The Reluctant Countess by Eloisa James
Series : Would-Be Wallflowers #2
New York Times bestselling author Eloisa James returns to the
Would-Be Wallflowers series with an enemies-to-lovers romance
between a proper earl and an entirely improper lady--whom he can't
stop thinking about.
Giles Renwick, Earl of Lilford, has never made a fool of himself
over a woman--until he meets Lady Yasmin Régnier. Yasmin is
ineligible for his attentions in every way: not as a wife, certainly
not as a mistress (she is a lady!), nor even as a friend, since they
vehemently dislike each other. Her gowns are too low, and her skirts
are dampened to cling to admittedly lovely thighs. She loves to
gossip--and giggle.
She isn't dignified, or polite, or even truly British, given that
her father's French ancestry clearly predominated. Not to mention
the fact that her mother had been one of Napoleon's mistresses, a
fact she makes no effort to hide.
As much as I did like this one at first, I have mixed feelings about it😕 I loved How To Be A Wallflower so I was really excited for Yasmin's story!
Scandal has always followed Lady Yasmin and as the daughter of a French duke and his English duchess - who was also a mistress of Napoleon, she knows what it's like to be judged and gossiped about. And she has never let it stop her from being who she is. On the other hand, Giles - the Earl of Lilford, is the most uptight person as he doesn't wish to repeat his parents' scandals. His sister Lydia had made her debut a year back and as he accompanies her, he meets Yasmin too. And though he wishes to stay away from her, he can't deny the attraction between them.
At first, I was totally into this because who doesn't love starchy earls right? The banter between him and Yasmin was really good, despite his comments about her attire. So, I was expecting something like Parth and Lavinia's relationship in Born To Be Wilde at first because the dynamic felt a little similar, but sadly it was very different from that(blame me for expecting something just based on a few interactions alone lol). But that actually wasn't the problem.
The thing that I hated the most(other than Giles's sister and I'll talk about that later) was the fact that Giles doesn't defend Yasmin when necessary! Look, he can even be a sexist(I've read a few sexist heroes who reformed well) but no way in hell can I root for a hero who allows others - especially his family - to speak badly about the heroine! And don't tell me he did *try* he DID NOT! Not when it matters! This was very disappointing, even more so because he knows how hurtful gossip is - his parents are examples of that. And he doesn't even chastise his sister? Even if you don't defend the heroine you should at least be a good brother and make sure your sister doesn't turn out to be a completely shitty person right??? He just made a token protest when his sister or someone else made comments at first and then didn't even bother. And every time I thought he was improving by doing something good, he'd take two steps back by making some comment on Yasmin's dress or blame her for being so attractive. *pukes in the background*
He shook his head. “Lydia will accept reality once she is married. I intend to give her a letter to open when she returns to England after her wedding trip. This time with her is my wedding present. Not that she hasn’t noticed me watching you. She’s still briskly enumerating all your faults.”
Yasmin flinched.
“You do give her cause, the way men fall at your feet.”
(What the hell?)
(And)
“That’s not really the problem, is it? You think I welcome their lust, that I want it.”
“I think you enjoy attention.”
Yasmin swallowed. Horrible memories of being labelled a strumpet washed over her. She tried to banish them. She and Giles were going to marry. Marriage involved compromise.
See? These are just a few examples and I just CAN'T stand it!
And Yasmin - she is my favorite person in this whole book. Because she's too good! She doesn't give a shit about their comments or gossip. She's so strong despite her experiences and too forgiving. But, she gives Giles too much space to make comments about her and to hurt her. Idk whether this girl was blinded by lust at some point or is it love? But she compromises a lot when it comes to Giles. One of the few times that she does go against him was when she dresses like a wallflower(you know to make sure we remember the series title😂) and shows him that it's not her dress that makes her attractive! It's her and even if you cover her up fully she'll still be magnetic. That was done well!
But, I just can't get over the vile comments that came from some of the characters. The worst comes from Giles' sister - Lydia(she's such a brat and I hated her!). She is literally the worst when it comes to slut-shaming Yasmin and does so many things to pull them apart(like girl just focus on your life). And neither Yasmin nor Giles say or do anything about this. I can understand if Giles loved his sister, but I didn't really get that feeling from him. They just let her get away with everything and the only thing Giles promises at the end is like 'Yeah babe we don't need to meet her at any family gatherings'. Like that's it? We're just going to brush it off? There was so much potential for character development! I'm not saying that she needs to turn 'good' but at least she should learn that all actions have consequences right?
The only other person that I loved was Yasmin's grandfather! He's amazing and unconditionally supportive! She should have just stayed with him and enjoyed her single life imo because Giles doesn't deserve her. And though the characters around Yasmin kept pointing out that Giles has always looked at her with 'love', I can't forgive him. Showing your love through your actions is what is important and he never does that! Even in the last conflict before they get together, Jake is the one who has to bring Giles to Yasmin and I was expecting a big apology. It'd have been perfect if there had been a grovel but nothing of that sort as Yasmin forgives him! He missed the opportunity and that was also disappointing!
Anyway, though I did enjoy this one because of Yasmin and the steamy scenes, some of the characters and their actions had me feeling annoyed+disappointed. I'll still be reading the next book in the series because it sounds interesting but I really hope the hero isn't as disappointing as this one! I'd definitely recommend EJ's other books as I love them, but how much you'd enjoy this one might be up to individual tastes!
You can also find my review on my bookstagram here
You can find my reviews for the author's other books here
*I was provided with an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest
review*
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 being a finalist for a RITA—the top award in the
genre of romance fiction awarded by the Romance Writers of America—over
ten times, she won in 2013.
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