The Desperate Duchesses series
The inspiration for this series came from the Georgian period itself, and the television show, Desperate Housewives. Unfortunately, though I love the idea of Desperate Housewives, I haven't been able to watch it nearly as much as I would like– so I just stole the idea of a group of wild women and ran with it. The Georgian period is a naughtier period than the Regency, with a different tone to relations between men and women. Think less Almack's, more Pirate Kings (and Queens). As with my previous novels, each of the six novels in this series will stand alone – and the duchesses' lives will intertwine throughout the novels. You can look in the Readers' Pages for a little primer on the duchesses at the heart of these novels.

The Essex Sisters
After writing about the bond between women friends in The Duchess Quartet, I wanted to turn to a relationship that can be even deeper: that of sisters. My sister is very dear to me. But I didn't want to depict a relationship that was all sweetness and light. After all, I still have my 5th grade diary, with my sister's mocking annotations covering up my heartfelt pages! This series begins with the story of four Scottish sisters, orphaned and sent to England to be wards of a duke (Much Ado About You). Each novel stands on its own, following the story of one sister. Yet the thread of Imogen's story winds through the first three novels. One new challenge for me was to show Imogen maturing and changing through several books, while staying a minor character. It's been interesting to see how readers who dislike her in Kiss Me, Annabel grow to love her in Taming of the Duke. Each of these books stands out in my mind as having particular virtues: the hero of Much Ado About You (Lucius) is wonderful in his wounded, quiet, king-of-the-universe fashion, and Kiss Me, Annabel's road trip to Scotland, involving a kissing game, is, quite simply, delicious. The Taming of the Duke brings my darling, drunken Rafe into sobriety and marriage in an undercover, hilarious fashion, and Pleasure for Pleasure allows sharp-tongued, plump Josie to triumph over everyone in the ton who labeled her the "Scottish Sausage." She's Cinderella - without losing an inch of her lush figure! Two final notes on connections in this series…the Earl of Mayne, who first appeared  in Your Wicked Ways (the Duchess Quartet), appears in every one of these four novels and finally marries in Pleasure for Pleasure. Also, Lucius Felton (hero of Much Ado About You) first appears in Eloisa’s novella "A Fool Again" featured in the anthology, The One That Got Away.

Interested in knowing how many children the Essex sisters had? Eloisa has a beautiful Essex Family Tree for you to see (note: reading the Pleasure For Pleasure Extra Chapter is recommended as the Family Tree may contain spoilers).

The Duchess Quartet
With this series, I continued to write about one of my favorite motifs: friendships among women: a thread in the Pleasures books, it is the backbone of the Duchess series. Another development in this series is my use of the continuing story of one character. Duchess in Love is the story of Gina, a duchess who hasn't seen her husband since he ducked out the window the day of their wedding, leaving their marriage unconsummated (and it's been years!). But that novel also introduces one of my favorite bad girls, Esme. Esme's story continues through the following three books, tying together all four books, though each stands on its own. Probably my favorite here is Your Wicked Ways , simply because I think that in that book (the fourth), I finally figured out how to depict a testosterone-poisoned man - and let's face it, they all are! *g* A final note on connections: one of the testosterone-drenched males depicted in Your Wicked Ways, the Earl of Mayne, actually wanders out of this novel and becomes a major player in the Essex Sisters books that follow.

And in one of Eloisa’s novellas, "A Fool Again" featured in the anthology, The One That Got Away, the hero is Tobias Darby, one of Simon Darby's missing twin brothers from Fool For Love.

The Pleasures Trilogy
These are my very first books, and consequently dear to my heart. They are my most heart-wrenching books. I wept buckets writing these books...readers wept along with me, and they launched my career. Each of these has won a place as a reader favorite. Alex (in Potent Pleasures) can be so harsh that it's a pleasure to hate him--and then love him when he realizes his mistakes; Sophie (in Midnight Pleasures) makes us weep with her, and laugh with her--she's my first bad-girl heroine; Gabbie (in Enchanting Pleasures) is happily plump and has to dump her first fiancé to find one who loves her lush figure. I know the Pleasures series books are sometimes hard to find, but they are in print and any bookstore can order them for you!

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There’s no better present (for yourself or a friend!) than a signed copy of a favorite book. And if you’re a book lover, there’s nothing better than carrying around 40 books in a small e-book package!

Signed copies of Eloisa's books are available at St. Johns Booksellers.

Nena, at St. Johns Booksellers, has signed copies of every one of Eloisa’s books. Just give her a call (her website is in progress), and she’ll send you whichever novel you want.

Nena:

St. Johns Booksellers - North Portland's full-service independent bookstore
503-283-0032

eBooks are available for purchase at Books on Board.

Books on Board offers you a 26% discount on every one of Eloisa’s e-books if you use the promo code below.

Promo code: EloisaOnBoard

WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO GO NEXT?

Read an excerpt from the Desperate Duchesses series.

Try an excerpt from one of Eloisa's other series.

Read some of Eloisa's Extra Chapters in the Readers Pages.

See what's coming next from Eloisa.