subsequent books overshadowed the narrators and their evolving story.

This was a rough start to a new series for me personally, but I'm curious to see where it goes next. Perhaps it was just my mood, the 'humor' rubbing me the wrong way most of the time, and I patiently wait to find out during the next installment.

You know that feeling you get when you discover a fictional family that is destined to find a special place in your reader's heart? It's how I felt when I was introduced to Julia Quinn's Bridgertons, Johanna Lindsey's Mallorys, and, now, to the Wildes of Lindow Castle. James brings readers a smart, witty, romantic story that, by turns, tickled my funny bone and touched my heart. The characters are intriguing, the family dynamic, realistic, and the pace and purpose of the journey kept me eager to discover what would happen next. The addition of a pet skunk and a mangy tomcat only added to my delight. This eclectic, blended family has piqued my interest, engaged my emotions, and is well on its way to capturing my heart. I'm already invested in the happiness of the family members - and their friends - and excited to find out what adventures Ms. James has planned for them. If Wilde in Love is any indication, I should probably start clearing off more space on my keeper shelves.

I'm a huge Eloisa James fan, and she is an author whose books I highly anticipate. So I hesitate to say it, but this book was a disappointment. Several times I caught myself wondering if she really wrote this, or if she were letting a much younger, less experienced author use her name. It was too contrived, too obvious, too much telling without showing. Well below James' standards, it seemed to me.

I have always enjoyed Eloisa James novels and have read all of them. I found this one so unappealing that I could not get past the second chapter. I felt no connection with any of the characters and the plot was contrived. I will not be buying any sequels. Where is Eloisa and what have you done with her?.

I wanted, very badly, to love this book, having loved so many of this author’s prior books. So, I suppose I’m happy to find that at least I didn’t hate it. But, like OLT, I certainly didn’t love it, either. I missed the humor, charm and evidently much of the romance, I’m sorry to say. This book didn’t pique my interest, and I had a hard time finishing it.

I found OLT’s suggestion of possible symbolism in the inclusion of a skunk, peacock and tomcat to be more intriguing than actually reading about any of them in the book. Truth be told, I was more annoyed by the skunk storyline than anything else. I just hate cutsey humor – it feels too contrived to me and pushes the story into the realm of the totally unbelievable. Come on – how many women of any era would nurture a pet skunk??? That was a pretty hard hurdle for me to overcome and it might have sunk the entire story for me.

I couldn’t easily relate to any of the characters, either. I’m not really sure why, but I felt I couldn’t understand them. The secondary characters were clearly advertisements for the coming attractions, rather than integral parts of THIS story. Nothing seemed realistic – the hero worship on the part of many or the theoretical lack of interest from the heroine. I enjoy the sexual tension and slow to kindle attraction between H and h – but I couldn’t find it here and I missed it. This author is usually very skilled in that area.

I think reviewer Erica Chilson beautifully summarized my feelings exactly in her excellent review. This book didn’t do anything for me, but it won’t stop me from hoping that the next book will be a favorite.

There are so many reviews on this book, I'll keep mine short and sweet. I truly liked the primary characters - so much that I'm going to have to go on the cloud or check the blurb to recall who the heroine was and what her character was like - kinda joking here. I'll get back to that in a moment. What I can remember clearly is the character of this particular "Wilde." Alaric captivated me in some ways. A loving son and great brother, he has spent much of his last few years traveling and writing books about his travels... to the point he has become a romantic legend. When he returns home to England, the masses of women wanting him could be likened to the following of one of today's superstars.

The one woman who isn't so shallow minded as to hanker after him is a beautiful young lady who knows her own mind, is very confident in who she is (okay, it is coming back to me and I didn't have to go check the cloud to figure out who she was), has been the recipient of several marriage proposals and simply has an elevated mind as opposed to that of the shallow debs and ladies who are following Wilde around.

When Alaric and Willa (okay, I had to check the blurb to place her name), eventually become acquainted, the passion begins to sizzle. But Willa doesn't want a man who has crowds of women continually following him around. How long will it take him to break into her soul and heart? Read the book.

Explanation of why I had to refresh my mind about the characters' names: I read so many books each week, I occasionally have to open up the book on the cloud or read the blurb in order to get the names of the characters straight if I don't immediately write the review - which I normally do not.

A couple of last thoughts. I'm looking forward to the next "Wilde" brother's book featuring North and Diana. I thought it was set up very nicely in this book and especially with the teaser at the end of the book. Another thing. I'm wondering how many readers out there wonder if the Wilde brother (Horatius) who drowned in the bog whose body was never found will eventually show up alive. Leave a comment if you are wondering the same thing.

I know a lot of people gush over Eloisa James' books but in my opinion, the last couple have been a total yawn. Pages and pages of the kind of light brainless gossip that I supposed filled the days of aristocratic ladies in those days (YAWN) hung loosely on a predictable, unimaginative little plot where the hero ends up having to rescue the heroine from a crazed evil-doer, not once but twice. The skunk was actually the most interesting character in the book! I love a good romance novel as much as the next reader and love watching two people work through their difficulties and grow, mature and find happiness in the end. But a good book keeps you turning the pages to see all this happen in a satisfying way. This one kept me turning the pages to get to the end so I could leave it behind!

getting through this, though I kept trying because I usually love her books. I really struggled to get up enough interest to finish it. So disappointed.

Where is the witty dialogue? The painstaking detail of Georgian-era clothing? The obscure historical details about some arcane Georgian custom or tradition? These make Eloisa's books compelling--heaven knows there are only so many ways to write the HEA story.

While reading the first few chapters, I kept wondering if I was reading a sequel to a book yet to be published. The heroine was dropped unceremoniously into the plot, with basically no back story. The hero--one dimensional. The villain--sloppily written.

The book is disappointing and not of her usual caliber. Let's hope the next one is better.

I love EJ book normally but this one was hard to read didn't make it half way. Would recommend other books by EJ. Just not this book