Too Wilde to Wed by Eloisa James Also in this series: Born to Be Wilde, My Last Duchess
Series: The Wildes of Lindow Castle #2
Published by Avon on May 29, 2018
Genres: Historical Romance, Regency Era
Pages: 384
Format: Paperback
Source: Library
ISBN: 0062692402
9 hours, 34 minutes
No one is more surprised than Lord North when he returns from war to find his ex-fiancee in his ancestral home...working as a governess...
The handsome, rakish heir to a dukedom, Lord Roland Northbridge Wilde—known to his friends as North—left England two years ago, after being jilted by Miss Diana Belgrave. He returns from war to find that he’s notorious: polite society has ruled him “too wild to wed.”
Diana never meant to tarnish North’s reputation, or his heart, but in her rush to save a helpless child, there was no time to consider the consequences of working as a governess in Lindow Castle. Now everyone has drawn the worst conclusions about the child’s father, and Diana is left with bittersweet regret.
When North makes it clear that he still wants her for his own, scandal or no, Diana has to fight to keep from losing her heart to the man whom she still has no intention of marrying.
Yet North is returning a hardened warrior—and this is one battle he’s determined to win.
He wants Diana, and he’ll risk everything to call her his own.
Too Wilde To Love is the second book in James’ latest series “The Wildes of Lindow 
Castle” and reading this was a risk because I had picked up the first book in Audio and yeah I had to DNF that one and it was really disappointing. But when I saw this book on the shelf of my public library, I knew I had to pick it up if I could. And I am so happy that I did because this book was a PAGE TURNER and man I was surprised by how easily I had gotten into it.
Our story sets off wiht our hero and heroine North and Diana who are betrothed to be married. When Diana breaks off the engagement, North is shocked and hurt and when he goes to find her, he sees her with a child and leaves England to fight in the colonies. When North returns home he sees that his reputation has become tarnished and his ex betrothed is working as a governess in his home. Tensions rise between them as they both figure out where they stand with each other, secrets are revealed and a friendship between them is reconnected but there is still a conflict in Diana not being willing to be a Duchess, that is not the kind of life she wants for herself or her future.
I truly adored this book in so many ways and even though there were a couple aspects in the story that didn’t seem “realistic” to me for example North visiting her bedchamber frequently with his station and how he upheld himself, it honestly just didn’t feel like that would actually happen in regency times without a big scandal erupting and forcing them to marry which was typical back in that era. But I did love the friendship that builds between them. There is a unrequited love trope aspect introduced into this story as the hero has been in love with Diana for quite a long time here. I didn’t fully understand Diana’s hesistance to be with North. You can see how much she cares and even loves him but not enough to be his duchess? I felt like he was willing to sacrifice more for her than she was for him so I did struggle at times with the heroine. But I did end up happy with the ending and seeing how they find their way to their HEA.
Overall I found this book to be quite a charming read and it was very easy to get into, and I really adored the way North and Diana come together in this story and the intimacy that builds between them is beautiful. The sexual tension is lighter than I expected but still solid and true to the characters. Quite had a blast I had with this one and getting familarwith this family and can’t wait to continue on with the series and seeing more of them. Too Wilde To Wed is a delightfully light and fun romance that delves into friendship and unrequited love in a lovely manner which I embraced!!
About Eloisa James
New York Times bestselling author Eloisa James writes historical romances for HarperCollins Publishers. Her novels have been published to great acclaim. A reviewer from USA Today wrote of Eloisa's very first book that she "found herself devouring the book like a dieter with a Hershey bar"; later People Magazine raved that "romance writing does not get much better than this." Her novels have repeatedly received starred reviews from Publishers' Weekly and Library Journal and regularly appear on the best-seller lists.
After graduating from Harvard University, Eloisa got an M.Phil. from Oxford University, a Ph.D. from Yale and eventually became a Shakespeare professor, publishing an academic book with Oxford University Press. Currently she is an associate professor and head of the Creative Writing program at Fordham University in New York City. Her "double life" is a source of fascination to the media and her readers. In her professorial guise, she's written a New York Times op-ed defending romance, as well as articles published everywhere from women's magazines such as More to writers' journals such as the Romance Writers' Report.
0 Comments