Potent Pleasures - Eloisa James

Potent Pleasures

By Eloisa James

  • Release Date: 1999-08-10
  • Genre: Historical Romance
Score: 4.5
4.5
From 218 Ratings
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Description

Eloisa James breathes new life into one of the most popular fiction genres with her highly original debut novel Potent Pleasures, a charming, vividly peopled Regency romance. With an uncanny wit and an eye for the whimsical, she unravels a complex--and often hilarious--chain of events inadvertently set in motion by a young woman's first taste of forbidden pleasure.

About to make her debut in London society, Charlotte Calverstill, beneath the lavish gowns and manners of a well-brought-up young lady, yearns for a taste of freedom. Pushing propriety aside, one evening she sneaks out with a friend to attend a masked ball, and there meets a devastatingly handsome stranger who relieves her--not against her wishes--of her virtue, then vanishes.

Years later, when they meet again, the rogue does not remember Charlotte. But she certainly remembers him; she has since learned not only his identity, but also a titillating piece of gossip about him that is sure to set society abuzz. The intricate web that a now-wiser Charlotte weaves to exact her due ensures justice for some and great merriment for all.

Taking the Regency historical to fresh new places, with artful smoothness and irrepressible humor, Eloisa James delivers a winsome tale of first love and life's unexpected surprises.

BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Eloisa James's Paris in Love.

Reviews

  • Utter chaos

    1
    By BYSUZE
    I tried. I really did. I forced myself to read 75% before I gave up. The idea for the story line is fine. The execution is not. The third person omniscient point of view (never appealing, ALWAYS difficult to write well) is utter chaos. The transitions between the characters is not well defined —leaving the reader to have to pause and figure out whose head they are currently in. It is difficult to get lost in a story when you’re constantly pausing to figure it out. I really didn’t need to be inside a foot man’s head when he is an extremely minor character in the story. Too many names, too many characters, too many side stories. No less than a quarter of the book (probably more) could and should have been cut. Much of that was twaddle. Some could have been salvaged and made into separate stories. Fortunately, the book has few typos and grammar problems. For that, I am truly thankful. When I tried to make myself finish the book, I realized that I really didn’t give a fig about the characters or what happened to them. I had too much fluff and twaddle to keep,straight to devote enough energy to care. This author has several other works published and I will read one of those next, hoping that she developed her storytelling skills and found an editor or publisher to reign in the chaos.

  • Worst thing I’ve ever read in my life

    1
    By JaytheGod89
    Hero is unbelievably dumb, and yet the heroine returned time after time. Ridiculous.

  • Potent Pleasures

    4
    By Tiggy/Cookie
    I enjoy historical romances on occasions. While I thought this one was overly long, still it was well written and kept my attention.

  • Potent Pleasures

    4
    By FameZa
    This is the first book by Eloisa James that I've ready. I loved every minute of it. Her characters were very interesting and very believable. Can't wait to get started on another book!

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